Rainbow Loop - 8/14/10

There were thirty-six hikers at the parking garage this morning. We added three more at the Visitor's Center in the Spring Mountains on Kyle Canyon Road. And, one more hiker joined us as we passed through the Fletcher View Campground. Sometimes it takes an accountant (i.e. Chris) to figure out how many people to keep up with! From the Visitor's Center, we hiked through the campground and out the other side as we continued to the Rainbow Community entrance. Continuing a bit further up the Kyle Canyon drainage, we stopped for a break just before the trail took a turn upward.

At this point, the large group of forty divided in half. One half returned to their cars for a three mile out and back hike. The other half continued up the hill to do the full Rainbow Loop of six miles with 1100 feet of elevation gain. The trail passed by the Cathedral Rock Picnic Area and part of the burn area from a couple of months ago. We saw the old shelter on the side of the trail and met up with the South Loop Trail. After hiking a short distance on the South Loop Trail, we turned left onto a trail which led to a small summit above Rainbow where we stopped for our snack break.


After seeing views of Mummy's Toe Peak, as seen in the photo above, for most of the first half of the hike, we could now see Mt. Charleston and Cathedral Rock, as seen in the first photo, from our purchase at the break. Afterwards, we began our descent on a small woodland trail that all of us agreed is the best part of the hike. It leads down through the trees on a soft dirt path and ends at a weather station in the forest above Rainbow. As we hiked through the shade, one hiker noticed the "Oregon Grapes," as seen in the last photo, on the side of the path. He ate a few and passed some around. They were ripe but tart. We decided to leave the rest of them for the birds!

When we reached the Rainbow residential section, the trail lead down the road past beautiful summer homes and cabins. The police patrolled the neighborhood as we sauntered along not stopping to admire any one house for too long. We reached the Kyle Canyon drainage at the entrance to Rainbow and returned to our cars by again passing through the campground. The weather was warm and the hike was completed at a leisurely pace.

Raintree (via North Loop)

Raintree was the focus of today's hike up the North Loop Trail and down Wild Horse Canyon. Seventeen hikers made the 1500 foot climb to sit under the old tree which, by some estimates, is 3000 years old and counting. The total distance for the hike was somewhere in the range of six miles and the weather was gorgeous.


From the North Loop Trailhead to the Meadow, the trail climbs up through the woodlands and into limestone and bristlecone territory. It ends with a few switchbacks as we near the saddle area. After a small break, we continued up through the next set of twelve switchbacks which climb a little steeper up through more pine forest. At the top of this section, we were close, if not over, the 10,000 foot elevation mark. This required another small break.


From this peak of the hike, we descended around 200 feet of elevation as we hiked along the ridge line with Mummy's Toe peak rising in view in front of us. Raintree stood majestically at the foot of the Toe still living heartily as seen in the first photo. Here, we took a snack break and discussed which way to go down the mountain. Democratically, the most votes went to Wild Horse Canyon so we began our descent; which actually began as a climb back up to that 10,000 foot elevation mark.


Gathering at that high point then again at the meadow where a humming- bird hovered about two feet from this blogger for about 3 or 4 seconds ("WOW"), we turned left and began our adventure on the Wild Horse Canyon Trail. Several of the attending hikers had not hiked this trail and this always makes a hike even more enjoyable to the veterans. Showing the rookies the "ropes" makes the hike seem new to everybody!

We hiked down the small switchbacks, circled around Marg's "Secret Garden" of springs and columbines, and passed through the small slot canyon to come out at Deer Creek Highway. A small walk up the road brought us back to our cars.

Club Members' Travels

Another edition of Club Members' Travels brings us to Zion National Park, smaller parks in Utah and Wyoming, and a huge bicycle race in Iowa.

Kay and John B.

First, Kay and John spent a very relaxing week at Zion. While only hiking a small portion of the Left Fork Subway trail, as seen to the left, the two campers just sat back and enjoyed the beautiful park. The white squirrel in the photo above lived nearby and the photos below were taken in the evening on the Pa'rus Trail. Muggy monsoons were nearby every day but it didn't dampen the pleasure of a well- engineered campsite. A note to future campers: the South Campground is not inundated with aggressive squirrels. Even though it is a first come, first serve campground, if you get there in the morning, especially early in the week, there will be many campsites to choose from. It is also a bit cooler than the Watchman Campground. Kay and John had Site #62 on the Pa'rus Trail and near to the Visitor Center.





Kay K.

Although this blogger has not been in contact with Kay K., she noticed that Kay K. has been able to update her website with these and many other photos. She has worked her way up through Utah visiting many petroglyph sites and interesting little known parks. She appears to be having a wonderful time and we wish her a continued safe journey.

Included in her travels are the Rochester Panel, UT (photo 1); Fantasy Canyon, UT (photo2); Nine Mile Canyon, UT (photo 3); Flaming Gorge, WY (photo 4). Other places she has visited are the Fremont Indian State Park (UT), Fossil Butte (WY), and Dry Fork RA (UT).




Mike O'C.

Unless you hike during the week, you may not know Mike O'C., our resident hiker/ bicyclist. Recently, he joined in on a well- attended bicycle race in his old stomping grounds of the great state of Iowa. The race is called RAGBRAI and this was RAGBRAI 2010. Above, Mike teases us with a gorgeous sunrise on an Iowa farm.


The scenery on the race must have been breath- taking as the riders were on the road from sunrise to sunset crossing the state. At the end of July, Mike says the temperatures were in the 90's.


As he passed through, Mike was able to visit some friends in Cherokee, Iowa where they have a mink farm. From Sioux City on the Missouri River to Dubuque, hundreds of bicyclists rode by day and camped by night with a lot of good clean partying in between.


Thanks, Mike, for letting us enjoy the fun vicariously through you. Mike adds, "Good folks, those Hawkeyes. Gotta love 'em."

Bristlecone Loop - 8/7/10

We started with thirty- nine hikers at the top of the Lee Canyon Road where the ski slopes and the helipad reside. Eighteen hikers started up the Upper Bristlecone Trail to do an out and back hike to the Bonanza trailhead. The remaining twenty- one hikers turned to go downhill on the road where they would begin the Bristlecone Loop at the Lower Bristlecone trailhead in a counter- clockwise direction.


The first portion of the loop hike was four miles on a forestry road which wound around the contours of the surrounding small peaks, gradually ending at the Bonanza Trail junction where we met up with the other group of eighteen hikers. That group of hikers had been waiting at the junction for several minutes before we arrived and, in fact, three hikers had chosen to continue on around the loop clockwise.

We sat for our break on the surrounding rocks and logs or conversed as we stood around the trail junction sign. Above us, black clouds swept by without dropping their load. The air was fresh and surprisingly quite cool. It was a perfect day to take your dog out for a hike and there were plenty of people doing just that. A few bikers were also on the trail.


The second portion of the hike completed the loop on a trail decorated with white and gray rock, young bristlecone trees and the South Sister Peak in view. As we neared the No Name Trail junction, a mule deer shot across our path heading downhill. It stopped near the bottom of the hill and took stock of the situation. "Hmmm, hikers all around! Hmmm, okay, everything's going to be fine. I'll just pretend I meant to end up here. Okay, (very non-chalantly now) be veery veery quiet. Here I go! Up, up and away! See ya!"


We completed the 6.25 mile loop and all thirty- nine of us were accounted for. The elevation gain was around 750 feet for the out and back group. However, the loop hikers lost approximately 200 feet at the beginning of their excursion meaning there was an almost 1000 foot gain for them in the first portion of the hike.

South Loop (3rd Overlook) - 8/5/10

Scenery abounds on the South Loop hike in the Spring Mountains where sixteen club members climbed the 2000 feet in elevation for a view at the third overlook. From the beginning to the end, the South Loop offers views of Kyle Canyon (north and south), Mummy's Toe, and Mt. Charleston in all their grandeur.

We parked at the Cathedral Rock trailhead and followed the road up to the South Loop trailhead located within the Cathedral Rock Picnic Area which requires $8 fee to drive into. Workers were hard at work around the beginning of the trail but after we got to the Rainbow Loop trail junctions, we had the trail to ourselves. We tackled the following switchbacks with gusto staying within contact of each other from the leader to the sweep.


It was a challenging climb so it was necessary to allow the hikers to go their own speed as long as we regrouped at appointed places during the ascent. As we slowly passed the drainage to our left, we enjoyed the purple flowers adorning the springs and heard waterfalls when we stopped to listen. Higher up in this drainage, snow tenaciously clung to the ground.

At the first overlook, we stopped for a short break while the hikers regrouped. Here, we could see the mouth of Kyle Canyon and Mummy's Toe across the way. We were high on a cliff.

After the first overlook, another set of switchbacks soon began. These switchbacks were decorated with gray limestone and ponderosas with a few bristlecones thrown in for good measure as we neared our destination. The photo below shows one view from the second overlook. One by one, each hiker stepped out on this overlook before turning to climb the final switchback. One more "out and back" brought us to the third overlook.


The scenery did not only include distant beauty. Bees were busy on the rough angelica along the trail on the first set of switchbacks. Rabbitbrush is beginning to bloom. Also, the blue lupine and Indian paintbrush are still abundant. However, the lavender thistles have gone past their prime.

Another interesting aside on the South Loop Trail is the "fish fossil" rock. It is located in the first set of switchbacks at one of the hairpin turns to the left when you are going up. The low flat rock is found on the inside of the turn and the best way to see the fossils is to pour a little water over the rock surface. These fossils are very unusual as they show a tube-like creature which lived on the sea bed at one time in the very distant past.


When we reached the third overlook, we discussed different trails and routes that club members had done in Kyle Canyon. Our view was even better than Google Earth! We could see the ridge above us which leads to Mt. Charleston Peak. Through the trees, we could make out Griffith Peak. Below us, the source of Kyle Canyon opened wide to show us every detail.

Finally, we had to descend. Again, there were a variety of paces but after 4.25 hours, all the hikers had made it up and back over the total of seven miles.