Chuckwalla Trail, Red Cliffs National Conservation Area

April 25, 2013

Liz at the trail head

Liz and I decided to attempt a short, easy hike today because the kids needed rides to and from different activities after school so we needed to be back early. In talking to a customer at work, they mentioned that the Chuckwalla Trail was a fun loop trail when connected with a few other trails.

I mapped out our route, determining that we would take the Chuckwalla Trail to the Turtle Wall Trail, to the Paradise Rim Trail, to the Halfway Wash Trail and back to the Chuckwalla Trail. Because of the numerous trails in the area, staying on the right one proved to be difficult, eventhough most of the trails are well signed.

The Chuckwalla Trailhead is found on Hwy 18 (Bluff Street) just 4 miles north of I-15. There is a large sign on the right side of the road, indicating that the turnoff to the Chuckwalla Trailhead is across the street on the left hand side of the road.

The parking area

We got to the parking area, which has 2 out houses and 2 hikers gates through the fence that surrounds the parking area a few minutes after 11. We were greeted by numerous cars in the parking lot, and 1 school bus, so we knew it wouldn't be a quiet, peacefull hike.

I printed out a map before we left so I knew the location of all the trails. We started through the hikers gate by where we parked our car, and joined up with the Chuckwalla Trail, which actually started directly at the other hikers gate, .1 of a mile away.

Just .1 of a mile in, we saw a couple groups of rock climbers scaling a 50 foot rock off to the side of the trail. We stopped for a few seconds to watch, before continuing on our way. After .8 miles on the Chuckwalla Trail, we came to a trail sign indicating that the "North Crossing" trail descended off to the left, and that the "Beck Hill" trail continued straight. Since the North Crossing trail wasn't even on my map, we decided to continue sraight on to the Beck Hill Trail (the Chuckwalla Trail turns into the Beck Hill trail here). This is where we deviated from our actual plan, and was the source of a little confusion later.

We continued on the Beck Hill Trail for 1.5 miles, taking in the pretty views of volcanic rock off to the north, until it came to a sign indicating that the Gila Trail went off to the right. At this point, the trail that we had just been on, the Beck Hill Trail, seemingly ended into this new trail. But while there was a sign indicating that the Gila Trail was off to the right, there was no sign indicating what trail went off to the left. 

Looking down at Santa Clara

I knew the general direction we needed to go, so I figured we should go left. This was a good choice as it turned out this was the Paradise Rim Trail. The scenery here was the pretiest of anywhere on any of the trails, as we had views of The Ledges Golf course below and the town of Santa Clara. We also past a group of mountain bikers. This short section was the only area of our adventure where there wasn't a real trail. The trail disappeared over slickrock for about 100 yards before reapearing on the other side.

.2 miles after starting off on this new trail, we saw a sign that added to our confusion - The Turtle Wall Trail went off  to the right. I thought we had been on the Turtle Wall Tail when we were on the Beck Hill Trail.

We decided to continue straight on the trail we were on which we still hadn't found an official name for, although we correctly supposed it to be the Paradise Rim Trail. After 3 miles, we finally confirmed that we were on the Paradise Rim Trail as we came to the signed junction with the gecko trail.  

We veered to the left to stay on the Paradise Rim Trail, and after .3 more miles, came to another signed junction with The Gap trail. (The Gecko and Gap trails create a short .6 mile loop that can be added on to this hike).

A trail junction

Again, we veered to the left to stay on the Paradise Rim Trail. We came to the Halfway Wash Trail junction just after .3 more miles, where we headed to the right, to connect back up with the Chuckwalla Trail. It was here, because of another sign, that we realized our mistake of not actually ever hiking on the Turtle Wall Trail, but instead adding another half mile to our hike by taking the Beck Hill Trail.

From here, we went back out theway we came in, again passing the rock climbers. We made it back to our car at about 1:00, just under 2 hours from when we left, and after 4.84 miles of hiking.

Now that I've hikedin the area, it would be easy to know where all the trails are, but because of my newness to this area, this hike proved to be an adventure. Although it would be very hard to get lost if you have any sense of direction, before attempting this hike, I would suggest getting a map of the area (Red Cliffs Reserve Map). There is no water on this hike, and I imagine it would be very hot in the summer. It is a relatively easy hike, although there are parts of the hike where the trail is made up of deep sand which makes the going a little tougher. 

The Beck Hill Trail as it winds past the volcanic rock.

Pipe Spring National Monument

April 18, 2013

The weather was chilly, so a water hike was out of the question. It had been a couple of years since I had been to Pipe Spring, and I had to this point never blogged about it, so Liz and I thought we better make the hour drive out there and do some exploring.

We left Hurricane, Utah at 10:00am and got onto Hwy 59 (100 south in Hurricane) heading east toward Colorado City. As we started up the Hurricane Cliffs, we saw a sign indicating that Pipe Spring was 44 miles away.

The Drive was actually a bit reminiscent as I passed by some trail heads of hikes that I had gone on in the past, such as Hurricane Canal and Gooseberry Mesa. After about a half an hour we made it to the Colorado City/Hilldale area, which is also the Utah/Arizona boarder. About 10 miles later, after 41.2 miles on Hwy 59, we came to the signed turnoff for Pipe Spring.

Visitors Center

We took a left on Pipe Spring road, and followed the signs for .25 of a mile until we saw the Pipe Spring Visitors Center on the left. We turned in the parking lot, parked, and headed into the Visitors Center to check in with our annual National Parks Pass.

The Visitor's Center has a self guided tour area that contains some neat artifacts and a history of the area and the people who populated it. We spent time walking through this area at the end of our visit.

First, we wanted to go on the hike, of course! The hike is only .57 miles and has many

Liz, on the trail

informative signs along the way. It makes a loop, beginning and ending right by Windsor Castle, the main attraction of Pipe Spring. We started our hike by heading south-west, overlooking the highway that we just came in on.

We read all the signs as we made our way along the edge of the cliffs, and then followed the trail as it turned back north-east toward Windsor Castle. The trail was an easy walk, but helped give us a feeling and idea of what some of the early inhabitants had to work with as far as edible plants and the surrounding terrain.

Windsor Castle

When we got back to Windsor Castle, a Ranger guided tour of the Castle was just ending and one was getting ready to begin (the tours are every half hour). We met the ranger at the massive wooden doors and Liz and I were the only two people there at the time, so we got our own private tour. The Castle was built back in 1870 to safeguard the settlers living in the area from the frequent raids of the Navajo Indians, who just 4 years earlier had killed James Whitmore and his ranch hand while Whitmore was trying to recover his stolen livestock.

A spring (Pipe Spring) actually runs through the Castle and was used for, among other things, a method of refrigeration of food. Also in the Castle was a Telegraph outpost, who's first operator was Eliza Louella Stewart. The Castle also housed many travellers on their way to St George, and elsewhere.  

Retaining Ponds

Retaining ponds were build to hold water from the spring once it exited the Castle and the water was used for watering the livestock and irrigating the garden and orchard. The National Monument is also made up of two additional buildings - the East Cabin and the West Cabin - which housed people from Explorer John Wesley Powell to the Mormon Militia.

It was a very enlightening hike and visit to a very remote, but inviting place.


A look at the Ranch from just outside of the Visitors Center

Trail Sign

Liz, on the trail and under the old telegraph wire

A look at the Arizona Strip from the trail

A plaque on Windsor Castle

The Parlor inside Windsor Castle

The kitchen in Windsor Castle. The stove is the original stove.

This is the room were telegraphs were sent and also the bedroom that the operator lived in.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Northgate Peaks Trail, Zion National Park

4 April 2013

Most people familiar with hikes in Zion National Park associate the Northgate Peaks trail as one they must take for a short distance to hike the Subway. But the Northgate Peaks trail is a fun, easy trail that rewards those who hike it with great views.

I had the day off work but Liz only had half a day free so we decided to do a shorter hike. Our neighbor, Matthew Arscott, who has accompanied us on a number of other hikes and who is always game for an adventure, wanted to come along too.

So the three of us left Hurricane at about 7:45 and took hwy 9 toward Zion National Park. Near the middle of the town of Virgin, the Kolob Terrace Road, which leads to the Kolob Reservoir, intersects the hwy from the north (left) side. There is a sign marking the intersection. We took a left onto the paved Kolob Terrace Road, and headed up 15.5 miles until we came to the Wildcat Canyon Trail head. There is a short dirt road which leads to a small parking area with restrooms and a marked trail head. 

The Wildcat Canyon Trail head is also where the hike to the Subway starts, so it can be a pretty popular place. When we pulled into the parking lot at 8:30, there were 2 vehicles already there which we later discovered belonged to some campers.

Wildcat Canyon Trail head

We loaded up our gear, past the two trail informational signs and got on our way on the wide, well-defined trail which in some places is actually more of a 4-wheel track. I had been on this part of the hike two times before when I had hiked The Subway, so the pretty pines that the trail wandered through had a nice familiar look to them.

After 1.2 miles, the trail joins up with the Wildcat Canyon Connector Trail (signed), a trail I had been on previously when I hiked the West Rim. At this junction (even though it's not really a junction but more of a merging of trails), veer to the left, but in just about the same direction you were already heading.

Only .2 miles later, a sign marking the Northgate Peaks Trail is on the left side of the trail. The Northgate Peaks Trail actually comes in from the right (south). Turn right onto the Northgate Peaks Trail.

The fork where the Subway route breaks off to the left.

Just a few hundred feet after taking the Northgate Peaks Trail, another fork in the trail is encountered, which is also signed. Here, the route to the Subway breaks off to the left (permit required, as the sign says) and the route to the right continues on to Northgate Peaks. There were a group of campers camping here in between the two trails on a nice, flat meadow.

We followed the Northgate Peaks Trail to the right and continued 1.1 miles from the Wildcat Canyon Connector Trail until we got to the end of the trail - a small peninsula of volcanic rock nearly right in between the Northgate Peaks, and with a great view of North Guardian Angel directly ahead. We also took time to find the canyon walls of the Left Fork (the Subway) off in the distance to the south.

Liz and I at the view point at the end of the hike. (North Guardian Angel in the background).

We took a few pictures and headed back in the way we came. On the way back, we passed a number of hikers who looked to be attempting the Subway (very cold for this time of year). Round trip, the hike was 5 miles long and took us about 2.5 hours on the flat, well defined trail.

Looking south toward "The Subway."