My new hiking friend Jim went back to West Virginia today. I sure am going to miss discussing our hikes at breakfast or whenever we happened to run into each other.

The morning was clear and frosty. I'm glad that I brought an ice scraper with me. What had been soft sand felt like uneven concrete this morning. And speaking of sand, I happened to break through the frozen crust into some almost quicksand one time. Shortly after I started my hike I decided that my fingers were so cold that I needed to break out a hand warmer pack. I did that and then I realized that my hands were warmer with my gloves off. That shows you how much a southern California boy knows about the cold. I guess it wasn't a good idea to leave my gloves in the car to freeze overnight.

First up on today's agenda was Cascading Falls. It was very appropriately named. There wasn't any water flowing today, but if it was wet there would have been plenty of cascades. As it was, the potholes were frozen over. I'm glad that the sandstone wasn't frosty. I started out a little late this morning because I wanted to let things warm up at least a little. In any case, I'm pretty sure that I won't ever be hiking this route when I would have to be climbing slickrock in the water.

The potholes weren't as photogenic as I had hoped. Or maybe the fault lies with me. Still, it was very nice to see the area in person. The slot had a lot of colorful leaves on the ground. It might have made for nice pictures if the day had been overcast. Those trees and bushes didn't seem to like me very much. It was get grabbed and scratched by branches day. One time I had a branch grab my hair and not let go. I knew something was up when it was still holding on after I had moved forward a bit. Once I got out of the branches I reached up and removed the broken branch that was stuck to me.

I made it to a spot in a tight slot where I would have had to climb about six feet as well as negotiate a two foot chock stone lodged at the top. I haven't even seen 127 Hours. No chance I want to live it.

As I was descending a slickrock hill (which seemed to be only a slightly better choice than the watercourse I had climbed on my way up) I noticed some people with canyoneering helmets up on a ridge near the road. There was some huge tripod set up near the edge. When I climbed up towards my car I saw a half dozen Park Ranger SUVs as well as a Search and Rescue vehicle. Apparently they must have been training. Gee and to think that I wasted an opportunity to need rescue when it was so close at hand.

I don't think that I got many good photos at Cascading Falls, although I sure did enjoy the hike.

My next hike was Many Pools. It was fantastic. I made an unfortunate decision when I was bypassing the grotto. I sought high ground (only maybe ten feet above the choked path) and then went the hard way. I was reacquainted with scratchy brush for a short distance. You'll be glad to know that I found a much better route on the way back.

I continued through part of a slot. I could have gone a bit farther, but I decided to turn around. I had read that one could continue to the Deertrap Mountain Trail but that was a tough trek and I had already passed the most scenic parts.

I drove by Petroglyph Canyon but did not stop since it was too late for the light I wanted. So I finished my day at a spot near Checkerboard Mesa. Yesterday I found a hoodoo above Clear Creek that I wanted to shoot in the afternoon light, so this was as good an opportunity as any. I reshoot some hoodoos in that area that I had seen a couple of years ago. I also realized that there was some stuff around there that I want to explore in morning light.