Time hasa come! I decided to head to my secret spot here in the Wasatch for my annual solo trip. I put the pack in the car and made my way up to the mountains. After parking, I made my way up to the canyon. Its green this year. I stopped to do a little fishing, but alas not the same luck I had on last months visit. After wetting a line, I made my way up my secret trail and enjoyed how greek things are this year. The very first of the flowers were starting to bloom. The water roaring in the creek was the ambient noise while I made my way up the trail.
After enjoying some waterfalls and having a pleasant walk in the woods I arrived at my home for the night. I set up camp and then went down to the creek to just relax and watch the water. The noise from this years historic run off was deafening, and you could hear boulders roling in the creek with the volume of water moving down the mountain. It was kind of spooky but interesting at the same time. Dusk set in and I get camp settled and made dinner as the darkness set in. The stars came out, and the moon was a cresent and Jupiter was shinning bright in alignment with La Luna. After a great night in camp, I turned in for some much needed sleep.
Morning came and I got up, packed up camp, then made coffee. A beautiful day was on tap and perfect weather and temps to make the hike out to the road. I thouroughly enjoyed my time, the quiet and lack of people on the trail. Another great adventure while we wait for the main snowpack to melt out. Enjoy the pics! YouTube edit is linked below for your viewing pleasure! More adventures to come!
Finally on trail for the year for some backpacking! We started at the Cave Springs trailhead and made our way up a very sandy wash. Hiking in sand is really hard! It almost feels like you are losing the battle and feel like you are going nowhere fast. Luckily at the Salt Creek turnoff we had wet sand which does compact like a regular trail for us to push it in. After 3 miles we arrive at the Peekaboo feature and see some very nice pictogrpahs. Wakling through the Peekaboo is pretty neat!
We moved up the trail winding our way through turn after turn in this canyon. There were some open washes, and some dry sand to walk, but it mixed it up enough to not make any stretch too terrible to navigate. We finally after 10 miles arrived at our spot for the night and we got camp set and settled in for the evening! After a timelapse, some dinner, and some receovery hydration it was off to bed!
Morning brough partly cloudy skies and pleasant temps. After breakfast and coffee we broke camp and made our way to the Angel Arch junction and dropped the packs, put on the day packs, and made our way to the Arch. This was such a nice hike, perfect weather, wildflowers everywhere, and all around great temperatures. It was wet in spots from our record breaking water year, and just delightful to be walking here. A couple up small ups and we were at the Arch. Angel Arch is mind blowing and beautiful at the same time. We had the Arch to ourselves for a bit so we took it all in and refuled to head back to the junction to get our packs and hit the trail again for our next camp.
We reunite with our packs and continue up the trail. This is the gnarliest, ever terrain changing part of the trail. There were several water crossings which were sketchy, and a couple where hte trail was running water so we had to go off trail to navigate certain spots. It seems like every plant tries to grab you in this section, leaving several marks and cuts on me even in full pants and a sun hoodie. We eventually climbed to a bench then crossed a sandy wash and were back in typical desert terrain. We came upon a small falls and made that our break spot. We had a water party and then moved up to our camp.
SC3 lies within a desert valley and is quite nice. It has some trees and isn't too far from a spring. We got camp set and decided to head for the springs, and then move up to two of the features I was most excited to see! First stop was Four Faces. This pictograph is really amazing and the sites were so nice to see! We then crossed the desert in the evening sun and up through the choke point and over to All American Man. I have seen pictures of this pictograph, but notning compares to seeing it in person! It is amazing and we respected the site and did not climb in the cave. It is protected and carries a $5,000 fine if you are caught in there. After such an amazing adventure, I headed back to the springs for a water fill up and a foot soak while Jim ran up to the Squash Patch. Once we returned to camp we got in the night gear, had dinner and enjoyed the stars for a while. Then it was off to bed!
We awoke to Day 3 just kind of lounging around, a visit to the sping to freshen up and top the waters off, then it was off on the trail. We had 12.4 miles to get to our third camp, so we made haste and pushed hard all day to get there. We arrived in the evening and set up camp and relaxed for our last night in Salt Creek. It was a great camp and we had a nice dinner under alcove with the stars so bright! The crickets and frogs sang all night as we drifted off to some much needed sleep!
Our final morning was crystal clear and warm. We made breakfast and then packed up and made the 3.5 mile journey back to Cave Springs trailhead. 4 days, 3 night, 38 miles out and back in Salt Creek! It was a awesome journey and a place that has captured my heart and soul! Enjoy the pics and make sure you watch Episodes I and II from this trip on my YouTube channel below! More adventures to come!
