Snow Benchmark

Our friend, Tom, said that Snow Benchmark was a nice hike and provided excellent views of the surrounding area.  Our only hesitation about doing this hike was using the Red Mountain Trailhead to gain access to this Red Cliffs Desert Reserve highpoint.  Several years ago when we hiked to Snow Canyon Overlook we used this miserable, rock strewn trail and we swore we'd never do it again!  Hoping that time might have mellowed our memories of how bad this trail really was, we set out, once again, to give it another try.  Nope, it was just as bad as we remembered!  However, after leaving the main trail at a split about two miles in, the excursion became much better and provided for an enjoyable early March hike.

There it is . . . Peak 5570 . . . better know as Snow Benchmark
(If you want to know what we meant by a "miserable trail," just look at the rocks at Kent's feet!)

Just before we left the trail to ascend Snow Benchmark,
we veered slightly off trail to gain these fantastic views of Snow Canyon

Working our way up the peak . . . nothing too bad

These were the only flowers we saw blooming . . . Anderson's Buttercup

We have arrived!
We are looking east towards the Pine Valley Mountains . . .
Also, you can see where we left the trail for the Snow Canyon overlook (center right)

Here's why we came . . . to recover Snow Benchmark . . . it was placed here in the 1950's

As an added bonus, for our efforts, we were rewarded with unobstructed 360° views in all directions
Looking west toward West Mountain and Jarvis Peak

Kent enjoying the views of Snow Canyon State Park

Time to head back
There's supposed to be another benchmark on the Veyo cinder cone pictured directly above Kent's cap . . .
Looks like we'll have to plan another outing to recover that one!

Working our way back down to the Red Mountain Trail

One last glimpse of Snow Canyon
Now it's time to begin the two and half mile slog back to the trailhead

Did we tell you how miserable this trail was?

One last look at Snow Benchmark
This was taken at the Snow Canyon Scenic Overlook, off Highway 18, on our way back to St. George

This hike ended up being just about 7-miles roundtrip.  If you can survive the first two miles (and the last two!), you will find this to be a very nice outing.  It provides incredible views of Snow Canyon and a good cardio workout as you make the final 800ft ascent up Peak 5570 to Snow Benchmark.  If you'd like a topo map and GPS tracks for this hike you can find them by clicking here.  Thanks to Tom for providing these from his Peakbagger.com post!

T-Bone Hill

It's very unusual, for us, to receive a solid week of rain . . . but that's exactly what we got this past week. So when sun was forecasted, for Saturday, we knew it was time to get out and stretch our legs.  However, two questions kept coming up. "Where can we go that isn't muddy?" and "Where can we go to get out of the wind?"  Fortunately for us the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve provided suitable answers for both of our concerns.  After doing some searching on Google Earth it looked like T-Bone Hill (a semi-prominent landmark in the St. George area) would make a good choice for a relatively easy, albeit, somewhat short hike.  So off we went . . . 

The Sun Independent said T-Bone Hill would provide "stellar views, fun scrambling and surprising isolation despite being close to civilization."  We'd say their description was spot on!

Although it might look a little intimidating, the 300 feet of elevation gain wasn't too bad!
It only took us about fifteen minutes to make it to the top.

We're almost there . . . Where's Mike? . . . That "Youngster" must be on top already!

Once through the black basalt rim, that guards the top, we had great views in all directions
St. George lies between the snow covered Beaver Dam Mountains and the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

We particularly liked the long narrow arm of the T-bone mesa . . . 
It's always fun to walk a ridge where you can see down both sides at once

Looking back, from where we've come, you begin to see the unique T-Bone shape as it comes into view

At the end of the mesa someone has erected this American flag . . .
It can be seen as one drives on the Red Hills Parkway

Heading back . . . We plan to make a loop around the base of the T-Bone

Off to our east are the Red Cliffs of the Cottonwood Canyon Wilderness area . . .
We hiked Peak 4416 (the one to the furthest right) last February with our friend Nathan

 We were surprised at how much moss was thriving on the north facing lava boulders

Somewhere around here we descended off the north rim of T-Bone mesa
(As you can see, it's pretty easy to find a route up or down the mesa)

Looking west towards West Mountain (7,680 ft) . . . the highest peak in the Beaver Dam Mountain range

Kent is headed north as he works his way around the base of the mesa

We stopped to check out these red rocks

Kent looks as if he was expecting a mountain lion to pop out of the cave . . .
Nothing more than a large pack rat nest was found!

Catching one more glimpse of the mesa before we make a beeline for the truck

We came upon this piece of garbage on our way back . . . it took us a while to figure out what it was . . .
It ended up being an old rusted remnant of a turntable . . .
Wonder whose it was and what kind of music they listened to on it!

If you're looking for a short hike (our route was about 2.5 miles r/t), you might want to consider this unique mesa.  It's close to town and will provide you with some good exercise and views while exploring the Red Cliff Desert Reserve.  If you'd like a topo map and GPS tracks for this hike, you can click here for our friend Tom's Peakbagger.com post, from several years back.  We didn't follow his route exactly, but his path will give you a good idea of where to park and how to get up the mesa.

 

Parunuweap Peak

After thoroughly enjoying Nippletop, in December, we decided to do several more hikes on the eastside of Zion National Park this winter.  First up is Crawford Overlook.  Never heard of it?  Neither had we, but both Stav and Joe Braun gave it high marks and said it would provide impressive views of Parunuweap Canyon that we had done back in October.  With a beautiful January day waiting for us and temperatures expected to be in the low 60's it was time to do some hiking in this less explored area of Zion.  We're still amazed that we can find places like this right out our back door!

We parked at a pullout just northeast of Cockeye Falls . . .
As you can see we had several inches of snow earlier in the week . . .
This would prove to be more of a challenge than we were expecting 

Although we started off with a chilly morning, as soon as the sun got above us it became a glorious day!

Winter in Zion!  Yes, it's still a special place!
Working our way toward the French Pastry and Lost Peak

At times the snow and ice was unavoidable . . .
The challenge was finding places on the slickrock, to place our feet, that didn't have any ice . . .
Can you see Kent and Mike working their way towards the Triplets?  (Click on picture for larger view)

Freshly fallen snow highlights the striations in the sandstone . . . 
This is looking back towards the drainage we have been working our way up

The red formations in the center are known as the French Pastry . . .
  We might need a real one after this hike!

A wispy contrail floats above The Triplets . . . Nippletop is off to the left
If all goes as planned, we will do the return hike by passing through the saddle between them

Parunuweap Peak is where we are headed (looking down into Crawford Wash) . . .
From here, we'll have another mile of ridge hiking to get to Crawford Overlook

It's always fun to stumble upon unique rocks 

We are coming out of Crawford Wash and trying to gain the ridge . . . this area was tricky to ascend . . .
It took a little route finding to navigate around the ice and snow
(Any "normal" day would have been no problem!)

This hoodoo seems out of place . . . 
We are looking back at Lost Peak which we passed as we descended into Crawford Wash

Once out of Crawford Wash, and up on the ridge, we had fun enjoying
 a lot of beehive formations in this relatively unexplored section of Zion 

Kent is working his way up Parunuweap Peak

We took a break on Parunuweap Peak (5,935 ft) and contemplated whether to continue on

The white arrow points to Crawford Overlook, which was our planned destination . . . 
However, with all the ice and snow we decided not to "push it" . . .
All the tentative walking was taking a toll on Kent's knees and feet . . . 
The hike was still well worth it . . . the scenery was amazing! 

Looking back at where we hiked through Sandy Saddle on our way to Crawford Wash (Lost Peak on the left) . . .
 Our plan is to work our way back between The Triplets and the Fin which is just to the left of Nippletop (Yellow line is our planned return route) 

Another memorable hike in east Zion . . . 
That's East Temple in the background . . .
Zion Canyon, the part most people visit, is on the other side

The size of this beehive is noticeable compared to Mike, as he skirts by the left side . . . 
That's a pretty interesting rock formation on top of the beehive!

Just another unique formation with large moqui marble shaped rocks scattered about . . .
Looking east, you can see Parunuweap Canyon in the background

We are heading for a saddle that is supposed to be between the Triplets and Nippletop . . . 
Doesn't look like there's one from this angle!

To our surprise there was quite a big saddle waiting for us (that's The Fin on the right) . . . Can you see Mike? He's up on the saddle waiting for us! (Click on picture for enlarged view)

Views from the saddle!
What better place for a lunch break . . .  fine dining in Zion!
The French Pastry, we passed earlier, is located in the center of this picture

Time to head back down and "fight" more snow and ice on the north side of the Triplets

Almost back!  It's been a great day in East Zion!
Thankfully, a good portion of the ice had melted with the daytime temperatures!

Our route took approximately five hours and covered just about 6.5 miles with a little over 1,900 feet of elevation gain.  On a normal day (one without snow and ice) it probably could have been covered in 2/3rds the time.  Click here for an excellent map that Joe Braun has provided from his website, Joe's Guide to Zion National Park, that shows the route that we closely followed.  This hike inspired and gave us some more ideas for future hikes (Lost Peak & The Triplets) . . . we know many people incorporate these with the Crawford Overlook hike, but it seemed a little too much for us!  No worries, we'll be back to finish what we missed!