Red Cliffs

It seems every Spring I inevitably end up at the Red Cliffs campground near Leeds -- years ago as a college student and nowadays with the local scouts. I tried to go somewhere different this time, but all the other primitive campsites were out of the question -- Wire Mesa was snowed over, Mosquito Cove is currently closed, and the permit for Sand Cove was taken. But that's OK, Red Cliffs is a fun little place, and most in the group had not been up the Quail Creek slot.



I was hoping to complete the 10-mile Red Reef Loop by hiking up Quail Creek and looping around to Cottonwood Canyon and back to Red Cliffs via Prospector. But, by the time we found a reasonably safe passage around the upper part of the slot we had lost a lot of time and the skies were looking threatening, so we just did an out-and-back.



I think everyone had fun, and for some, this was their first canyoneering experience -- hopefully they're hooked and we can do many more canyon hikes.





Next up on the Scout agenda is Zion's West Rim.