I'd also like to give a shout-out to
@Nick for setting everything up and luring me down south with a bear costume. We forgot to reenact the charging Grizzly against the bear spray armed hiker though. It would have made a great photo. Oh well, maybe next time. Also, it was wonderful to get to meet those who attended. I always like to put a face and a body, and particularly a voice with all of you who post to this site. And a special thanks to
@Parma for the two Utah State Aggie caps. I assure you they will be well used.
As many of you know, I don't spend a whole lot of time in the desert, but my wife Sheila (and I know many of you) hold this environment closer to your hearts. Once Sheila and I were married, I forced her (sort of)
to head north to Grizzly Bear country with me, so perhaps it's about time to return the favor and schedule a few more trips down south. If so, I'll need help from you all to find enjoyable places to spend time and hike/camp. A place where i can get my Subaru.
All that being said, Sheila used to head down to the swell when she was younger, with her parents and we thought we'd try Little Wild Horse after we arrived on Friday, like she had done when she was a kid. Here is our report.
We rolled into the BCP Fest Friday afternoon about 1:30 pm, set up our camp, said "Hi" to Nick and then headed out to Little Wild Horse. When we arrived at the trailhead, I couldn't believe the number of vehicles present. We actually had to park at the last space in the furthest pullout. I told Sheila it looks like there are a lot of people doing this hike today. So we started off from the trailhead a bit after three o'clock in the afternoon.
Our route would take us up Bell Canyon, then head northeast to Little Wild Horse Canyon, where we would proceed to make our way down it, and back to the trailhead. Essentially a lollipop loop. Once on the trail, I thought, "What have I gotten myself into?" for the first thirty minutes we were passing what appeared to be and endless stream of hikers. Sheila assured me that it was never this crowded 25-30 years ago. During the next thirty minutes the crowds began to thin and we probably passed six or seven smaller groups of people along our way. After the first hour though, we had the rest of the loop to ourselves :twothumbs:, except for two people who were heading into the first section of Little Wild Horse as we were headed out.
Here are some images of our hike.
A rare people-less shot at the beginning of our route
Intersection of the two canyons
Into Bell Canyon
Bell Canyon - hikers have thinned out at this point
Just what you needed to see - the backside of Scat! Surprised my pants have not
ripped out at this point. Some of this aggravated my groin (sports hernia)
Sheila, in Bell Canyon. Bell is a lot more open than Little Wild Horse
Sheila, making her way along through Bell Canyon
Touch of water on the road at the head of Bell Canyon
Climbing up the hill and making our way northeast towards Little Wild Horse Canyon
I like how the Jeep road changes color three times along this stretch
About to turn the corner and head down towards Little Wild Horse Canyon
Heading towards Little Wild Horse
A late snack break before heading into Little Wild Horse
Little Wild Horse Canyon
Small drop-off in the canyon
The canyon is narrowing at this point
Great views from around each turn
I knew my fat ass would cause me issues at some point.
Tafoni along the northeast side of the canyon
More narrowing
Interesting erosion designs
Temperatures were cooler down in the canyon
Making my way along
Tighter curves at this point
Looking straight up during the narrowest section
A Cottonwood Tree near the trailhead - and no people! I wanted to take a picture of this tree on our way in
but there were to many folks around.
The hike took us just about four hours to complete and it was certainly enjoyable once we left the crowds in lower Bell Canyon. When we returned to the trailhead, there were only three cars, including ours, left in the parking lots. I was eager to get back to camp and eat some dinner and meet everyone who had made the trip.
