September 4th

I headed out of Zion via the East Rim Trail after catching the 5:45 am shuttle bus up the canyon.

The East Rim Trail is a great hike for about a 1/3 of the way...great views, some slickrock, and an entertaining trail that weaves its way in and out of canyons, and around some nice formations. Once you climb up to the Rim, it is basically a mile or less of single track before turning into a sidewalk width hiking expressway. Easy hiking all morning.

Eventually I dropped off the Rim Trail and into the drainage that parallels the HWY until crossing the road just past Checkerboard Mesa, and heading up to a saddle. The trail to the saddle wound its way up a bush-laden creekbed, but the going was surprisingly easy until reaching the base of a sandy, loose-boulder, scrubby oaked hillside. I climbed slowly but steadily to the saddle and upon reaching it was excited at the views south. Swirling, multihued sandstone tower and buttresses, randomly marked with Ponderosa and Juniper.

After taking a short rest, I plunged down the sandy slope south and began contouring around the backside of Checkboard Mesa. Again the trail was very distinct, and well-cairned across the long expanses of ribbed slickrock, and slopes of red sand. Storm clouds began to roll in, and although I was thankful for the shade, I was still planning to drop into Panrunaweap Canyon to follow the river for ~5 miles. Obviously if a storm developed, my day would be cut short, and I have to wait until the waters lowered.

Eventually I made my way to the "Powell Plaque" descent route to the Parunaweap -- a route re-dubbed "Fat Man's Misery" by the Guidebook authors.I can tell you right now, that the route has no bias as it was pretty miserable for a skinny guy as well.

I carefully picked my way down until reaching the cool, green waters of the Parunaweap, all the while the skies darkening and thunder boomed overhead. Not good. I retreated to higher ground, found a spot that would make a tolerable camp and ate some lunch. Despite the unplanned stop, I was perfectly positioned to witness a flash flood in a desert canyon --- something that has been on my must see list for some time. I would have preferred it wait for some other time as I needed water and prefer to drink water without having a "silt-stash" afterwards. In addition, the walk against the current upcanyon would be MUCH easier with clear, pre-flash conditions.

Luckily for me despite raining a few drops and being threatening for a few hours, nothing came to be. With clear skies and bit of ego thrown in for good measure, I set off an a tear to get through the ~5 miles of flash prone canyon as quickly as possible. I finished off all my water to lighten my pack as much as I could for better mobility in the rocky, slippery terrain.

For the next ~5 miles I was walking in ankle to waist deep water with a few adventuresome detours along cliffs and through caves to avoid the deeper pools. The Parunaweap Narrows were absolutely fantastic -- basically a less dramatic Zion Narrows, but without all the people. Quite enjoyable.

A few hours later I arrived at my exit scramble, filtered a bunch of water for tomorrow, ate some dinner, and then headed out of the river canyon via a steep, sandy slope and met up with an ATV Track along a Wilderness Study Area Boundary.

My camp tonight is a fine one indeed. A nice slab of slickrock looking out across Panrunaweap Canyon with the White Cliffs standing guard on the horizon.

~20 miles for the day.

Brian

September 5th

I left my camp at ~7:30 this morning after lazily watching the sun rise. Not much to my day really...most of which was following 2-track roads that were incredibly soft and sandy. Slow going, but once I adjusted my rhythm, all was well.

After 4-5 miles I came to a junction and left the Hayduke. In my attempt at thru-hiking this route I've come up with few deviations mainly for easier re-supply, but also consideration was given to overall route aesthetics and water availability. In my opinion this alt route meets the criteria on all accounts as it drops a hiker directly into Colorado City, leaves only ~15 miles between guaranteed water sources, and canyons are usually a better aesthetic bet than open country in southern UT.

Throughout the day I passed a number of seeps, two of which were in Shunes Hollow, and the other 5-8 in Broad Valley. The route through Broad was very pleasant as the valley itself is surrounded by red sandstone crags, and the basin is quite broad (thus the name), so the views back towards Zion were uninterrupted. Wilderness Study Areas (though blatantly ignored by ATV traffic) were on each side of the 2-track. The road only got more sandy as I continued on, eventually climbing up and down through washes. Lots and lots of sand.

The sun was blazing, but I kept a steady, low-sweat pace and a few hours later was at the head of Squirrel Creek after passing over some great slickrock which had a number of potholes with useable water.

I was happy to be headed down Squirrel Creek and into the shade of the lower canyon. Squirrel Creek has 2 strong springs which run year round, and were a pleasant addition to already splendid canyon --- definitely an alt. route to consider if you are thinking of tackling the Hayduke.

After filtering some water for the evening, I continued down stream, joined up with Short Creek and am now camped just passed the TH of Water Canyon hidden in the junipers. Tomorrow I've got just a few miles into the infamous (polygamy) towns of Hildale, Ut and Colorado City, Az for my resupply before heading out across the Arizona Strip and the Grand Canyon.

~19 miles at the office

Brian

Awoke this morning and headed the few miles through the polygamist towns of Hildale and into Colorado City for my re-supply. Interesting places. It seems every 3rd house is in some form of construction and many of the homes were simply painted (always gray it seemed...) plywood --- no siding, no brick --- as if they might be adding on any day, so why bother to finish. In accuality, the appearance of a home being 'under-construction' is intentional to take advantage of a property tax loophole.

Whenever I head into a town, I make the point to wave at every person I see. Whether in a passing car or in their yard, I wave. In these towns every man waved to acknowledged my greeting, while every woman looked away.

Determined to have some lady at least recognize my existence, my waves became more frantic. Finally a homely-looking woman in a 15 passenger van gave me a furtive wave as she sped by. However upon reflection, I am uncertain if it was a greeting or she was simply swatting a fly or scratching her head. Anyway, I was satisfied.

Up to this point it seemed the `uniforms' of the local tribesman was blue or gray long-sleeved shirt and jeans for the men, and ankle length denim dresses for the ladies.
Both outfits looked uncomfortable in the morning heat, and both reminded me of scenes from Little House on the Prairie or some such `frontier' oriented tv show.

I stopped into the grocery store for some Gatorade and was met by 12 (I know that sounds like a lot, but I counted...) of the female tribesman...eerily all dressed the same and all with a single braid that ran the length of their back. Honestly it felt like a scene from Hitchcock's, `The Birds.' Kinda creepy. But hey, we are all quirky in our own way, so I made attempts at idle chit chat and the tribesman working the cashier was kind enough to offer the use of the stores phone.
I politely declined, grabbed my pack and headed to the PO down the road.

After getting my box and organizing things, I headed back up the road to the only gas station in town in hopes of finding a bathroom and a free water faucet. Fortunately I scored on all accounts, and the tribes people running the store were friendly though not overly so. I wanted to ask them what they thought of the recent developments in regard to their leader and prophet Warren Jeffs, (who is currently #1 or #2 on the FBI's most wanted list) or even just something as mundane as asking them who'd they think was going to win the World Series, but for some reason I figured they'd be all but mute on both topics. Regardless of being tongue tied, I am glad I finally got my own FLDS experience and think that others along this alternative route to the Hayduke would find value in the experience as well.

Fundamentalism is a strange thing to me. I find I appreciate the simple clarity of it -- black and white, I'm right and you are wrong. Either 21 virgins or 4 wives await me, while eternal damnation and suffering are your destiny. Take your pick. What I like about that thinking is that you know exactly where you stand, as our own leader says, "yer either with us, or yer against us." No gray area. No middle ground. Just simple clarity.

I do however have a problem when those views are expected to be practiced by everyone and an individuals value is determined by their personal beliefs. Righteousness has a inconvenient way of ballooning out of control on a belief framework that there is only one `right'. This unfortunate strain of logic typically seems to lead to the justification of evil things --- whether it be blowing up buildings, invading countries, inflicting economic imperialism, or indoctrinating your kids to believe that Laura Ingall's style was the pinnacle of the fashion movement, it is all a cowardly means of pushing your agenda on others. Without trying to sound sappy and idealistic, why is it so hard for us humans to embrace a basic principle of humanity...live and let live. Leave me alone, and I'll return the favor. I suppose that leads to the big question of, "What is the true nature of man," but I'll save that one for another road walk.
Back to hiking.

The entire day, all 25 miles of it, was along roads. Paved roads, dirt roads, sandy roads. 25 miles. All road. All day.

I don't mind road walks too much as they are good excuses for a casual day, but when it is hot, there is zero shade, and you are carrying ~24 lbs of water, it is easy for me to think of more pleasurable alternatives. Other than that, it was a nice day, and my legs were strong all day, but my brain was pretty bored. By midday I was really hoping a piece of energy bar would get lodged between my teeth so I'd have something to do for the next 5 hrs of hiking. Despite my efforts of irresponsible chewing, I had no such luck.

Throughout the day I passed a few windmill driven well pumps and the old Esplins Cattle Company Corral. Not sure if the company is still going as I only saw 15 head of cattle all day.

Camp tonight is on the edge of Yellowstone Mesa overlooking the route for tomorrow...more roads and no shade until dropping into Kanab Creek from Hack Canyon. Maybe it will be overcast.

Brian