Feral Hiker: Utah, light October hiking

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Utah, light October hiking

On my recent trip to Utah's National Parks and Monuments, I was able to do some light and level hiking, including areas I hadn't hiked before because of heat and crowding.

To the right is a view from the Overlook trail in Zion, looking down at the valley with the main road visible. It is a short but moderately steep hike. The trailhead is at the east end of the tunnel and is very small, easy to miss and often full.

I didn't do any hiking to the Vermilion Castle below, but there is a nice trail to it. It is near Cedar City and isn't even in a park or monument.

I also did some light hiking in Bryce along the Mossy Cave trail, a very easy and popular trail. Some of the views were spectacular. In wetter times, the waterfall and cave would have been more impressive but the rock formations were good of them selves.

I also hiked in Capitol Reef along the Grand Wash trail. Other years rainstorms have threatened and I haven't dared venture down the path. As you can see from the picture at right, the canyon becomes very narrow at times. This trail is easy and nearly flat. You can access the trail either from the highway or the scenic drive.

In the canyon are both petroglyphs and a 'settler's registry' of early settlers. Most of the registry doesn't look much different than modern graffiti and probably contains some modern items. The section below however stood out, it is about 40 feet up a rather smooth wall and has the date of 1911.

The petroglyphs are hard to make out but include a beetle in the center of the picture.