Wandering In The Red Cliffs Desert Reserve
My hidden valley in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve |
I spend New Years Day afternoon
wandering, with no particular destination in mind, just exploring a
portion of the Red
Cliffs Desert Reserve. It was great fun.
Along the way, I spotted the bleached
remains of an abandon desert tortoise shell and also a broken Indian
arrow point. Admiring without touching, I consider those things
payoff for sweat invested in the hike.
The reserve includes much of the red
rock visible from I-15 as you travel east from St.
George, plus some spots away from the freeway. It is a largely
undeveloped landscape of sand, cliffs and cacti, approximately 20
miles wide and 6 miles deep. It was established primarily to protect
habitat for the desert tortoise and other sensitive species, but also
provides great opportunity for recreation.
The reserve winds around Snow
Canyon State Park and provides much of the same kind of scenery.
It is a wonderful area for winter hiking and horseback riding.
I hiked in the eastern portion of the
reserve, starting at the BLM-managed Red Cliffs Recreation Area, just
west of the town of Leeds. I followed the contour at the base of the
red cliffs, just to see where I could go, and occasionally climbed up
cliffs and explored hidden canyons.
I like to imagine I'm treking into
unexplored territory - thinking perhaps if I hike farther and climb
higher, I might stumble into a cove or crack that hasn't been seen by
humans for hundreds of years. It's possible in this country, where
distance is deceptive and hiking a mile can be incredibly difficult,
requiring almost as much vertical as horizontal travel.
I found and followed what appeared to
be a faint old trail - no footprints or evidence it had been used in
years. From the base of the cliff, I followed the trail up one level,
just to see what was there, then up another and then another. In
spots I lost the trail and so I just trudged ahead, only to pick up
the old path again as I moved forward.
There aren't many spots where you can
climb the cliffs (without technical climbing skills and gear), but
this trail led from shelf to shelf until I cam out on top of the
highest visible cliffs. The view was amazing.
At the top, a gentle slope dropped down
the other side into a hidden valley boarded by more red rock. As I
wandered in the valley I saw, to my amazement, human footprints in
the sand. I'd come all of that way, following an almost imperceptible
path through difficult terrain, only to find that someone else had
recently reached the same spot.
As a kid growing up in the St. George
area, I often found arrow heads and occasionally saw a tortoise, a
sidewinder or a roadrunner, or other species that are now almost
gone. Not any more. Those things pretty much disappeared when the
area has become a popular playground. But I still hike with the hope
of discovery.
Mostly, I just enjoyed getting out in
the warm sunshine. The weather was perfect, with the thermometer
hitting a daytime high of about 55 F.
It was fun getting out - getting away
from the ice and smog that chock so many cities this time of year.
- Dave Webb
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