{"id":1001,"date":"2009-05-03T20:30:30","date_gmt":"2009-05-03T20:30:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acrossutah.com\/wordpress\/?p=1001"},"modified":"2019-02-07T00:18:53","modified_gmt":"2019-02-07T00:18:53","slug":"day-8-the-climb-to-hop-valley","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.acrossutah.com\/wordpress\/day-8-the-climb-to-hop-valley\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada to Colorado: Part 2"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Across Utah 2009 Trip Report<\/a><\/p>\n

Day 8 \u2013 The Climb to Hop Valley<\/strong>
\nSunday, May 3rd<\/p>\n

Cutting the back of boot yesterday seemed to help, so I repeated the step on my other boot this morning. The damage to my feet is apparent; both have big rub marks on the Achilles tendon and my right ankle is swollen.<\/p>\n

It was a hot day to begin and the hike was through deep sand (Hanzel- not for you.) I was able to cool down though when I reached La Verkin Creek. There were nice big rapids right at the beginning.<\/p>\n

Farther up canyon I did the 1 mile side hike to see Kolob Arch. It\u2019s the 2nd largest natural span in the world at almost 300 feet. Very nice.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\nContinuing up canyon I decide to do another side exploration into Beartrap Canyon. A few miles up the canyon becomes more narrow. Here I began to smell the stench of something dead. A little farther I rounded a corner I scare a big bird from the ground and it flies right over me. It was a vulture with its black\/white body and red head. It had been feeding on a dead deer which lay on the bank.<\/p>\n

Farther up the canyon got very narrow- I could nearly touch both walls with outstretched arms. The was even snow still in the bottom of much of the canyon. Then around a bend I hear a thunderous sound which makes me almost afraid to continue. But I did and saw a the creek plunging over the 20\u2032 Beartrap Falls- awesome and the end of my side exploration.<\/p>\n

With the sun going down I hurried back to the main trail, almost stepping on a snake along the way. Then it was a long, tough climb up into Hop Valley for my camping spot for the night.<\/p>\n

13.2 miles (6 w\/o pack)<\/p>\n

Original Comments<\/strong>
\n<\/p>\n