Lone Palm Trail

March 14, 2026March 20, 2026 Shirleyjdietz3 Comments

Every year March 4th hits me like a command. March forth and be brave, explore, do something new! That spirit was definitely in play last Wednesday. Gary and Jeannie were gone for a couple of days so Kevin and I decided it was a day to hike. After looking at so many hills and canyons from the truck I wanted to get out there and touch the ground. Kevin and I have bonded over hikes numerous times in Wisconsin and it is one of our favorite things to do together. We chose the Lone Palm Trail. Kevin saw it rated as a moderately difficult path from the trailhead down to the Colorado River. There was a spring at the end, and palm trees. I knew nothing about it but it sounded lovely.

We took some water in my Camelbak, had our heavy hiking shoes on, hats and long sleeved shirts for sun protection. We felt relatively compliant with the scary warning sign at the trailhead. There were no clouds in the sky, no flash flood warnings. What could go wrong?

One thing I have learned about the desert and surrounding mountains is that they look much less rugged than they actually are. Sometimes the landscape looks actually flat, because it’s often the same color and texture. You don’t see all the ups and downs, only the tops of features. As we started down the incline and got deeper into the terrain this was the case. The trail wound around the most impassable places. Much of it followed the path of water and was like walking on a dry river bed. High cliffs rose on either side of us. Canyon walls were sometimes close enough to touch on either side, with huge boulders to scramble over. Going over the boulders was not that hard and we continued.

Decisions – up and over or find a way around?

At one narrow point, there was a drop of perhaps six feet that took us by surprise. To aid hikers, someone had taken some sturdy tree branches and propped them into a crevice, like a ladder. It was a little challenging but we got down it. A short while later there was another similar drop, only it was deeper. Not only were there branches to help, but a tire at the bottom for cushioning and a rope fastened in the rock face. Kevin was not too keen on going down this one. I thought it couldn’t be as hard as it looked. Going down always seems easy, especially when I’m still fresh and full of energy. Since this path was a loop, we didn’t have to worry about going back up either. I went down and Kevin did too.

About a 10 foot drop. The sticks were marginally helpful.

We began to question our map. We would follow what seemed to be the trail, only to find it not passable by normal humans. We backtracked, looking for the arrows spray painted on landmarks. They sometimes took us in directions that seemed wrong, and GPS would show that we were off the trail. But we were still going down so we continued. We started drinking our water.

I will now skip to the part where I was getting somewhat tired. We had been hiking for a couple hours and were close to the river. We could glimpse it below us down some steep cliffs. We heard running water and could see a stream and some palm trees. Kevin, up ahead of me, came back and said “We can’t make it down that way. This is the end of the trail for us. We’ll have to go back the way we came.” Not what I wanted to hear.

I was resting on a flat place above the spring and palm trees, trying not to feel dizzy. Kevin joined me. I don’t remember everything he said, but one sentence I remember. “Will you marry me?”

In my head was, “and if I say no are you going to push me off this cliff?” Coming out of my mouth, “Yes, especially if you get me out of here.” I’m sure we will joke about this for the rest of our lives. Maybe he remembers it differently than I do. But the result was that we turned around and hit the trail again as an engaged couple.

We were in the canyon for over five hours. The return trip was pretty slow with frequent rest stops and water breaks. I was seriously light headed. Kevin was beginning to get leg cramps. Prayer for direction and strength was constantly running through my head. I was dreading the rock climbing places, especially the one with the rope. With very little strength left, I did manage the climb. Kevin said it was the scariest part to watch.

The depth of gratitude we felt upon reaching the trailhead is hard to describe. We sat in the truck, drinking water and enjoying the AC and safety. Later we were talking to Kevin’s son-in-law who is a firefighter/paramedic. He said they frequently had to pull people off that trail. Looking at other descriptions of the trail we saw it ranked as challenging/difficult. We agree.

So, we’ve had one more bonding experience. That feeling of being in stressful conditions, but together with someone who has your back was real. We verbally encouraged each other and grabbed a hand when needed. And, like I said, it’s going to be one of our favorite stories to tell.

Hoover Dam

March 13, 2026March 12, 2026 ShirleyjdietzLeave a comment

Our second full day in Boulder City was spent seeing Hoover Dam, Lake Mead and Willow Beach, all part of the Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Nothing I had heard about the dam did justice to what I saw. What an immense, engineering project that must have been back then. Even now, it is somewhat mind boggling. This dam on the Colorado River supplies electricity to major cities like Las Vegas, Phoenix, Los Angeles, and San Diego.

We drove through the security checkpoint along with many other vehicles, then along the top of the dam to a parking lot on the other side of the river. Parking was free in some lots but there were covered lots for a fee. We walked back along the top of the dam. We saw the large stacks with the turbines inside on the Lake Mead side. The power lines and the generators were below the dam on the river side. Lake Mead water levels have been low for a few years – water is precious and there has been less of it because of drought.

Of course, there are Visitor Centers with good information and souvenirs.

My friend at the visitor center. I am such a tourist!

Boulder City housed the workers who built the dam. There are many places around the city with great views of the lake and the marina. We left the dam and traveled south on Highway 93 on a magnificent bridge. Several miles downstream we visited Willow Beach on the Colorado River. One of Kevin’s favorite places there was the brown trout fish hatchery. There were trout in all stages of growth. There were kayaks, paddleboards and pontoon boats for rent at the Beach Center as well as souvenirs of all kinds.

Highway 93 bridge across the Colorado River

The common view of the Colorado is at the bottom of a canyon with cliffs on either side. Willow Beach is one of the rare places where you can get to the water, and I did. It was a fun place to visit.

We Take a Rest Day

May 22, 2019May 3, 2021 Shirleyjdietz3 Comments

Phantom Ranch canteen, a good place to rest

As I said in the previous post, I did sleep, but the sore knee began to stiffen and hurt. The sore toe also began to swell and hurt. I could feel it all every time I tried to reposition myself in my sleeping bag. These pains are common reactions to this hike to the river, which is why there is a planned rest day, so called, which oddly consists of more hiking in the gorge. That little bit of less strenuous movement is supposed to keep muscles loose and functioning. We had breakfast, grabbed our water bottles and headed up Bright Angel Creek.

They aren’t pretty. They didn’t feel good either.

These feet did not fit into the hiking boots too well, but my camp shoes were wearable. The pace was relaxed and the terrain basically flat, leaving me lots of time to snap photos and look around. We were travelling a beautiful gorge – I think the guide called it “the box” because of the steep walls on either side.

Testing the depth and strength of the current.

The trail went fairly gradually for a couple miles on the right side of Bright Angel Creek, and then we saw another gorge on the left side with its own smaller creek. The plan was to cross Bright Angel and explore the intersecting gorge and Phantom Creek. It promised a waterfall and swimming hole. However, the Bright Angel was running so swiftly that none of us liked the idea of trying to cross it. Our guides looked for a place to cross but decided it was too risky. We might not have drowned, but could have gotten banged around on the rocks. (And the water was FREEZING!)

Granite, sandstone, schist, river rock, cactus… textures of the canyon

I always notice texture in nature, and there was plenty of it to notice. I took pictures of every interesting rock and plant I saw because they all just had the flavor of the canyon that I wanted to remember. We were charmed by a little mule deer who kept showing up around camp too. We stopped at the canteen again and sat around talking and making sure we didn’t get dehydrated. The canteen and the other buildings of Phantom Ranch were designed by Mary Jane Elizabeth Colter (click here to read more) and are nestled around BA Creek. In its heyday, Phantom Ranch had fruit trees, a swimming pool and other up-scale features for its more important guests. This tree is one of the few remaining fruit trees. Can you guess what it is?

Later in the day we went down to the Colorado, to the Boat Beach and got wet – some more than others. It was very cold as well, but refreshing. We visited the Silver Bridge, which we would travel out on the next day.

Brother Robert and I – he got wet, me not so much.

The wind was picking up around dinnertime and some of our tents were actually being blown around. Storms were forecast and temperatures were supposed to go way down. Surprisingly, the bad weather skirted around us and what we got was some gorgeous views of the moon and clouds instead. We all went to sleep early so we could break camp at 4 am and get started on the ten mile hike out to the rim.

I wasn’t exactly looking forward to it.

To be continued…

Colorado River

April 3, 2019April 3, 2019 Shirleyjdietz7 Comments

Colorado River – I have a huge poster of the Grand Canyon, a gorgeous picture, that I bought on that first, brief trip past the canyon. Since then I’ve learned that it’s actually the book cover of “Time and the River Flowing” by Francois Leydet. The book is full of photos of the canyon, and quotes and stories from its explorers. The “river flowing” is the Colorado River, and I thought I should know something about it before the hike.

Beautiful pictures with quotes and excerpts from those who have written about the river from the conservationist viewpoint.

It’s easy to get overwhelmed by facts and numbers about this river, because there are so many. Here are a few that I found informative:

It’s one of two major rivers that cross the southwest of our country, the Rio Grande being the other one.

It’s part of amazing scenery everywhere it runs as evidenced by the 11 national parks that it goes through.

It starts in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado where 90% of its water is snow melt, the rest coming from tributaries along the way.

It’s a very managed river in that there are many dams, reservoirs and claims on its water for irrigation of crops.

By the time it passes the surrounding crop areas in Mexico, on its way to the Gulf of California, every bit of its flow has been apportioned. The last 100 miles are dry most of the year.

There has been much controversy surrounding the building of dams and restriction of the flow. ” The ages have been at work on it, and man can only mar it.” Theodore Roosevelt

It used to have a delta and tidal bores much like other larger rivers.

It provides the water needs for 40 million people in towns and cities along its course.

The Colorado River was one of the forces creating the Grand Canyon. It’s mind boggling to view the depth and breadth of this chasm and realize that the water, way down there at the bottom, was responsible for this wonder of nature. It took a long, long time. I found this quote that illustrates just how long it took to form the many layers of rock, compared to the time the river has been doing its work.

“if the two billion years that have elapsed since the creation of the schists of the Inner Gorge were telescoped into a single day, each minute would represent about 1.4 million years. If the schist formed at 12:01 am of that day, the Paleozoic Era began about 6 pm and ended three hours later. Shortly after 11:00 pm the Mesozoic rocks were eroded away and the Paleozoic strata were uplifted. The Colorado River began to carve the Grand Canyon sometime between 11:45 and 11:58 pm. The entire span of human existence has occurred in the last minute before midnight. “
A Field Guide to the Grand Canyon by Stephen Whitney p.242

I’m told the river is cold, swift and has lots of exciting rapids. We will get to hike along it, perhaps wade in it a little on the day we explore the bottom of the canyon. I can’t wait to see it.