This hike ended up being a bit more difficult than we expected. The book description listed it as 6.5 miles of moderate hiking, but it actually was closer to 7.5 and had some pretty steep spots. Of course nobody complained (ha). We began with 13 ladies. Five of them had to get back home sooner and so only eight were in the van at the end.
We drove up a dirt road for about a mile and parked before the locked gate into the archery range area. At this point we had forgotten that there was about a mile of dirt road before coming to the two Card Canyon trails. We walked partway up, went back to see if we had taken the wrong trail, discovered we hadn't, and so went again. This added just over a half mile to our hike. We took the East Canyon trail, walked along the jeep road at the top and then back down the West Canyon trail.
The rock formations are some of the most interesting things about this hike, and are mostly found in the East Canyon section.
The vegetation is thick and lush in spite of having so little rain. Look how well we blend in!
The East Canyon features shade and deep forest with switchbacks going up the mountain. We saw a Golden Eagle here.
We saw two of these busy and well built homes, but were happy to take pictures from a distance.
Kathie and Kim are grateful to have made it to the top.
After you reach the top, you go along this jeep road for a little while.
The road itself isn't beautiful, but it does feature some gorgeous views.
Here's the sign telling us where to turn and go back down.
The Aspen trees were a lovely part of the day. There are lots of them on this hike.
Another common sight on this trail is Elderberry bushes. There were many about ready to pick.
And in spite of the lateness of the season, and the dryness of this year, we still enjoyed some beautiful flowers and a dancing butterfly.
At trail's end, it was good to be back home, but we knew that we were tough ladies because we had conquered Card Canyon!
If you go: This is Hike #10 in the Cache Trails book. Our GPS indicated that it was a 7.39 mile loop. We went up the East Canyon, went up the dirt road at the top and came down the West Canyon. The Hike has a total ascent of 2,273.62 ft and has a maximum elevation of 7,851.05 ft. We gathered at 8:30 a.m. and returned about 3:00 p.m. but the actual hiking time was about 5 hours. This is mostly a shady hike, so it is good for hot summer days.
The first time I did this hike I recorded that it was 4 hours doorstep to doorstep meaning it was probably about 3 1/2 hours hiking time so it can be done in a shorter amount of time if one wants to. With the hiking ladies, this week, we took our time.
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