Mar 11 (Part 1) - The BIG Day -- Starting at Red Canyon

Well, it's going to be a busy day today as they've added a chance of rain on Saturday. There's several places I want to go and with Sat being an unknown, I'll try to squeeze them in today.

Its an overcast morning and it's really supposed to stay that way the entire day - maybe some peeks of the sun. But at least it'll be near 60 degrees.

I'm heading back to Red Canyon to do some exploring. The views of the canyon can be seen right from Hwy 12 on the way to Bryce Canyon -- with the bright red colors, you can't miss it. 

There are many trails that run thru Red Canyon and others thru the nearby canyons. My goal is to hike Losee Canyon; it's about 3 miles to an overlook; so 6 miles round trip. Also at the trail head is the Arches Trail. It's a short 0.7 mile trail leading to several small arches.

To get to Losee Canyon, I turn on a dirt road just before Red Canyon. A 2 mile drive along a dirt road gets me to the trail head. And there I make an executive decision for the day - because of the chance of rain tomorrow (and my desire to do at least one hike in Zion), I'm not hiking the 6 miles of Losee Canyon; but the Arches Trail is a go!

The trail crosses a wash (not where you want to be in heavy rain), passes what I can only think is an outdoor over 

before reaching the start of the loop thru the red rock cove to hunt for tiny arches! It's about 0.2 miles to the actual loop.

I head in the counter-clockwise direction. The scenery is stunning and I'm actively looking for those arches. And I start to find them; and they are small.

Tiny arch #1 - it's the eye on the face. :)

There's Arch #2 behind #1.

Heading around the loop.

More arches in the distance.

The trail comes to a high point.

And then starts heading back down to complete the loop.

Great little hike!

Once down, I head back to the main road and drive once more thru the Red Canyon.

Excellent morning but it's after 11am and it's time for Part 2: the Coral Pink Sand Dunes. And it's over an hour away!