Golden Canyon
Hike Review:
We hiked the Golden Canyon Trail, Gower Badlands Loop, and Gower Gulch Trail in a loop.
Much of the trail was walking on the bed of a river wash. The trail ranged from hard dirt, to gravel, to dirt, and soft sand.
We veered off the trail into various side canyons, which made the trail much more exciting than expected.
There weren’t a lot of people on the trail that we met, as we started early. Most people seemed to hike this trail in a clockwise fashion. We did run across the same faces on two different parts of the trail—we theorized that they were hiking this loop starting from Zabriskie Point.
The parking lot was small, but there was roadside parking, so it wasn’t too bad, even for those that came late.
The views were spectacular, with the highlight for me being Manly Beacon.
What I Learned:
In the desert, I consume a bit more than twice the amount of water that I usually consume hiking elsewhere. For this hike, I would have expected to drink about 1/2 a liter, but I drank through an entire liter.
There was one part where I hiked off trail to a high point and came down through a canyon. There were a few places where I needed to down climb 6-10 ft. I had such fun at those points that I am now thinking about getting into canyoneering.
Friend:
Jo was a fun companion for this hike. She faced her fear of heights in a few places along the hike.
What Happened?
4.7 miles, 2 hrs 19 mins, 1066 ft of ascent
For our morning hike, we headed off to the Golden Canyon trailhead. We hiked along the golden canyon, where the morning sun seemed to light the north side of the canyon with golden rays of sunlight.
We ventured into a side trail up a ravine and we found ourselves at an overlook that looked over this stupendous red mountain that I could not but be awed by. We then found a separate trail back that walked along the tops of these ravines. This part was fun for me, but was a bit terrifying for Jo, due to her fear of heights. She conquered her fear, however, and she was able to make it down without issue (though a little rattled).
We then hiked a bit more before, again venturing off trail. This time, I found a well worn side trail that may look like a shortcut, but it ended up being more of a walk among a beautiful ravine. We walked this trail until it connected back with the Golden Canyon Trail.
We then hiked back through the Gower Gulch Trail, whose highlights were the narrow section with real solid rocks that we had to walk down (instead of the rest of the canyon, which was made of dried mud). Oh! There was also a mining cave that I found weird—most entrances to caves provides a cool air, but this one had warm air coming up from the cave. I would have loved to explore it, but it was barred shut. I then went on a little canyoneering adventure and linked back up with Jo and the trail.
We then hiked back to the trailhead, where we headed off to our next hike.
