Day 4

October 18, 2016

Hiking Down Vishnu Canyon



 


Today's route stats: 

    Distance:  2.0 miles

    Elevation Gain:  300 feet

    Elevation Loss:  600 feet

The objective for today was to hike down into the lower section of Vishnu Canyon, but still above the narrows that go through the Vishnu schist.  I have heard of a cabin that is in this section and I thought it would be interesting to check it out.   I assume the cabin was built by John Hance, but I am not certain  of that.  There is a large pouroff that requires a rather long bypass to get into the lower section. 

 

View of Vishnu Canyon Below Pouroff.

 

We got a leisurely start, knowing that today would be short and pretty easy.  We walked the 3/4 miles back down through the narrows to the large pouroff that requires a bypass on creek-left.  There was a large cairn marking the start of the bypass.  After a steep climb of about 300 feet, we contoured down-canyon looking for a way down.  There were occasional ducks marking the way.  The route back down to the canyon bottom was also pretty steep and loose. 

Once down, we began hiking down Vishnu, looking for a nice campsite.  There was water flowing intermittently the whole way.  After about a mile we found a nice campsite, where we dropped our packs and continued down canyon looking for the cabin and the beginning of the lower narrows.  We soon found the cabin on creek-left, only a few hundred yards above the beginning of the narrows.  The walls of the cabin were made of stone, but the walls had deteriorated and were only a few feet high.  But the chimney was mostly intact.  There were a few interesting old items laying around (e.g., coffee pot), and the foundation of another building a short distance away.  I wish I had the photos.

Tonight I began listening to a book from the Great Courses series titled Foundations of Western Civilization II:  A History of the Modern World, by Robert Bucholz.  


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