Jarvis Peak

We always enjoy going to the St. George Art Show that takes place on Easter weekend.  So, today we thought, "Let's combine the Art Show, with a short hike, as we'll be on 'that' side of town."  While at the show we were surprised to be greeted, near one of the booths, by Carolyn who we met last week on our hike to Amphitheater Lake . . . it certainly is a small world!  After spending some time visiting and discussing ideas for future hikes, we strolled around the Art Show and then headed for Jarvis Peak.

Jarvis Peak is one of the "pointy" little peaks on the western skyline of St. George.  There is a lightly used social trail (it disappears and then reappears) that follows a spiny ridge to some really impressive views of St. George and the surrounding areas.  It is a relatively short trail (2 miles r/t), but fairly steep (1,100 ft elevation gain).  It provided us with a nice half day hike to some country that we haven't explored much.

The trail isn't maintained . . . but if you "hug" the spiny ridge, you'll figure it out 

Blooming Mountain Phlox were scattered everywhere 

Jarvis Peak is now visible . . . just keep heading up this ridge

Looking back towards West Mountain and Zion View Peak . . . we did both last November  

Jarvis Peak with its' sandstone cliffs and pinnacles

Pink Buttercup were in bloom

The trail climbs 1,100 ft in one mile . . . it gets the heart pumping

This rugged spine continued down the east side of Jarvis Peak

Looking north toward Red Mountain and the Pine Valley Mountains

To our south we could see the winding road that leads up to the Apex Mine

Wire left by the surveyors when they mapped this area 

Working our way back down . . .
That middle ridge is the spiny one you will work your way up . . .
If you drive as far as we did (see caution below), you'll park near it's base

It turned out to be a nice day to hike up Jarvis Peak . . .  not too hot, cold or windy . . . just right!
(We parked at the corner of the road that is visible . . . the trail cairn is just a few feet away)

One word of caution, should you decide to do this hike, is the road condition.  We certainly would suggest using the instructions that Alicia Baker provides in her blog "Girl on a Hike" as a starting point for this adventure.  We went 1/2 mile further in our Tacoma, but it was a very, very rough 4WD road that needs lots of clearance.

For a topo map and GPS tracks for this hike, you can click here and get Tom's Peakbagger post for Jarvis Peak.  We drove and started from where Tom did, but are not sure we would go that far if we were to do it again!

Amphitheater Lake

Last year, after we had hiked The Beehive, we were checking out Google Earth to see what other interesting things we could explore in the Canaan Mountain Wilderness area.  To our surprise we found an alcove that held a small body of water and was called Amphitheater Lake - never heard of it before - better add that one to our list!

Surprisingly, there isn't much "out there" on this hike (you can click here to find the only article that we came across that details some of the early history and exploration of Short Creek).  It certainly looked interesting and one that not a lot of folks had done, so we made plans to do this relatively easy hike on a nice spring day!

We got an early start . . . the creek was flowing nicely and the birds were chirping

Right away we noticed a lot of tracks, then we spooked up some Bighorn Sheep
(Allison managed to get a picture but it didn't turn out too well - sorry!)

Hmmm . . . not sure how to explain this!

There were a few pools that didn't appear to have a way around them . . .
We finally gave up on keeping our feet dry and waded in - only ankle deep!

We could hear this little waterfall before we found it just around the corner

We took the hard way up, not realizing there was trail that bypassed this section
(If you don't want to get your feet wet, it'll get you around these narrow pools -
but then what fun would be in that?!)

Looking down on the waterfall flowing into the pool below . . .
That's quite the little trough the water has eroded over the years

Allison spotted this baby bighorn sheep skull just as we approached the lake

Up ahead is the amphitheater that holds the lake we have come to see

Amphitheater Lake is fed by several springs seeping out of the sandstone cliffs
 and looks to be quite deep in the center
(We couldn't see the bottom and suspect that this is where a good portion of the pool is
fed by an underground spring)

Water flowing out of the sandstone

Not sure why this ladder is here???

This lizard was enjoying the sun

We enjoyed having the lake all to ourselves

Can you see the reflection?

Kent is doing the "butt scootin' boogie" back down the hard way . . .
Allison discovered the previously aforementioned bypass and descended the "easy" way

At first we thought this was a string . . . it's a jelly string of toad eggs

Working our way back down Short Creek Canyon and back to the Squirrel Canyon Trailhead

For much of this hike, which ended up being just shy of nine miles (r/t), was following an ATV trail along Short Creek.  We were glad when the canyon walls "closed in" and the ATV's couldn't go any further.  This last mile, or so, was the most enjoyable part of the canyon, as we wandered through some narrows that had interesting slits that the stream had cut through.

As we were leaving, we met another hiking party and received an email from them the following day saying that they had found a way up through the Amphitheater and then went north of The Beehive and came down Squirrel Canyon.  I suspect it added a few extra miles, but was a great idea for making a loop hike out of this excursion.

Bloomington Hill

We used to laugh when retired people said they didn't have time to get things done because they were too busy!  Even though we are semi-retired, there should still be plenty of time to hike, right?  Apparently, not.  After a very busy March, and almost a month of no posts, it was time to get back out on the trail.

Tom had an appointment with a new motorcycle, in St. George, so he planned a hike in the area that allowed him to bag a peak and still have time to pick up his bike.  Although, we have lived in southern Utah for almost 25 years we had never hiked the Zen Trail, nor had we ever heard of Hippopotamus Caves . . . that was about to change thanks to Tom's early morning adventure.  It was good to get back out there with Tom and "the Crew!"

We are working our way up the Zen Trail which will lead us to the top of Bloomington Hill

The rock formations really surprised us

Where is Kent going?

A cave . . . actually there are three caves (all interconnected) that make up Hippopotamus Caves

Tom is signing the geocache log in the largest room

Exiting the caves . . .
They are actually formed by large stones leaning against each other

That's one big barrel cactus!

There aren't many trees to block the views

We took a break at the top of Bloomington Hill (3,470 ft)
Tom & Kent are watching the riders on the Bearclaw Poppy Bike Trail

Tom couldn't resist adding a rock to the pile marking the high point

Looking north, over the boulders we wandered through, toward the Pine Valley Mountains

The Zen Trail is a very popular mountain bike trail that meanders along the Bloomington Ridge
. . .  no riders up here today . . . just hikers and trail runners!

March was a crazy month for us, we only had time for one hike  . . .
 This Balanced Rock reminds us of how good it feels to be back out on the trail 

This turned out to be a nice hike that allowed us to ease back into the outdoors.  It was about 5.5 miles in length and had about a 1,000 ft of elevation gain that we completed in about three hours.  If you'd like to see the loop route we took, you can click here for a link to Tom's Peakbagger.com post that will give you a topo map and GPS tracks of our trek.
 

Zion Butte

Every time we travel to Kanab, Kent always says, "We should try climbing Zion Butte."  What made it even more compelling was that no one had recorded an ascent in Peakbagger.com . . . maybe that should have been our first clue this was going to be a challenge.  Thankfully, Tom and the Crew joined us even though he thought our chances of making it all the way where miniscule.

Kent was hoping that once we reached the upper ridge it would be an interesting jaunt to the top, much like Calico Peak.  Boy, was he wrong!  It was a tedious, vertical and strenuous hike, albeit with great views of Smithsonian Butte and Zion.  It became apparent, once we finally reached the ridge, that we weren't going to summit.  Going back down, Kent suffered a sprained knee and Tom a broken pinkie . . . Allison survived unharmed.  Tough hike, but a good adventure none-the-less!

We started from the backside (east side)
There is no trail . . . we only have a destination in mind . . . Zion Butte

Cactus can grow anywhere . . .
And, surprisingly, there were a lot of them on this hike!

Kent went ahead to look for the best route . . .
We eventually scrambled up the left side of the red cliff  

The mud and snow were slick & slippery . . . at times we used all fours!

Colorful moss & lichen covered this section of sandstone

The hike was hard, but the views were amazing!
Looking toward Smithsonian Butte & Zion, with The Spires off to the right

Hmmm . . . still think this is doable?

This was a great place for our lunch break . . .
There was actually a fire pit . . . so someone has been here before!

We had fun checking out the views

Pine Valley Mountains, north of St. George, can be seen in the distance

Resting at Overlook Point
 (We decided to try a slightly different route on our way down)
Kent & Tom look like two tired beat up old men . . . yes, they are!
The black arrow, by the cloud, points to where we turned around

Driving out on the Smithsonian Butte Scenic Back Country Byway . . .
The red arrow points to Overlook Point & the black arrow shows
where we decided it was time to call it a day and head back with no regrets!

While it's seems like it would be possible to make it to the summit of Zion Butte without the aid of ropes, I'm not sure we're going to be the one's who do it.  This hike really drained us with all the bushwhacking and slow, methodical climbing.  If you're interested in becoming the first Peakbagger to record this Butte, you can click here to download our GPS route (which, by the way, was a good one) from Tom's Peakbagger.com post.  Good luck!