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Gr8fulJ420
strange but nota stranger



Registered: 02/17/01
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Zion - now w/ shiny pictures
#6721391 - 03/28/07 05:47 PM (16 years, 10 months ago) |
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Here's some photos from my trip to Zion last month. We hiked Angels Landing, Hidden Canyon, Emerald Pools, Riverside Walk, and an over-night backcountry trek into the Kolob Canyons. We also spent a night at Bryce Canyon, but were too exhausted by then to take any hikes down into the Bryce Amphitheater. My next trip to that area will be to tackle the Narrows and spend a 3-4 day backcountry trek at Bryce.
I love Utah!
 My wife and myself at the East Entrance.
 Me in front of Angel's Landing, one of the best hikes in the park. It's a 2.5 mile hike to the top of that rock behind me.
 The last half mile to the top of Angel's Landing you hike along the spine of the rock to the top. The Park Service has installed chains on some of the steeper parts to help you along. Foot- and hand-holds have been worn into the sandstone, but the chains are very useful on the way back down.

 Views of the chains. Last week somebody fell off this rock and died.ap story

 Views from the top.
 A portion of the trail to Angel's Landing, viewed from above. Yikes, did we really hike that?
 A small arch we found inside the Hidden Canyon, a side-canyon branching off the main Zion Canyon.
 Long exposure sky shot taken from our campsite.
Edited by Gr8fulJ420 (06/12/07 02:51 PM)
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unbeliever
Yo Daddy!

Registered: 05/22/04
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Zion and Bryce are two of the most beautiful places in the country. Enjoy it and don't forget to take some pictures (and maybe some shrooms too, heh).
-------------------- Happiness is a warm gun...
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Gr8fulJ420
strange but nota stranger



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This will be my second trip to the area, and we're gonna devote most of the time to Zion and a few days at Bryce. A few years ago we made a grand tour of the state with two days at Arches, two at Zion, a day at Bryce and Capitol Reef, and an afternoon checking out Goblin Valley.
And there are so so many more amazing places down there to check out yet.
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ToTheSummit
peregrinus



Registered: 08/22/99
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Zion is indeed beautiful! If I had some time I'd come up for some hikes, but I'll be using up the last of my time-off favors with my boss just a couple weeks earlier at the AZ gathering.
If you could arrange a hike through the narrows that'd be awesome but I think that one requires permits and some prior planning. You have some one drop you off at the top and hike down through this canyon which empties out right into the main part of the ZNP canyon. Its a great hike and makes for an amazing day. About 12-14 miles hiking down a canyon with a stream in the bottom. In places the canyon narrows down to a slot canyon and you look straight up at vertical walls hundreds of feet overhead. And you have to wade through the stream. Its impossible to do this hike and stay dry. People always start out the day trying to keep their feet dry if they've never hiked it before but parts of it require wading at least waist deep to forge ahead. You can tell the veterans because they wade right through the stream at the start of the day even when its not necessary! Its a truly amazing hike and well worth it if you can pull it off.
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
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Gr8fulJ420
strange but nota stranger



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Hopefully we'll be able to hike up the Narrows a mile or two from the main canyon, but I'm pretty sure we won't be doing a full top-bottom run. There's a bike shop in the town of Springdale, I've decided that one day my wife and I will cruise up and down the canyon on a tandem. I am so completely fucking stoked about this trip!
I havent been off Maui in over a year and haven't been on the mainland in almost two! I am ready to speed on an Interstate Highway again and buy cheap groceries :-)
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Gr8fulJ420
strange but nota stranger



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bump for photos :-)
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5150
phantom

Registered: 09/01/06
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damn 2 years on the islands i was going a little crazy after 6 months on maui lived in lahaina and only did some occasional landscape work good times although some of the younger natives had major attitudes i dont miss the high prices thats for sure have fun in the four corners area, i,ve spent a decent amount of time up there,
http://www.jqjacobs.net/southwest/chelly.html
this place is a trip
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oDin

Registered: 08/12/99
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Re: Zion [Re: 5150]
#7051725 - 06/16/07 12:41 AM (16 years, 7 months ago) |
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sweet pics,,,,that trail looks badass
someday we need to hook up and hike....drag summit along...hell yeah
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Madtowntripper
Sun-Beams out of Cucumbers



Registered: 03/06/03
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Re: Zion [Re: oDin]
#7059138 - 06/17/07 09:50 PM (16 years, 7 months ago) |
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Funny time for me to see this thread...
I'm down in Utah right now doing a bunch of stuff for my Masters. I'm trying to get a bunch of information about the area from Zion and a bunch of other places around there. Today was my first day in Zion and I just took a short walk most of the way down the canyon. For the next couple of days I'm going to be in Kolob Canyon, doing a bunch of mapping.
Its going to be so fucking hot. I almost died today after just doing the Grand Canyon a few days ago.
I have a bunch of pictures that I'll put up eventually.
And I agree 100% with what you say about Bryce. I'm a pretty jaded person, but I have no problems saying that Bryce is the most amazing place I've ever seen.
But I'm a rock nerd....
-------------------- After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action. If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it. - Ernest Hemingway If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it. In the law courts, in business, in government. There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent. -Cormac MacCarthy He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
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ToTheSummit
peregrinus



Registered: 08/22/99
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Quote:
Madtowntripper said: But I'm a rock nerd....
Southern Utah/Northern Arizona is a geologists dream!
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
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Madtowntripper
Sun-Beams out of Cucumbers



Registered: 03/06/03
Posts: 21,287
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It really is.
I've been out here a few weeks visiting obscure geologic sites, trying to gather information about this huge fucking sea that used to cover the area...
I was at the Picuris Mountains, right near Taos for like a week. And before that doing some work on some BLM land out near Las Vegas, NM. And now I'm in Cedar City doing some work at Red Hill and Zion & Bryce. Parowan Gap next week and I can head home.
The Mormons kind of freak me out, but Cedar City is otherwise a beautiful city...
-------------------- After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action. If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it. - Ernest Hemingway If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it. In the law courts, in business, in government. There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent. -Cormac MacCarthy He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
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Gr8fulJ420
strange but nota stranger



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I may not agree with the Mormon's exact doctrines, but I respect the fact that their forefathers left the east and settled the desolation of Utah, in hopes of starting their own religious communities. And those Mormon pioneers had to deal with some of the most adverse fucking weather and terrain that this country can throw at them.
Have you had any free time that you could go for a hike up any of the sweet trails inside those parks?
It was much cooler in early May when I was there. I can't imagine how hot it is now, or will be in another month or so!
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Madtowntripper
Sun-Beams out of Cucumbers



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Yeah, I've done quite a bit of hiking the last few days.
I finished up working in Kolob Canyon inside Zion this afternoon and went for a hike up a streambed to this neat double-arch alcove back. I dont know who prints up the signs, because it was listed at 5 miles/4 hours, and I did it in 2, and I rested for a half hour before I headed back.
I think the NPS is just trying to scare people.
I didn't get to hike in Bryce at all, but I'd love to go back. We took a weekend off this last one and hit up the Grand Canyon. We hiked down to Cottonwood Camp and spent the night, which is about 7.5 miles down, I think. That was a grueling one. I dont do hills that well, and its deceptive because going down is SO easy.
But those fucking stairs...Christ. I almost died. I think I drank like, 5 liters of water and didnt piss once. We left at 5 in the morning, and it was almost 95 degrees. 120 in the SHADE a few hours later.
Gorgeous country to visit, but I could not live out here. My people are from temperate climates...
-------------------- After one comes, through contact with it's administrators, no longer to cherish greatly the law as a remedy in abuses, then the bottle becomes a sovereign means of direct action. If you cannot throw it at least you can always drink out of it. - Ernest Hemingway If it is life that you feel you are missing I can tell you where to find it. In the law courts, in business, in government. There is nothing occurring in the streets. Nothing but a dumbshow composed of the helpless and the impotent. -Cormac MacCarthy He who learns must suffer. And even in our sleep pain that cannot forget falls drop by drop upon the heart, and in our own despair, against our will, comes wisdom to us by the awful grace of God. - Aeschylus
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ToTheSummit
peregrinus



Registered: 08/22/99
Posts: 9,126
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Quote:
Madtowntripper said: I dont know who prints up the signs, because it was listed at 5 miles/4 hours, and I did it in 2, and I rested for a half hour before I headed back.
I think the NPS is just trying to scare people.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure the park service make the signs with the goofy family from the suburbs in mind. Imagine mom and dad, both out of shape, dragging along their 3 unwilling children and the signs are usually just about right! 
Quote:
Madtowntripper said: We took a weekend off this last one and hit up the Grand Canyon. We hiked down to Cottonwood Camp and spent the night, which is about 7.5 miles down, I think. That was a grueling one. I dont do hills that well, and its deceptive because going down is SO easy.
But those fucking stairs...Christ. I almost died. I think I drank like, 5 liters of water and didnt piss once. We left at 5 in the morning, and it was almost 95 degrees. 120 in the SHADE a few hours later.
Gorgeous country to visit, but I could not live out here. My people are from temperate climates...
The Grand Canyon is great. Spent a week backpacking below the rim a few years back. Even when I was there in late september it still got to about 105 down at the river (even though it was in the 70s at the south rim). Funny thing about hiking the Grand Canyon is that once you put all the effort into hiking down to the bottom you suddenly realize that the best place to view the canyon is right where the fat guy was standing 20 feet away from his minivan back at the top! 
Oh, and to be honest about it, I'd rather hike out of the canyon (uphill) rather then into it (downhill). Those long, all day, steep, downhill hikes are a bitch!
-------------------- You invented the wheel....You push the motherfucker!!
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oDin

Registered: 08/12/99
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as far as government agencies in the US go the US Forest service is usually staffed with....trying to be nice...unhelpful or uneducated staff as far as hiking/backpacking goes. next is the National Park Service...not quite as bad but tend to be over cautious in there info.. thus their info is basically useless to the seasoned hiker...i have actually received totally inaccurate info from them. BLM is the best...most time they know their stuff and by far they have the best web sites. the USFS has the shittiest web sites imo except the Alaska ones don't seem bad
not the fault of the personal all the time as their budgets have been gutted the last 10 years or so
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RandalFlagg
Stranger
Registered: 06/15/02
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Beautiful pics Gr8tful. Zion was gorgeous when I was there. Unfortunately, I didn't get to do any hiking (as it was like 120 degrees). I did do a hike in Bryce and it was awesome however.
TotheSummit: Yeah, I've noticed that the times are totally over-estimated. All of the "2 hour" hikes I've been on I did in like 30-45 minutes. But, I am a young and in-shape man who hustles on the trails.
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notapillow
I want to be a fisherman



Registered: 09/29/03
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Re: Zion - now w/ shiny pictures [Re: Gr8fulJ420]
#7590756 - 11/03/07 11:38 AM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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wow J
amazing! i love utah. did not gtet to properly explore it on my way to and from colorado bt it truly is a land of magisty
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kindkesey
take it further



Registered: 03/16/03
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Re: Zion - now w/ shiny pictures [Re: notapillow]
#7694941 - 11/29/07 01:58 PM (16 years, 2 months ago) |
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Wow..... looks like an awesome time! Thanks for sharing the pics.... I'm in aw... and feel trapped in a concrete jungle!
-------------------- Stay Kool, and enjoy the bus ride.....
"Intrepid Search For Innerspace" DAVID JONES where are you?
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