When your primary vehicles are two wheels and six, any excursion normally made with four has to be “worth it.” Shower transitions to closet, dinette to living room storage, Comos on the back, slides in, jacks up, Betty barreling along, snarling traffic and the smell of brake dust in the morning.
We were among the first to arrive Zion National Park’s lesser known cousin canyon, Kolob Canyon. Located 40 miles north on 80mph I-15, Kolob owns the trails less travelled. There is no shuttle bus, no camping, no cute town outside the gate. You go to see the finger canyons and escape the crowds. Claiming one the of the four RV spaces for an all day stay, Betty went jacks down (to protect the fridge) and served up the classic yogurt, honey, nuts and banana breakfast.
The Kolob region sits 2000 feet higher in elevation than Zion. Giant rock formations jut into the sky, some still snow covered. We hat and glove Como’d up the five mile steep scenic highway soaking in the majestic views until we reached the overlook at the top.
There are breath-taking views at the summit, but no bike racks. We were the only explorers to pedal the 1500 feet of ascent while tourists in very fast cars raced to the top, snapped the photo and didn’t worry who they might sideswipe in the process. Slow down, people!
We locked up on the backside of a rail adjacent to the handicap parking, feeling like we might have been in violation of some ADA guideline but also not excited about walking 5 miles down the mountain to Betty if the Como’s got ‘borrowed.’ An extremely muddy trail lead to a lesser view of the surrounding landscape. We came back caked in red mud with a new appreciation of the view from where we locked up the bikes.
Sometimes it is good to start the day with a strike out, like the ‘mud hike to the less than average view’ we had done this morning. It sets the bar low so the next thing on your plate feels better. We coasted 1000 feet down the mountain and locked up at the Taylor Creek trailhead. The sign indicated a 5 mile round trip hike to the Double Arches. We like a hike with a payoff at the end and Double Arches sounded like it might lead to lunch.
Hiking up the creek, sometimes in the creek, sometimes crossing the creek we made our way into an impressive box canyon with 1500 feet sheer cliff walls. The Double Arch Alcove was a huge cave formation but sadly we saw no arches nor large fries with a Diet Coke.
Continuing up the finger canyon the passages narrowed dramatically. Eventually we reached the top of the canyon where an unadvertised waterfall posed as the perfect backdrop for a shampoo commercial.
The beautiful and difficult return trip made 63 stream crossings and finished with a 200 feet muddy ascent to the trailhead, for which we were less than grateful. The detour to the waterfall had added another 5 miles to the hike, and we felt it. At least the 30 mph drop down to Betty on the Comos was exhilarating and not painful. One day on Kolob was probably not enough, but it was what we had. An hour later we were in our picturesque Zion campsite, eagerly waiting for that make ahead enchilada casserole to come out of the oven.
Yes, we canyon.