Red Canyon, the West Desert, Provo, Babylon, and the Summer Games

We have been pretty busy during the last few weeks so a quick recap is in order.

We have yet to really explore Bryce Canyon National Park. The $25 entrance fee is pretty steep, and besides, there is too much fun stuff to do on the Park periphery that's absolutely free.

Above: taking the kids for a spin up the Red Canyon paved path.

Above and below: the Mossy Cave Trail is on the extreme east side of Bryce Canyon N.P. (not in a fee-area) and makes for a perfect hike with little ones.

A testament to pioneer ingenuity, the tropic "ditch" was completed in 1892. Water from the East Fork of the Sevier River is diverted several miles in a canal over the top of the Paunsaugunt Plateau, where it plunges over the plateau rim and into Water Canyon seen here. Naturally dry, a river rages down the canyon for several months during the summer and fall. At the bottom of the canyon the water is then conveyed via pipe and open canal to thirsty alfalfa fields near Tropic and Cannonville. These towns undoubtedly would not exist if not for these creative early settlers.



Above: water plunges over a resistant dolomite ledge in Water Canyon.


Perennial streams have not flowed off of the east side of the Paunsaugunt for several thousands of years. This equals relatively slow erosion rates which tend to create wide, flat-bottomed canyons. Over a 100 years of steady stream-flow in the "Ditch" however, has quickly incised Water Canyon into a narrow "V" shaped canyon.



Above: taking a break on the Mossy Cave Trail.






Red Canyon is one of the best mountain bike destinations in state, period. Miles and miles of sublime singletrack amble amongst Ponderosa Pine, Bristlecone Pine, and fiery red hoodoos of every shape imaginable.




All of these photos are from a 30-plus-mile cherry-stemmed loop starting at Red Canyon, heading up Cassidy Trail, down Lossee Canyon, up Casto Canyon, and back to Red Canyon.




Above: overlook above Casto Canyon provides a bird's-eye view of the upper part of the Tertiary-age Claron Formation. These red and white oxidized lake-bed deposits are what make the Bryce area famous. Younger dark-colored volcanic rocks of the Mt. Dutton Group comprise the southern end of the Sevier Plateau, creating the jagged skyline on the upper right of the photo.








Above: hidden just off the Cassidy trail is the remains of this crude shelter. Butch was known to use the confusing canyons of this area to elude more than one posse. The Forest Service claims that portions of the Cassidy trail was blazed by Butch himself. Could this shelter be one of Cassidy's hideouts that are rumored to exist in the area?


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I had a three day conference in Provo a couple of weeks ago. The meetings would be over by 4 PM or so leaving plenty of daylight to head up the canyon.

Above: high above Provo Canyon with Pennsylvanian-age limestone of the Oquirrh Formation looming overhead.

Below: Bridal Veil Falls, Provo Canyon.



Below: View toward Timpanogos from the Boneville Shoreline Trail.





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Next up is a day trip into the Sandstone Mountain/East Reef area in the Red Cliffs Nature Preserve near St. George.


Dunes flanking Sandstone Mountain.



Above: weathered crossbeds in Navajo Sandstone.




Above: remains of an old mill at Babylon, an old mining area near East Reef dating from the late 1800s.


Above: cliff swallows above the Virgin River at Babylon.




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Last weekend, we took advantage of the unusually cool summer weather, and headed out into Utah's West Desert. We started by heading west out of Delta toward the House Range.

Above and below: before the modern Highway 6 was built, the main road from Delta to Nevada was a dirt road that goes through Marjum Pass in the House Range. This is where old Bob Stintson, known by many as the Mayor of Marjum or simply the Hermit, found a large overhang up a side canyon, walled it off, and called it home for several years. The State ended up employing Bob - his job was to clear off boulders that would get washed into the roadway after nearly every thunderstorm.




Above: Bob brewed moonshine and would hide it behind this stove. The warmth of the stove sped up the fermentation process. Many sheepherders, CCC camp boys, and passersby would stop and keep Bob company and drink Bob's brew that he freely shared.


We spent the night at Bishop Springs. Here, cool clear water bubbles up from the parched desert floor, creating an oasis of green and life. One of the large springs has been dammed and is known as Foote Reservoir. A large grassy meadow surrounded by a large stand of Russian Olive trees make a nice campsite.





Above: I had heard that bass, bluegill, and carp could be caught in the reservoir but we saw no signs of any larger fish at all. We did see some minnow-like fish that may have been the indigenous and endangered Least Chub. Apparently, the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources has killed of the nonnative fish in this area so that the Chub (one of the few survivors of ancient Lake Bonneville) could recover.




Near the Gandy Ranch (close to the Utah-Nevada border) is Warm Springs. And that's exactly what they are - warm, not too hot and not too cold. The springs cascade down the hillside into a small pebble-lined pool, promoting the growth of large ferns and hanging gardens. Someone has even planted a small palm tree. We'll definitely come back here again.






Our West Desert trip was capped off with a visit to the blindingly white Crystal Peak - a huge pile of welded volcanic ash from an ancient eruption. The volcanic rocks here are nearly entirely composed of snow-white ash and small quartz crystals that have weathered into pits, caves, and elaborate draperies.






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Every year during the Utah Summer Games held here in Cedar, I put on the spandex, inflate my tires to 110 psi and pretend to be a road biker. Of course, experienced roadies can easily call my bluff since I have harry legs, heavy cleated mountain shoes, an MTB helmet, and my bike even has a lot of MTB parts on it. The USG stopped putting on a mountain bike race, and the road races are well organized and very cheap (2 races for $25 is a steal), so I'll pretend to be a roadie for a day or two.




The USG Hillclimb is one of the more punishing 4-mile races you'll find anywhere - 1700 feet of up, up, up.


I've bested my time each year so far. This year I finished in 27:10, more than a minute faster than last year and good enough for the bronze in my age group.



Above: crossing the finish line at the hillclimb.




In years past I've done the 60 mile road race, but this year I decided to try the time trial.

Prior to the race during warm-ups, I got a good chuckle out of seeing all the guys with funny aero-gear - you know, the pointy alien-looking helmets, solid disk wheels, skin-tight suits, and aerodynamic water bottles All chuckling ceased though when they flew by me like I was standing still on the fast and windy downhill. Still, I held my own coming back up the hill and finished in a somewhat respectable 28 minutes.

While I was checking in for the time trial, I noticed this really really old guy hobbling around. He had a number plate pinned to his back, a helmet and gloves on, but he had slacks and a dress shirt on. I couldn't quite figure out what was going on. I thought could this guy really be doing the... Yes, he was. and he did.

Meet 90-year-old Lavoid Leavitt - the oldest athlete in any sport at the Utah Summer Games.


Bike. Check. Helmet. Check. Oxygen tank...check!!!

Lavoid is an ispiration to us all. I can only hope I'm still tearing it up at age 90.