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Windwalker
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Mount Pleasant
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 7:39 pm Post subject: Climb-Utah "Hurst Bridge' |
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02/27/06 Hurst Bridge T/R
My wife and I very much enjoyed this hike. We left Mount Pleasant around five and got to Ernie Canyon T/H around nine. We had hopes of making it all the way to the Exclamation Bridges but because of my ankles we had to let go of that thought. Never the less we did get to see Ernie Bridge and Hurst Bridge, along with other unnumbered wonders of the San Rafael. The weather was the best we've ever experienced while hiking the Swell. Cool enough to keep you from sweating but not so cold as to see your breath. Ole man winter was well behaved this day. I believe the hike in and out total took us six hours, again because of my ankles. I've had both repaired, the right one twice, so all in all I feel damn good about making this "Climb-Utah.com >Weekend Warrior" hike.
The BLM built a three pole high "A" frame fence to block the mouth of the canyon. There is a section of the fence that crosses what would be the creek bottom, it's been moved aside. I don't think the BLM moved it because there are several "Wilderness Study Area" signs spaced evenly crossed the mouth of the canyon. It's here that we parked the Cherokee on the safe side, put on our Camel Paks and went for our walk.
Right off I realized that the hardest part of the hike would be trudging along the sandy creek bottom. We used to take the horses to the sand pits to give them a good workout, now I know why they broke sweat so quickly. But it was worth it, for every minute of silence we enjoyed it was worth it. We never saw another person or sign of anybody else the whole time other than we carried out five partially deflated red/white/blue balloons. Wish you could have been there, but then again glad you weren't. Know what I mean?
I've learned over time that sometimes the hike back down is far worse on the feet than the hike up. I think the downward force pushed my feet tightly against the toe of my boots. My feet hurt for the next couple days.
I use a GPSr during our hikes, helps keep us on track and better yet, it gives you an accurate record of you wanderings. Transfer the tracks to a topo map and you get an excellent birds eye view of where you've been. I used the GPSr coordinates from Shane's Climb-Utah and had no problems getting to our destinations. Not having the USGS "Old Woman Wash" map I doubt we couldn't have made it in w/o his coordinates. Good job Shane. |
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tatwood
Joined: 29 Jan 2006
Posts: 99
Location: Midvale, UT
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 8:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Looks like it was a fun trip. Thanks for the pics. |
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Udink
Joined: 21 Jul 2005
Posts: 764
Location: Price, Utah
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 9:20 pm Post subject: |
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| Very nice report! :smile: Next time I have nothing to do on a weekend, I know where I'll be going. I managed to find some coordinates for Hurst Bridge on the web, not sure how accurate they are, but your pictures should help get me there. It's to bad the BLM closed the canyon to motorized travel--looks like there used to be some good 4-wheeling through there, and some uranium mines about 2 miles in. |
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basilone0331
Joined: 14 Dec 2005
Posts: 380
Location: Sandy
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:01 pm Post subject: |
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| Great pics :2thumbs: |
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accadacca
Joined: 02 Dec 2004
Posts: 7035
Location: The Interwebs
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| Posted: Thu Mar 09, 2006 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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:2thumbs: for you Wind Walker. The scenery is beautiful and as you mentioned one of the best parts of the swell is the peace and quite.
We salute you. :rockon: |
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rockgremlin
Joined: 09 Dec 2004
Posts: 3824
Location: Hotel California
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 1:22 am Post subject: |
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Thanks for the pics! I never get tired of looking at pictures of the red rocks!!
I hope I'm jumping rocks in southern Utah when I'm 50. :lol8: |
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Mtnbiker
Joined: 24 Aug 2005
Posts: 318
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 9:02 am Post subject: |
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| yeah, NEVER too many pics of southern Utah, especially the Swell. Looks like a fun hike. thanks for sharing! :clap: |
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Iceaxe
Joined: 07 Mar 2005
Posts: 7628
Location: Local Bordello
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 12:55 pm Post subject: |
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A word of caution for those hiking in the desert.... NEVER PARK IN A WASH or watercourse. Always pull up and find a spot on high ground, even if the weather looks good.
Here is a great story with pictures of a group who did not follow this simple rule.
http://climb-utah.com/SRS/flashflood.htm
Happy you enjoyed the hike.
:popcorn: |
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Windwalker
Joined: 20 Jul 2005
Posts: 341
Location: Mount Pleasant
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| Posted: Fri Mar 10, 2006 2:23 pm Post subject: |
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Iceaxe wrote: A word of caution for those hiking in the desert.... NEVER PARK IN A WASH or watercourse. Always pull up and find a spot on high ground, even if the weather looks good.
Happy you enjoyed the hike.
:popcorn:
Good Basic Advice!
Fabulous Weather, Glorious Country and a Beautiful Woman all within sight tends to turn my brain to mush and I stop thinking.. |
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