Catstair Canyon

Campsite 15, May 3, 2023 - We stopped by the ranger station to get water. We’ve learned to get water in our jerrycan every day or two. We then transfer it to our camper’s holding tank. That way, we never run out of water and can avoid having to pack up the camper just to get water.

While he was tending to water, I went inside to talk to the ranger about our hiking plans. He suggested Catstair Canyon, saying it was one of his favorite places and he liked to take his dog there. I was confused. Our information said Catstair was a difficult trail.

Since we had to pass the canyon on our way back to camp, why not check it out. It’s only a one mile hike.

We pulled into the east parking lot, parked and walked to the mouth of the canyon. For a one mile hike, it was a long way from the parking lot to the canyon. That was half the hike. At the mouth of the canyon were some petroglyphs.

If all you see in the photo above is the red man with four fingers on each hand, you missed the petroglyphs. The red man is graffiti as are the scratches on the left. The two figures on the right are actual petroglyphs

Disgusted at the graffiti, we moved on into the canyon. A short distance later we encountered a wall of rock. With a rope or sure hands you might be able to climb the rock and continue on up the canyon. We looked around for another way. After a bit of searching we found a trail that climbed the canyon wall to the south. We took that trail. Then the trail disappeared and we were left wondering what happened. We could see the canyon, but we weren’t in it. So we turned around and went back to the Jeep.

We then drove to the west parking lot. There was a guy there picking up beer cans. He clearly wanted to talk. He was a native guide checking out the area and probably also looking for clients. We talked a bit before he mentioned that he also played the lute and was recording an album. He told us his name and suggested we look him up. We wished him luck with the album and headed down the trail.

One hundred yards past the parking lot we came to the worst thing I have ever encountered on a hiking trail.

Yes, that is exactly what you think it is. It’s pile of compacted cars, cabled together along the trail supporting US 89. I counted 27 cars. That highway is the main road through the area. We hiked on down the wash then came to another dead end, unless you have rope.

I don’t know what the ranger was thinking. He brings his dog here? Clearly it’s a misunderstanding.

In researching the area after the hike, we found that our original information was correct. The canyon is a technical climbing trail.

As for the guy in the parking lot, I never found him online because the search engines all redirect to classical poetry due to his unusual name, Virgil Homer. He’s either pulling our leg or his parents have a weird sense of humor.

The entire day was weird: an unhelpful ranger, graffiti, sketchy engineering, and a guy named after two classical poets. We didn’t have a good hike, but it certainly was a memorable day. And we got four gallons of water!

Next adventure, back to Buckskin Gulch!

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