We've been spending most of our time in Price and, on the first Sunday of Advent, VSO was ready for a Christmas tree. (We may cut a second one if we are in Parowan for the holiday.) So, we drove out to Second Water (above) to cut a five-foot white fir (below), which is generally considered to be the most attractive Christmas tree in central Utah. Happy holidays!
In the past, we have tried to find the so called "Horse Thief Trail" from the Smith Camp side of the reef, but have been unsuccessful. Yesterday, we tried it from the other side. We drove to the end of the Mexican Mountain road and walked out to the airstrip (which was in use). From there we walked due east to the bottom of a rock slide below a break in the cliff wall. Bingo! We scrambled up in a hurry because the days are short and the roads are long. We reached the pass by 2:30p. I told EDO, "We've got two hours to make it to the Chev." Down we went. We were in Price by 7p. Pictures HERE.
We drove out to Cottonwood Wash. We started up the canyon. I mentioned to the girls that the county map showed a hiking trail leading from Cottonwood to Nates Canyon. We decided to try it. Actually, I doubt that anyone from the county has ground-truthed the alleged trail. We did some hand-over-hand scrambling to the rim and then 90 minutes of route finding over rough ground. Eventually we reached a different trail—an old horse trail—that led to Nates. By then it was time to turn around. When we got back to the mouth of Cottonwood, EDO said, "That is the second time I've wanted to hike the canyon and didn't do it." I guess we'll need to return next year. Pictures HERE.
We parked at the bottom of Ben's switchbacks and walked to the top. From there, we circumnavigated the mesa on the north Dead Dog loop. It might have been 40-ish when we started but the north wind was blowing and once the sun set, the wind chills were in the mid-20s. It was beginning to feel a bit nippy. The map says 3.7 miles. We finished in just under 90 minutes.
Cat Canyon is near town and well-roaded. But, the tread is rough: After a mile or so, I got out to walk. I strung a series of small ridges and hilltops into a long loop. It was very quiet and the late autumn sun was warm. I returned to the Chev at sunset and drove back to Price before full dark.
This was another weekend for working on the house. I had noticed a crack in the exterior stucco below one of the western windows. The problem with patching stucco (in addition to me not knowing how to do it) is that you feel like you need to keep making the patch larger and larger to try to blend it in to the rest of the wall. Or, you just have to stop and concede that it looks, um, patched. On the other hand, one nice thing about old stucco is that it has a patchy appearance no matter what you do to it.
Today we got into Pasture Canyon from the upper end, and had fairly good success going down for thirty or forty minutes until we hit a crack we weren't sure we could navigate in reverse. So we turned around. Obviously we would have done better if the girls weren't so fat. At one point, I told VSO that, if she got stuck, she would have to starve her way out. What I didn't realize is that—afraid of being cold—she had started down the canyon in four layers of clothing—top and bottom! If she had really gotten stuck, we would merely have had to peel sweatshirts and long underwear (from the outside of the onion) to free her. Pictures here.
We left Price at 8:30 and reached the bottom of the White Roost by noon. It took about an hour to hike to the main stem of the Robber's Roost and we stopped at the confluence for lunch. From there we headed upstream into the North Fork. By 2p, VSO turned back and, with EDO, I worked on the shortest finger of the North Fork. We reached the end by 2:45p. From there, it was about three hours to the Chev. We got into camp (on the knoll) just before sunset. Pictures here.
Today, we started in the Price River Canyon, but eventually found ourselves on a ridge above Little Park Wash. There was a stacked rock cabin on the flat. Very nicely built, but long abandoned. What was it for? It is not near water, wood, or forage. Butch and Sundance?
