When my friend Nick mentioned that the Friends of Black Rock organization had permission to lead a short guided tour of this freakish landmark, which exists on private land, I jumped at the chance. As I understand it, this geyser was made unintentionally by well drilling back in the 1960's. The mineral-rich water, heated by geothermal energy erupted from the ground and began depositing at the drilling point. Over the years and decades, a mound of travertine has built up to the size of small house, and continues to spout hot water and minerals.
Nick, his girlfriend, Michelle, and I met up with the rest of the group early and waited for the guides to open the locked gate leading to the geyser. Quite a few people have showed up, as this opportunity is rare. As we make our way through the dry grasses, we can hear the water spouting from the top of the formation.
As we approach, I'm drawn in by magnificent colors of the fungus and/or bacteria growing on the minerals. The steam pour off, in conjunction with the colors, and the Black Rock Desert in the background offer some amazing views.
The tour doesn't last long and soon, we are back on the road, but I'm thankful for the opportunity to see this oddity.
This will be my second visit to the less traveled Great Basin National Park, which sits in Eastern Nevada along the Utah border. A strange park in that it does not have a single magnificent attraction to speak of, but boasts an amazing array of different ecosystems as one travels up the elevations of Wheeler Peak. We arrive and set up camp and then try to decide what to do first. Nick wants to go up and see the glacier and Bristlecone Pines. I agree, but as I have done this hike before and as the snow is still very prevalent as we reach the higher elevations, I stop near the top and allow Nick to continue on. The hike is refreshing and gives me just the incentive to make a campfire and enjoy a quiet restful evening under the stars in this remote place.
We rise early and break camp, and then head down to the Lehman Caves visitor center. We had previously purchased tickets for the most popular of the cave tours, which begins promptly at 9:00 AM.
As we enter the cave, the ranger tells stories of its discovery and early exploration. He shocks many visitors by shutting off his flashlight to simulate the conditions early spelunkers had to go through. Turning his the lights back on, we begin to see some of the amazing formations this cave has to offer. I comment about how dry it seems in contrast to many other caves I have visited. He agrees that his is one of the dryer caves known, but that hasn't stopped what little water there is from depositing minerals into all kinds of amazingly bazaar formations.
We visit several rooms within the caves, and each has its own story to share. One in particular that caught my attention though is filled with pools of shimmering water. Apparently this was a site to behold for early tourists and as such, the park service in an early era flooded some of the pools to make it more astonishing to visitors. The ranger assures us though that that water was drained in lieu of the now more conversationalist era of the park service, and that all the water now present is of natural origins - very cool.
The tour lasts about an hour and half and is well worth the money and time. This cave, like many others, holds many gems worth seeing.
After some lunch and a change of gear, we decide to head up to the Narrows, one of the main draws of the park. The bus drops us off at the northern end of the main canyon and signs indicate that we have another mile hike to reach the start of the Narrows. The Narrows, as the name implies, are the northern end of the canyon where the walls have closed in to such a point that mere yards separate one from the other. Looking up the sheer sides, one sees the roof is several hundred feet up, and through it all, the calm (at least today) river beckons adventure seekers.
The hike to the start is pretty crowded and after traversing a small portion of the Narrows, I can understand why. When we reach the jumping off point, I switch into some water shoes, which I use for kayaking and begin to wade up the shallow river. Nick, having left his gear at home, agrees to wait for me. I promise to not venture too far and make him wait too terribly long.
The water is cool, but not cold, and I am joined by numerous hikers of all ages as we shimmer and shake our way over the slick creek gravel river bottom. In some places there is dry land on one side or the other, but for most of the distance I travel (a total of about half a mile) I am simply wading in water anywhere from knee to navel deep. What fun this is.
I think back to my childhood and of exploring the twists and turns of Hurricane Creek in Kentucky with my dad. Those were some of my fondest memories of him and I can't help but think of him now as I walk down a similar path, but in a far distant land. I miss dad. I wish he were still with us to see or perhaps even experience some of the wonders I have seen in my life. I think he would have enjoyed many of them.
Reaching a point, I tell myself that I will travel around one final bend and then turn back to rejoin Nick who was patiently waiting for me. After turning that bend, I decide to take one more. The child-like joy of this amazing hike is something that I hesitate to let go, but I must. My friend has been good enough to allow me to do this, while he waits. I turn around and head back for the start, all the while telling myself that I will one day soon hike (or wade) the entire "trail".
Looking for some shorter hikes to allow a little recovery time from our previous day's travels, Nick recommends we hike up to the three emerald pools across from the Zion Lodge, in the approximate center of the canyon. The hike first crosses a bridge over the Virgin River that was responsible for the carving of this wondrous place. We were able to get some great shots from here.
Continuing on up the fairly steep trail, we encounter a few wild friends, including a mule deer enjoying an early morning snack. He has apparently not learned to be scared of men, as he casually walks right past us in his search for breakfast foods to his liking.
As we approach the first and lowest of the three pools, we are greeted by the pattering of some small waterfalls above us. The water has carved out a large bowl into the sandstone in which the lower emerald pool sits. From above several small waterfalls rain moisture from the world above the canyon into this small oasis.
The trail leads on to the second of the pools, rising ever more steeply along the way. The second pool though is less substantial than the first and simply requires stepping across it to continue on to the third and final pool.
As we reach the destination, we are greeted by a rock climber relaxing in the cool shade near the large upper emerald pool. Scanning the area, we notice a belay rope on cliff side around the back of the pool. Apparently our friend is not alone, we realize as he radios some comrades presumably preparing to descend. I only wish I was in better shape and practiced enough to do some of this cliff scaling. My experience with it has been limited to manmade walls, and even with those it is obvious that I lack training. Perhaps someday, I will take this pastime up more seriously. For now though, hiking will have to do.
When entering Zion Canyon, for which the national park was created to protect, I cannot help but think of much it reminds me of Yosemite Valley, though cut in sandstone instead of granite. The towering peaks on either side offer some amazing views. As we rise from a restful night's sleep under a warm breeze, we break camp and head to the visitor’s center to catch the shuttle. Private cars are generally not allowed in most of the canyon and visitors must take advantage of free shuttles that ferry adventurers to the various parts of the canyon.
We first stop at the Court of the Patriarchs, as the sun just begins to crown the three tall red peaks. The view from here is amazing and there is no wonder why early Mormon settlers named this area after the patriarchs of the bible. The stop is short though and we quick catch the next shuttle and continue on our journey.
I suppose if I had seen Cedar Breaks before Bryce Canyon, I would have been more impressed. That is not to say that this national monument is not breathtaking, but it does lack some of the grandeur of its local cousin. The Cedar Breaks Amphitheater appears approximately the same size and sits at a slightly higher altitude than Bryce, but lacks the numerous hoodoo structures the national park is famous for. The higher elevation also means that there was still some snow in the area, and the visitor center had yet to open for the year. Still it was amazing in it's own way.
We had originally planned on hitting Zion first and then these two parks the next day, but due to getting a few hours ahead of our planned schedule reversed things a bit. That being said, it was time to start seeing about arrangements for the night and since we had reserved a campsite in Zion, which is where we headed.
From what Nick described to me, he had hiked a portion of this trail a few months back, but due to a knee injury he sustained at Zion, was unable to finish the 8.5-mile Fairyland Trail. That would all change this morning, as we decided to complete it in its entirety. The trail begins innocently enough from a vista point overlooking the Fairyland Canyon, which connects to the northern end of the Bryce Amphitheater. A slow decent through hoodoo formations yields some fantastic views of the amazing scenery. The hoodoo in this part of the canyon must number in the thousands and every twist and turn of the trail leads to views of more and more fantastic formations of them.
A mile or so in, we left the trail slightly to investigate a small formation that seemed to completely enclose an area in sandstone. Climbing up into the feature yielded a quiet little corner completely surrounded by the tall formations - a hidden cave with a skylight of sorts. Climbing back down to the trail, we continued onward over ever rolling hills through this amazing place.
At about the halfway mark, we reached a high peak overlooking the main amphitheater on one side and the Fairyland canyon on the other. We traversed this razors edge and thought of the pioneers that came before us who trail blazed this hike. What amazing thoughts must have been rolling around in their heads as they saw this landscape for the first time. I sometimes envy those great men and women, and wish I could have taken part in finding some of these gems in the old west.
Continuing on we find a sign indicating a natural bridge lay ahead short distance. And then, off in the distance we see this wondrous formation. A natural bridge made of sandstone. It almost looked manmade, but obviously was not. I got some great shots of the natural wonder. According to what Nick had been told, the side trail leading to the base of the natural bridge did not offer very good views of it and so we continued on, content with the shots that we had taken from afar.
As the sun continued to rise overhead, the heat of the day began pressing down on us and as we neared the end of the trail, we found a lush meadow carpeted with grass and spring wildflowers, and a legion of insects about their business in the field. It was a sharp contrast to what we had seen below, as we had only a short time before commented about the lack of insects in the canyon.
The hour reaching early afternoon, we arrived back at Nick's car and headed out for our next destination on this long weekend trip.
My friend Nick and I had decided to take a weekend camping trip to see some more of the national parks in Southern Utah. Two years ago, we visited Arches, but this time we aimed for the area around Zion National Park, with Bryce Canyon as our first stop. The drive was a long, but after driving to the park early to catch the sunrise over the Bryce Canyon Amphitheater, none of the minor hardships really seemed to matter.
As we walked from the parking lot to a small vista point overlooking the entire amphitheater, I wondered what to expect. It was cold, bitterly cold up there, and with each step I began to question the wisdom of arriving so early. However, each step also revealed a slightly better view of Bryce Canyon's main attraction than the previous step. We joined a few more adventurers as the sun began to rise over the eastern edge of the canyon, and its glory highlight each and every one of the thousands of hoodoos that make up this magnificent feature. A hoodoo is the name given to the sandstone pillars left after erosion has washed away the remaining mass. Much like Monument Valley, but far more populace and extremely more spear like. The early morning sunlight bouncing off of these incredible features gave rise to thoughts of the divine. I must consider this one of the most glorious sunrises my eyes have ever witnessed - truly majestic.
The amphitheater itself is the main draw, but the park has much more to offer. The canyon itself contains the amphitheater, but also a myriad of other side canyons and more amazing geologic formations. While we didn't spend a great deal of time in the park, the time we did spend was well worth it. We did have time for a good hike through an area adjoining to the northern end of the amphitheater.
