The time land forgot...

We have hiked so many places I had to add another page starting with Zion National Park. On this page you will find Zion National Park, Grand Canyon, Inyo National Forest, 23 Skidoo, and the ghost town of Rhyolite Nevada. Here you go:

 Dan and I hiked some of the strenuous and vertical hikes in the park in 2003. I had siatica due to a herniated disk of the lumbar region of the spine and we stopped every 15 minutes for me to take the pressure off my spine in 2003. A week before surgery a few months later the pain stopped. Go figure. Carol and I hiked some of the less difficult trails out of respect for her pre triahlon titanium knee replacement. There is something for everyone at Zion National Park in Utah. Get up off the couch and get 'er done! The slide show has pictures of one of the trails Dan and I hiked. The switchbacks were many and that was a blessing. The climb at times looks impossible because you can not see the switchbacks when you look upwards. After climbing for a few hours we met a group of hikers decending and they asked us why we were climbing upwards. Most people drive to the top and hike down. I assured them we were doing the climb this way on purpose. I'm glad they didn't ask what the purpose was. I would have had to come up with a whopper!  Gees, what you don't know can totally exhaust you! However, upon consideration over a steak dinner that night we agreed it was the manly thing to do! Went to bed early.

Dan and I hiked several trails In the Grand Canyon National Park. These are some of the pics I took at the North Rim viewing points. Cape Royal, Point Imperial, and Widforss Point. 2006, I took the first photo just as a portal was opening. This might be Saddle Mountain but my memory is a bit hazy as you can see.  We couldn't see the people standing twenty feet from us. At one point we were standing near the edge of a canyon with a sign that warned us to vacate the area when it rained or if we heard the sound of thunder. It started to rain. We found a group of small trees to hide under and got completely drenched. No lightening strikes. We were warned about trying to make friends with the deer.  Bambi may be cute but deer can and will injure people if provoked.  We met a herd on the way back to the car and they didn't budge. We hugged some trees. We had to wait until they vacated the area. Wise choice. See the slide show of some of pictures from the area.

In 2008 Dan and I hiked the Hoover Wilderness in 22 degree weather. Windchill made it colder. Much colder.  It started to snow during our hike and we were losing visual track of the trail. No interest in taking photos.  Thankfully, sections of the trail were visible for our return to the car. We did not expect the cold snowy weather. We had to improvise and wear socks as gloves. Yep, our hands were numb. No frostbite. Here are some pictures of our hike around Saddlebag lake and beyond.

Formerly named Hoveck honoring the manager of the Skidoo Mine, the name was changed in 1907 to Skidoo. This is probably taken from a slang expression of the time 23 Skidoo meaning "to git out while the gittin's  good." Skidoo California is in Death Valley. Being ghost town afficionados we were compelled to visit this site. Unfortunately none of the structures resembling a town exist, however, the skelton of the mine remains from its abandonment in 1917. Yep, it was a gold mine. Nope, we didn't find any. Have a glass of water available as you view the slide show below:

Now a Ghost town Rhyolite was a thriving gold rush town in 1907. Piped water, electric lines, railroad, water mains, telephones, newspapers, hospital, school, opera house and stock exchange to name a few. With a population of between 3,500 and 5,000 by 1911 the Montgomery Shoshone Mine closed and people stampeded or dwindled away. By 1920 the population was close to zero. The town is named after an igneous rock colored buff to pink and sometimes light gray. Started by two miners in 1905 the discovery of gold increased the population of 1,200 people in two weeks. It had 50 saloons, 16 restaurants, 35 gambling tables, and, of course bordellos. Oh, a newspaper too: The Rhyolite Herald. This Herald guy sure gets around. Charles Schwab bought the Montomery Mine in 1906. As the gold played out, stock shares nose dived from $23 a share to 75 cents a share and after engineers published a report that the mine was a large low grade mine shares dropped to 4 cents and was eliminated from the stock exchanges. Cautionary Tale. And now? We have visited Rhyolite at mid day and at dusk. Dusk is my favorite. It is a lonely place where ghosts silently wait for recognition. The echo of their voices can not be heard. It is silent.  Who will speak for their immortality? Their dreams are in the cosmos...waiting...and watching....Maybe their voices and stories exist somewhere in the far reaches of my collective unconscious....maybe....