up the creek, so to speak

We got back to Moab for the long holiday weekend (local, Utah holiday: Pioneer Day, July 24, known to the non-Mormons as Pie-and-Beer Day), putting in extra time so as to be able to take Friday off too.  We like being able to go down Thursday evening as the traffic is much less intense than it is on Fridays.  We took the MTBs down with us which necessitated taking the truck - we haven't going MTBing at all in Park City this summer due to the wicked high gas prices - and Milton was so happy to be snuggled up with us on the bench seat instead of stashed in the back of the Subaru.

This was under a foot of fast-flowing water in May

It was stupid-hot on Friday (108F) so we made a point to get up and get out early.  H wanted to do a longer road ride (30.5 miles) so I asked him to back the truck out (there's a long narrow alley with people parked along the sides and while I'm okay driving the truck forward, I am not comfortable reversing down an obstacle course like that) so Milton and I could do a hike.  I didn't want to drive far, nor did I want to take the elderly truck off pavement too much, so that ruled out the La Sals, where it would be lovely and cool.  I decided to do Kane Creek again: even if the water was down from May when we did it before, it would still be shady this early in the day.

It's a "creek"

"Even if the water was down" - hahahahaha!  I was shocked to see that there was NO water in Kane Creek at all, just sporadic stagnant puddles.  There was a fair amount of wet - and very slippery - mud, which led me to believe that the water wasn't that long gone, but it was a far cry from our May hike.  It was much quicker walking, not having to wade knee-deep.  It was also kind of stinky, with all the decayed vegetation (and some small critters) exposed by the dry creek.

Found a frog

As we got closer to where we had turned around before, the stagnant pools got bigger and deeper.  And I definitely didn't want either Milton or me to wade through that muck.  We climbed up on the banks and what had been springy and green in May was now sharp, prickly and crunchy.  My legs got quite scratched up and I had to stop several times to pull burrs and assorted thorns out of the dog.

And some decent water, finally

Once we pushed on past where we'd turned around in May, some actual clean, clear water showed up.  There are several springs in the Hunter Canyon area, enough to keep the creek going in this section.  There were tons of tracks in the mud - deer, raccoon, coyote, other - and while I was watching a big ol' bullfrog, Milton amused himself by chasing after who knows what.

We were right down in there

We climbed up onto the Kane Creek Road at Hunter Canyon, then walked back along the road; there was a little bit of traffic (and thus dust) so I had to keep Milton leashed, but my legs were stinging (and bleeding) and I wasn't that eager to walk back through the thorns and murky water in the creekbed. When we got to the 4x4 entrance to Cliffhanger/Amasa Back, we got off the road and back to the MTB trail.  Milt took off after something - a deer, I suspect - and was gone for several minutes; when he got back, he was exhausted - and would spend the rest of the afternoon completely sacked out.  It was getting rather hot and windy but we made time for a snack and a beer at the truck, watching a BASE jumper successfully throw himself off the cliffs, before heading back home.