Up Cave Canyon / Down Echo Canyon - 2/27/14

Turtlehead Peak in Shadow

 By the time the dust settled (in the rain), there were nine hikers on the trail. Six others made an appearance but understandably bowed out before the start of the hike. We parked at the Cowboy Trail parking area and started hiking up to Cave Canyon in a sun shower without the writer's trusty camera. We turned around and saw a full rainbow with a partial double over the Red Rock Canyon scenic loop area. Gorgeous!

The rain stopped after we got above the first dry fall but, luckily, the dry fall was dry! We quickly climbed the canyon, took the right fork near the top and found the trail that would take us over to Echo Canyon. The strong gusty wind tried to blow us down several times throughout the hike but the canyons protected us most of the time. We enjoyed the unusual trip down Echo since we usually do the canyon as an ascent. Near the bottom, we passed a ranger walking Jackson, the pet burro that is kept at the stables below. He let us pet him! We finished the hike without a snack break due to the unpredictable, windy, rainy weather.

4.7 miles; 1100 feet of elevation gain; 2.25 hours     Bing Bang Boom

Now it's sunny!