Day 16: Cedar City to the Virgin river via Kolob Canyons

May 14, 2010

I got away from the motel in downtown Cedar City a little before 8:30. It was uphill going south out of town. On the edge of town is a shopping center near I-15, with a lighthouse that is VERY out of place.

88-foot historic lighthouse originally built in Europe, reassembled in Cedar City at the Providence Center shopping mall.

Then I turned on old highway 91 which goes to the town of Kanarraville on a no-traffic route parallel to I-15. With views of mountains and irrigated fields.

Irrigated fields south of Cedar City. Pine Valley mountains in the distance.

Between Cedar City and Kanarraville the road crosses a minor summit which separates the Great Basin from the Pacific Ocean watershed. Finally!

Kanarraville is a typical quaint and tidy Mormon farm town, except for the sign saying "Home of the only all-women fire department, 1961-1968". It's a very peaceful place because the old highway has been bypassed by I-15.

South of Kanarraville. Pine Valley mountains again.

A few miles south of Kanarraville the old highway merges with I-15. After 2 miles on I-15 I took the Kolob Canyons exit. Kolob Canyons is the less-visited northern portion of Zion national park. I couldn't get to Cedar Breaks, so a visit to Kolob Canyons can be the consolation prize.

Climbing into the Kolob Canyons section of Zion National Park. Yes, the pavement is red.

The red pavement road climbs steadily for 6 miles, climbing 1100 feet. At the end of the road I hiked the 1 mile Timber Creek Overlook trail to an excellent overlook of the Kolob canyons. From this vantage point it resembles a solid wall, but there are actually several deep gashes that form slot canyons.

Panoramic view of Kolob Canyons from the end of the Timber Creek trail.

Clouds were building during my hike, so I wasn't surprised to get rained on for a few minutes while descending. As usual, the storm cloud just hangs over the high ground, so it's better to just go through it as quickly as possible.

I hadn't planned to, but near the bottom of the descent I stopped at the Taylor Creek trailhead for a 5 mile hike. The trail follows Taylor creek into a narrow canyon of red rock. I lost count, but the trail crosses the creek about 30 times between the trailhead and the turnaround point. At most crossings I could step or jump across the creek. Occasionally it was wide enough to require boulder hopping.

It was good for me to get away from the road into a quiet canyon. The last several days had long mileage on the road with little time for anything else. This was my first chance during this tour to completely escape the road into a wilderness setting.

The entire trail is in a canyon. The trail ends at a very impressive overhanging red rock wall with a grotto on the bottom and two arch-like formations in the wall above.

Impressive red cliffs on both sides of the canyon.

I started the 5-mile hike at 1:20 PM and finished at 4:50 PM. There's no way I will make it to the main part of Zion National Park today. The descent back to I-15 was all downhill. Then 13 more miles south on I-15. Fortunately it was all downhill, so it didn't take long.

I exited onto highway 17 towards La Verkin. Still mostly downhill, to 3200 feet elevation. I stopped at a gas station and asked about camping. Not surprisingly they said that all the camping is much further east towards Zion. The route east on highway 9 started with an unexpected 600 foot climb before dropping down to the Virgin river at the town of Virgin. East of town I stopped at a large RV resort and waited in line 10 minutes at the reception to find out they had no available tent sites. It's getting late...

I was exhausted from a long day of biking and hiking. It was nearly sunset. Fortunately the road is mostly level with a tailwind. I scouted several possible free campsites, but none were very good. I was tired and grouchy, but the awesome near-sunset views lifted my mood somewhat.

Finally I came upon a huge area of riverfront where hundreds of people were free camping. It's 10 miles from the park, but clearly an unofficial overflow area for Zion visitors. I arrived at 8:30 PM, just after sunset, and set up my tent in a spot with a fine view of the river and a red cliff.

The campers here come from all over. My neighbors were from the state of Georgia. The elevation is only about 3600 feet, lowest I've been in a long time. So the evening was pleasantly warm.

It was a long hard day! But a very fulfilling day. I escaped the Basin and Range province, pedaled to a mountaintop, hiked a canyon, and saw the first "real" river in more than 2 weeks. The weather was nearly perfect with a high of 75F. Sunny sky most of the day except for one brief shower. Tailwind all day.

I'm really glad I did the Taylor Creek canyon hike. It gave me a much-needed nudge out of the "traveling" state of mind into a "touring" state of mind.

Distance: 64.6 mi. (103 km)

Climbing: 2871 ft. (870 m)

Average Speed: 11.5 mph (18.4 km/h)

Maximum Speed: 36.5 mph (58 km/h)

Hiked 6 mi. (9.6 km)

Today's ride: 65 miles (105 km)
Total: 832 miles (1,339 km)

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