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Category: hiking

Telescope Peak – a good warm up

Telescope Peak is the highest point in Death Valley National Park and hiking it is naturally our choice of activity. Although it is located in Death Valley with its high temperatures it is comfortable to hike in the summer because the peak is at 3366 m above sea level. Actually it is snow covered in the winter so summer would be the best time to go.

The hike starts at Mahogany Flats Campground and is totally 14 miles (23 km) round trip. It climbs steadily during the 7 miles to the peak which makes it a fairly easy hike in that perspective. The trail is nice all the way with a few switchbacks at a couple of places. But it is very long and will take most people a full day. We climbed it in 3 hours, spent about an hour on the top enjoying the view and then went down in a bit more than 2 hours. A suggestion is though to start early because at the start of the hike it is quite warm.

On the way up to the peak, which is the one in the left part of the picture. It is one of those peaks where you never really see the peak itself. You end up passing a number of “false” peaks before you actually make it to the real one. Can be very annoying after a long hike.

On the top which featured an American flag, a register, a first aid kit and a flask of some content we did not dare to taste. 🙂

From the peak looking down the ridge from where we came.

This was a nice warm up hike for what is yet to come…

 

Bryce Canyon

Before leaving the Page area we really wanted to see the Wave. It is a red and white sandstone canyon which is shaped like a wave. The images from there looks very cool, if you google it you will see. But since we had not done enough research before the trip and found that you have to reserve a spot more than 4 months ahead of time we had to leave this for another trip. Too bad but since they have started to regulate many sites you can not just pass by and think you can see it all.

So instead we decided to take a drive through the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument and visit Bryce Canyon National Park again. Last year on our holiday we did a two day hike through the park but did not do all the short hikes closer to the visitor center.

The shorter hikes in Bryce Canyon are actually the best ones also. The two day tour we did last year went through a lot of forest where you do not see any hoodoos which is what you come there for. So if you don’t have time of feel like a longer hike, don’t worry, you are not missing anything.

As we were coming closer to Bryce it became cooler because of higher altitude and it was actually quite cold during night. When the sun came out though it was nice and warm.

This time we did half Navajo Loop, Peekaboo Loop and Queen Mary Loop. It goes a bit up and down which means it is not an easy walk but they are not very long so most people can make it if it is not too hot. It took us a few hours to complete the hike and afterwards we cooked some food before driving towards Las Vegas.

More 14ers

The other day I took out my Colorado’s Fourteeners book and was going to decide if we should bring the book on the trip or send it home first. As I started to read I got an urge to go hiking. Last August we did 10 14ers in 10 days. It was hard but fun and well worth it. Then we did not have much time since we wanted to go to Utah as well during our 4 week vacation. This time around we can spend more time in Colorado and either do more of them or maybe not so many in just a few days.

We started to discuss which peaks to do this year and the more we looked in the book and talked about it the more we wanted to do. Probably we will do at least another 10 this year. I am hoping to do La Blanca, Mt Sneffels and Longs Peak (in Rocky Mountain National Park). The rest we will see as we go along. All depending on weather I guess. Since we are bringing climbing gear this time we might attempt to climb a peak or two. We both like multi pitch climbing and it would add some variation to the hiking. Maybe we will also do a favourite or two from last year. I wouldn’t mind doing Wetterhorn or Handies Peak.

Hiking the valley up to Handies is beautiful with all the pretty flowers.

Conclusion: we are bringing the book.

The Narrows


The last day before heading back to Phoenix and reality again we hiked The Narrows in Zion National Park. This is a narrow canyon through which the Virgin River runs. It is so narrow that you have to hike in the river most of the time. Since this was going to be our last hiking day we did not care about getting our boots wet and the heat made it feel very tempting to hike in the cool river.

To be on the safe side we rented poles at an outdoor store that would help us keep the balance in the stream. Many hiked without but I was happy to have one so I didn’t have to swim unless it was necessary. In fact we did not have to swim at all, at the deepest place the water reached up to my chest. Unfortunately this was after about 10 min so you had to get wet from the very beginning but then it was mostly knee deep.


It was a different and fun hike in the water but after a couple of hours we decided to turn back because we were getting a bit cold. Luckily at this time the sun was high enough to shine down into the canyon which helped us keep warm. I am not sure I would attempt this hike any other time of the year. In that case you have to rent a dry suite to keep warm.

Zion National Park

View over Zion National Park from Angel’s Landing

As we drove into Zion National Park we realized that we were getting back to desert temperatures. It was suddenly very hot again and it was hard to sleep at night. You can’t really have the engine running all night for air condition… Bryce had been warm during the day but fairly nice due to the elevation.

The heat was a factor when we chose the hikes to do here. We decided on Angel’s Landing as early in the morning as possible and Lost Canyon which was a short hike in the shade most of the day. It turned out to be a good decision and we had time to get out in the afternoon and have coffee in an air conditioned cafĂ©, a swim in the cold river and a beer before cooking dinner.

You have to hike this narrow ridge to reach Angel’s Landing

Fun stuff!