As I climbed the dirt road to the trailhead, I saw a bunch of cars parked ahead. I got there to find a finish line set up in the middle of the road. I stopped to ask what was going on and a lady told me there was a trail running race going on today and the runners were about to start coming into the finish area. Not wanting to get in the way of a race, I asked where they were running from and she said they were coming out of Bryce Canyon National Park and down this road. The race was part of a three-day half-marathon series that was doing Bryce, Zion and Grand Canyon National Parks. I asked specifically about the Thunder Mountain Trail and she said she didn't know what trails they were using, just that they were coming from the park.
After hearing that, I thought there was no way they would be using Thunder Mountain. There are several other trails along this dirt road coming from the east which is the direction of the park. Thunder Mountain actually goes west away from the park. I rode on up the dirt road and saw a few of the first runners coming down toward the finish area. When I got to Thunder Mountain, I didn't see any arrows or runners so I thought I was good. I started into the trail and made it about a mile before I started to meet runners. They were scattered so I kept going forward thinking maybe there were not many of them and maybe they weren't using the entire length of the trail. I stopped for every one of them as I did not want to interfere with their race.
About three miles into the trail, I met the main pack of runners. And it was a lot of them. About 800 runners were in this race and I had only seen about 20 up to that point. I ended up just stopping and watching them come through, cheering them on as they made their way up the trail in what was definitely the more difficult direction. Most of them were very friendly, but I did get fussed at by a few who felt I was getting in everybody's way. The funny part was that each time I encountered one of those unpleasant individuals I was not only off the trail completely, but not even on my bike. One guy stopped to tell me I was illegally riding in the park, that this trail was off-limits to mountain bikers and that I was the reason why people hate bikes. I let him finish his rant and then informed him that actually this was the only trail in this part of Dixie National Forest that is open to mountain bikes, hence the reason I am on this particular trail. Others were the exact opposite and apologized for ruining my ride. Most of the runners thought I was part of the race and was course support. I ended up giving away most of my water and my gel to people near the back of the pack that were struggling and still had several miles to go.
What should have taken about 35 minutes to ride through took me almost three and a half hours. Thankfully, I did take my phone and was able to call Shannon and tell her why it was taking me so long so she wouldn't think I was dead. I didn't get my Strava run in, but I still has a good time cheering on the racers and I'm glad I could help out a few with food and water. I figure this is just payback for all the times I am racing in a park and someone came to hike only to find a bunch of mountain bikers using the trails for a race.
The trail running race was part of the Grand Circle Trailfest I found out later. It actually doesn't go into Bryce Canyon National park at all, but rather ran through Dixie National Forest. One of the runners asked me to take a picture of her in front of one of the hoodoos using her phone, but other than that I didn't get any pictures as I left my camera in the car for my "fast lap."
The delay in my ride put us way behind schedule for the rest of our day. We were hoping to stay at Calf Creek Campground in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and needed to be there as early as possible as campsites were limited and could not be reserved. We wanted to stay there so we could hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls before dark. Our drive from Dixie to Calf Creek was a beautiful one on Utah Highway 12 with many changes in scenery. We dropped off the Paunsaugunt Plateau and into Tropic like we did on our first day at Bryce, then continued east into some rolling hills of gray rock. We stopped at the Powell Point Overlook, where you get a view of the tip of the first layer of the Grand Staircase geological formation. Powell Point is the edge of the Pink Cliffs where the Colorado Plateau ends and the Grand Staircase begins dropping down in steps until you reach the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
Powell Point
Rolling gray hills
The gray hills soon gave way to a mix of white, brown and red rocks spotted with green desert shrubs. There was a killer view just east of the town of Escalante. This view was at the top of an awesome descent that ended near Calf Creek. I instantly added this part of the road to the next day's riding agenda.
View on Hwy 12 just east of Escalante
Descent on Hwy 12
Red rock view from Hwy 12 near Calf Creek
The rocks were all red as we arrived at the Calf Creek Campground. We skipped a few stops at state parks on the way in to save time and hopefully get us a campsite. The campground offers only 13 campsites and was looking full as we rolled in. There was one open campsite that I passed by and it was quickly snapped up by the car behind us. I like to look at the whole campground and see what our options are before picking a site and it seemed this had bitten me in the butt this time. All the other sites appeared to be full, all having receipts mounted to the site posts.
We were about to give up when we noticed one campsite up the hill that seemed to be unoccupied despite the site post having a receipt on it. We decided to go back and check the date on the receipt and discovered it was from the day before. Nobody removed the receipt so everyone had driven by all day thinking the site was occupied. So we got the very last site. We had to hike our tent and things up the hill to get to it, but we had a site and it was kind of secluded in the trees next to some bright red rocks. Perfect!
We quickly set up camp and then laced up our hiking boots to see the falls. The trail to Lower Calf Creek Falls starts right in the campground and goes 3.1 miles through a canyon along the banks of Calf Creek to reach Lower Calf Creek Falls, which looked spectacular from pictures we saw when planning the trip. There was supposed to be petroglyphs on the east canyon wall at about the 1.6-mile point.
Starting on the trail
We had less than three hours until dark so we had to get moving and hike at a brisk pace. The trail wasn't difficult with climbing, but did have some really rocky areas that slowed us down as you had to pick your way through the boulders and down some steep pitches. This is a popular trail, but we didn't see too many other hikers. The ones we did see were coming out since it was getting late. Most of them were very nice and said the falls ahead were beautiful and would make the effort more than worth it. A few even gave us time checks as to how long they had been walking since leaving the falls. We took one short detour around the 1.6-mile point looking for the petroglyphs, but came up empty.
Evening shade creeping into the canyon
Interesting rocks along the way
You could hear the falls roaring long before they came into view. The waterfall was spectacular, dropping the rushing water 126 feet into a deep pool before the water exited in a small creek. The waterfall sits in a circular canyon with towering smooth rock walls all around. The area behind and around the falls is covered with bright green moss which seemed to glow even in the evening shade. There were two people leaving as we arrived. After that, we had the place to ourselves.
Lower Calf creek falls comes into view
Lower Calf Creek Falls
Video: Lower Calf Creek Falls
We took plenty of pictures and then enjoyed the view and the cool spray that filled the area around the water hole. It was a perfect place for a swim, but we had no time to play in the water tonight as we had to get back out before darkness arrived. We did spend a few minutes taking some fun pictures in front of the falls. I did a handstand for my friend Ashley as she spent a lot of time trying to teach me that move a few years ago. I can finally hold it thanks to all these push ups I have been doing over the past year.
Shannon enjoying the view while resting her legs
The small creek that empties the water hole under the falls.
Shannon and Lower Calf Creek Falls
Handstand for Ashley
I totally get this sign as behind that tree looks like a great spot.
It took us 1:18 to get in to the falls and 1:19 to get back out to the campground. We held the same pace, but made a stop halfway as we spotted the petroglyphs on the cliff wall. They were kind of far away and could easily be missed, but they really stand out when you know what you are looking for. It's three figures that appear to be holding hands, painted in red on the cliff face.
Petroglyphs in red in the lower-center of the cliff
Three petroglyph figures on the canyon wall
Hiking back out in a canyon that is growing darker by the second.
Bridge in the campground
We made it back just as complete darkness was arriving in the canyon. We prepared dinner in the dark before settling in for another cold night of camping. More exploring to come as we continue east in the next post.
Our campsite nestled in the red rocks
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