Squeezed and Striped

We asked ourselves, what do we do the day after a tough hike up and down the slickrock slopes into a canyon? The answer was to hike 6 miles up and down another canyon.

The Big Horn Canyons were recommended by the Interagency Visitor Center. It was a shorter drive down bumpy Hole in the Rock Road than many of the other slot canyons. Having minimal elevation gain made it easier on Tom’s ankle, and Suki could use some easier terrain as well.

Starting out, the trail follows a long spine of sand that looks like the back of a battle-worn Stegosaurus. I don’t know how it is still standing as it is unbelievably skinny, and with a section already collapsed. Farther ahead, we startled a few unusual looking birds. Looking them up when we got back, we found they were Chukar Partridges. Being non-native, they were introduced in the 1950’s as game birds and have prospered well, yet not considered invasive. They are also called devil birds for the way they run up rocky slopes like a mountain goat.

After what felt like miles of hopping through stream crossings, slithering through the overgrown basin, and trodding through loose sand, we reached the entrance to the Big Horn Slot Canyons. Entering the canyons, we could immediately feel the smooth walls getting taller and closing in tighter. We reached a point in the first one where Tom said it was too narrow to get through with Cassie riding in her pack. He volunteered to wait there with her, while Suki and I went on to see what laid beyond. A few hundred yards further reached a small step up on some boulders where Suki decided she didn’t need to go farther, retreating back to Tom. I continued up the canyon as the sculpted walls wove back and forth in a serpent-like fashion. Having reached the narrowest part, I returned back to them and we made our way out. Entering the other canyon, the stripes in the rocks were much more visible and interesting, alternating between yellow and red in a zebra fashion. Although these patterned walls were fascinating, they progressively encroached until we were unable to fit between the walls. We were no dummies and took this as our sign to turn around and head back.

On the way out, sounds of “O, Christmas Tree” rang through my head as I noticed a perfectly shaped evergreen tree in a crevice, and nothing of any similar shape or color anywhere around. And where did all these smooth black rocks come from that look like minit dinosaur eggs Pressing onward, we chose the alternate route through the alcoves that provided some shade. The hike in the sun and sand certainly wore all of us out, but I thoroughly enjoyed the canyons and thankful that Tom and the girls came along. While the temperatures were in the 70’s, the sun made it feel much more intense. I can only imagine what it must feel like in the middle of summer.

We spent today with Mason. He did a fantastic job as our tour guide, showing us some his favorite places around here. It was an early start to the day and we enjoyed it immensely. When we arrived back at his car, there were vehicles parked everywhere. A park ranger told us that a film crew was shooting a commercial, but we have no celebrity sightings to report. Our fridge has been malfunctioning lately. It runs all the time, using too much power. It is either too warm or too cold, never maintaining a constant temperature. It takes too much time babysitting and we are thinking it might be time for it to go. Tom is doing some research on a replacement.

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