Zion Traverse-ish

We got 1 group shot in the parking lot at what we thought was the trail head:

All smiles and ready for the days adventures.  We started down the trail, which seemed a bit overgrown and unkempt, but we are on an adventure, what a great beginning, and it's downhill.  So on we pressed.  After several minutes, the trail really began to disappear and look truly like water runoff and an old animal trail.  we opted to head back up and see if we somehow missed the actual trial head.

We certainly did.  Once we were back in the parking area, not 50 feet from were we parked, there was a large wooden sign indicating the trail head was a short distance down the road.  Off to a good start, we recognized our error early, and corrected.  

Again we started down the trail, this time a much more pronounced and well kept trail.  It was a fun little descent, a little dark, and in my infinite frugality and poor planning, i neglected to check the batteries in my headlamp.  The good news:  the moon was pretty bright, and i was able to stick with the group and take advantage of their headlamps.

There were several small creek crossings, which we managed to stay dry through, then i ran out of patience, besides, it was pretty warm, so i started crossing the easiest routes instead of trying to keep my feet dry.  

After 30 - 45 minutes, my headlamp died completely.  Jamie and Leah were making good time down the trail, and created a bit of a gap on Lacy and I.  Lacy stopped to make some adjustments, and I opted to shed the jacket and dead headlamp.  

The sky was super clear and there were tons of stars, and pretty good visibility, except where the trail went through thick clusters of trees, at which time, i would slow pretty much to a walk, and pick my way through. Through some of the rockier or more rooted sections, Lacy would light the path for me after she cleared the technical portions.  We continued on like this until the sky started to show signs of the rising sun.

My calves and lower legs started to tighten up pretty early on, no bueno.  I kept moving forward and figured they would loosen up in a bit, i just needed to pay attention and take it slow.  We followed La Verkin Creek for a good bit, and crossed that a couple times before we started to climb back up.  As we climbed the rising sun started to show the shadows of the canyon walls looming above us.  Looking at some of the walls, and the moon making it's way towards the horizon: 

After a bit more rolling terrain we made another short stop to shed some more layers in preparation for the rising sun and enjoy some of the colors which were started to show in the coming light:

Once there was enough light, we were able to enjoy some fun little descents 

And quickly found ourselves dumped out on the La Verkin Creek river valley.

Again the trail crossed the creek in several places, most of which had sufficient ice to cross safely.

Jamie making her way across the frozen creek

We checked the map (Jamie is pretty much a girl scout, not only did she bring a map, she brought a "tear proof" map, as in you can cry on it, and it would be fine, i imagine it would hold up pretty well against ripping as well, but let's not lose track of the fact that if you are lost and crying, the map will be safe:).  To see which side of the creek we would ultimately end up on, so we could minimize our creek crossings.


We would make our way along the river valley, each choosing a slightly different path, Leah and Lacy took to the high ground, Jamie wound up skating down the creek for a good portion, and i worked my way between the two options.  Apparently the video is too large to embed, so a link will have to do:  Lacy exhibiting some rock climbing moves while Leah opts for the shorter distance and proceeds to climb through the tree.

 Enjoying the rising sun and early adventures:

There is always time for a bit of ice skating

and back on the trail

Taking some time to reminisce about the trails traveled as we look back just before entering hop valley.

and Looking forward towards hop valley and our first round of treats:

Blue skies and positive outlooks would be the predominant theme throughout the day.  I mean how could it be otherwise, we are out on a quiet day enjoying zion national park with great people.

At the end of the climb up to the beginnings of hop valley, we found ourselves dumped into a field with no discernable trail, and the snowshoe tracks we'd been following seemed to disappear.  After consulting the map again, we decided that we wanted to stay to the left of the field and that should dump us out by the trail.

That logical soon changed when Lacy looked off the the right and inquired, "Is that a gate".  Nobody could confirm if it was or wasn't, since there wasn't much promise in our current direction, we opted to investigate.  Sure enough it was a gate, and had us right back on the trail.  Back to the snowshoe tracks and towards the hop valley trail head and stash of goodies.

We were pleasantly surprised to find our goods still there, a bottle of chocoloate milk and some odwalla bars for myself, Lacy had some salami and gouda cheese (yes Jamie, it was quite gouda:)  Leah had some vegetarian hot dogs, Jamie had trail mix of some form (some bear crackers and other little goodies and raisinets:

After a brief reprieve here, we started on our way again, making our way through hop valley and starting to check of some of the 25 ish miles to our next supply drop.  At this point my body started feeling uncharacteristically sluggish.  reminiscent of last year's malaise issues.  Not as bad, but definitely a solid reminder of the issues i went through.  I did a good bit of walking and trying to make sure i was up on my hydration and eating.

I also opted to take a good number of photos through this section, as it would allow me to go slower and hopefully allow the feelings of lethargy to pass.  i started going through my options (we are roughly 17 miles in, 23 left with a potential drop out point by the zion lodge in 20 miles.  i should be good to make it to the lodge and figure things out at that point.  It was very frustrating as we hadn't done any real hard efforts, yet my legs were feeling pretty tattered, and my energy levels were extremely flat.  i decided i'd keep moving forward and try not to lag too far behind, eat as much as i could get in and drink a lot and see if i could push through this feeling.

My thoughts drifted back and forth between the frustration (remembering how poor the 6 - 8 months of that feeling where and how much they wore on me) to being present and enjoying the incredible scenery and company.  This feeling lasted through most of the wildcat canyon trail (starting shortly after we left hop valley and subsiding at the point we started the descent around mile 30).  There were some fun little descents along wildcat canyon which i was able to enjoy, and get some good photos and video:

When we got to lava point, it was time to take a food break and check the map:

At this point, the wind was starting to pick up, and the sun had been pretty well hidden for some time.  There were a couple snow flurries which we encountered, and lots of relatively deep snow which Jamie and Leah took turns breaking through.  I was just trying to keep moving forward at this point, hoping to get some energy back and feel like moving forward.

After a little time on top of the park, we came across the pair of hikers we had seen while staging our supply drops.  They were about 26 or 27 miles into the hike, and were providing a snowshoe trail which we were following.  We talked with them a bit, I missed most of it, but think they had started 2 days ago, and planned on having another 2 nights on the trail.  The commented on our lack of gear, and inquired where we were heading.  There was a bit of discussion, but at this point much of the group had resigned to calling it a day at zion lodge and hoping to catch a ride to Jamie's truck from there.

They were kind enough to take some photos of us before we headed towards potato hollow:

At this point, the day was starting to wear on most everbody.  Leah and I were dragging pretty noiceably, Jamie was holding strong, and continued to break a good bit of trail, and Lacy was starting to come into her own.  She would take turns with Jamie breaking trail, and setting a solid pace, especially considering the requirement to break trail.

We dropped into potato hollow, 9 miles to Zion Canyon, and our final aid station, and likely bail out point.  We continued following the elk tracks through the hollow and consulting the map to make sure we were on track, and as we were starting to wonder if we'd strayed too far from the path, were greeted with a welcome sign:

Another bit of a climb up out of potato hollow which Lacy broke trail for.  Once we were on top again, there were some more incredible views. As Jamie and I were coming to the top, we caught a glimpse of a chunk of ice and snow as it fell from the opposing cliffs:

Leah and Lacy heard the crash as the snow and ice slammed into the canyon below.

We enjoyed the views briefly before beginning the descent.  A pleasant surprise as most of the snow had melted off the trail and we enjoyed some clear running down much of the switch backs ( i need a gimball, or to learn how to run more smoothly)

After some precarious climbing over snow blocking the trail, and a slip almost of the side by Jamie, we found ourselves once again at the bottom of another climb, gazing up at the rock formations surrounding us. 

We made our way up another set of climbs to scouts lookout or something like that.  Along the way up, Lacy pointed out several mule deer hanging out enjoying their dinner:

Shortly after this we were at the top and ready for our final descent into Zion canyon.  The initial set of switchbacks were ice covered and pretty steep:

Lacy made quick work of them letting out shouts of joy ever once so often, while Jamie, Leah, and myself chose a more cautious and slow approach.  Once the switch backs opened up a bit, i was able to put in a good effort, and managed to close the gap to run with Lacy for a bit.  We were descending as twilight was settling in on the canyon, making for some pretty incredible views:

As we got to the bottom of the canyon, and gathered the last of our supply drops, we made our way to the road just in time for a ride.  We decided it in our best interest to save the final 10 miles of trail for another trip, so we shall be back once the weather warms a bit, and the schedule affords.

We were fortunate enough that the first car stopped, and offered us a ride.  Two grad students from Cincinnati who had quite the trip planned:  they flew in to vegas, and were planning on hitting up zion, bryce, arches, monument valley, the grand canyon, and the back to vegas before they returned home (i think i missed one or two of their destinations).

They were super considerate, and tolerant, offering all 4 of us a ride, so we all piled in and commenced steaming up their windows (we were very volatile according to the female).  We all got a good laugh out of that, and she tried to explain she was more referring to the heat we were producing than the odor.  regardless if she found our odor overpowering or not, we all agreed we each produced a noticeable odor, and were to pick up Sirius and my truck, get food, and another hotel (Colorado is making me soft:)

We got some pizza, headed back to the hotel, cleaned up and slept.  The next morning, the ladies headed back to colorado, and i hung around to meet up with Mike and Catalina for some hiking in Zion over the weekend.

All in all it was an incredible trip, great views, lots of fresh air, and very good people to share it with.  i look forward to the next adventure, with perhaps a little less snow as there is plenty of that locally.


More photos can be found here:  http://photo-op.smugmug.com

the garmin details can be found here

in summary:
miles:  38.62
elevation gain:  4977 ft
Elapsed time:    12:40:19
Moving time:       8:50:08 (+ time slowly climbing and postholing)

Zion adventures

the trip that kept back and forthing continued to do so throughout.  At first mike and i were talking about coming to zion to traverse the park from west to east.  After a little bit, john and gena were going to join us, then a few weeks before the scheduled departure, leah was added to the roster.  10 days before, the party grew again, Jamie and lacy were adjusting somethings so they could join as well.

there was talk about going to the grand canyon and doing a double crossing instead of the zion.  that would work, though many of us were anxious to see zion for the first time, a double crossing would prove to be an excellent way to spend the day, and logistically easier.

we all met up the weekend before our departure for Leadville Running Company's first annual reindeer run.  all were in good spirits and looking forward to the coming week and our trip.  after the run we met up for happy hour and to go over the logistics.  We would all meet up in leadville and depart at 7pm.

The day before our departure, mike learned his hip pain was due to a labral tear in his hip, he was out.  after some logistical adjustments, it was decided to head to zion and proceed with the traverse.  Leah, Sirius and I would meet Jamie and Lacy in minturn on Tuesday night and we'd head out from there.

We got to Zion early Wednesday morning, set up camp, and got some much appreciated rest.  Lacy,  Sirius, and I woke somewhat early, and decided to wander around and check out the area.  When we returned, Leah and Jamie were up, we made a meager fire waited for the sun to come out (it didn't make it on wednesday), and then started prepping things for a couple supply drops and logistics.

We dropped Jamie's truck off at the east entrance, and stopped by the grocery store to pick up some last minute treats for our supply drops.

We dropped the first bag at the bottom of angels landing a short stretch from the zion lodge, the second bag of treats at the hop valley trail head, and proceeded towards lava point for our third set of supplies.  After some slipping and sliding, we chose the cautious approach and skipped the 1.8 mile drive through unplowed roads to the lava point drop location.  This would mean we'd have aid at mile 13 and mile 38.

By this point we were all pretty tired and ready for food and sleep.  We opted to get a hotel and have a good nights sleep and a good meal before starting on the adventure.  After a little discussion and review, we opted to have mexican for dinner, and decided on a local restaurant:  Lupita's.

We had no idea what a treat we were in for.  We were greeted by a small mexican gift shop with all sorts of random articles.  Somehow nobody thought to document any of this, i think we were just overwhelmed with the state of the restaurant.  We sat down and ordered.

When the waitress came with our food, everybody was pleased and we all began eating immediately.  Everything was super tastey.  definitely worth visiting if you are in the cedar city area and like good mexican food.

next stop hotel.  we migrated the necessary items into the hotel, packs, sleeping bags and pads, and whatever supplies we would be trekking across the park with.  Sirius and i headed out for out evening walk.  It was snowing, fortune was on our side, a nice warm hotel for roughly the same price to pitch our tents amongst the myriad of people that leave their homes to go camping in an undersized overcrowded tract of land on the side of the I-15.

shortly before 5 the alarms starting going off.  time to get moving.  a final once over of our gear, final choices of attire, which was pretty lightweight as the morning turned out to be slightly warmer than the previous day.  a pleasant surprise.  We transfer everything back to the truck and head to the trailhead.

Sirius would stay in the car at Lee's pass for the day while we made our push for the east park entrance and Jamie's truck.

If you are interested in the day's adventures, check out part 2:

enjoying the snow

It's been a couple weeks since the last write up.  i like to believe i'm getting the hang of this winter running deal.  it's more like the running done in Juneau during the Alaska Mountain Ultrarunning Camps  Lots of scenery and enjoying the views.  I haven't been very good about bringing my camera along, perhaps that will change.

One thing for sure, it's definitely a bit colder here than i've had the pleasure of experiencing during the past 15 or 20 years.  As a matter of fact i can't recall running in negative or single digit temperatures before about a month ago.  It takes a good bit of motivation to get moving, and i've been struggling a little trying to keep my feet warm, but once you overcome these couple of hurdles, it's an incredible experience.

This past week has been extra cold.  I don't know that it's been above 10 since the 1st.  The average temperature on my runs has been right around 3 degrees, lots of snow means even running on the road is like running on a trail (if you choose the right roads).  surrounded by trees with the crunching of snow under foot, it's a great experience so far.

Once i figure out how to keep my feet warm, i'm sure things will be much more enjoyable.  For now, i'm just focusing on playing in the snow and trying to find some new trails.

In a couple weeks, there will be an excursion to either zion or the grand canyon, either one will be a great time with good people, looking forward to some warmer weather, until then, i'll be making fresh tracks and seeking out more fun trails.