6/29 - A Long Hard Hike

Today we took on another, harder hike called the Watchtower Hike. It's called a "moderate" hike, and it's up a good bit up the mountain side. We started on the trail that runs beside the road. There are a lot of little critters here, mostly lizards. This toothy little gopher kept popping in and out of his hole to see if we were still there. 

Right where the rougher trail starts, we found a rattlesnake. I didn't get a good picture of the snake because Randy insisted I not get too close. If he hadn't been there, I probably would have knelt down a foot from it, gotten a great picture, and died.

But I lived (for now), so on to the hike! I'd say about 70% of the hike was switchbacks, because the grade was so steep that there was no other way to go up it. Randy, with his hiking experience and general fitness, did way better than me.

Fortunately, there was always a ready-made excuse for pausing - stopping to take in the beautiful view, which got better and better as we climbed.

And we just kept climbing. We stopped at a tiny stream, really just a trickle of water over the rocks, to wet our neckcloths. Randy offered to pour some of that cool water over my head and I gratefully said yes. This tiny bit of water made a huge difference!

The switchbacks kept getting shorter and shorter. Eventually we reached the top, and I would never hesitate to say the view was worth every step!

Then, of course, we had to hike back down! Downhill hiking is harder on the legs but easier on the lungs, although I did refresh at the little stream again.

When we got back at ground level, we went to the banks of the Virgin river where Randy took a quick dip. Here was where we ate our PB&J sandwiches today. We take these every day that we hike, and they work out just fine - they don't spoil and they provide a lot of energy.

It was a perfectly wonderful hike and worth every bit of effort! We headed back to the RV to relax for the night, but a big storm blew in. Where we are parked, the wind whips through pretty hard. I worried a bit about our awnings, then fell asleep.