FREE
Gateway
FALL/WINTER 2014
to Canyon Country
A guide to Page, Kanab and the Grand Circle
UP AND AWAY
PAGE’S ANNUAL BALLOON REGATTA TAKES TO THE SKIES
BACKYARD THERAPY A PHOTOGRAPHY LESSON WITH JACKSON BRIDGES
The Subway
Zion National Park
1 Gateway to Canyon Country
One of the newest hotels in town. The Comfort Inn & Suites® hotel in Page, Arizona
offers easy access to a variety of outdoor activities along the Colorado River, including water skiing, hiking, biking, fishing, golfing and raft trips. This Page, AZ hotel is also convenient to Horseshoe Bend and Antelope Canyon.
Comfort Inn® has the only indoor heated pool & Jacuzzi in Page!
Guests of the Comfort Inn & Suites will appreciate our many amenities including: • Free wireless high-speed Internet access • Business center • Heated indoor pool & Jacuzzi! • Complimentary hot breakfast • Fitness Room
890 Haul Road, Page, AZ • 928-645-6931
House of Indian & Thai Food Downtown Page, AZ The Rodeway Inn® is located close to Powell Museum and Lake Powell National Golf Course.
Recreational amenities include an outdoor pool. Those traveling on business have access to a business center at this hotel. Complimentary wireless Internet access is available in public areas. Self parking is complimentary. Additional property amenities include free WiFi, laundry facilities, and a picnic area. Some accommodations have balconies or patios if available. Free hot breakfast. All rooms with flat screen TV’s, microwave, refrigerator, coffee pot and hair dryer.
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Gateway to Canyon Country
is produced three times a year by the staff of the Lake Powell Chronicle, P.O. BOX 1716, Page, AZ 86040. Phone 928.645.8888 Fax 928.645.2209 Publisher Tonja Greenfield lpcpub@lakepowellchronicle.com
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com Editor Blake Tilker editor@lakepowellchronicle.com Writer Jamie Brough reporter@lakepowellchronicle.com Composing Marty Sisk marty@lakepowellchronicle.com Advertising Ed Pease ed@lakepowellchronicle.com Mary Ann Chilton maryann@lakepowellchronicle.com Circulation Mike Nation
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THIS IS CANYON COUNTRY, AND YOU’RE NOT HERE BY MERE ACCIDENT
I
n April of 2013, I lost a close friend to a hiking accident near the tallest mountain in Wales. His name was Jared and, like myself, he was a desert rat at heart. He was a college transplant looking for a little affirmation overseas when he passed away. Like those of us with a true penchant for adventure, his sojourns never seemed to have a discernible beginning or an end. Jared was self-taught in almost everything he put his mind to. One of the blessed few that actually succeeded with that methodology, he was as much my backwoods accomplice as he was my mentor. I have him to thank more than any one factor in my own revitalized interest in backpacking and traveling. He was the type of person that would run miles ahead to the trailhead to drop off his own backpack, and then immediately sprint back to take the backpack of a friend with a sprained ankle. It’s a force that drove him. Whether it’s sooner or later, a force will move you. It’s that same force that set the motions bringing you to this magazine, the same force that moves us to continue to explore on an ever-shrinking globe. So, visitor, here you are in Page, most likely. Here at a time when the residents can be as sleepy as the largemouth bass in Lake Powell. Luckily, the rocks are just as brilliant, the cultures just as vibrant, and the desert spirit just as unique as they are at any time of year. Maybe you’re a nomad from overseas. Maybe you’ve seen the omnipresent photos of this unique place and decided that you just had to experience it all for yourself. Or maybe you’re simply a nearby neighbor from Utah or Colorado coming back for your seasonal romp through all the splendor. And maybe there’s something specific you’ve come for. Antelope Canyon, Buckskin Gulch, Lake Powell/Colorado River, Horseshoe Bend, Zion, the Grand Canyon; the places that could take two lifetimes to ever truly soak in. Or you might just be passing through for a burger and some gas and saw this humble little magazine sitting at the counter. This is Canyon Country, and you’re not here by mere accident. Where you’re from or why you’re here are inconsequential. This place is timeless and we welcome you with open arms to share it with us. For those of us that have lived here for decades, or for nearly a lifetime in my case, the backdrop of the Navajo Sandstone and southwest sunsets have been as formative as the people we grew up with. They have shaped us in the same way the winds and the water shape the canyons that surround our plateau. Those canyons once isolated the people; they were explored at the peril of adventurers like John Wesley Powell and those that followed in his footsteps. They were often seen as obstacles to overcome in an untamed southwest. Now, they bring us together. So not only have you joined us in this oasis, but you have come during a time of hibernation for man, machine and nature alike. The fall season: when the evening air is crisp and the afternoons are at the perfect warmth is a polar opposite to the triple digit temperatures of summer. For many, this is the ideal time to hike and explore. Jared was never a risk-taker but he, much like you, was the type to visit a desert oasis in the wintertime or blaze a path through the snow to simply see what lies beyond a ridge. It takes dedication and a mindset of honest appreciation to find beauty in the sometimes forgotten. As Jack London said, “The proper function of man is to live, not to exist.” So embrace the trail, embrace the road and, most important of all, embrace the people you choose to share them with because they all are truly the best things in life. Welcome to Canyon Country, friend.
Jamie Brough Gateway to Canyon Country
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 3
Canyon Country
Iconic Image
Page 32
Cover photo / Blake Tilker Gateway to Canyon Country editor Blake Tilker took this photo of the Subway in Zion National Park. Read about his journey to the Subway on page 10.
4 Gateway to Canyon Country
Fall/Winter 2014
Page 7
Page 25
Page 30
Inside 7 10 19 20
Up and Away Ticket to Ride Lake Powell map Canyon Country map
21 22 24 25
Page area map City of Page map City of Kanab map Local Color
28 Panguitch 30 ‘Round the Bend 32 Backyard Therapy 39 Power
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 5
UP AND AWAY PAGE’S ANNUAL BALLOON REGATTA TAKES TO THE SKIES story by JAMIE BROUGH/sTAFF
Since 2003, after its inauguration, The Page Lake Powell Balloon Regatta has become a world-class and citywide jewel of an event right in the heart of the fall season. The entire town comes alive when more than 50 hot air balloon pilots pour into the area, ready to take to the heavens. Throughout the weekend it’s held, Page’s blue skies turn into a canvas for the colorful and amorphous spheres. In the dimly lit hours of the morning, the earlier fliers create a cacophonic, if not oddly melodic chorus when their burners sound off. Balloons launch from all around the plateau, with most pilots favoring the wide-open areas just off Highway 89 and the Page Lake Powell National Golf Course. You can get a stellar vantage point of the initial takeoffs near South Navajo Drive, around the crest of the plateau as it coincides with the top of the golf course. The Rimview Trail can also give access to this area, as well as a few other prime spots of viewership on the northwest side. The first takeoffs will happen not long after sunrise on Oct. 30. The Balloon Regatta has its origins in the now defunct Page Air Affaire, when a handful of hot air balloon pilots would showcase their brightly colored aircraft around the city. It has since grown into the multinational endeavor it is today. A truly grassroots and community-sponsored event, the Balloon Regatta has also morphed into one of Page’s most
Photo by Gateway to Canyon Country staff successful ventures, with each year growing more popular than the last. The allure of the Regatta has reached a worldwide level among enthusiasts and pilots as they have traveled from all over the world in recent years to participate. The most ever in its history, 65 pilots and their balloons will be arriving in the last week of October to fly, with some coming all the way from the
Make a date with your health. Stay on top of your health by attending Wellness Wednesday at Page Hospital. Affordable, high-quality testing is an important tool for assessing your health. Every Wednesday throughout the year, we offer discounted blood screenings: Basic Metabolic Screening ($12), Comprehensive Metabolic Panel ($15) Lipid Panel ($19), Hemoglobin A1C ($14), Thyroid TSH ($23), CBC ($12) Patients are advised to contact their primary care provider for interpretation or questions about test results. As a part of Wellness Wednesday, our experts will also lead a variety of free educational sessions.
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www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 7
countries of England and Switzerland to participate. Mid to late fall is also a meteorological high point for flying balloons in northern Arizona. Lulls in weather tend to accompany the high pressure systems that move through the area and create ideal conditions for balloon flying. Moderate to stiff breezes, high visibility and no precipitation make for some smooth air sailing. And, of course, the spectacular views from thousands of feet up in the air are perhaps the biggest motivator. “Word is getting out on what an outstanding place Page is to operate a hot air balloon,” mentions hot air balloon enthusiast and member of the Balloon Regatta Committee Bryan Hill. “What makes it unique here is the backdrop. The lake, the red rock, the views, when you put 65 balloons into the sky it truly becomes a spectacle for everyone involved.” While it is possible to potentially snag a seat on one of the 65 balloons, event coordinators do not explicitly endorse it. If you’re really looking to fly, Hill says, your best chance is to sign
Photo by Gateway to Canyon Country staff up to help set up the balloons. “The magic of ballooning is it is a group sport. Pilots show up and they need help to put them in the air. We try to assign everyone that comes out and is interested in participating. If you come, you might find a pair of gloves in your hand helping to set up and learn about a hot air balloon. Sometimes you may even have an opportunity to get lucky if there’s a spot open in the basket.” For those of us without the cash to afford our own balloon or the stomach to take to the skies in a basket, the real show occurs during the Saturday night Glow event, which has become one of the largest community-wide affairs in the town. The Glow also coincides with the largest vendor fair in Page where seasonal restaurant owners and services give their last hurrah before the end of the season. According to The Chamber Page-Lake Powell director Judy Franz, more than 60 vendors opened up booths to more than 5,000 unique visitors last year. The Chamber has traditionally
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hosted and organized the vendor fair which runs from 11 a.m. – 10 p.m., on Nov. 1. The fair will take place right outside the Page Mesa Theater and will encompass almost the entirety of the parking complex. An all day event, vendors will stick around after sunset for the Saturday night Glow. Local and talented musicians are to play alongside an increasingly popular beer garden where enthusiasts and revelers alike can sample local brews. A huge swath off the adjacent Lake Powell Blvd., is closed for the pilots to line up their fully inflated balloons for the Glow event. Each pilot running his or her burners simultaneously gives it its eponymous name. When they’re all lined up and alight, Lake Powell Blvd. shines like a Christmas tree. And don’t worry about any rogue fliers; they tend to keep the balloons tethered down during this time. A brand new first-time event will also be taking place on Halloween during the Regatta weekend. Page residents with a penchant for dressing up will don their most outrageous costumes and parade down the streets atop bicycles. Concocted by the Page Tourism Board, the Bicycle Parade will conclude at the Harvest Festival where there will be a series of free carnival-themed booths for all ages. The Harvest Festival will take place from 5 – 10 p.m., with the Bicycle Parade kicking off at 5 p.m. If you find yourself in Page, or think you can make the trip here during the festivities, the Balloon Regatta is a homegrown local-town event worth sticking around for. It officially begins on Oct. 30, and will end on Nov. 2. The Saturday Night Glow will take place on Nov. 1 around dusk.
Blake Tilker/Gateway to Canyon Country staff
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ticket to ride WINING THE LOTTERY TO HIKE THE SUBWAY IN ZION story AND PHOTOS by BLAKE TILKER/editor
I stood up from my desk so fast that my chair fell over when I got the text message from my wife stating: “We just won the lottery.” I read it out loud and a coworker asked me how much we won. “We just won permits to the Subway,” I said. “Huh?” replied my coworker. “Exactly,” I said. There are some places so beautiful and so unique that the government limits access to the end of the rainbow with permits and consequence for would-be poachers of wilderness. The Subway in Zion is one of those places and a lottery permit system is in place to limit the amount of traffic in the Subway. While Uncle Sam’s lottery algorithm is a closely guarded secret, it’s no secret that your odds of winning the lottery to the Subway are right up their with your chances of getting hit by lightning in the rear end while bending over to pick up a fourleafed clover. But, you have to be in it to win it, right? My wife and I really didn’t win the lottery, but our friends, Tex and Amy, did, and they invited us along with eight others who all shared a couple things in common: 1. We all work or have worked as wilderness guides. Walking down the sandstone descent into Russell 2. We all have had the Subway on our dirty bucket list for Gulch.
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some time. And then there was some guy from Kanab named Victor meeting us at the trail. The Subway itself is a quarter mile segment along a 10-mile journey. The Subway is a tunnel-like corridor carved out of the canyon walls by the Left Fork of North Creek that, you guessed it, resembles a subway tunnel. The real reason the Subway is so popular is that the journey requires a certain skillset to pull off the hike without getting hurt or lost… or both. The majority of our group drove up from Page and we met two more who drove down from Colorado. This Victor fellow lived in Kanab and was meeting us in the morning at the trailhead. My wife and I pulled into the Lava Point campground in Zion around 3 a.m. and caught a quick nap before waking up at 5 a.m. to a cold August morning and a sizzling hot breakfast burrito Tex and Amy put together for everybody. The game plan in the morning was to leave some of the vehicles at the exit point of the hike, which is the Left Fork Trailhead, and then carpool back to the Wildcat Trailhead where we would begin the Subway - this route is often referred to as “Top-Down.” After a last-minute gear check, we hopped in the truck and fired up the 94 Toyota 4-Runner. We made it almost 20 feet before the truck’s transmission failed. None of the gears worked, not even reverse and we pushed the truck back into our campsite in disbelief. Tex and Amy noticed we weren’t following them anymore and turned around to see what went wrong (the cell service Victor, Tex and Amy scrambling down the boulder field there is poor and unreliable). to the Left Fork.
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 11
12 Gateway to Canyon Country
After accepting the fact that the Forerunner would have to be towed out, we threw our packs into Tex’s truck and climbed in. It was a minor setback with major logistics to figure out, but there wasn’t time for that; we had tickets for a ride in the Subway. The Subway involves some quite technical land navigation and the National Park Service recommends, “Visitors are encouraged to do the trip with an experienced hiker of The Subway or obtain a detailed route description.” Well, turns out Victor was our guy. At 53, Victor looks like an accountant or a lawyer with his salt and pepper short hair and prescription glasses. However, he is a hiking machine and has ridden the Subway more than just about anybody around. Victor also owns The Rocking V Café in Kanab, which just so happens to be ranked the No. 1 restaurant on Trip Advisor. The “Top-Down” route descends Russell Gulch and we followed Victor as he led the way down the unmarked route punctuated by rock cairns. The National Park Service states, “Do not place rock cairns. If placed incorrectly they can mislead visitors causing unnecessary damage to the resource and could lead to injury. Also, do not build structures including benches, tables and shelters. Leave the area in a natural state for others to enjoy.” Victor would kick over the cairns as we passed them and encouraged us to do the same. We all were taking a quick break when a guy in his late teens or early 20s wearing a red bandana ran up on us in what looked like a panic. I figured he needed help with the look he had on his face and pace at which
Left, Victor guides the group into the Upper Subway and under the North Pole. Top, Will and the rest of the group rappel into the second station. Above, the Lower Subway is punctuated by vibrant colors, geologic anomalies and deep, frigid potholes.
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 13
he was running down the sandstone. “Are you going to the Subway?” Victor asked the guy. “The what?” replied the stranger. “Never mind.” Victor said. “I’m just scouting it out for my family,” the young man said and took off running down Russell Gulch and out of eyesight. There is no obvious trail to the bottom of Russell Gulch, however we had Victor. Other than the knee-pounding descent down the sandstone, the trail doesn’t get technical until you descend roughly 300 vertical feet in which you down climb and rock hop your way over boulders and roots to the confluence of Russell Gulch and North Creek’s Left Fork. After wading through waste-deep, frigid water and scrambling over some boulder fields, the trail made its way into the canyon we had been waiting for. And it was nothing but canyoneering at its best from that point on to the Subway. Victor recommended that we put away anything we didn’t want to get wet in our dry bags, because we were going to get wet. There was one short rappel that didn’t require us to put on our harnesses, but rather use the rope to lower ourselves into one of the many pools we swam through on our way to the upper Subway station. The “Log Chamber” or “North Pole” is a large log leaning up against the canyon wall and has become one of the iconic images at the entrance of the Subway. Shortly after walking under the North Pole, we put on our climbing harnesses, Victor hooked up his rope and we descended a 30-foot rappel into the lower tube of the Subway station. Chances are that the images you’ve seen about this place
Caitlyn slides into one of the massive potholes in the Lower Subway.
November 1, 2014 9 am - 3 pm
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14 Gateway to Canyon Country
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were taken in the lower Subway. Before we knew it, the Subway opened up and disappeared behind a left turn and a series of cascading waterfalls on the hike out, which consisted of rock hopping over wet boulders and stream crossings. Just under three miles after exiting the Subway, the trail ascends 400 feet up to a ridge via loose, steep switchbacks that will turn your thighs into ground beef before it tapers out to the last trek to the Left Fork Trailhead. As I pounded out the climb, I thought about our stranded truck: “Maybe there was a transmission leak and all I need is some fluid?” The hike took almost 10 hours to complete, and the after-hike beer about 10 seconds. One of the guys in the group offered to drive me into town to purchase some automatic transmission fluid, which was roughly an hour drive each way. Will is a former NPS ranger and current wilderness guide. It got dark and cold quickly and as we headed back to the campsite to hopefully fix the truck, we were flagged down by two young men waving their arms in the air in a panic on the side of the road about one mile past the Left Fork Trailhead. It was the kid with the red bandana from earlier this morning that was “scouting for his family.” He stated that his brother broke his ankle somewhere along the stretch after the Subway and his father was down there with him. The kid was lost and didn’t know where the Left Fork
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Trailhead or their vehicle was. Nobody in his group of four had a first aid kit or a headlamp, and his plan was to go back to the hotel and regroup. “They have plenty of rations,” the kid said. I informed him that starving to death isn’t the issue, it’s the bitter cold night in wet clothes compounded by an injury that he needs to be thinking about. We drove the two back to their vehicle and Will hooked the kid up with a headlamp and all the necessary first aid to splint a broken ankle and get his brother out. The other young man with him was covered in cactus needles. We wished the kid good luck and headed back to the campsite. The truck sucked down a couple quarts of ATF, and I gave it a moment before turning it on and putting it into gear. The Forerunner fired right up, however none of the gears worked. We slept in the truck, waking up to leg cramps and a shivering cold throughout the night. We would turn on the truck’s heater for a bit and the only thing I could think of was how miserable the guy with the broken ankle must be. Those guys needed a Victor. I just wish Victor knew how to fix transmissions.
Pictured left, Caitlyn and Will emerge from one of the pothole pools in the Lower Subway.
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Call 928.698.3384 or book online at www.navajotours.com Casual tours available 365 days a year. Photo tours available during peak lighting times each day. Located on Navajo land 3 miles outside Page, Arizona. Lake Powell
Antelope Point Marina
Page
N22 B
98 89
20
Upper Antelope Canyon
Antelope Canyon
Antelope Island
Wahweap Bay
Highway 89 to Flagstaff is currently closed. See detour maps for the new 89T on pages 20 and 21.
Colorado River
Glen Canyon Dam
Hwy 89 to Kanab, Utah
Wahweap Marina
Navajo Canyon
Warm Creek Bay
West Canyon
Last Chance Bay
Hole-InThe-Rock
Rainbow Bridge National Monument
Rock Creek
Escalante River
San Juan River
Halls Creek Bay
Halls Crossing Marina
Bullfrog Marina
Bullfrog Bay
Utah Highway 276 to Monument Valley
Utah Highway 276 to Hanksville
Hite Marina
Colorado River
Antelope Point Marina
Utah Highway 98
Lake Powell
20 Gateway to Canyon Country
214 78 401 275 434 201 247 365 203 121 145 92 381 161 119
202 321 283 357 206 169 287 125 137 301 261 520 303 211
321 68 77 268 331 197 64 79 204 78 202 278 203 380 126 196 318 151 74 67 21 303 88 41
559 199 484 111 40 162 278 216 299 408 318 397
447 189 230 464 524 356 186 168 268 275 283 203 559 595 77 407 525 365 272 225 182 413 110 153
149 431 393 221 122 285 427 445 365 434 357 380 199 595 518 89 158 161 232 419 401 380 461 420
376 121 162 388 450 282 119 101 307 201 206 126 484 77 518 330 447 288 191 148 105 336 36 76
118 163 126 269 217 394 284 242
122 238 256 339 368 410 363
214 242 230 133 192 246 239 257 140 203 125 151 162 365 161 288 163 122 61 226 172 435 239 200
285 149 151 204 262 262 174 154 136 121 137 74 278 272 232 191 126 238 61 141 91 376 153 115
291 35 24 340 320 144 32 50 267 145 301 67 216 225 419 148 269 256 226 141
342 101 107 299 352 219 97 115 205 92 261 21 299 182 401 105 217 339 172 91 88
238 250 260 580 304 224 253 250 503 381 520 303 408 413 380 336 394 368 435 376 376 324
341 85 126 383 414 246 88 53 273 161 303 88 318 110 461 36 284 410 239 153 115 67 303
88 236 324 115 67 303 74 62 309 43
ZION N.P., UT
ST. GEORGE, UT
SALT LAKE CITY, UT
PIPE SPRINGS, NM
PANGUITCH, UT
129 301 284 185 81 147 299 317 221 365 287 318 40 525 158 447 118
PAGE, AZ
159 280 278 171 145 196 277 295 176 247 169 196 111 407 89 330
NAVAJO, NM
MESQUITE, NV
MESA VERDE, N.P., CO
LAS VEGAS, NV
LAKE POWELL, HITE MARINA 168 248 223 210 116 123 245 263 252 401 321 278
NATURAL BRIDGES, NM
208 78 204 252 268 365 307 176 221 140 136 267 205 503 273 241
425 298 292 257 439 312 295 313 78 214
MONUMENT VALLEY, UT
322 176 313 79 263 168 445 101 295 317 257 154 50 115 250 53 59
399 161 155 347 409 275 158 176 208
KANAB, UT
419 292 302 181 282 277 304 322
GRAND CANYON S. RIM
288 32 78 365 354 199 21
GRAND CANYON N. RIM
FLAGSTAFF, AZ
249 62 145 285 331 350 179 5 294 327 120 56 175 551 351 175 230 352 551 230 178 351 352 178 365 354 199 21 181 282 277 304 347 409 275 158 257 439 312 295 268 331 197 64 210 116 123 245 404 524 356 186 221 122 285 427 388 450 282 119 171 145 196 277 185 81 147 299 133 192 246 239 204 262 262 174 340 320 144 32 299 352 219 97 580 304 224 253 353 414 246 88 298 372 204 93
CEDAR CITY, UT
CEDAR BREAKS N.P., UT
CAPITOL REEF, N.P., UT
CANYONLANDS, UT
278 270 56 56 331 294 350 327 179 120 5 56 32 78 292 302 161 155 298 292 68 77 248 223 189 230 431 393 121 162 280 278 301 284 242 230 149 151 35 24 101 107 250 260 85 126 90 84
CANYON DE CHELLY, NM
BRIANHEAD, UT
278 270 249 62 145 285 288 419 399 425 321 168 447 149 376 159 129 214 285 291 342 238 341 328
BRYCE CANYON N.P.,UT
ARCHES N.P., MOAB, UT ARCHES N.P., MOAB, UT BRIANHEAD, UT BRYCE CANYON N.P.,UT CANYON DE CHELLY NM CANYONLANDS, UT CAPITOL REEF N.P., UT CEDAR BREAKS N.P., UT CEDAR CITY, UT FLAGSTAFF, AZ GRAND CANYON N. RIM GRAND CANYON S. RIM KANAB, UT LAKE POWELL, HITE MARINA LAS VEGAS, NV MESA VERDE N.P., CO MESQUITE, NV MONUMENT VALLEY, UT NATURAL BRIDGES NM NAVAJO NM PAGE, AZ PANGUITCH, UT PIPE SPRINGS NM SALT LAKE CITY, UT ST. GEORGE, UT ZION N.P., UT
328 90 84 298 372 204 93 59 241 119 211 41 397 153 420 76 242 363 200 115 74 62 309 43
Centrally located right in the middle of ten of America’s greatest scenic wonders, KANAB, UTAH makes the perfect base-camp for exploring, hiking, boating, photography, or back country adventure.
Request a free Visitor Guide at:
www.VisitSouthernUtah.com
1-800-733-5263
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 23
The Terrace
覺
Jackson Flat Reservoir Kanab Airport
Kaneplex
uth o S
ern Uta
h
KANAB / KANE COUNTY
Office of Tourism & Film Commission
www.VisitSouthernUtah.com 24 Gateway to Canyon Country
www.VisitSouthernUtah.com
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Kanab, Utah 84741
(800) 733-5263
Early October is a perfect time to explore the fall foliage in southern Utah. Craig Primas Photography/The Craig Primas Gallery. Please visit craigprimas.com to see other images of Southern Utah.
LOCAL COLOR SOME OF THE BEST THINGS HAPPEN OFF-SEASON story and photos by Laurel Beesley/special to the gateway
As the weather cools, Kane County has a bundle of great opportunities to offer anyone hoping to enjoy local color, autumn splendor and very special winter activities. One of the advantages of Southern Utah’s high desert climate is its reluctance to dip into extreme cold temperatures and, most days, the predictability of a heart-warming bright blue sky. The usual throngs of visitors fall off, the three-digit temperatures drop, and Kane County becomes a changed place. Early October is a perfect time to explore the fall foliage and go to an apple festival. The 16th Annual Glendale Apple Festival will be held Friday and Saturday, Oct. 10 and 11. Glendale is a quaint, historic town with a still vibrant farming community. The Apple Fest celebrate their history with craft
vendors, a William Tell Archery Shoot, Historic Horse Drawn Wagon Rides, Paintball Competition, games for kids, and a community dinner with live entertainment. This year the Apple Festival is excited to present its first annual Battle of the Bands; come hear music, buy a raffle, win a quilt, take advantage of the Apple Cook-Off, and learn more about the history of Long Valley. Zion Canyon Field Institute offers stellar one and two day classes through December featuring a variety of topics, all led by engaging expert instructors. An Archaeological Field Day, Fall Journaling in Zion, Fall Foliage Photography, and Winter Photography in Zion are just a sampling of the many natural history subjects available.
www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com 25
Visitors coming to the park between Nov. 3 and 9, have the additional advantage of seeing 24 different nationally known artists give free demonstrations during the 6th Annual Plein Air Art Invitational. “Plein air” is a French expression meaning “in the open air,” and is used to describe painting outdoors in natural surroundings. The invited artists will paint stunning views of Zion, lecture, have a wet paint exhibit, all paintings fresh off the canvas, and a public sale. What you have just seen created is literally what you can get! For more information, visit zionpark.org, select Field Institute if you are interested in the day trips. Close to Kanab is Cedar Breaks National Monument. Voted one of the Top Ten Destinations in America for fall foliage, you can experience this vivid display by following a six-mile scenic drive and exploring further along the Alpine Pond Trail. During the fall, you can access an up-to-date web report on the fall colors found along the Brian Head, Duck Creek, Kolob/Zion and Scenic Byways 14 and 143 by visiting www. scenicsouthernutah.com. Cedar Breaks is kept open all winter, except after heavy snowstorms. When the Scenic Drive closes with the first heavy snowfall sometime mid-November, it transforms into a groomed trail through the Monument for visitors on skis, snowshoes and snowmobiles. These hardy visitors not only get to enjoy the exceptional views of vast red
rock formations laced in snow, they can expect to be welcomed into the Yurt at the north Alpine Pond Trailhead Winter Ranger Station where they will be met with a cup of hot chocolate. The yurt is staffed by volunteers on weekends, weather permitting. The North Rim of the Grand Canyon may officially close on Oct. 15, but roads to various outlooks stay open until winter storms finally close the road from Jacob Lake. Late autumn journeys to the North Rim provide an unusual time to see one of the Seven Wonders of the Natural World with hardly another soul around. The Outdoor Adventure Guides of Southern Utah enjoy the
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changed vistas of the late autumn and winter landscape. “We like what we call the ‘winter weight’ canyons, seeing the rock formations touched by snow is pretty awesome and provides some unique possibilities,” is the way Nick Smith of Seldom Seen Adventures described it. “I’ve taken people on The Huntress trip in the middle of winter and those parts of the trail that are winding rock chutes are crazy fun, you just sit down and slide, and enjoy the view going past you, nothing like it.” Wildlife viewing is especially fine during the winter season. Each December, cooperative Craig Primas Photography/The Craig Primas Gallery. wildlife management organizations such as Please visit craigprimas.com to see other images of Southern Utah. the Bureau of Land Management and National Forest Service organize a Bird Count tracking the movements of impressive species such as the American and the Brown Eagle. Tracking cards and great t-shirts for participants are available at the BLM Visitor Center in Kanab. Elk are a common sight around the MacDonald Ranch in Duck Creek, and the MacDonald Ranch offers unforgettable autumn-winter sleigh and wagon rides for all occasions, as well as sledding. If you want to stay in Kanab, their Rockin’ M Ranch House on 11 acres has classic views, and friendly woodstoves in the dining and living rooms. The region around Duck Creek Village is a perfect winter wonderland, and a snowmobile mecca, as well as crosscountry skiing, snowshoeing, and then the pleasures of art galleries, like the Craig Primas Gallery, featuring local scenes. At an elevation of 8,500 feet, Duck Creek provides four-season activities at their outdoor best. Back in Kanab, wonderful Old Time Fiddle Jam Sessions at the Old Barn (and later inside the Parry Lodge) continue all winter. Symphony of the Canyon plays Halloween and Christmas Concerts. Immediately around Kanab are other off-season must-do’s like hiking the Coral Pink Sand Dunes in winter. Coral Pink Sand Dune’s State Park in winter frequently provides visitors the rare opportunity of playing in sand and snow at the same time. What an exceptional time of year. For more information and a calendar of events, contact: www.visitsouthernutah.com. Pictured left, Lydia takes advantage of the snow in Bryce Canyon. Photo Courtesy of Savage Point B&B
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PANGUITCH
COURTESY PHOTO
The annual Panguitch Valley Balloon Rally is held the last full weekend of June each year. The event was founded in 2000. For more information on the balloon rally, visit www.PanguitchValleyBalloonRally.com.
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Panguitch, Utah, the largest and most historic town in the Bryce Canyon area, was named by the Paiute Indians after the “big fish” they caught in nearby Panguitch Lake (Big: Pan, Fish: Quitch). The red brick buildings seen throughout the city’s historic district are reminders of the pioneers who worked hard to establish their community. A group of pioneers from Parowan and Beaver first settled the valley on March 16, 1864. The first winter, being exceptionally cold, was hard for the settlers. Crops had failed, and people were starving. Seven brave men journeyed 40 miles away to Parowan to search for flour. The snow was so deep that the men had to abandon their oxen and wagons. They were able to reach Parowan by placing a quilt on top of the deep snow, walking to the end of the quilt, then placing another down, and retrieving the first. This became known as the Panguitch quilt walk. Settlers were forced to abandon the village and leave their crops during the Black Hawk War in May 1866. In 1871, Latter Day Saints leader Brigham Young ordered that Panguitch be resettled. As the settlement grew, a brick factory was built. The majority of the people from the community worked in the factory, loading horse-drawn wagons with wood, and iron-rich clay, firing a kiln with the wood, and making bricks. The brick workers were not paid with cash but with bricks. This enabled the workers and townspeople to build the large brick homes that are still standing today. Panguitch is filled with unique history and traditions. One such story is derived from an early sheriff, James W. Pace, who with his wife Hanna lived on the town’s main street. The story holds that when federal agents came to Panguitch hunting polygamists in the middle of the night, Hanna would light a lamp and set it in the window to signal all men in the neighborhood to go into hiding. During the first settlement of Panguitch between 1864 and 1867, members of the LDS Church paid tithes with produce and livestock that were kept on the lot on which the Pioneer Museum now stands. The museum was first constructed as the bishops’ storehouse and was dedicated in 1907. Later, it was used for church classrooms and a seminary. In 1964, it was leased to the Daughters of Utah Pioneers for a museum, where visitors today can enjoy the fine collection of pioneer artifacts. Whether one is escaping the summer heat, enjoying summer fishing or experiencing fall colors, Panguitch is the base for a good vacation getaway.
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‘Round the Bend Just incase you haven’t gone already story by BLAKE TILKER/sTAFF
Ok, now this is the big daddy of the area. This is one of the reasons you came here in the first place. Someone once told me the three most important features of Page are Lake Powell, Antelope Canyon, and Horseshoe Bend. And even though Horseshoe Bend is on National Park Service land, it’s free and accessible to everyone. Horseshoe Bend gets its name from the serpentine, 180 degree curve in the Colorado River. Although it looks more like a mule shoe, the winding section of river has carved out one of the most photographed natural wonders ever. The trail head for Horseshoe Bend is about three miles southwest of Page and is well marked with signs and tour buses. Park at the well-maintained parking lot just off US 89 and make sure you’re wearing socks because they are about to be knocked off. The hike to the canyon’s edge is only 0.5 miles, but the first section of trail is a steep ascent in thick sand. There’s shaded seating at the top of the hill if you want to gather your molecules before starting the descent.
The rest of the hike is in sand, but you can bounce around the protruding sandstone fins to make it a bit easier. The first time I went to Horseshoe Bend, I walked right up to the edge of the 1,000 foot Navajo Sandstone drop and literally got weak in the knees. It must be my body’s way of telling me to get low. The exposure is immense and there aren’t any guard rails to hold you back, so keep that in mind on a windy day. Horseshoe Bend regularly has hundreds of people scrambling about for that award-winning photo to take home. Sunrise shots will light up the prominent point of the horseshoe, while sunset shots backfill the landmark and add another dimension of beauty. A tripod and wide angle lens are needed to capture Horseshoe in its entirety. Most people will head straight to the main overlook for the experience, however, I would suggest you hike around and get as high as you can via the various mounds of 180 million year old Navajo Sandstone buttes.
Photographer John Chapple won the coveted Hasselblad Owners Club Photographer of the Month title for this image of Horseshoe Bend, captured on a 50-megapixel Hasselblad. Check out more of his work at www.johnchapple.com.
30 Gateway to Canyon Country
Backyard Therapy Talking about photography with jackson bridges story AND PHOTOS by BLAKE TILKER/Editor
Editor’s note: In each edition of the Gateway to Canyon Country, reporter Blake Tilker goes on a photographic adventure to some of the area’s more notable locations with local photographer Jackson Bridges. To read previous adventures, please visit www.GatewaytoCanyonCountry.com. At 76, Jackson Bridges is twice my age. And even though I have only known him for a couple of years, he’s become my mentor for photography and more importantly my friend. Bridges photography is all over Page. His photography is Page, and Bridges has taken me to the spots that has taken him a lifetime to find. And from time to time, I’ll go over to his house and we just hang out and talk. My truck blew its transmission and Jackson and I haven’t gone out for a photo shoot in quite sometime. Jackson has Parkinson’s and doesn’t drive due to a cataract surgery that left him seeing double at times. But with his disposition you wouldn’t know that there is anything going on. “Parkinson’s has affected me. There’s some things like when we were at Horseshoe Bend, I told myself to stay back six feet. I don’t have any real problems with my legs or my arms at this point. I don’t fly all around, but if the edge of the cliff is right there and this leg decides to go somewhere I don’t want it to go, which is what happens from time to time, I’m gone. It’s really, uh… I got Jackson adjust his camera during one of the photographic to be careful. So I’ll take my hiking stick or my tripod for a third adventures.
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leg. I’m going to be 77 in March. Darn. It’s all inevitable. How about this: The day you’re born you begin to die. I’m not afraid of it. I’ve got Parkinson’s, but I’m not sick. I mean look at what I do. I’m a lot more sore than I used to be. At my age it’s hard to get to some of the areas I used to go. Going up isn’t a problem, but going down I would rather have an escalator. I think what I’m trying to say is that there is all kinds of things you can do with photography that don’t include climbing spires and getting yourself into precarious positions. My plan for the rest of what I do with photography is to go places I can hang out and not have too much trouble. Places that I’m not going to kill myself if I fall over or something, like Horseshoe Bend,” he says. So I stopped by his house on a stormy fall morning to catch up, and photography was at the center of our discourse. “This kind of weather we are having right now is primo for photography. There’s so much to do and see around here. People don’t realize what lies just behind that ridge over there. You don’t realize it’s there. That’s why guides are important to a certain extent. Did you see the sunset the other day? I would have given anything, I mean anything, to be off the street and into some of the formations down there. I said to myself that’s where God is going to stand when he comes. He’s going to stand on that fountain of light. I just have never seen anything like that,” says Bridges. It had been quite some time since the two of us had talked shop, and Bridges immediately began talking about his newest project. Bridges built a bird perch right outside the window adjacent to his flat screen TV. The window itself became a flat screen TV for him. “We like to sit here and watch the birds. If it was a little
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warmer right now there would be 15 birds up on that thing. I have a new thing going. I haven’t seen you for awhile but I call it Backyard Therapy. I love it. What got me going with this was one time when I went to the Community Center and the gal who works there, she’s a sweetheart, was having a hard time. I had just taken some humming bird pictures, so I just held up my camera and said, ‘Look at this.’ I turned around the LCD of my camera and when she saw that bird, she sat there for a moment, and she started smiling. I later gave her two bird pictures that she has in her office. She tells me she comes in and looks at those birds every morning and it makes her feel good. I asked her why and she said it’s just a feel-good thing. So I thought about Backyard Therapy. You know, go watch the birds for a little while. There’s nothing wrong with that.,” he told me. Bridges excused himself and went back into his office to retrieve something he wanted to show me. As he did, a bird flew from the perch and right up to glass as if the bird was watching Bridges. He came back into the family room with a crate full of photos. “Ta-da,” he said and pulled out some of his Backyard Therapy photos. “The secret to shooting hummingbirds is to have a fast enough shutter speed to freeze their wings. Look at this one. I moved the camera so I could put that light behind him. I moved around. I made the picture,” he said. He handed me three 5x7 framed photographs of hummingbirds and told me to take one. “Put it in your office and when you go in, you look at this everyday and smile… and you will smile, you just will. Oh, come on you guys,” he said to the birds, “put on a show for us.”
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Photo courtesy of Jackson Bridges The Wave, pictured above, has become a popular attraction in the Coyote Buttes area of the Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness on the Utah/Arizona border and one that Jackson Bridges has photographed more than 45 times. The Wave is a multi-colored chute that has been cut into a sandstone mountain. The Coyote Buttes are part of an area under special management by the BLM. Permits are needed to gain access and they must be reserved months in advance.
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I have learned more about photography in the two years of hanging out with Jackson then I have collectively everywhere else. He will say things like, “A good photographer will always seek out other photographers,” or “Every picture you ever took, mostly, you can tell a story about it: where you were, what your feelings were. It’s just something that happens,” or “I’m retired. What does that mean? I can do what I want to do when I want to. Does that mean I quit photography? Heck no. It’s what keeps me going. I get excited when the light does certain things. It’s creation. I have the ability to record things that are and make things that aren’t.” But when you ask Bridges what makes a photograph good, he will give the same answer every time. “Bottom line in photography, and I don’t care who you are or how many magazines you’ve been in, the bottom line in photography is composition. It’s not technical stuff. The technical stuff is helpful, but it still comes down to composition. So the next question is: How do you know when you have a good composition?” He will point to his heart and say, “It’s emotion when it happens. It takes your breath away.” “I’m trying to keep myself busy doing something I really like. Here is some philosophy for you: a retired photographer can’t possibly call himself a photographer if he is retired, right? Another philosophy of mine is that if it happens and you are not there, you can’t take a picture of it. It’s kind of stupid really, but it’s right on,” he said laughing. “ And bad weather is good weather. You just have to go hang out in it.” Other than composition and making the effort to chase down a photograph, Jackson also stresses how important it is to know how to use your camera.
“You have to know how to operate your camera and preferably without having to look at it. I also read photography magazines. I even read the ads. Why? I wanted to know about other cameras, not that I am going to replace my Nikon. Read everything you can. If you see somebody with a camera that intrigues you, go talk to him because every photographer is different, and if somebody tells you he has secrets, well, he is full of bologna. There really are no secrets in photography. There’s things you can try and things you can do,” he says. According to Jackson, more than 400,000 people come to Page to shoot Antelope Canyon. “What is the most important part of Antelope Canyon? Cameras. That’s how come this thing is even in existence.” Jackson worked as tour guide in Antelope for many years and offers the following advice for photographers visiting the enormous slot canyon, “If you don’t want people in the picture then shoot up. If you don’t care then shoot away. There isn’t
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much room for tripods in there. You have to have your ISO up high so you can get more shutter speed. I think around 800 ISO should work. Most of these cameras will handle it really well. I would put it in shutter priority and set it to something you can hand hold and brace against the wall in lieu of a tripod.” Jackson and I finished up our chat and his birds were flying off the handle at his bird feeder. “Photography can be a way of life. In my case that’s what it is. I have been doing it for a long time. I can’t imagine not doing it. It’s the end of the creative process. Everybody needs to be creative, I believe. Collecting stamps… does that sound exciting? Not really. Put that photo of the hummingbird on your desk and remember what we talked about today. That’s some good therapy,” he said as I walked out his front door. I went straight to work and when I pulled that photo out of my messenger bag, I smiled. I also started to cry. I haven’t cried since I had to put my dog down. But these were healthy tears. This little old man in a town no bigger than 17 square miles always makes the time to talk to me about photography, but what he really teaches me is how to be a better man. Backyard Therapy.
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