IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 3
Monday, October 3, 2011

After a good night of sleep, we woke up on Monday morning early enough so that we could drive back over to the overlook at Toroweap and catch the sunrise. We set up our cameras at a viewpoint overlooking the Grand Canyon to the East.

The sun just peeking over the horizon with a great view down into the Grand Canyon.

Sun-Kissed Canyon by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

After taking some photos looking East, Jared and I headed over to get a view towards the West.

Jared at Toroweap by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Jared taking his shot.

Taking the Shot by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Once we were done photographing the sunrise, we packed up camp and left Toroweap behind.

Leaving Toroweap by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 2
Sunday, October 2, 2011

After an awesome night camping under the stars in perfect weather near Little Black Mountain, we were up early, had a little breakfast and were soon on our way back into Utah. Our ultimate destination for the day would be Toroweap on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, but we would have a lot of exploring to do on our way there.

After entering Utah again, we quickly found ourselves in Warner Valley. As we headed east, we took the short detour to Fort Pearce which is located along the old Honeymoon Trail.

Fort Pearce Heritage Site by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Of course, our first objective at the site was to find the petroglyphs located near the fort. They were easy to find and the area offered a nice view.

Fort Pearce Petroglyphs by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at the petroglyphs on the slanted boulder.

Fort Pearce Boulder by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 1
Saturday, October 1, 2011

Saturday was the start of my annual ‘Southern Utah Wanderings’ trip that I usually go on in October. This year is a little different since I wanted to venture a little further south so that I could start exploring the Arizona Strip. Like last year, my friend Jared joined me on this trip. He headed down from the Salt Lake area after work on Friday and stayed at my house over night so that we could get an early start driving on Saturday morning.

Saturday would mostly be a driving day, but we did manage to make a few stops along the way. The first of them being a short side trip to the Parowan Gap. The Parowan Gap is one of Utah’s best-known petroglyph sites, which is located in a 600-foot-deep notch through the Red Hills on the eastern edge of the Escalante Desert. I’ve been looking forward to visiting this site for some time.

The ‘Zipper-Glyph’ is probably the most well known petroglyph panel at the site. Some believe the main design that resembles a zipper is a map or a calendar….or maybe even both. All I know is that it is shaped just like the Parowan Gap that it is located near.

Zipper-Glyph by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

A closer look at another petroglyph panel located next to the ‘Zipper-Glyph’

Snake-Man by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

We walked through the gap keeping a lookout for petroglyphs along the way. When we reached the west side, this is the last boulder we found containing some petroglyphs.

West Boulder by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Sunday, September 25, 2011

After my float down the Colorado River in the afternoon, I came home and relaxed for a little while. About an hour before sunset I decided to head out and do a little mountain biking near home. Not too far away is a part of the Old Spanish Trail, and it’s open to bikes, so I headed over there for a short and easy ride as the sun was setting. I took a few photos along the way…

Long Shadows

The shadows were starting to get long when I started.

Old Spanish Trail

Plenty of signs along the way to keep you on the right track.

Road Ahead

It’s a pretty desolate-looking area….and only a few miles from home.

Old Road

Part of an old road through the badlands….the Grand Mesa peeking up in the background.

Gunnison River

The trail connected up with the Gunnison Bluffs Trail for a little bit where I had a view down onto the Gunnison River.

Grand Valley View

View of the Grand Valley from where I turned around. I could have gone just a little further, but would have just ended up in a subdivision.

Sunday, September 25, 2011

After spending Saturday at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park and getting home later than normal again, Amanda and I woke just before sunrise so that we could watch the sun come up over the Grand Mesa from our hot tub. Once it was up, I had some breakfast and then met up with my friend Jackson so we could float a section of the Colorado River from the Palisade River Bend Park to Corn Lake. It’s a shorter section of the river, but we didn’t want to make an all-day trip out of it…..just spend a few hours on the river on a nice day. One of my main reasons for this trip was so that I could try out his new Aire Tributary Tomcat Tandem inflatable kayak since I am looking at buying one over the winter for next season. After spending the afternoon on his boat, I can safely say that I will probably be picking one of them up 🙂 It will make a great boat for day trips and overnight trips on easier stretches of river!

Relaxing

Relaxing in the front of the boat. Unfortunately, I guess I am too heavy to sit this far forward in the boat since I got wet from water coming up through the self-bailing floor. Jackson and I ended up switching seats a little ways down the river and we had no further issues with water coming up into the boat.

Riffles

Riffles in the river looking back towards the Little Book Cliffs.

Quick Stop

Stopped so that we could change seats.

Jackson and his Boat

Jackson in Front

View from the back seat.

Smoke and Mount Garfield

It’s open burn season in Mesa County.

Looking Back

A view back towards Mount Garfield and Mount Lincoln.