An unexpected sight greeted Fred and I on our favorite local loop-hike last month in Snow Canyon State Park.  Just off Whiptail trail, suspended high in a gap between orange cliffs, an enormous American flag floated, seemingly out of place in in these walls of Navajo Sandstone.  People were lined up, taking pictures of this spectacular sight.  The flag, in the still air hung vertically, but billowed and rolled with occasional breezes, the bottom edge of it flying gracefully towards the sky.    I suppose you could ask what visitors were thinking about this huge flag in this gorgeous natural setting and you would probably get different answers, ranging from the emotion of national pride and patriotism to "Wow!  That's pretty cool!" to "Why is it hanging here?"  For me, my heart swelled because two things that I love were juxtaposed:  a symbol of my country and the land of the American West.

Strength, unity, connection, freedom - these are what the American flag is intended to signify.  The stripes represent the original 13 colonies that were seceding from the British.  The blue canton contains the stars of our 50 states.  Blue represents vigilance, perseverance, and justice.  White signifies purity and innocence, and red signifies hardiness and valor.

This proved to be a good exercise in brushing up on my flag facts, reading America's unique Declaration of Independence, and learning of the efforts going on to unify our country.  Pew and Gallup polls show that a record high number of Americans perceive the nation as divided on the most important issues.  Maybe Follow the Flag and other organizations can help us see the positive and help us remember the ideals of our country's origin.  

Our Trip
This time Fred and I decided to "leap" out of our comfort hiking zone and try something more challenging:  canyoneering!  Although Yankee Doodle Hollow is rated as a "beginner" canyoneering hike, rappelling - especially the first drop into the canyon - was a challenge for us.  This brief foray into these beautifully-polished and sinuous narrows rated as one of our favorites for 2023.  Also on my list of favorites is the "Subway" - Left Fork of North Creek in spectacular Zion National Park, another journey into rock carved by water. 

My friend Brian from CrossFit Dixie has been canyoneering in this area of southern Utah, including Zion.  He invited me on previous canyoneering trips but I was always too intimidated to go.   He guided us on this short foray, setting up the ropes on the rappel anchors and instructing us on how to control the rope in our rappel device.  He got us all set up with our harnesses and locking carabiners.

Brian's friend Jorey, who had never rappelled before, joined us.  The joy on his face when he completed the first long rappel into the canyon and overcame his fear of heights was priceless.  He was so afraid to take the initial "leap" into the void.  Fred and I had learned climbing techniques on a guided Grand Teton hike, but I was still pretty nervous. 

​Canyon Origins
Not sure how this canyon got its name.  Was it named by miners in the area, or Mormon Leeds settlers?  Yankee Doodle Hollow Creek originates from the highlands under the cliffs of the Pine Valley Mountains.

This area of southwestern Utah is complicated geologically-speaking, with uplifts, gravity slides, compressional structures (uplift), extensional structures (faults), and more.  One look at the Geologic Map of St. George area and you might agree.  So many rock units from Permian time (300 million years ago) until present.

Although a shorter and shallower canyon compared to legendary Zion canyons, Yankee Doodle Hollow still has the pretty curved and smooth cross-bedded walls of spectacular Navajo Sandstone - one of nature's works of art.  You don't have to get a permit or arrange for shuttles between canyon entry and exit points, like you have to do in Zion.

After we had completed all of the down-climbs we did a Class 3 steep slick rock scramble out of the canyon, slightly rubber-stained from many climbing shoes, as it opened up to the left.  The Class 2 path up to the rim was discernible.  If you keep going past this exit point, you continue walking down Yankee Doodle Hollow, you intersect with Heath Wash, where you would take a left (north) onto Heath Trail, which takes you back to FR031. 

Fun stuff!  Glad Brian finally got me out there.  Hopefully we can do more canyoneering....but Fred and I always default to the above-ground adventures!

A portion of the​ ​GEOLOGIC MAP OF THE ST. GEORGE AND EAST PART OF THE CLOVER MOUNTAINS 30' X 60' QUADRANGLES, WASHINGTON AND IRON COUNTIES, UTAH by Biek, R.F., et al.
The pink rock unit at top-center of photo is Pine Valley Mountains (quartz monzonite laccolith).
The Jurassic Navajo Sandstone is the light-green unit that presents as a kind of semi-circle around the base of Pine Valley Mountains, a ​much older unit, that is the main rock seen in Zion National Park.
The City of St. George is located at the bottom of the map.

Reference
Biek, R.F.  2010. Geologic Map of the St. George and East Part of the Clover Mountains 30' x 60' quadrangles, Washington and Iron Counties, Utah.  Utah Geological Survey.