Change of Pace

Tuesday, June 4th
Day Off #2

Starting in the 1930s, the Kanab area was the setting for many Western movies and TV shows; one of the most popular was the "Gunsmoke" series.  A set, in deteriorating condition, sits on private land in Johnson Canyon, east of town.  The southern portion of the road is paved for about 20 miles then turning to dirt or gravel where it bears northeast toward Cannonville and becomes Skutumpah Road. 

 

Remnants of the 'Gunsmoke' set

 



We took our bikes to the small parking lot for viewing the Gunsmoke set and rode north for 7.5 miles.  The road is flat, lightly traveled and surrounded by magnificent scenery:  gentle hills clothed in juniper and sagebrush, stark chalky-white cliffs, striking coral pink sand that glows neon in sunlight and, looming above all, Navajo sandstone heights.  Traveling the canyon  floor, we biked past homes, irrigated fields, grazing cattle and numerous side canyons. 

Although we enjoyed the ride and the scenery, we had several errands to complete and needed to turn around.  A headwind made getting back to the car a bit less fun.


First on our to-do list was returning to the Red Pueblo Museum in Fredonia in hopes the curator could give us some information about the pottery shards we'd found.  Mr. Dickson told us they were made by the Anasazi between 700 and 1250 AD.  The smooth pieces are probably older than the corrugated ones but the coarse non-corrugated shards are most likely Paiute, and therefore more recent.  Since there is an abundance of shards, it is likely there are arrowheads and perhaps beads present as well.  He was raised in the area and knows where to find secret and wonderful things-- dinosaur tracks, petroglyphs, pueblos, even an underground lake!  He'll be a valuable source of information and hiking destinations.

Smooth pottery shards 

 

Various styles of corrugated pottery

 

 



 

 

Corrugated pots

 



Lower Hackberry Canyon

Monday, June 3rd
Day Off #1

Two of our four workdays this week were short ones, 6 to 11 AM, but we were happy to see Monday arrive.  Our destination for today was Lower Hackberry Canyon in the southern part of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. 

We'd tried to hike here in the winter of 2012 but found walking on the ice-covered creek too risky.  Even though today was hot and the wash is sandy, it was an easier (and safer) trek than our earlier attempt.

Cottonwood Road, 36 miles east of Kanab on Route 89, is in good condition though a bit bumpy or washboard-y in a few spots.  On foot, travel up-canyon was plodding because of deep sand and, as time passed, increasing heat and decreasing shade.  About a mile and half from the trailhead, a trickle of water--Hackberry Creek!--started coming toward us and grew in volume the further upstream we went.  We took off our shoes and splashed through the cool, ankle-deep water to the turn-around point, barbed wire strung across the creek from one wall of the canyon to the other. 

The creek hadn't flowed as far down-canyon as we hoped and all too soon we had to get re-shod and trudge through the soft sand again.  I was soon grateful for the shoes because we came upon a rattlesnake sunning on a flat rock in the dry creek-bed.  He was as surprised as we were, deftly disappearing between two rocks and warning us away with his rattling.

 

 

 

 

Reaching the trailhead about noon, we decided to postpone the short but demanding scramble  to Yellow Rock until we had our hiking poles and could get an earlier/cooler start.  Instead, we would 'do' the Paria Box since we had to pass the trailhead on the way back to Route 89.   When we got to the Paria River, we realized that the map and brief description we had were completely inadequate:  is the Box upstream or down?  how long is the hike?  how difficult is it? why isn't our insect spray protecting us from these voracious greenhead flies? 

Again we strategically revised our plans, delaying the Box until we had better information.  The brave BLM volunteer at the hot, dry, dusty, lonely Paria Contact Station recommended driving 5 miles on the Pareah Town Site Road (vs 12 miles on Cottonwood) and traveling through the Box from west to east.

By the time we returned to the RV, we were grateful some of our plans had to be rescheduled--Hackberry was enough for today!