Returned to Cedar Breaks the third weekend in September, to volunteer for the Southwest Astronomy Festival. I set up my 11" SCT at Northview Point on Friday and Saturday nights, then down in Springdale on Sunday, September 15.
Didn't have time to hike on Friday or Saturday, but I headed back up to Cedar Breaks on Sunday, late-morning. Most of the times I hike this trail in the evening, often before my astronomy, or to try to catch a nightscape with bristlecone pines. Meanwhile, the extension (and renaming) of this trail (South Rim Trail) was completed last year, with the extension of about 1/2 mile, to the Bartizan. There's a modest double arch at the end. However, when I visited in July 2022, it was monsoon season, and the top of the cliff was dangerous slick. When I came in July 2023, I started too late, and it was basically dark by the time I got to the end. So this is the first time in a while that I walked the entire trail in actual daylight.
The trail is well-defined, and, although there are substantial dropoffs, it's not a dangerous trail, except when the clay near the top of the trail is slick. By contrast, when the clay is dry, it's very grippy, and most dropoffs are not precipitous (unless you are walking off the trail, where the slope is much steeper in spots).
There are several short detours, none of which I took today. First is the remains of an old cabin (on the left, less than 1/2 mile in). Second is Spectra Point, about one mile from the start. Third is Chessmen Ridge, about two miles from the start. The latter two are on the right, overlooking the amphitheater. But since I've hiked the trail many times, and the only part I hadn't seen in daylight yet was the end, I continued straight for the end. However, for first time visitors, definitely take the detours, for the views.
A small, semi-perennial creek runs just left along parts of the trail, and, despite being probably 1/2 mile from pavement for much of your hike, you still get a sense of isolation on the trail. You know, unless stupid people are hooting and hollering, or blasting music through their bluetooth speakers as they run through the woods, which, unfortunatley, does happen.
The eroded hoodoos are scattered all along the amphitheater. Some have eroded into arches, while others are tall and thin. They're not as colorful or as many spires as at Bryce Canyon, but, especially if you zoom in with a telephoto or binoculars, you can see some really impressive, intricate structures to admire.
The trees are also eroded, in places. There are, of course, the bristlecone pines that overlook the amphitheater, espcially near Spectra Point. But even the larger conifer snags can eroded into interesting shapes.
Overall, this was a pretty uneventful trip, except for the last 100 yards, or so. The trail gets a little narrow and crumbly, there. There's no significant dropoff, but you are walking with a slope running right to left.
I slipped a little bit, and skinned my knuckles when I used my right hand to keep from falling. Shortly after that, I ran across an older French couple, and managed to communicate that I would like some water, to rinse my scrape. That made me feel a little better, with the reduced chance of getting tetanus.
[As I look at my knuckles, today (over two weeks later), I see the scab is just about to come off.]
There were some people at the low point of the trail as it crossed over to the Bartizan. They were off to the left, between me and the arch, about ten feet away. A small trickle of water ran through that low point, though I don't think they were drinking that. I think they were just admiring the view and resting up.
I continued past them, on to what I guess you could consider a small butte, which is the Bartizan. From that side, I saw some hard rock protruding, and eroded areas with no vegetation that I figured I could walk without significantly speeding erosion or trampling potential vegetation. That got me a clearer view of the double arch at the end (the first picture in this post).
Walked a bit on the top, just to see if there was another view of the arch achievable from the west (there was not), then returned the way I came.
I passed a lot more people on the way back than I had on the way in. That included the young hollering runners. I think everyone along the 2.75 mile trail heard them.
This last picture was taken the night before, after the public observing session at Northview Point. I probably just included it to illustrate what I did the day before. It's a cell phone shot, in "pro" mode, 30 second exposure, iso 1600, Samsung S21. Looks like my phone moved a bit during the exposure. Still, not a bad Milky Way shot for a cell phone.
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