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SteveH
Death Valley Resident
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
Posts: 1350
Location: Sonoma, CA
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 Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 3:10 pm
Post subject: Yosemite exclusives, Palm Cyn, The Slot Anza-Borrego
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I finally had a chance to get back to Yosemite this past weekend to finish up my 3rd Yosemite Valley exclusive (delayed for 3 years). But while there, I found another extremely rare and beautiful hike out of the valley. So instead of one hike, I have two to share. Until I get to the TRs, here are a couple of preview pictures. Our first hike was out to Rainbow View along the little-known and seldom-visited Rockslides Trail. The second hike took us up a challenging route to reach the box canyon amphitheater at the base of Ribbon Falls. These actually turned out to be 2 of the best hikes I've ever done in Yosemite Valley. More info and details coming in the upcoming TRs.
Reaching the base of Ribbon Fall and looking up:
Looking out at Yosemite Valley from forgotten Rainbow View:
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Last edited by SteveH on Wed Jun 06, 2012 11:28 am; edited 3 times in total |
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Kauri
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Joined: 01 Dec 2010
Posts: 139
Location: San Rafael, CA
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2012 8:45 pm
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Sounds like you had a great trip!! Nice photos!
I'm hoping to get to Yosemite this summer; I'll try to check out Rainbow View.
Looking forward to your TRs! |
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SteveH
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
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Location: Sonoma, CA
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2012 6:47 pm
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It's a really good adventure hike, Kauri. Some of the best views in the valley, easy to get to, and plenty of peace and solitude away from the thousands of tourists. The TRs will be delayed but be up in a week or so.
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MojaveGeek
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Joined: 09 Feb 2008
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Location: Boston
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SteveH
Death Valley Resident
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
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Location: Sonoma, CA
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Posted: Wed May 23, 2012 5:52 pm
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Sorry these TRs have been delayed because of my DV trip earlier this month plus....
We hiked Palm Canyon near Palm Springs today. 100F nice weather for a hike.
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SteveH
Death Valley Resident
Joined: 23 Jun 2006
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Location: Sonoma, CA
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Posted: Sun May 27, 2012 10:16 pm
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Today to wrap up our So Cal trip we went out to Anza-Borrego for the first time ever and hiked The Slot. It was a good introduction to the area and it will be great to come back someday to see more.
I will write up TRs for both Palm Canyon in Palm Springs and The Slot in Anza-Borrego soon.
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netllama
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Joined: 28 Jun 2006
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Location: SF Bay Area, CA
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SteveH
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
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Location: Sonoma, CA
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Posted: Mon May 28, 2012 9:38 pm
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Nice pictures, netllama. You got some great pictures of the wind caves. And interesting ones of the elephants and serpents. That serpent made me think of Badwater Nessie.
The Slot was a fun hike. I would like to in the future hit some more of the harder to reach slot canyons in Anza-Borrego. But it was a good introduction to the park.
This summer I am trying to get to Buckskin Gulch / Paria Canyon. It's the one and only hike I want to do. But it's 14 hours away from my house. But I'd like to at least dayhike it (20.2 miles).
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SteveH
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MojaveGeek
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Joined: 09 Feb 2008
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Location: Boston
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 5:51 pm
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| SteveH wrote: |
This summer I am trying to get to Buckskin Gulch / Paria Canyon. It's the one and only hike I want to do. But it's 14 hours away from my house. But I'd like to at least dayhike it (20.2 miles). |
I can tell you that you don't want to be in Buckskin in a storm. A few years ago I went in via Wirepass and it clearly had flashed a few days earlier, quite a bit of sticky quicksand. Fun to see but we made a point to be out by noon. It's a tough one during monsoon season (say mid July through much of August) unless the forecast is real nice. Once you get in, you're in, for most of the day, with very few exit routes. It's not like a slot that you get through in 3-4 hours.
My goal is to get back there at the end of June, but I'm having medical issues again and may have surgery this time, which will kill that trip. Very hot but we prefer to be there before monsoon.
Note that the House Rock Valley road becomes impassible when wet.
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SteveH
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
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Posted: Thu May 31, 2012 7:08 pm
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Thanks for the tips, Mojave. What you said lines up with all the research I have done on Buckskin over the past year. Let me know if you will be in the same area and are interested in hiking Buckskin with me in late June. These are the hikes we are planning:
Buckskin Gulch and Paria Canyon (loop dayhike Wire Pass to White House)
Zion Narrows (dayhike)
Antelope Canyons
Little Wild Horse Cyn and Bell Cyn (loop hike)
Peekaboo Gulch and Spooky Gulch (loop hike)
Any other family friendly slot canyon suggestions for southern Utah would be helpful. We want to make sure we hit all of the best ones while we are there.
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Kauri
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Joined: 01 Dec 2010
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Location: San Rafael, CA
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 5:20 pm
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Great trip report!! Looks like you found a great waterfall that isn't well known!
I'm actually currently hiking slot canyons in southwestern Utah, so here's my recommendations:
Kanarra Creek (near Kanarraville) is by far the best slot canyon I've ever done. It's family friendly to the first set of narrows; there are a few water crossings before that but they're pretty easy. You have to wade through ankle deep water in the first set of narrows and they are blocked at the end by a 15-foot chockstone. It's got a ladder and rope attached to it but at that point the canyon ceases to be family friendly. The narrows up to the chockstone are definitely amazing! After that waterfall there is a second one with rock steps to the side, then the canyon opens up a little with a few creek crossings. The second set of narrows I wouldn't label as friendly; they are very narrow and the water appears to be waist deep and fast flowing in places. I didn't attempt it but I saw people trying to wade through and decided I didn't want to do it.
As far as very family friendly hikes, the junction of Clear Creek and Upper Pine Creek (just east of the Zion/Mt Carmel tunnel) has some easy to access and narrow slots plus at least one arch.
Red Hollow (near Orderville) has a short but very narrow (and colorful) slot that is about a half-mile from the road.
Another canyon in the Zion area that I'd recommend is Keyhole canyon (east of the Zion tunnel). It's a rappelling canyon but you can access the middle set of narrows by hiking cross-country across the slickrock. That section has very little water and tight narrows with chockstones; the biggest difficulty I found was that the slot was often tilted at an angle making it difficult to get through.
I've got two more slots near Zion I'm planning on checking out tomorrow; I'll let you know how those are. |
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MojaveGeek
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Joined: 09 Feb 2008
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 6:19 pm
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My guess is that by June Kanarra would be quite tame. Conditions vary in there a whole lot. My first time in there was a stout wooden log ladder at the second obstacle and though you had to climb a few rungs through the water fall, the water at the bottom was no more than thigh deep.
I also went in last year, which was after a very wet winter, and turned around within sight of the second obstacle, but made no attempt to try it - LOTS of water. Oh the log ladder had been destroyed. But this is a very popular place with the locals and lots of families go in there so it could be fixed up even by now or once the flow goes down more (not sure when Kauri was there?)
Looking at the USGS guage for N Fork Virgin (Zion narrows) it is down to less than the lower quartile of flow - so I would expect Kanarra to be easy. Mind you it's only a few hours walk. But in the early morning the light is spectacular as the walls are red and the canyon has an east/west orientation so catches very nice light.
Agree with Kauri about Clear/Pine but you're not very far from the road so doesn't feel really wild. If you're there, just east of the Canyon Overlook trail parking lot is unmarked Shelf Canyon - very nice little non-technical slot.
Full day of fun in total wilderness? Parunuweap via the Fat Man's Misery canyoneering exit route. Non techical. Clear track though you need to be savvy and definitely want a map. You go over the pass just west of Checkerboard Mesa, and then you are in absolutely incredible slickrock county - I have shot many panos there. You work your way down to the Parunuweap Canyon -takes some hours to get there - think of Zion Canyon, but all to yourself. One of the most beautiful places I've ever been. Blue/green clear water over red sand bottom. Much less rocky than the north fork (Zion narrows) - but of course you have to do that too. I was planning to go back there this summer due to the low water levels. I am very sad thinking about it, because I'm likely to have surgery this time and that will kill the trip. But it is so wonderful, I feel good about sharing it.
Kid friendly? Well we did it when Ben was 8, but it was a very long day for us (11 hours?) and you gotta believe my kid is a tough kid  Bring water filter / purification and drink a lot before you head out in the heat.
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SteveH
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Joined: 23 Jun 2006
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Posted: Fri Jun 01, 2012 7:44 pm
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Kauri is in Zion right now. Sounds like she is having an amazing time.
Thanks for sharing all the details and trip highlights, Kauri. I'm going to research all of those places and see which one or two looks best. I will have an extra day in Zion with nothing to do. I had heard Keyhole Canyon was almost entirely accessible via a couple of bypasses, to creatively piece it together in sections.
Mojave, nice pictures. Every one of those places looks amazing. Definitely some more great ideas that I need to research.
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MojaveGeek
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Posted: Sat Jun 02, 2012 7:33 am
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Best beta on the web is at Bo and Tanya's web site:
http://www.zionnational-park.com/hiking-zion-national-park.htm
And Joe Braun's"
http://www.citrusmilo.com/zionguide/
Both are superb and have taught me a lot. Bo and Tanya are about to publish all their stuff in a book, due out momentarily, covering much of the web stuff. Bo runs the Desert Rat, an outdoor gear store in St. George, if you find you need anything.
If you want to know more about Parunuweap, PM me. Usually I don't recommend it on a first trip out there but you're skilled at wandering in places where you are all alone and need to rely on yourself.
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