Western Legends Round-Up

August 22-24

The Western Legends Round-Up is Kanab's biggest whoop-de-doo of the year and Parry Lodge's busiest weekend.  Being located smack-dab in the center of town plus housing most of the stars in attendance makes Parry Lodge 'command central' for the annual festival--a great opportunity for us to meet all the celebrities and see all the goings-on.

On the eve of Western Legends Round-Up, we happened to be in town when a huge 'chainsaw sculpture' grizzly bear was being placed in front of Denny's Wigwam.  The operation involved a heavy-duty forklift, four men, lots of straps and many sidewalk superintendents.  One of whom was western actor Dan 'Grizzly Adams' Haggerty. 

 

 After the bear was more or less upright, Grizzly suggested that Fred take a picture of me with him and Robert Fuller from "Laramie" and "Wagon Train."

Parry Lodge is in the background.

 

The Western Legends Round-Up included numerous types of events over the three days:

 

We saw In Cahoots perform twice and enjoyed their music and talking with them.

Neil Summers, actor and stunt man, at the celebrity autograph site.

 



Young Paiute dancer.

 



One of the tractors in the Saturday morning Parade of Power.

 

Jan with Dr. James D'Arc, author of When Hollywood Came to Town:

A History of Moviemaking in Utah

 



Stars of the 2013 Western Legends Round-Up in front of Parry Lodge

[including Mike Moroff, James Hampton, Ed Faulkner, Stan Corliss, Dan Haggerty, Darby Hinton, Wyatt McCrea, Neil Summers, Lana Wood]

Two Pine Arch and Clear Creek Wash

Tuesday, August 20
Day Off

Because the Western Legends Round-Up starts on Thursday, we only had one day off for the week.  Hiking Two Pine Arch and possibly Progeny Peak, on the east side of Zion, would keep us close to home and also let us tick off another item on the to-do list.

Finding the right parking spot was a challenge because the directions are written for those travelling from the west, the opposite of our approach, and uses a  missing road sign as a key landmark.  With the help of GPS co-ordinates we located the trailhead and headed up a wash alternately composed of sand and slickrock but uniformly hot and steep.  Even with an early start and patches of shade, we were soon breathing hard and sweating generously. 

Route to Two Pine Arch

 

Two Pine Arch is quite unusual because it's a rock 'rib' jutting from the side of the cliff like a flying buttress.  The trail description (thanks, Tanya and Bo!) includes a picture that helped us spot the arch and then trace a route across and up the 450' sandstone slope to reach it.  Sitting beneath the arch winded and hot, we debated continuing to Progeny Peak, a thousand feet higher, over slickrock in full sun with a forecast of 105*.   Descent was quicker, though trickier in several places, than our ascent.

 

Whew!  Made it.

View down-canyon from Two Pine Arch

Just south of our parking spot was an access to Clear Creek we had used in June to hike up-stream toward Route 9's short tunnel.  Going downstream we were soon enclosed in a narrow passage between tall, twisting, turning dull gray walls.

 

 

 

 

 

 

About half a mile below our entry point, the canyon abruptly pinched in below a sharp bend, trapping debris from recent storms and forming an unstable pile at least four feet thick.   

 

 

 

We made our way across the debris pile but feared walking in the wash beyond it because the mud was as unstable as quicksand.

 

Small Discoveries

Wednesday, August 21

Sunday's overcast and cooler weather offered ideal conditions for another search for those elusive star-shaped fossils in Mt. Carmel.   So after work, armed with additional, but not better, directions we drove the seventeen miles to the junction of US 89 and UT.  We walked further than necessary and climbed cliffs we didn't need to then heard a family talking excitedly as they hunkered down by an outcropping of rock. We went over to see what they were doing and saw that they were collecting 'star rocks.'  They soon returned to their car and we began to find them by the scores.

star-shaped columnals of the crinoid Pentacrinus asteriscus

 



On Monday evening we investigated the cliffs between the entrance to Best Friends and Moqui Cave in hopes of finding petroglyphs reported to be there.  We didn't find any petroglyphs but we did find this:

 

 and this:

 



 

(This appeared to be embedded seashells forming a horse.  It's 12'

up a sandstone wall so no closer look was possible.)

 



and this:





 ('1895' is incised in the center.)

 

Lost Cause

Wednesday, August 14
Day Off #2

The excitement of finding the Indian ruins rumored to be in a cave in Tiny Canyon and its proximity, less than a mile and a half from the RV park, made this destination an easy decision.  With a topo map and brief, extremely sketchy description, this promised to be an adventure.

When we reached a plateau about halfway up the ridge forming the canyon's northern side, Fred realized the GPS which had been clipped to his belt was gone.  We felt we'd be able to reach the cave using the map and continued on.  At top of the ridge, we stopped to consult the map--that was no longer there.  Fearing we'd get lost 'cause we didn't have the map or the GPs, we descended the ridge. 

Epilogue:  On a branch about halfway down the ridge, its strap snagged on a branch, hung the GPS.  The map was never found.

 

The blue speck in front of the large rock in the center of this shot is the

GPS in its case; the speck on the shoulder of the highway directly below it is the Jeep.

 





We drove into Best Friends, basically across Highway 89 from Tiny Canyon, and investigated an old tin-roofed shed at the base of sandstone cliff.  It turned out to be a rickety structure over a two-pit Indian granary.  There was plenty of recent graffiti and one image that might be a petroglyph.

 

Shed at base of sandstone cliff

 

Grain storage pit under roof



A Long, Convoluted Path to a Short but Spectacular Slot Canyon

Tuesday, August 13th
Day Off #1

After reading our post about Peekaboo/Red Canyon, a frend in North Carolina asked if it was also known as either Red Hollow or Red Cave.  We hadn't heard of either so we researched them and learned they are beautiful slots east of Orderville.  During lunch at Soup Town after hiking Red Hollow, our waitress recommended Spring Hollow as another short but worthwhile slot canyon.  When we told her we'd been unable to find directions because the landowner didn't want hikers to cross his property, she replied,  "Oh, I'm sure M**** will give you permission if you ask her."

M**** hadn't gotten to work when we stopped to see her this morning so we hiked Red Hollow again; it was as stunning and as much fun as the first time!  We found M**** on the second attempt and she graciously allowed us to cross her property to access Spring Hollow.

After a short bushwhack, we dropped into a wash and followed it upstream for less than half a mile.  Then the dull gray and tan canyon walls began to 'slot up' a bit and to display abundant 'modern rock art,' i.e., graffiti.  Rounding the final bend evoked an involuntary 'Wow!!' from both of us.  We walked into a large, roughly circular chamber whose walls stretch 150' or more toward the sky.  Opposite the entry is a cylindrical chute carved by a what must be an impressive waterfall spilling into a small, deep pool.  Unfortunately for us, the pool was as dry as the waterfall's channel but it wasn't hard to imagine how lovely this spot would be after a good rain.

The two hikes made us hungry and we wanted to thank our waitress-friend Shelley for her help in getting us to Spring Hollow so lunch at Soup Town became the next item on the day's agenda.  She asked if we'd ever hiked the Orderville Gulch.  Her description sounded like The Narrows Top-Down route, which we haven't done.  She promised to let us know the next time her friend organizes a group for that adventure..

 

 

On the way home we stopped to take pictures of old cars in a wash, a strong indication that you've definitely reached southwestern Utah, and to look for pentacrinoids (tiny star-shaped fossils) in Mt. Carmel Junction.  Our directions were very sketchy and the search was unsuccessful but we plan to get more information and try again.

Settler's Cove Petroglyphs

Continuing our search for petroglyphs in the cliffs above our RV at Settler's Cove outside of Kanab, I have made several hikes up the steep rocky hillside to find and document what was there. I have been amazed by what we found; at least six sites of petroglyphs.  At Settler's Cove, there are three distinct levels of sandstone cliffs, the lowest level being dark red, the middle a pinkish, and the top a white. All of the petroglyph sites are in the middle pink range of cliffs on the south facing side of the cove.

Shown below are the petroglyph sites found. The majority of the pottery and arrowheads we have observed are at the lowest level of the hillside at the western end.

August 5-8

Monday, August 5

After our shift on Monday, Sheila, the restaurant manager, had a birthday party for Fred since we'll be off on the actual day.  Everyone sang 'Happy Birthday' before enjoying her homemade peach-raspberry cobbler with ice cream.  The kitchen staff's present was a take-out box of their signature bread pudding.

Clear skies and calm winds enticed us to return to the Moccasin Mountain Dinosaur Tracksite in the late afternoon.  Even with GPS co-ordinates, some tracks were difficult to locate and to identify with certainty.   Although we enjoyed the challenge, it felt good to cross that item off the to-do list. 

 Four-toed track of  prosauropod

(20-25' long, four-legged, long-necked, plant-eating dinosaur)

 

 

Three-toed track of  Grallator

(6-9' long, meat-eating dinosaur)

 



The wash is a downward-sloping u-shaped sandstone channel of sandstone that pushes wind in the upstream direction.  As we walked to the Jeep, we heard a sustained roar growing louder and louder behind us.  When we turned around, a dense cloud of sand was sweeping up the wash toward us.  Fortunately, we were high enough on the sides not to be engulfed.

Moccasin Dinosaur Tracksite,

looking downstream toward Arizona

Tuesday, August 6

Deciding to hike in Zion was easy; deciding between Many Pools and Cockeye Falls was harder.  Since Many Pools was the shorter trail, we had time to find the trailhead for Cockeye Falls first.  The description mentioned Hidden Garden slot canyon, only 3/10 mile from the parking pull-out--too tantalizing to pass up!  Hidden Garden isn't particularly narrow (until the absolute end), colorful or twisty but climbing over and around numerous rockfalls is just plain fun!  Visitors earlier in the summer would have seen solomon's seal, coral bells, violets, Oregon grape, ferns, rock mat and Rocky Mountain plantain.  Cockeye Trail remains on the to-do list but has been postponed until cooler weather.

 

Entrance to Hidden Garden is behind that tall Ponderosa Pine

 

 

 End of Hidden Garden slot canyon 

 

Retracing our way through the short tunnel then less than a mile east for Many Pools, we saw a juvenile or female bighorn sheep standing on a narrow shoulder at a sharp bend in the road.  The creature was so still and uniformly gray, it could have been a life-sized scultpture!  We stopped at the pull-over a few yards further on, got out of the car* and saw the rest of the herd, including the large ram-in-charge.  (*You see a lot more if you leave your vehicle.  The drive-thru works perfectly well at McDonald's but no one brings the sights and experiences to you in national parks.)

 

 

The Many Pools route ascends a slickrock wash in a wide sandstone canyon where desert 'tanks' have been carved into the soft stone by eons of rushing rainwater and snowmelt.  From above, the dozens of pools, ranging in size from puddles to hot-tubs, must look like a connect-the-dots puzzle. 
 

 

About ten minutes into the hike, a group of bighorn sheep ran up a small hill to our left.  They watched us as closely as we watched them but they lost interest before we did.  A frisky young male tried to mount several of his companions, who quickly sidled away from him.  Two large males with impressive horns joined the herd and monitored junior's behavior.  I was surprised that he continued his amorous pursuits in their presence and expected to see a mature male challenge him.  Evidently, he wasn't a threat the elders took seriously and the group slowly moved down the canyon.

 

 

 

Hard rains during the past two weeks have completely filled some tanks with sand and deposited debris in the others.  On a hot day like this, a pool of clear water to cool off hot tootsies would be welcome; greenish-brown water dotted with soggy leaves, pine cones, twigs and mud just wasn't appealing. 

 

We had a shady lunch inside the alcove before scrambling above it to a series of long, narrow pools creating the thin, constant sheen of water on the left side of alcove's opening.  Bushwacking beyond this point, reported to be difficult, leads to Deer Trap Mountain Trail.  We turned around and returned the way we came.

 

 

 

The tree in the center was our turn-around point.

 

 



 

View up the Many Pools wash

 

We wanted to stop at Zion's visitor center but were unable to because both the regular parking lot and the overflow area were full; drivers cruised the aisles following people who looked like they might be leaving.  Springdale, Zion's gateway town, was bursting with tourists as well. 

 

A night in St. George allowed us some of life's little luxuries:  a large, cool motel room with two comfy beds, a big shower and a TV that showed local news.  For his birthday observance, Fred selected Don Pedro's, a favorite Mexican restaurant, and 'World War Z.'   Neither the meal or the movie lived up to expectations but we enjoyed our night out on the town.

 

 

 

Wednesday, August 7

 

 

Past experience taught us to be on Anasazi Ridge, outside Santa Clara, before sun and heat made the long uphill trek uncomfortable and photographing the petroglyphs impossible.  We stayed about two hours, until the sun rose high enough to cast glare on rock surfaces. 

 

 St. George's Red Hills from Anasazi Ridge

 

Petroglyph Panel

 Another petroglyph panel

 



Intrepid petroglyph hunter

 



Another sort of rock art

 

Mother Nature sculpted this eagle





 

After dinner at home, we went into town for an outdoor concert by the Symphony of the Canyons.  The weather was lovely and the music entertaining.  Free ice cream and cookies!  A nice change of pace and a bit of culture--perfect ending to our 'weekend.'