Yellow Knolls

Last week, when we hiked Twin Peaks, we were able to look down on an interesting set of hills that are known as Yellow Knolls.  Both of us knew we wanted to add this area to our list of "local" hikes before the heat of summer sets in upon us.  The Knolls are located in the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve, near St. George, and Kent thought that April (his boss) and Nathan (a coworker) might like to meet us at the trailhead for an early morning hike.  They both responded with an enthusiastic "Yes!" . . .  Nathan even invited along his friend, Olivia, to complete our group of five.  And so, on a beautiful spring morning, we set out for a fun couple of hours to explore this neat area.

Leaving the Yellow Knolls Trailhead around 7:30am

 Yellow Evening Primrose
They open in the evening and, as we observed on our return, are closed by late morning

We had the trail to ourselves as we worked our way toward the Knolls . . .
The first one we will climb is directly in front of us

Kent is working his way up this checkerboard (dinosaur skin) section . . . 
Nathan and Olivia are waiting for him to catch up

Sandstone has many colors, textures, shapes and designs as evidenced by these colorful slabs

It didn't take us long to reach the top of the first knoll . . .
Only about 15 - 20 minutes to make the ascent

Now it's time to meet up with April and her two dogs, as we begin climbing the second knoll . . .
As you can see, the slickrock, which went almost to the top, made this an easy ascent

Mojave Popcorn flower, a fitting name for sure

Once we made the summit, Nathan broke out his drone and began filming us and our route

Here's a bird's eye view of us from the drone
(Click on the picture to enlarge our group photo)

How about a group selfie view from ground level? . . .  Allison, Olivia, Nathan, Kent and April

Nathan used his drone to shoot a flyby of our group on top the northern most knoll.  He then sent it down the ridgeline that we planned to follow as we hiked to the southern most knoll.  We have to say the drone added a whole new perspective to our hike!  Thanks, Nathan!  (Make sure to click on the "play" button above and don't miss viewing it in "full-screen" mode.)

Kent, Nathan, Olivia and Allison continued on down the ridgeline toward the other knolls . . .
April headed back down the slickrock with her dogs 

What amazing views!

Looking back at the ridgeline we just descended 

Spring in the desert!
Colorful Fernleaf Biscuitroot and Phlox surround this Century plant 

Have you ever seen a century plant in bloom?  Interestingly, they can take 8-30 years to reach maturity. Once they mature they grow a central stem that can be up to 20 ft tall.  This stalk is adorned with a unique flower top that can bloom for 3-4 months.  Once this cycle is completed the century plant dies.

Looking back to the north at the first two knolls we climbed
(The first has a green tree on top and its companion knoll, to the right, has the more rounded top)

Here's Kent on top of the third knoll . . . the one furthest to the south 

We decided to make it a four-some and hike up to the top of the last knoll (pictured on the left)

More phlox and fernleaf biscuitroot in bloom

Views from the fourth knoll . . . totally worth it!

Yes, there was a little sand, but not much
(That's the first knoll in front of Kent)

The west side of the fourth knoll had some interesting cross-bedded sandstone

Looking back at three of the knolls as we approach the trailhead and parking area . . .
Even if you don't want to climb up the knolls, it's still a worthwhile hike to an exceptional area of beauty!

What a great half-day hike!  All totaled this ended up being about four-miles (r/t) . . . this included the hike from the trailhead, ascending four knolls, and returning to the trailhead.  For a topo map, along with GPS coordinates, that closely follow the route we took, you can click here for Steven Thompson's Peakbagger.com post.

Twin Peaks

Even with the temperatures in the 70's and 80's, there's still a lot of snow in the mountains and probably will be well into early summer.  Feeling the need to get out and enjoy what was supposed to be a gorgeous day, we decided to do a hike that Tom had done (2018) that was right in our own backyard!  Although he tied it in with Peak 4938, we didn't make it quite that far due to an ongoing back strain that Kent has been dealing with for the last month or so.  It was good to get out and stretch our muscles on this fun little hike to Twin Peaks.

Using the Broken Mesa Rim Trail, we quickly climbed to the top of a large mesa . . .
From here West Twin Peak became visible and we began heading cross-country for this little knoll 

We worked our way up through this field of lava boulders and within 10 minutes we were on top

We knew, from the topo map Tom's uses, that there was a benchmark on top . . .
Interestingly, it's not listed on the National Geodetic site and unfortunately they won't allow it to be added??
Mill Benchmark was placed here in 1954

Something that made this benchmark unique (at least to us) was the arrow etched into the lava rock that pointed towards where we would locate the benchmark medallion

There were nice views from west Twin Peak . . . looking north towards the snow covered Pine Valley Mountains
(Kent used this time to stretch out his back)

Now we're heading to east Twin Peak . . . it's just a short walk, across a shallow saddle,  to reach the other knoll

Looking back toward west Twin Peak

There wasn't even a breeze . . . it was fun watching this hawk soaring above us

New plants spring to life, while others fade away 

On the way back we made a large loop to catch back up with the Broken Mesa Trail . . . 
In doing so, we came across the remnants of this tree stump that burned in a recent fire . . .
It was interesting how the charcoal cubes provided an outline of the tree that once stood here!

Back on the Broken Mesa Rim Trail and heading back down to the parking area . . . 
Twin Peaks can be seen just above Kent 

We had nice views of Red Mountain and the Beaver Dam Mountains 

Our last glimpse of Twin Peaks before we drop off the mesa

Red Cliffs Desert Reserve offers 62,000 acres to explore just north of St. George and neighboring towns

This is the Cottonwood Spring Pipeline and is used to bring water approximately fifteen miles from the base of the Pine Valley Mountains to the city of St. George . . .

The original cement pipeline, from 1936, still lays next to the more modern steel pipe that is now used . . . 

It was fun to marvel at the effort and ingenuity that was used to accomplish this feat

(We could hear water flowing through the pipeline as we crossed over it)

Going back to the parking area, on a slightly different route, we came across this pipe feeding an old tire some refreshingly cool water . . . not sure if it was a spring or if it tapped into the pipeline??
Regardless, the wildlife obviously appreciate and use it . . . there were several deer tracks in the area

Almost back . . . looking down at Yellow Knolls . . . another interesting area that we'll come back and explore on another hike!

Altogether, we ended up doing just a little under 5-miles on this outing.  You could certainly make this a shorter hike (3 miles) if you just went to Twin Peaks and headed straight back or, as Tom did, it could be made into a longer hike (7.5 miles) by combining it with Peak 4938.  Click here to get a topo map and GPS tracks from Tom's Peakbagger.com post.

Jet Benchmark

After locating Low & Broad Benchmarks, we decided to make it a trifecta and bag Jet Benchmark.  At the Black Rock exit off I-15 we took a dirt road heading west towards the Virgin River Gorge for about .5 of a mile and parked at the overhead power lines.  We certainly could have driven further (the road ends at a corral) and cut the hiking distance considerably, but we felt like getting some exercise and ended up making this about a three-mile roundtrip excursion.  This actually turned out to be a fun adventure even though we climbed the wrong hill and had to traverse along the ridgeline for an additional quarter mile to reach Jet Benchmark.

We're a couple miles west of Broad Benchmark on our way to Jet Benchmark (slightly right of center) . . .
 We decided to walk rather than coat the underside of our truck with mud

Even though Redstem Filaree is an invasive weed, it has some really pretty flowers

Never walk too close to a cholla cactus . . . They are called jumping cactus for good reason
Even a slight tap and you will feel the pain as the spines cling to your clothing or skin . . . ouch!
Just ask Allison!

According to the GPS coordinates, Jet Benchmark should be on top of this rocky hill

Fremont's Phacelia blooms March through June 

Desert Globemallow were blooming on the southeast facing slope

There were several seashell fossils embedded in the limestone that made up the cliff layers

Well, guess what?
Jet Benchmark was not on top of the hill . . . Kent said we had another .25 miles to go!
(It ended up being on the peak in the center of the picture)

More interesting rocks and another seashell fossil

Finally!  Jet Benchmark (Along with its two Reference Markers)

Jet Benchmark was placed here in 1962
It is labeled as a Traverse Station . . . we've never seen one like this before!

Now we are heading down to locate the Azimuth mark . . . hmm
I-15 through the Virgin River Gorge was competed in 1973, eleven years after the surveyors placed the Azimuth Mark. GPS coordinates show it located between the north & southbound lanes . . .
 You guessed it, we didn't find it! 

Looking back up . . . it was a steep rocky descent

If only this old rusty can could talk . . .

As you can see, Jet Benchmark really wasn't where we thought it should be,
 but that's okay, it made for an enjoyable hike!

 

What a fun half day of hiking!  Not only did we recover three benchmarks, we also got Mike intrigued with the fun of researching and learning the history of how the surveyors placed their benchmarks, reference marks and azimuths for these shiny disks.  Now Mike wants to understand the "madness" as to how they decided where they were going to place them . . . good luck, Mike . . . we still haven't figured that one out!