We went hiking again this week. Two trails actually - the Ladder Canyon which is so named because you need to climb up ladders to get from one elevation to the next and the Painted Canyon which is so named because of the large variety of coloured rocks.
Here's a map that shows the path. So we took the route up Ladder Canyon to the trail junction and then returned down the Big Painted Canyon.
This pile of rocks is the entrance to Ladder Canyon. You can miss it easily if you don't have instructions on how to find it. Luckilly, Terri the Hike Master, has prepared well for this hike. If you miss the turn going into this canyon you simply enter the Big Painted Canyon from the opposite end -i.e. the end that we came out of on the return part of our hike.
So you climb up over the rocks and...
You find another pile of rocks to climb over
Finally you get into the actual canyon.
Some of the ladders don't go all the way to the top which makes it neccessary to pull your way over the edge.
A shot from above looking down into where we just came from.
And a wee video
Eventually we get out of the canyon
And reach the highest point of our hike
A walk of a mile brings us to the northern entrance of Big Painted Canyon.
What follows is just a bunch of pictures without too many words.
If you look right in the centre of the photo below you'll see a ladder leading to another canyon
See...
A huge boulder that fell from above. Look at all the smaller stones embedded in it. It certainly must have been at the bottom of an ocean millions and millions of years ago.
Just about out now. Look at the stone to Terri's right that seems to be jutting out of the cliff face.
At some point way in the past the boulder was ejected somehow from the cliff. I wonder how long ago it happened and what caused it to happen.
Our reward.
Here's a link to a neat website with more info and pics on the hike we did today.