Turning Lemons into Lemonade

August 29th
Day Off #3

OK, today we were supposed to be hiking in Capitol Reef but that didn't work out.  How many people live 30 minutes from Zion's east gate and have access to some of Earth's most wondrous scenery and plentiful trails?  Count us fortunate.

A reference to 'The Barracks' led to a write-up about Parunuweap Canyon.  The entire route is a tough 10-mile round-trip from Checkerboard Mesa to the East Fork of the Virgin River, requiring equipment and skills we don't possess.  But the trail can be done as an out-and-back of whatever length and difficulty desired. 

We began the hike with a happy accident, choosing the wrong wash.  It was a U-shaped chute of colorful sandstone with an ascending line of pools strung along the bottom.  Rain overnight had intensified the sandstone's colors and filled the pools. 

 

 

 

 

 

Realizing our error, we crossed a ridge and dropped into the wash on the other side.  Although this was the right one, it was very different from its neighbor:  cool, dark and more narrow.  Its sand floor was still wet and leaves on the over-hanging branches still held raindrops.  (We appreciated both of  these much more on the way out than on the way in!)

 

Moving along the drainage was easy for half a mile until we reached the first obstacle, a large chockstone looming over a deep pool. 

 

The work-around was the obvious path up the steep hill to the left.  Walking in the wash to the next barrier, scrambling upward to avoid it then returning to the wash was the pattern for the first segment of the hike.  Until we reached the point where the canyon's sides converged below saddle more than 100 feet above.

Getting up and over the saddle entailed making a difficult, almost vertical climb through deep sand.  From the summit, we had stunning views of Zion's East Rim to north and Parunuweap to the south.  The rocks, geography and plant-life south of the saddle was more desert-like than what we'd passed through north of it.  A vast expanse of sandstone, bare of most vegetation, swept out from Checkerboard Mesa's immense base towards far canyons dark and deep. 

Southern end of Checkerboard Mesa

 

 

 

We gradually descended and worked our way southeast around Checkerboard in order to see Checkerboard Arch, which was disappointingly small and distant.

The return trip was considerably faster because we could substitute following our footprints in the damp sand for way-finding.