Some warm but scenic driving brings Ann and I to a huge rocky canyon I’ve seen many times from afar but never up close: Pine creek canyon. We’re eager to explore but also ready to relax into a long weekend. The paved road up the canyon is surprisingly good due to the tungsten mine at the end, and the mining might be the prominent feature of the canyon if the rock walls and spires weren’t so stupendously huge and varied in color and makeup. We make our camp then wander up the road to the trailhead, and go a ways up a brown and red canyon on the steep and narrow Gable lakes trail. From below we noticed collapsing wooden towers from an old mining tramway, and the trail winds right under the sagging cables below one of these. There isn’t enough daylight to reach the lakes, but the flowers and plunging canyons whet our appetite for more in the days ahead.

I didn’t bring the camera but Ann snapped a little preview through our camper vent at our campsite.

Vent view