Wow: What happened. It's now Feb 2019. Did I miss my annual Columbus Day Hikes: Nope, nary a one.
The last post was the Oct 2012 hike which took place in Zion's National Park. A lot has happened since then. Let me recap.
Oct 2013: We did something. I don't remember what. Old age is setting in.
Oct 2014: We did another something. Someone needs to help me out here.
Oct 2015: Did something again, not the same thing, but something.
Oct 2016: Ah, this one I remember without checking my notes. Darin, Kris, Duane and I hiked the Thunder River - Deer Creek loop. Lots of fun. We got rained on just about everyday.
Oct 2017: Kris, Mike, Mike's brother (need to look up his name, but it starts with a M) and I hiked Calf Creek, some slot canyons (including Peek-a-boo) and did a backpacking trip down Coyote Gulch. Beautiful hike. Lots of fun.
Oct 2018: This one is still fresh on my mind. I planned a hike down Jumpup Canyon, Kanab Creek, upstream along the Colorado River and then leaving the river at Deer Creek and exiting on the Bill Hall Trail. This was quite the trip. Things went wrong from the very beginning and to be completely honest, it was my error that caused the problem. Just a little itsy bitsy error just kept compounding. We did make it out ok, but we deviated from our permit substantially. We had one massive hike on the last day and made it to our truck about 10 hours after our planned time. Then we had to go back to the Sowats Trailhead where we started, pick up our bikes and a little other gear and then drive home. I got to my house at 7 a.m. What a trip.
Last year (2018) I actually made three trips down the Grand Canyon. Kris, Darin, Curt and I drove down and meet up with Kris's brother and did the Kiabab - Grandview loop. Then I went back down in Oct for the annual Columbus Day hike and finally I did a solo hike in November back down to Deer Creek to look for a camera that we lost a month earlier. I didn't find it, but it sure was a fun hike.
I do have notes on my other trips. I just need to do a bit of research to figure out what we did and when. The hikes included a Rim-to-Rim-to-Rim hike with Kris, Darin, Lucy and I and a two south rim hikes on the Tonto. These two hikes consisted of the far eastern end of the Park and the far western end of the Tonto trail (Royal Arch loop). Both hikes were repeats for me, but were still very enjoyable.
About Me
- DRB
- I grew up in a small farming community (pop 380) in South East Idaho. I graduated from Rigby High School in 1974 with the idea that if I ever wanted to escape the farm laborer future, I had to do something different. I joined the Air Force in 1978 and have been associated with the military since then. I spent almost 17 years active duty, 12 years as an Air Force Contractor, and now I'm back in the Air Force as a civilian electrical engineer. My Air Force and contractor work allowed me to discover a real passion in life. I enjoy traveling, though perhaps not in the typical sense. My Air Force jobs have taken me to almost every state in the U.S. With all this travel, I've taken advantage of the opportunity to go to the highest point of each of the lower 48 states. Military transfers took me to various assignments in the US and allowed me the opportunity to hike extensively in Southern California, Arizona, Wyoming, and Utah. I've been married to the most awesome girl in the world for 34 years. We have six children (twin boys followed by four daughters), and now have 12 delightful grandchildren.