From the parking area, we aimed towards the left edge of the small hill in the distance:
We had a fantastic view of Corkscrew Peak during our hike through various washes:
Reaching the left edge of the hillside and turning the corner:
We briefly followed the edge of the hillside and enjoyed a little shade:
Still a long ways to go to reach the mouth of The Crack:
This was a family hike with Stefan in his backpack carrier at age 18 months:
Tobin and Devon joined us for this hike and kept up a good pace:
We stayed in the easy terrain washes, which caused us to take a circular route to reach our canyon:
The hillside with the tallest peak was now straight ahead of us. The Crack is located to the left of this tallest peak in the area:
Following another wash to the left to work our way around the base of the high peak:
The terrain got slightly rough here so we went on the left side bank for the rest of the wash hike:
Arriving at the mouth of The Crack while standing on the bank above:
Tobin and Devon making their way up to the beginning of the good part of the hike:
Near the mouth, the canyon begins to take shape with red colors:
We took a break here so that Stefan could get out of his backpack carrier and play with rocks in the wash:
After that, it was time to head into The Crack. The 1st Narrows started almost immediately:
One of the things I noticed right away was that the walls looked different and unique in their composition:
The canyon walls were made up of layers of different kinds of rock and formations:
Think of the forces and weather that combined to make these interesting formations:
There were also patterns on display which created a natural beauty to the walls:
The 1st Narrows ended up being my favorite part of this hike because there was so much to see:
Passing through a long straight corridor of shallow narrows:
Stefan decided that he wanted to walk through the beautiful 1st Narrows, as seen in the next two pictures:
As seen in the next three pictures, the narrows are shallow enough to allow bright sunlight in during much of the day:
Finally catching up to Daria and Stefan in the latter parts of the 1st Narrows:
Notice the tilted angles of some of the rock layers in the canyon:
With Stefan finally back in his carrier, it was time to move on in our tour of The Crack:
We soon exited the 1st Narrows and the canyon opened up a bit:
The conglomerate rock began to be mixed with small sections of sandstone:
The canyon had constant signs of the effect of water flow and erosion:
The 2nd Narrows soon began and the walls closed in on us:
The most dominant and interesting feature of The Crack was always the variety seen in the canyon walls:
The wash through The Crack was almost always smooth gravel which made for easy walking:
Steve, Daria, and Stefan (hidden from view) hiking through the 2nd Narrows:
The 2nd and 3rd Narrows both had a couple of very tight spots where I was glad that Stefan was wearing a helmet so he wouldn't bang his head against the side of the walls:
The canyon walls would take on a very unusual appearance at times:
During our hike there obviously were no footprints anywhere in the wash. But I'd imagine that might change after the release of this report:
A stunning layer of pure sandstone makes for a beautiful scene in the canyon:
Steve and Stefan pictured next to the impressive sandstone layer:
The canyon walls did take on a little bit extra height within the 2nd Narrows:
The Crack had already surpassed my expectations from the trip planning stage:
Notice the odd sandstone shapes and scenic layers in the next three pictures:
A miniature pinnacle on the left side of the canyon:
After the 2nd Narrows, there is another junction. For the most part, the junctions within The Crack are easy to follow as the main wash is fairly obvious. In the distance, you can see Tobin and Devon catching up to us after passing a junction:
Beyond the junction, there was another brief open area:
And then the 3rd Narrows, which had some of the tightest sections of canyon:
More shapes and eroded layers on the canyon wall:
Ducking under an overhanging section of sandstone:
The sunlight kind of blocked out the beauty of this particularly narrow area:
This was a very tight bend in the canyon in the midst of scenic rock layers:
A picture of Steve and Stefan at this very nice spot:
Daria emerging from the end of the 3rd Narrows:
Beyond, the canyon remained narrow but didn't have the same height or straight vertical walls:
But the canyon did have a greater abundance of sandstone the deeper we progressed:
There were now multiple layers of sandstone mixed in with the conglomerate rock:
And there were entire rock shelves made of sandstone:
Soon, entire canyon walls were made of sandstone:
The next three pictures highlight some of the beautiful displays of sandstone walls in the latter part of the canyon:
We got one more brief narrow section before the end of the canyon:
At the end of our hike, we had this view of the peak which is located just to the southeast of Boundary BM:
On the hike back, I took three more pictures of interesting sandstone shapes which caught my attention:
This final family picture was taken in the midst of the 3rd Narrows:
