August 2011 – Page 3 – National Parks Blog

August 11, 2011August 13, 2011

Limekiln Falls Limekiln State Park

I always love when I come across the unexpected. As I was traveling highway 1 down the coast of California, I heard that it would be worthwhile stopping at Limekiln State Park (CA) to see the waterfall that they had there. I enjoy waterfalls and think that they have a mysterious beauty in themselves so it was a no brainer that I would make the stop, but I was pleasantly surprised at how beautiful Limekiln Falls actually is.

There isn’t much parking at Limekiln State Park (maybe 20 spaces total outside of the camping area) as it is mainly a place set aside for those camping. To get to the Limekiln Trail (which will lead to Falls Trail), you park your car and head toward the bathrooms at the end of the parking lot. As you pass the bathrooms, you’ll get a see of all the dangers that you could face on the trail.

hiking warning signs displayed at Limekiln State Park

Once past the bathrooms, you need to walk through the camp ground to the far end where the Limekiln Trail Head is located. Once on the trail, it will fork about 200 yards in with Hare Creek Trail to the right and Limekiln Trail to the left following Limekiln Creek:

Limekiln Creek at Limekiln State Park California

The trail is shaded and cool with huge clovers covering the ground in many areas:

giant clovers at Limekiln State Park California

Stay to the left at the fork on Limekiln Trail and about 1/4 of a mile further on the trail will fork again with Limekiln Trail to the left and Falls Trail to the right. Stay right. Once you reach this fork, it’s about another half mile to the falls (about 1 mile in total).

The Falls Trail has some obstacles, but most people should be able to manage it. There are several places where you must cross Limekiln Creek. Fallen branches and logs have been placed down at these crossings, but it does require a bit of balance if you don’t want to fall into the water:

Creek crossing Limekiln Creek California

There are also several places where fallen trees have blocked the trail and you must scramble under or over them to remain on the trail:

fallen tree across Falls Trail at Limekiln State Park

Once you reach Limekiln Falls, I immediately realised why people recommended to place it on the lists of places to see. The waterfall fans out and much of it cascades down mossy vegetation in the center of the falls. It reminded me a bit of the waterfalls in Fern Canyon at Redwood National Park, but on a much larger scale (it’s about 100 feet in height) and with the sun making everything sparkle:

Limekiln Falls at Limekiln State Park California

close-up of Limekiln Falls at Limekiln State Park

If you happen to being driving the coast of California, it’s definitely worthwhile making a stop to see this waterfall. If interested, here are some more photos of Limekiln State Park. Unfortunately, Limekiln State park is on the list of California State parks to close.

August 10, 2011August 8, 2011

Redwall Cavern Grand Canyon National Park Rafting

Located between mile 33 and 34 along the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park (and just over a mile downriver from Vasey’s Paradise) Redwall Cavern is a giant symphony-sized amphitheater created by the river eroding away the limestone Grand Canyon walls. John Wesley Powell, upon seeing Redwall Cavern, guessed that 50,000 people would fit into it. Although it would be a perfect place to camp, it’s one of the sandbars along the Colorado River where it’s prohibited to camp or build fires.

When you land at Redwall Cavern, you will immediately see the fresh feet and tail tracks of countless lizards and other small animals that make their home within the cavern. The wide open space in the shade makes for a perfect place to take out a football or Frisbee to toss around with friends, and it’s a must to walk to the back of the cavern to touch the far wall (this gives you a good perspective on how big Redwall Cavern really is).

Redwall Cavern looking onto the Colorado River

Photo courtesy of Angela Saurine escape.com.au

If you look closely at the rocks toward the front left (when looking out at the river) of Redwall Cavern, you should be able to spot fossils within them. Our guide showed us some and then I spent about half an hour looking at the rocks and found numerous other fossils within the rocks there.

August 9, 2011August 8, 2011

Monitoring Glaciers at Mount Rainier National Park

In the continuing series of videos I have been posting about National Park science (Restoring Native Prairies, Black Bear Science and Tidepool Science), the latest science video talks about monitoring glaciers at Mount Ranier National Park and the three main reasons that it is done:

1. To monitor changing habitats for species and the alpine food web.
2. To monitor for indicators of climate change.
3. To monitor water levels.

The scientists visit at least twice a year to monitor the amount of snow that has accumulated and then how much melt has occurred. This has shown that there has been a decrease of the glacier area of more than 50% in the last century:

National Park Service scientists have been monitoring glaciers at Mount Rainier, North Cascades, and Olympic national parks to document their rates of growth and decline. Not only are glaciers awe-inspiring elemental forces, but they are absolutely critical resources for northwest ecosystems and for human populations. Glaciers are also the clearest evidence of climate change. Measuring glaciers is not for the faint of heart. Besides snow, ice, blasting winds, and crevasses, the necessary equipment is heavy and the distances on foot are long and go up steeply. This video features the people who do this tough work.

August 8, 2011August 7, 2011

Vasey’s Paradise Grand Canyon National Park Rafting

While it’s possible to hike to Vasey’s Paradise (also called Vaseys Paradise) from Stanton’s cave (only about 1/4 of a mile further away), I chose not to do so. There is thick vegetation at the bottom of Vasey’s Paradise includes the one area in Grand Canyon National Park where poison ivy is abundant, and getting poison ivy was not how I wanted to spend my grand canyon rafting trip. It’s also where the critically endangered Kanab Ambersnail lives.

Vasey’s Paradise is the first waterfall on the Colorado River rafting trip which flows year round (there are plenty of waterfalls along the river that are active during flash floods, but quickly dry up). Vasey’s Paradise was named after a botanist who travelled with Powell surveying the river in 1868. The waterfall gets its water from rain that seeps through the upper sandstone layers of the canyon until it hits harder rock where it gathers. It flows out from the upper cliff faces from two cave holes in the canyon wall.

This is the first oasis that is seen from the river on the rafting trip, but for the aforementioned reason, isn’t a place where rafts usually stop to explore. It does make for a wonderful contrast to the desert environment as you float past it down the river.

Vaseys Paradise waterfall from Colorado River

August 5, 2011August 4, 2011

Stanton’s Cave Grand Canyon National Park Rafting

With the South Canyon hike thwarted, I decided to try and make my way to Stanton’s cave in Grand Canyon national Park. To make it to Stanton’s cave from our camping area was a short hike downriver toward Vasey’s Paradise after climbing up a rock ridge above the beach. A good pair of hiking shoes is definitely recommended if you want to attempt this hike.

Stanton’s cave is quite large and many artifacts were discovered in it, but it is no longer possible to access the cave as there have been large steel bars placed across its entrance to protect the endangered Townsend’s big-eared bats that live and roost there (This is a good resource if you are looking for more information on the history of Stanton’s cave and bats, and preservation efforts that have taken place over the years). While the cave does first appear to be a former mine and the original signing describes it as such, it’s actually a natural cave.

view of Stanton's cave through restricting bars

Just inside the bars is a sign explaining why the cave is blocked:

Protected Habitat

This ~~abandoned mine~~ cave has been closed for your safety and to protect bat habitat.

Bats use mines for day roosting, rearing their young during summer, hibernating during winter, gathering for social activities such as courtship and mating, and for crucial rest stops during nightly feeding or spring and fall migrations.

Bats are among the world’s most beneficial but vulnerable mammals. Townsend Big-Eared Bat

The hike to Stanton’s cave is about half a mile (1 mile round trip) from the South Canyon camping beach. It does require some rock scrambling to get up to the ridge above the beach. A path is well worn to the cave, but you do need to be cautious while walking it as there are quite a few loose rocks. Simple head in the direction of Vasey’s Paradise. You may also spot big horn sheep while hiking to the cave (I did).

August 4, 2011August 4, 2011

Pfeiffer Beach National Forest

Pfeiffer Beach (run by the National Forest Service) is a hidden gem where you may be able to escape the crowds clogging up all the other beaches and state parks along highway 1 in the Big Sur area of California. There are a couple of reasons for this.

First, the Pfeiffer Beach isn’t marked with a sign along highway 1 so you would drive right on by it unless you knew exactly where to turn. Coming south on highway 1, it is 0.5 miles past the US Forest Service Ranger Station. You make a tight right turn when you see the yellow “Narrow Road” sign (which you need to be looking for because it’s hidden a bit too — there is no sign for “Pfeiffer Beach”). About 100 yards down the road you will get confirmation that you are one the correct road when you see this sign:

The second reason that less people go to this beach is that the next two miles of road down to the beach are mostly one lane so that campers and RVs can’t make it down it. Combine the lack of marking and the no RVs and you have a beach that, although beautiful, gets a lot less traffic than the other beaches in the Big Sur area.

The beach has plenty of sand with a number of rocky outcrops just offshore, many with arches and tunnels within them:

There is a small creek that runs down the beach and empties into the ocean. Sea lions playing in the waves just offshore when I was there and the many rocks outcroppings (which also make Pfeiffer beach part of the California Coastal National Monument) were the home of sea birds and resting sea lions. There is a $5 fee to enter. If interested, here are more photos of Pfeiffer Beach. It’s definitely a beach to visit, especially when the crowds at the other main stops are beginning to get to you.

August 3, 2011July 30, 2011

South Canyon Grand Canyon National Park Rafting

We spent our first night at the South Canyon camping spot between mile 31 and 32 on the Colorado River in Grand Canyon National Park. When you are rafting down the Colorado River, there are designated spots where you are allowed to camp with other spots off limits. We arrived in early afternoon which gave us some time to hike around (if you plan to hike the side canyons when rafting down the Colorado River, a sturdy pair of shoes to change into from your raft water shoes is highly recommended).

I decided to try and hike up South Canyon with a small group from our raft since the guides said that it was a worthwhile hike. The South Canyon trail is a 6.5 mile (10.5 km) trail that leads from the Grand Canyon north rim to the Colorado River. Although we had no plans to hike the entire 6.5 miles of the trail, we were hoping to explore a few miles of the slot canyon.

Recent flash floods ended up making it a short lived hike. Less than 100 yards up the canyon was a huge boulder blocking South Canyon, but with a bit of scrambling and a log tilted against the rock, we were able to get past this first obstacle:

rock blocking South Canyon Grand Canyon National Park

The second obstacle (a number of large rocks piled together in the canyon) just beyond the first rock ended our exploration of South Canyon. The ground beneath the rock was still wet from flash floods the week before creating a thick, sticky mud that didn’t give us much footing. Even with another log placed next to the rocks in an attempt to bypass them, it was simply too large a pile to conquer:

rocks deposited from flash flood in South Canyon

South Canyon appeared to be quite beautiful and would have been a lot of fun to explore if it had been passable. Hopefully future flash floods will clear the huge boulders making it more accessible to hikers in the future.

August 2, 2011July 29, 2011

Ten Mile Rock Grand Canyon National Park Rafting

One of the first readily apparent natural landmark within the Colorado River that you pass when rafting in Grand Canyon National Park is Ten Mile Rock. As the name implies, the rock sits in the river approximately ten miles from the start of the rafting trip at Lees Ferry and a few miles past Navajo Bridge.

It’s advisable to listen to your rafting guide carefully as he/she explains about Ten Mile Rock. Ours decided to test our listening skills, rational reasoning and gullibility by announcing that Ten Mile Rock had been flown in by National Park Service helicopter to mark the tenth mile of the Colorado River. While the rock does have a rather rectangular shape, it ended up at the ten mile mark through natural processes. Only a few on our boat realised that our guide was pulling our leg and several members were shocked when they found out the truth several days later. If nothing else, listening closely and questioning your guides will give you a good indication of the fun they will try to have during the trip and keep them honest.

August 1, 2011July 31, 2011

Navajo Bridge Grand Canyon National Park Rafting

Once you have started the rafting trip through Grand Canyon National Park at Lees Ferry, one of the first landmarks you see is Navajo Bridge. Navajo Bridge is located between miles 4 and 5 from where you started, but can be seen well before you actually reach it.

There are actually two Navajo Bridges that span Marble Canyon today. Construction on the original Navajo Bridge (upriver) began in 1927 and the bridge officially opened to traffic in 1929. This bridge is 834 feet in length and reaches 467 feet in height from the Colorado River at the Marble Canyon floor. The opening of the original Navajo Bridge fostered in the closing of Lees Ferry which had been the only way to cross the Colorado River in the vicinity up to that point.

A newer Navajo Bridge (downriver) was built to accommodate increased highway traffic with heavier loads and was completed in September, 1995 at a cost of about $15 million. The newer bridge is 909 feet in length and reaches 470 feet in height from the Colorado River at the Marble Canyon floor. It was constructed next to the original bridge with a similar visual appearance, but updated to conform to modern highway codes. The original Navajo Bridge was then turned into a pedestrian bridge with an interpretive center nearby which explains the history of the bridge and the early crossings of the Colorado River.

two Navajo Bridges spanning Marble Canyon

When passing under the Navajo Bridges while on a Colorado River rafting trip through the Grand Canyon, it’s worthwhile to look closely at the bottom of the bridges (definitely take out your binoculars if you brought them). California condors have been reintroduced to the Marble Canyon area and one of their favorite resting places is in the bridge beams under the Navajo Bridges.

California condor on Navajo Bridge photo courtesy of CanyonCountry