For the next 2 months I’ll be in Hatch, Utah. Bryce Canyon National Park, Zion National Park, Capitol Reef National Park, and Grand Staircase – Escalante National Monument are all close by.
I haven’t done much in the last 4 months to get in shape for all the hiking I plan to do (Is drinking an exercise?) so I’m starting out with easy trails before I attempt any of the difficult trails. (It should get me used to the altitude too, which is around 7,000 feet… gasp, gasp…)
My first hike was in Red Canyon which is only about 10 minutes away.
I started on the Golden Wall Trail (No. 3095), which starts just west of the Red Canyon Visitor Center. After about .5 miles I took the Castle Bridge Trail (No. 3096) which forks off to the left. The Castle Bridge Trail then loops around to meet the Golden Wall Trail again and continues upward. You can follow Golden Wall down to the Buckhorn Trail (No. 3037) but I stopped at the highest part of the trail then simply backtracked. Both trails combine for 2.8 miles but I probably added an extra mile on by continuing to the highest part of the trail.