Hiking trips

Monday, May 25, 2009

Jone's Hole - Fish Hatchery and 8-mile hike roundtrip down Ely Creek into the Green River. You have to drive to the north side of Dinosaur National Monument to reach this lush oasis. I spent a happy day walking along this easy trail, with a side trip up to a small waterfall.

There is a place along the trail here called Deluge Shelter which, according to archeologists, served as a home to at least five different cultures. Petroglyphs abound on the walls here:

The only good bug is a fossilized bug. However, one very special exception can be made. I encountered this little fellow and his family and friends several times along the trail and I must say that he is the coolest of the cool and I wish him a long and happy existance:

Desert Voices Nature Trail - 2.5 miles near the Split Mountain Campground in DNM. This is a cute hike for kids as it has lots of drawings on plaques made by children about preserving our heritage in these national parks.

Split Mountain and the Green River that cut down through it:

There is a small monument here dedicated to Major John Wesley Powell, the one-armed explorer who braved the unknown to travel and document the entire length of the Green and Colorado rivers, twice. He has become a heroic figure in my eyes and it's like being at Mecca to stand at the shores of the Green River and to know that he passed through these canyons and camped on these banks.

Sun was going down on the trail:

Sounds of Silence Trail - Another 2-miler near the housing area where I live. It's a less-structured trail than the Desert Voices one and is used much less often. You get to walk through an anfractuosity (labyrinth) and up high onto giant eolian sandstone ridges. Here is the view from the top:

Hanging out on the rocks after the hike, watching the sun go down:


"...the scenery was on a grand scale, and never before did I live in such ecstasy for an entire month..." J.W. Powell