Route Information
We hiked the Coalpits Wash trail, following the wash from the trailhead (near the town of Grafton just outside the park on Route 9) for about 7 km to where the canyon walls on either side of the wash level out; the next day we returned by the same route. The third day we walked up Angel's Landing (trailhead by the Grotto on Route 9), a 6 km round trip but an elevation change of amost 500 meters in about 2 km of trail.

Trip Information
We were four on this trip: Kaiti and Allen, Patrice and myself. It was the tail end of February, but unseasonably cold. Our first choice had been to hike one of the park's higher elevation trails, but the Kolob Canyons area, for example, was under four feet of snow, and some members of the group balked at snow-camping.

Even under such conditions, it is hard to give up place names like Kolob Arch (Kolob, in Mormon "parlance," apparently means set near unto the throne of God, Mormon parlance being extremely efficient with phonemes), Mountain of Mystery, Beartrap Canyon, Spendlove Knoll (Spendlove!), Altar of Sacrifice, Phantom Valley, or Wildcat Canyon -- just to name a few -- in favor of one as mundane as Coalpits Wash. Nonetheless, because of its low elevation (1150 to 1300m), the Coalpits Wash it was.

The beauty of the trail we were following belied the banality of its name. Even at this elevation, patches of snow dotted the landscape. At first, the trail follows a stream through a broad wash surrounded at a distance by high canyon walls. As you follow the wash down, the walls steadily narrow, until the stream is at center of a definite canyon. Gradually, the canyon walls decrease in height until quite suddenly they're gone, leaving you in a wonderland of mossy clearings, majestic trees, and gentle, rolling hills.

We ate well that night after a long day's walk, and slept well despite the cold. Comet Hale-Bopp "rose" well after sunset at this latitude, but once risen was clearly visible in the night sky.

The next day we walked out again. Before leaving the park for Joshua Tree, we elected to walk up Angel's Landing.

Angel's is, at its top, a small round flat stone area whipped by high winds, overlooking a grand valley. This summit is perched at the end of a 3 km hike, with all of the elevation gain coming in the last 2 km. In places the trail is very steep, sometimes with strenuous switchbacks. The final approah to the summit is along a narrow neck of rock, in places no wider than a man's outstretched arms, with a sheer drop of 500 meters on each side. The trail is in many places somewhat dangerous even in the best of weather conditions, characterized by crumbling rock and slippery slopes, where chains fixed to the rock provide the only secure handholds.

This time, of course, the way was made more difficult by virtue of being covered in snow and ice. Patrice turned back early, not far past Walter's Wiggles (the steepest switchbacks), well before reaching the really slippery parts. I myself was at the foot of the last icy ascent when I heard her piteous cries down below, and was quite glad to forego working my way up the ice-slope on my ass in favor of providing comfort and succor where it was needed. Allen and Kaiti, however, persevered to the top and I heard them proposing dangerous stunts up there, and laughing, while Patrice and I whimpered to ourselves down below.

Our original plan had been to go to the Grand Canyon after Zion. However, Kaiti had hurt her knee on the downclimb from Angel's, and did not feel fit for the upclimb out of the Canyon. Therefore, we were forced to abandon our Grand Canyon backcountry permits, and instead headed west, to Joshua Tree, where the level terrain and the warmth would be a comfort to us all.

J-Tree is a rock-climber's mecca, the Mojave section being covered with great, unique piles of granite boulders, in addition to the strange, seussian Joshua Trees. The Colorado section boasts an incredible variety of plant life, including but not limited to the odd ocotillos and chollo cacti, whose brilliant flowers cause the desert to explode with color in the right season. Numerous Anasazi ruins and petroglyphs can also be found within the park's boundaries.

Route Information
The first days, we simply played around on the numerous dayhiking trails in the Mojave (high) section, including the wee trail around Skull Rock, the Scout Trail and Willow Hole Trail through and around the Wonderland of Rocks, and the Barker Dam Nature Trail. Our last day, we walked the Lost Palms Trail on the Colorado (low) side, about 8km there and 8 back, with a side-jaunt up Mastodon Peak adding about 2km to see the Salton Sea from a distance.

Trip Information
Joshua Tree was at this time an old friend to Patrice and myself; we had been here before on climbing or hiking trips on numerous occasions, but the place always has something new to offer. Indeed, this was the first time we did any hiking in the Colorado section of the park.

The most memorable moment of the trip, for me, was when, on the first night, awakening only partially from a deep sleep, I stumbled out of my tent just before dawn to relieve an overwhelming pressure on my bladder.

Bleary-eyed, I found a suitable boulder and began to blast the dust from it. Raising my head slightly, I was surprised to see a coyote trotting directly toward me, passing through our camp just as bold as dammit. But my eyes did not stop on the coyote, for they were drawn past her to where the first light of the sun, not yet over the horizon, was turning the eastern sky a vivid, curdled red like liquid fire. And my eyes were drawn yet further upward to the fine, slender crescent moon just above, bright as a needle and just as sharp. Directly above the moon was Comet Hale-Bopp, cutting the sky in halves with its bright yellow dust-tail, its secondary blue gas-tail plainly visible as well. The coyote trotted by shaking her head, wondering what was wrong with me as I stood dumbfounded and uffish, pissing madly and staring in wide wonder at the desert sky.

Just another morning in just another goddamn mind-boggling American national park.

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