Hiking in the White Mountains: Desert

May 6th & 11th

South Kaibab & Bright Angel trails : 17.5 miles (4,475 feet elevation gained)

Trip Report:
- On Sunday, May 6th, I headed to the canyon for a run to the river and back up. I jumped on the 5AM hiker shuttle bus from the Backcountry Information Canter to the South Kaibab trailhead.
- It was a beautiful morning for a run and after I made my way through the switchbacks and past other early morning hikers I picked up the pace at Cedar Ridge, unfortunately soon after this I caught up to the mules which kind of surprised me as I thought they went down much earlier than this, maybe because it was a Sunday, maybe they start a little later on the weekends.
- I didn't know the proper protocol on coming up behind a mule train, I've ran into them plenty of times on their way up and I just step off to the side, but I was worried about spooking them and upsetting the rider leading them down the canyon so I just backed off and took a fifteen minute break before continuing my run, catching up to the mule train, then repeating this process. I had to do this three times, which was fine, as I got to take in the canyon views as the sun took over the canyon in the early morning.
- Once I hit the river I quick hiked back up the the south rim via the Bright Angel Trail, only stopping at Indian Garden for a short ten minute break.
- I made it to the top just after 10AM, it was a perfect way to spend the morning, and I got out of there before the tourists took over the rim!

- On Thursday, May 11th, I headed back to the canyon, this time with Whitney and Diaz. We boarded the 6AM hiker shuttle and did the same route I did, with a short side trip to Phantom Ranch. This would be Diaz's first time hiking in the Grand Canyon so I was excited for him.
- The weather was perfect, mid 80's at the bottom and high 60's at the top! We had a great hike down to Phantom Ranch making a few stops along the way to take in the phenomenal views.
- We stopped in at the Phantom Ranch Canteen and had some snacks and mailed out postcards to our family before our hike back up in the sun.
- Even though it wasn't hot by Grand Canyon standards, the dry heat of the desert still was doing its best to slow us down as we made our way through the Devil's Corkscrew on the way to Indian Garden.
- Above Indian Garden the sun was still strong but as we gained elevation the temps cooled and by the time we passed the mile and a half rest stop it was very comfortable hiking weather.
- When we reached the top, we headed back to the Jeep and relaxed, cooked some food, and had a celebratory beer. Diaz had a great experience hiking the canyon and I'm glad he was finally able to make it out!

Go to love it, and it's no joke, but I do wonder the percentage of non knowledgeable hikers that venture below the rim that ignore this and run into trouble. This sign is definitely more effective than the old one! (click here)

Just after dawn at OOH AHH Point :)

Heading down Cedar Ridge

Cedar Ridge

Watching the mule train head down the switchbacks beneath Skeleton Point

Sun overtaking the canyon

Zoom in off the Colorado River

Black Bridge

Silver Bridge

Boat Beach and the Colorado River

Looking up to the South Rim from Indian Garden

Plateau Point and the Grand Canyon from the South Rim

Whitney takes in the views from OOH AHH Point

O'Neill Butte

The switchbacks below Skeleton Point

Looking back up at Skeleton Point

Mule Train!

One of my favorite spots along the South Kaibab Trail

Colorado River

Looking back towards Black Bridge from Silver Bridge with Zoroaster Temple looming high above

Silver Bridge

Looking across the canyon towards the north rim off in the distance

Mule Train #2!

Devil's Switchbacks

View from the top :)

Date of Hike: 5/23 & 5/24

Horseshoe Bend: 1.2 miles / Rimrock Hoodoos: 2.0 miles / Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon: 8.6 miles / Pink Coral Sand Dunes 1.2 miles
Total Miles: 13 miles (1,600 feet elevation gained)

Trip Report:
- On Sunday we woke up to more unseasonably cold weather with a forecast of showers as we left the Grand Canyon. Our destination was a small motel in Orderville Utah, east of Zion and south of Bryce Canyon.
- Before we crossed the border we stopped in Page, Arizona and headed to Horseshoe Bend. It's a easy ten minute walk from the big trailhead right off highway 89 to the viewpoint. It's a pretty awesome view looking down to the Colorado River as it bends around a huge massive rock wall. We didn't get too close to the edge because the drop off was straight down a few thousand feet and the edge of the rim always has a chance of eroding away! After taking a bunch of picture we jumped back in the car and then drove past Lake Powell and into Utah.
- There was a ranger station along highway 89 that we stopped in where it was recommended that we check out the 'Toadstools' at Rimrock Hoodoos since it was a short hike and perfect for a day where the weather was sub par.
- The Rimrock Hoodoo trail was a nice little two mile hike through a palette of beige scenery. The toadstool hoodoos are kind a funny looking, they ended up being the dwarf version of hoodoos compared to what we ended up seeing a few days later in Bryce Canyon. The hoodoos form from a layer of soft rock with a layer of hard rock on top. Time and weather wears away and erodes the soft rock at a greater pace than the top layer of hard rock and a toadstool hoodoo is formed!
- Hitting up the Horseshoe Bend and the Rimrock hoodoos was the perfect road side diversion on a sub par weather day. From here we headed to Orderville but not before stopping at a small trailhead just south of our motel where we found the perfect hike for the following day.
- At this trailhead we stumbled upon a local gem, Red Canyon, AKA Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon. There was only one caveat, the road to the slot canyon was red clay and with all the recent rain there was no way I was comfortable letting air out of the Jeep's tires so it could 'float' over the soft deep clay. Floating, what the hell is that??!!. Instead we studied the map and researched online how to hike into the entrance to the canyon using these roads. It ended up only being a 3.7 mile walk to the entrance which seemed easy enough.
- On Sunday we woke up early and headed back to this trailhead as we had a decent window of weather in the morning before the storms came rolling in. The thing about slot canyons is that you do not want to be anywhere near them when heavy rain is falling as the potential for flash flooding increases.
- As we were about to start our hike an SUV pulled in, the driver jumped out, let air out of his tires, jumped back in the SUV, and then drove down the sandy road. I guess there's not much to this floating stuff if you're from the area, probably like driving in the snow is second nature to New Englanders.
- The walk over the red clay and sandy road ended up being uneventful and easy. I had my little crib notes making sure where to go at each turn or at each random ATV road crossing. The last mile or so is through a wash that lead to the southern end of the canyon. The canyon is very small, less than half a mile long but is pretty freaking cool! Red or Peek-A-Boo definitely fits as a name for this small but fascinating slot canyon.
- After roaming into then back out of the slot canyon we headed back to the trailhead where a few rain drops fell on us just as we reached the car. From here we headed across the street to the Pink Coral Sand Dunes.
- What can I say about the Pink Coral Sand Dunes ... just outside the park entrance is a parking lot where you can park for free and roam around some dunes. I would advice everyone to just go there and not head into the actual park where there is an eight dollar fee. The dunes outside the park are a lot more fun than the ones in the park, as you'll see from the images below. I would only suggest heading into the park if you are ATVing.
- After leaving the sand dunes the rain eventually came rolling in, it wasn't too bad but it was much worse in Zion and Bryce so staying local for the day ended up working out perfectly!

Trailhead and info for Horseshoe Bend

Heading out to the viewpoint

Horseshoe Bend

Looking down at a beach below a rock face and a plateau

Horseshoe Bend

Whitney nervously smiling for a picture near the edge!

As you can see the route is fairly short to the viewpoint!

Heading into the Rimrock 'Toadstool' Hoodoos

The trail travels through a wash on its way to the hoodoo garden

Flowers spotted along the way, they were everywhere!

Entering the hoodoos

Whitney gets a picture below the most prominent hoodoo

The pictures we saw online made it seem like there were a lot more of the toadstools. Mostly the ones we walked by had fallen apart. Still it was a cool spot to walk through