Hikes

Mine Camp Peak is the highest point in Utah’s Millard County (10,108′ 3081 m), in the Pahvant (puh-VANT) Mountains, and is the 20th highest in the state if you go by counties.  The Pahvant a range, and Mine Camp aren’t a frequent topic of conversation, but there’s lots of great solitude up there and the views of Utah’s high, dry valleys and surrounding mountain ranges is fantastic. It’s worth checking out.

On the verge of the autumnal equinox, a fine, summery day in September 2009, I set out from the Chalk Creek trailhead ( 39.9216 -112.2415), following said stream up to Paradise Canyon, then up to the top of the range. No deer, elk, bears or other charismatic megafauna were to be seen along the way — just lots of cattle staring at me with the usual bovine suspicion. I lost the path for a stretch, but met with it again, now graduated to a two-track ATV trail, near the top. There were groves of firs, dark green, and quakies in tones of green and brilliant yellow.

About a mile (1.6) from the goal, the ATV trail connects up with a dirt road, FS-103, which starts on the west side of the range, near Fillmore, crosses over, and comes out at Richfield. If you want to get to this summit quickly, you can drive a Jeep or an ATV up and just walk the last mile. If you feel like walking a dozen miles (almost 20 k) then the Chalk Creek route is for you! As the dirt road tops out, there’s a cattle guard and a fence. This is where you leave the road, drop into a saddle, then climb back up to the peak just west of you.

Near the cattle guard I ran into a solitary rider of an ATV, who stopped to chat me up. He said he had come out from Kansas just to ride around in the Pavant Mountains, and was staying in Richfield. That morning, a rally of 3,000 riders had ridden their putt-putts in a parade through town. I could imagine the sound of Richfield hoteliers and restaurateurs rejoicing.

On the peak, as I sat there taking in the sort of tableau that inspired 19th-century landscape painters — the parched Pahvant Valley, the Tushar Mountains to the south, the Wasatch Plateau east, and the stretch of ranges and basins to the west (the House Range, Nevada’s Snake Range and others), cottony clouds floating across the sky — while munching on trail grub, I noticed that a flock of ravens, at least a couple dozen of them, were riding an updraft as if it were an amusement park ride. The whoosh of air shot them up, wings spread, as if sitting on a geyser. At the apex, each corvid let out a loud, croaking “caw,” folded its wings, and dropped back down to catch the draft again.

I’m sure they were just goofing off, each caw betraying the exhilaration of the stunt. I’d never seen anything like that. No big wild critters on this hike, but ravens goofing off. The Saturday used up was worth it.

Back near the cattle guard, I stood under a huge pinyon, about about 30 feet tall (9 m), watching blue and white birds picking the nuts out of cones, shelling them and eating the meat. As I stood there, they dropped the shells on me. I don’t know what kind of bird it is, and assume they were just passing through, but again, I had never seen birds feasting on pine nuts.

Pine Nut Feast

On the way back down, going back through the stretch of trail I had missed on the way up, the ATV trail through Paradise Valley led the through the tallest, straightest stand of aspen I’ve ever seen. Although it was just a dry forest of deciduous trees, it made me think of the majesty of the rain forests on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula. Another great find for the day.

If you happen to be cruising down I-15 and come to Fillmore, if you feel like taking a detour, run up to Chalk Creek and check out this great, lonely mountain range for yourself. You’ll be glad you did.

There has to be something noteworthy about an area to make the cut as a national park: geologic features, an expanse of wilderness worth protecting, wildlife, plants — something. Besides the fact that this area along the San Andreas Fault seems to grow its namesake trees larger than anywhere else in the Mohave, what was it about these 1,234 square miles (3,196 square k) of desert straddling the San Andreas make this place remarkable? There has to be something to make you point your car east from Hesperia or San Bernardino besides all those golf courses down in the Coachella Valley.

For some, it’s the chance to see the interstice of three regions: the Little San Bernardino Mountains, the Colorado Desert (part of the Sonoran), and the Mohave. The lower valleys on the south and west have Sonoran plants, like the Ocotillo. The higher spots north are pure Mohave, and the west part of the park has mountains. It’s a fascinating place with lots to do, so check out one of these 6 ideas and see if a few of them are for you.

The Views

If you’re a Big Picture sort of person, Keys View is for you.  In winter and spring you get the bonus of snow-capped San Jacinto and San Bernardino mountains. The dun-colored Coachella Valley seems to start just below your feet on its northwest end, then runs southwest to the  glimmer of the expansive Salton Sea. On clear days you can see past the sea and Imperial Valley over the border to Mexico.

From the Visitor Center take Park Boulevard southwest to Hidden Valley, then south to the viewpoint. It’s about 21 miles (33.6 k). On the drive there you’ll see some of the largest Joshua Trees (Yucca brevifolia) you’ll see anywhere — unlike their scrubbier cousins in other parts of the Mohave, these specimens tower above the landscape, supported by thick trunks you’d normally expect to see on middling Doug Firs. Stacks of rounded, tawny monzogranite globs make the exotic scenery even more so, taxing the attention of drivers who need to pay attention to the curves in the road. Mohave Yuccas (Yucca schidigera) finish out the tableau with their long, fleshy spines.

In the winter it can be blustery there, so take some warm things along.

Old West History

No need to don period attire — park personnel do that for you at the Keys Ranch, named after the focal settler, William F. Keys and his family, who made their lives there. The Keys spent 60 years ranching this dry land. Visitors are encouraged to ask the rangers-in-costume questions about what their life is like as they walk around the ranch house, school house, store and replanted orchard.

The old spread has old vehicles and mining equipment as well.

Call 760-367-5555 to make reservations for one of the tours held twice daily (10:00 am and 1:00 pm) from October to May. Cost is $5 per adult. The ranch is near the Hidden Valley turnoff, and visitors meet the rangers at the locked gate nearby.

History buffs can also check out the Lost Horse Mine, just off a loop trail a few miles north of the Keys View.

Geology

The park sits on a layer of very old, precambrian granitic rock, worn down over time into broad alluvial plains. Rounded, sandpaper-rough outcrops punctuate the high parts of the park, a great showcase for rockhounds and a playground for rock climbers. Although mostly worn away now, remnants of a layer of banded gneiss, an attractive combination of quartz and feldspar, can be found around the park.

The park is hashed up and down with faults, including the grandaddy of faults, the San Andreas, a split that goes down to the North American and Pacific Plates below and defines the southern border of the park and the northern edge of the Coachella Valley. The park is moving over the Pacific Plate at about 2 inches per year.

Spiky Desert Plants

The park is a desert plant lover’s dream with flora from three regions jammed together. Giant Joshuas thrive in the middle regions of the park that belong to the Mohave, as well as Pinyons and junipers. Look for Desert Willows (Chilopsis linearis) in the washes.

Shrubby zones have many of the usual suspects: creosote (Larrea tridentata), Mormon Tea (Ephedra sp.), Mohave Yucca, bur-sage, brittlebush and the rest of the shrubby Mohave lineup.

Down in Pinto Basin a thick patch of Teddy Bear Chollas (Cylindropuntia bigelovii) is an uncommon display. Not far from there is a patch of Octotillos (Fouquieria splendens). You can also find large Claret Cups (Echinocereus sp) and Red Barrel Cactuses (Ferocactus cylindraceus) in the canyons.

In addition to keeping grazers from eating them, spiny plants cool faster in the hot desert.

Late spring is an especially good time to go, when the wildflowers and cacti begin to bloom.

Oases

North America has 158 Fan Palm (Washingtonia filifera) oases, and the park personnel claim 5 of them. After going there and looking at the map, however, I could only come up with 4: Oasis of Mara, 49 Palms, Lost Palms Oasis and Cottonwood Spring. The latter 2 are near the south entrance and visitor center.

These palms live for 80-90 years and provide a fruit, purple berries smaller than dates, that Native Americans gathered. The thin outer fruit was edible, and they also ground the pits into a powder to eat. The large fronds were good for making shelters. Cahuilas set the undergrowth on fire to clear the area and to increase fruit production.

Mara isn’t worth bothering with — it’s a sad holdover of something that in the past was really neat  (and the didactic signs along the trail reinforce this spot’s decline). Fortunately, 49 Palms is excellent. I don’t know about the other 2, but it’s worth checking them out.

The 49 Palms 3-mile (4.8 k) round-trip hike is a fine one, up over a Barrel Cactus-studded ridge and down into the wash where the patch of palms resides. You can see the oasis when you’re halfway there, as you crest the ridge and work your way down into the wash.

To get to the trailhead, From the Visitor Center, head east 11.2 miles on Highway 62, and turn right on Canyon Road and then go south up the canyon. The trailhead is a large parking area at the end of the road. When it’s warm, take plenty of water along — at least 2 liters.

Coyotes and Bighorn Sheep like to come to these oases, but it’s against the rules to visit these places between sunrise and sunset, so your chances of seeing wildlife are not very good.

Bird Watching

There are 250 different kinds of birds to see here, with 78 species as permanent residents. The others pass through on their way to or from the Salton Sea, or come from the surrounding mountains to winter in a warmer spot. There are many springs and seeps they can drink from, and they find seeds and fruits to eat. Birds are easier to spot here than other places because there aren’t leaves for them to hide in — they have to perch on spikes, between spines, or on fronds.

Even a novice has a chance of seeing roadrunners, Gambel Quail and the ubiquitous ravens, but more assiduous birdwatchers come here to tick off long lists of specimens.

Rock Climbing

The granite outcroppings here make “JT”  a rock climbers mecca, with 400 climbing formations and 8,000 routes. Check at the Visitor Center for guides.

Together with Utah hiking writer David Day, TalkingRockies has another mobile hiking guide in the iTunes App Store: ArchesCanyonlands. As I worked on adapting Dave’s great content to work in a mobile guide, it took extra concentration to stay on the task, and not start rounding up gear, jumping in the car and pointing to to Moab, Utah. There are things out there I just want to see! This sun-baked redoubt has an arrangement of terrain like nowhere in the world, with the snow-capped La Sal mountains on the east, presiding over rolling expanses of sunbaked terrain.

To make it easier for the first movers, the app is out at an introductory price of just $3.99. This offer is only good until the end of March, and then the price goes back up to the normal range for great content of this quality.

The purpose of this guide is to get you out into the backcountry, away from the masses, and take in the amazing sights back there.

Arches is a small park, with lots of really short hikes, and there just isn’t as much backcountry back there. However, there are a few longer hikes we want you to know about (and we put Delicate Arch in there just because it’s sui generis). So, here it is

• Devils Garden and the primitive trail. A varied loop hike with 10 natural arches in their different stages of development, from nascent to mature (Landscape, vying for world's longest) collapsed (Wall Arch). A  fin-top walk to Double O and the Dark Angel, and a primitive hike back through Fin Canyon.
• Delicate Arch. A short hike up a slickrock wedge to Utah’s talismanic geologic feature. Pleasant winter weather makes this hike a great cure for the winter blahs or any form of Cabin Fever. Be ready to share the trail with throngs of fellow wanderers.
• Lower Courthouse Wash. A pleasant riparian walk down a pretty wash carved into Navajo Sandstone. Start inside the park and finish just short of the Colorado River. There’s usually water, so there are cottonwoods and tamarisks all along it. Some people go barefoot in the sand.

The Moab area has some great hikes, and we wanted to tell you about 3 of the best:

• Mount Tukunikivatz. Saying the Ute name is fun (too-koo-NIH-ki-vahts), but hiking it is much better. Walk in Edward Abbey’s footsteps on this steep route-finding route to the top of one of the La Sal Mountains’ most famous 12,000-footers, and a stunning alpine contrast to the sunburned red rock all around. Earn vistas of “a sea of burnt rock, arid tablelands, barren and desolate canyons.” This is a challenging, exposed hike on loose talus.



• Fisher Towers. A short hike to geologic features that look like petrified skyscrapers, with branching arroyos as streets. Pass a half-dozen towers and end at The Titan. Climbers love these brick-red towers, adding to the interest of this hike. A breathtaking sunset promenade.
• Negro Bill Canyon. Named after William Granstaff, an African-American rancher, this gash in the Navajo Sandstone provides a verdant streamside stroll in a Wilderness Study Area, ending with a stunning natural bridge carved by a waterfall instead of a stream. The mouth of the canyon was the scene of a fracas when the locals bulldozed a newly-erected barrier as a protest, kicking off the “Sagebrush Rebellion” (which enjoyed a shorter life than Disco).

The hikes in Canyonlands are pure magic, with candy-striped hoodoos lined up in tantalizing rows, a huge impact crater, riparian pathways through parched terrain, a stunning confluence of two mighty rivers, and an abundance of Ancestral Puebloan (Anasazi) pictographs and dwellings.

• Alcove Spring Trail, Island in the Sky. A there-and-back stroll down to an oasis under a sandstone alcove, then a canyon walk to a spur of the White Rim Trail. Visit a formation that resembles Moses talking to Zeus. Possible as a day hike, or a nice overnighter.
• Big Spring Canyon-Elephant Canyon Loop, Needles. A good, long loop hike through three different washes with a fine traverse of undulating sandstone between whimsical formations on the final stretch. The traverses between the washes add to the interest of the hike. Lots of variety, and the best of many great loop hikes from here.
• Chesler Park, Needles. A loop walk through canyons and pinnacles, across Elephant Canyon, over slickrock and to an uncharacteristic broad, flat meadow in the middle of craggy sandstone terrain. A tight squeeze through the Joint Trail from the Chesler Park Trailhead, the best part.
• Confluence Overlook, Needles. A rigorous stroll on an up-and-down, wind-around trail across broken terrain takes you to the spot where John W. Powell first took in this magnificent view of the mighty Green and Colorado Rivers flowing together in the sun-baked rocks.
• Druid Arch, Needles. A jaw-dropping, there-and-back stroll along the bottom of Elephant Canyon to an arch that looks like an inspiration for Stonehenge. Small springs and pools along the bottom of the canyon. A nonstop show of varied formations in a rainbow of colors.
• Lost Canyon Loop, Needles. A loop hike through a canyon that’s deeper and greener than the nearby Squaw Canyon, making this spot dear to cattle and cowboys in the first half of the 20th Century. Check out the side trip to the Cowboy Camp if you want more adventure.



• Murphy Trail Loop, Island in the Sky. This loop hike lets you enjoy Canyonlands's wild beauty and expansive vistas on an historic cattle trail and a segment of the White Rim Trail. The bends of the Green River come into view with glances of The Needles and other exotic formations all around.
• Peekaboo Trail, Needles. A through-hike over broken terrain, from the Squaw Flat Trailhead to the Peekaboo Camp on the Salt Wash Trail. Either a long there-and-back trek or a one-way with shuttle cars at the end. Exquisite Fremont pictographs at Peekaboo.
• Salt Creek, Needles, 4 days, 3 nights. A 4-day backcountry reek in the Salt Creek area. Arches and Ancient Puebloan ruins and petroglyphs, as well as the remains of old ranching operations abound. The star pictograph is All American Man. Since traffic was closed here, bears have come back, so keep it clean.
• Upheaval Dome, Island in the Sky. Start from the edge a massive and ancient impact crater about 3 times as old as the Colorado Plateau itself, and visible from space. Skirt this fascinating blemish on the Syncline Loop Trail, and optionally work your way to its center. One of the most popular hikes in Canyonlands.

Try this app out, and no matter what you do, find some time to get out on these great trails! Get it in March only for $3.99 on .

*The photo of Delicate Arch is by John Ross. The photos of Tukuhnikivatz and Canyonlands are by David Day.

In 2009 almost 2.7 million people showed up to see Zion National Park.Imagine  everyone in the city of Houston, Texas, along with the good people of Cleveland, Ohio coming out to get a little Chinle grit on their shoes. Things get busy in March, with the peak month in August; last year  almost 375 thousand came to see the park in the Dog Days, say, all of Minneapolis — You Betcha! – with adequate supplies of “haht dish.”

Things taper down quickly in November, say all of Pasadena, but there’s a reason for that. It gets cold.

During the peak season, how’s a nature lover to find a little solitude with so many cargo shorts-wearing, Nikon-packing compatriots eyeing the same scenery? Simple: go where the hoi polloi aren’t (which doesn’t take much more than about half a mile of walking to do, but you’ll want to keep going after clearing the crowds.) The park has 229,000 square miles (59,711 hec), so there’s room out there. You just need to hit the trails.

Here are 6 great backcountry fixes that don’t even take technical skill (well OK, The Subway takes a little):

1. East Rim
2. West Rim
3. Hop Valley and Kolob Arch
4. Zion Narrows
5. The North Fork (Subway)
6. Taylor Creek Middle Fork

I’ll cover these hikes more on subsequent posts, but here’s a summary. These are some of the favorites of David Day, Utah’s most prolific hiking guide writer.

East Rim and Cable Mountain

A 2-day through-trek from the east entrance, with a side trip to Cable Mountain. Starts at the East Entrance Trailhead (5,720 feet/1,744 m) and ends at the Weeping Rock Trailhead. Rolling Navajo Sandstone studded with pinyons and junipers and groves of Ponderosa pines. An awe-inspiring descent through Echo Canyon and then out to the switchbacks to the main canyon. If your wanderlust isn’t sated by the end, take a side trip to Observation Point, or Hidden Canyon, or both.

Great late spring through mid-fall. The high parts are covered with snow mid-November to May.

West Rim

You might need a strap to keep your jaw shut on this meandering path that runs through a kaleidoscope of landscapes, from the scrublands on the Kolob Plateau into Zion Canyon slickrock. Start at Lava Point, cross Horse Pasture Plateau, and bring it home through Walter’s Wiggles and Refrigerator Canyon. Angels Landing is optional.

Hop Valley and Kolob Arch

A long day or a great 2-day trek from Hop Valley Trailhead to Lees Pass at the Kolob entrance to the park. Hop Valley is a highlight, as is Kolob Arch, one of the largest in the world. In summer, it’s a hot trudge out. Stunning scenery without the crowds.

Zion Narrows

A long, wet trudge along the Virgin River starting from the North Fork at Chamberlain Ranch and ending at the Temple of Sinawava. A spectacular main slot canyon and many tempting side canyons. Be ready to get your feet, knees, and more wet. Take walking sticks for support. If you’re really tough you can do it in a day, but it’s better as an overnighter at one of the primitive campsites near Kolob Creek. There are lots of  side canyons to check out.

Permits required. Don’t go when it rains.

The North Fork (Subway)

The technical route is an all-day varied trek through one of Utah’s favorite slot canyons. Start at the Wildcat Canyon trailhead and drop into the canyon. Several rappels, often into icy pools, are required. One spot requires a brisk swim. Take at least a 60-foot (18 m) rope, slings and harnesses. Only 50 people per day are allowed in the drainage, so one of the hardest parts of this hike is getting a hall pass. You need multiple cars, with a drop-off at the North Fork Trailhead.

There’s also a down-and-back, non-technical route with no car shuttling required. Take the Left Fork trailhead, hike down into the canyon, and then upstream to this popular geologic feature. A permit is still required.

Taylor Creek Middle Fork

A great way to spend a fine morning or an afternoon in Zion. A moderate stream-hopper hike with the remains of 2 old cabins along the way, high pink sandstone walls and a huge Navajo Sandstone alcove at the end. No crowds. Worth a stop when traveling along I-15.

Conclusion

Break out those hiking boots and the backpack and get your wilderness fix. If you’d like to take detailed hiking information along with you, get “Utah’s Incredible Backcountry: Zion, Bryce and Capitol Reef” from App Store for $9.99 .