Coalpits Wash

15 Nov 2012

With the weather warm enough for me to attempt a longer hike, I thought I'd give Coalpits wash an attempt. I had wanted to do Coalpits for some time to check out the oil ruins left from a failed drilling attempt many years ago.

The trail head is located just across the bridge spanning the small Coalpits wash, just on the east side of the bridge. The bridge is signed, and there is a small parking area on the north side of the highway. A NPS fence leads to a wooden hikers gate and a trail sign.

I started on my way 5 minutes before 9:00. With the temperature in the 40's, my hands were freezing and I would look forward to the section of trail that was exposed to the sun. I thought about how I would be thinking the exact opposite had I been attempting this hike in the middle of summer!

The well-defined trail was covered with leaves from the overhead trees. After about a half mile, the trail crosses two small but steep ravines and wanders under power lines. A third small ravine is crossed and a small post sign is passed indicating that I was entering the Zion Wilderness area.

Campsite 6. This is where you leave the trail and head across the wash on the left.

After 1.75 miles, I came to the confluence of Scoggins and Coalpits washes. The first time I attempted this hike about 4 months ago, I ventured to the right, following the main trail. Unfortunately, a few miles later, I realized that this was Scoggins Wash that I had followed. The confluence is marked with a campsite marker, number 6. When you come to this marker, cut across the wash and head up the wash on the left where the bigger water flow is coming from.

Round, prickly balls of death that kept attaching themselves to my socks.

From here, the views of Cougar Mountain ahead shortly open up and it seems like an insermountable task to get there. But that's where the trail takes you - until it curves right along it's south wall. At this point there are a couple of options.There isn't much of a trail so you can make your way up the river itself, which would be slow going, or try to find the faint game trails up on the benches. For the most part, I followed deer tracks since I figured they would probably know the easiest way through the brush. I ended up stopping what seemed like every 50 steps to pull round prickly balls of death out of my socks. (Yes, the name I gave them is a little overly dramatic but, after a while, it was a pain in the behind to pull them out of my socks. I would get pricked in my ankles about 10 times before I finally cried 'uncle' and stopped to pull them out, only to get pricked in each finger as I pulled them out).

When the trail brought me back to the river, some of the pools were frozen over and in some spots, heavy frost lined the river bank. There were many small picturesque waterfalls along the way as well. After about 3.5 miles, the wash turns into a mini canyon of sorts with rock walls enclosing the river course. I hadn't gotten my feet wet yet, so I bushwhacked my way onto the rim, just about 30 feet above the river, and made my way around the narrow reed filled river that way. Since coming back from my hike, I've heard that "coalpits spring" is found coming out of the rock in this short portion of the hike and that it results in a mini hanging gardens. Next time I will have to hike up the river to check it out.

The cairn marking the Chinle Trail junction.

Just past this part, and 3.8 miles from the trail head, the Chinle Trail comes in from the right. It is well marked by a large cairn on the river bank and another large cairn and small post sign off the river.

The next interesting landmark that I was supposed to come to (5.5 miles from the trail head) was the oil ruins. I was expecting to see something like the cable works at Cable Mountain, but on my way up the wash, I actually missed the ruins.

The falls before the hanging gardens.

I continued up the wash and after 7.9 miles came to some really pretty falls that winded around beneath some spectacular hanging gardens. Just past the hanging gardens was another waterfall preceded by a small pool. To get up the waterfall (about 6 feet tall) I had to get my feet wet for the first time before climbing up the mossy rocks.

I made it up and quickly came to another 6 foot waterfall that I bypassed by climbing up the wall on the right. After 8.2 miles I came to a fork in the wash. Since I left my map at my house, I wasn't sure which one was Coalpits. Water flowed from both forks. I decided to follow the one on the right, which had less water flowing from it. With time running out to make it back to a dinner appointment, I knew I wouldn't have much longer to explore. I went up the wash for a few hundred yards and it looked as though the wash was extremely overgrown with brush, so I decided to turn around. (Upon looking at my map when I got home, I realized that Coalpits actually was the the one on the left and ended not much farther up stream).

Oil Ruins

The way back was long and my legs were showing the effects of not having been on a long hike for a couple of months. I did, however, manage to spot the oil ruins on the east side of the river, up on a bench about 15 feet above the river. They were neat to see, but again, not what I was expecting.

I got back to the car about 4:15 after 16.5 miles. The trail admittedly isn't as scenic as most of the hikes I have been on, but it did have it's interesting points. Doing this hike in the summer would be brutally hot and the fall proved to have it's downside as well with all the burrs and bristles falling off their plants and easily finding my socks. Spring would seem to be the best time to do this hike.

One of the many falls on the hike.

My hiking stick on a frozen pool.

Looking north towards Cougar Mountain.

A portion of Coalpits wash near the junction with the Chinle Trail.

A picture of the partially frozen river.

The falls before the hanging gardens.

A close up of the hanging gardens.

The first 6 foot fall. To get passed it, I climbed up the rocks just to the right of the water fall.

The second 6 foot fall. To get passed this I climbed a thin ledge on the rock to the right.

At the end of my hike. I took the right fork for a few hundred yards although Coalpits Wash continues on the left fork.

 

Another picture of the oil ruins.

 

Confluence Trail to La Verkin Creek Trail to Chub Trace to Tortoise Track to Confluence View Trails, Confluence Park

Nov 1, 2012

With a little of Confluence Park explored last week, Liz and I thought we'd explore a bit more of it this week. The Park its self has 10 different trails in it and Liz and I would be covering five of them on this hike. We took two cars and parked one of them (our pick up car) at the Main Street Trail head in Hurricane. To get there, follow main street north from SR-9 in Hurricane until it ends in an undeveloped neighborhood at a trail head marker. The marker here is an historical marker of the early exploration of the Hurricane area by Parley P Pratt.

Parking area and trail head

Once we parked our car at the Main Street trail head, we headed to 900 North in LaVerkin, took a left, and then followed the signs to the newly developed trail head. At the trail head there are restrooms and a large sign with a map of all the trails as well as a little history on the area. The Trail head is large and the trail starts at the far end, following a dirt road. A large green gate blocks the way for motorized vehicles, but a little hikers pass allows hikers access to the trail/road.

The main dirt road is Confluence Trail. We took this road for about a third of a mile until we came to a sign post indicating that the La Verkin Creek Trail went off to the right. The La Verkin Creek trail starts out as a pretty well worn hiking trail as it takes you to the confluence of La Verkin Creek and the Virgin River. From this point though, the trail disappears and for a time we even contemplated crossing the river at this spot. Instead, we decided to follow the river bank upstream and ended up periodically finding what appeared to be faint game trails. We followed them, parallel to the Virgin River until we could see the road that we started out on (Confluence Trail). We walked back to Confluence Trail and noticed that back to the left there was an old building. We decided to back track a bit to check it out. It was the old Historic Dairy Barn. We checked it our for a little bit, then turned back around and continued on our way. About a quarter mile past the Dairy Barn, we came to the Anasazi Cave Overhang. At this point, the Cactus Cliff trail joins the Confluence Trail and the junction is signed.

Grain storage site with volcanic outcropping to the right

The next landmark we came to was the Historic Grain Storage Site, about a quarter mile past the Anasazi Cave. The granary stored grain for the turkey farm. This was the coolest part of the hike. Just off to the side of the storage site is a really cool volcanic rock formation that we spent about 30 minutes exploring.

Hydroelectric Power plant

Past the Grain Storage site, the trail continues on the river bank for about another third of a mile until you get to the Hydroelectric Power station. This power station was built in 1929 and was in operation until 1983. It was another highlight of the hike.

After checking out the old power plant, we decided to ford the river and find "Chub Trace" a .6 mile trail that would take us back to Tortoise Track, the trail that leads to our car. The current of the river was strong in spots and the water was cold, but we made it across without incident. We then bushwhacked our way for a short time until we came to the trail we were looking for, which was pretty faint.

We came to the junction with the Tortoise Track, took a left and started up the hill until we came to the Confluence View Trail which is where our car was parked.

Because we are familiar with the area, we had no problem navigating our way back to where we needed to go, even in the absence of a trail in spots. But for the most part, the trails are pretty easy to follow, especially the Confluence Trail and the Tortoise Track, which are actually jeep roads. In total, the hike was about 3.5 miles.


This is how different points of the trails were signed

Liz is in the center of the volcanic rock "fort"

Liz, making her way through a fissure in the volcanic rock

The granary from above (on the volcanic rock)

The sign at the trail head

The gate at the trail head

 

 

Confluence View and Tortoise Track, Confluence Park

25 Oct 2012

With the days getting shorter and hiking season nearing an end, I knew I wanted to go on another hike, but it would have to be a short one. I decided on Confluence Park in Hurricane.

Confluence Park is a 344 acre unmaintained park managed by Washington County and contains 10 different hiking trails. Some trails are as short as .3 of a mile and some as long as 2 miles. Of course, you can combine multiple trails and make a longer hike if desired. Within the park, the Ash Creek and La Verkin Creek drain into the Virgin River.

There are a number of different trail heads. I have always gone to the trail head at the end of 200 West in hurricane. To get there, go north on 200 West off of State Street and take the road until it ends. The last few hundred yards are on a well maintained dirt road past a few homes on the right. There will be a place to park your car by pulling off to the side of the road.

The fence marking confluence park

Liz and I started our hike down the dirt road about 10:55. Shortly we came to a small fence that marks the beginning of Confluence Park. This hike has always been a favorite hike of my kids, ages 6, 5 and 3, although they hiked it also when they were much younger with me. Liz and I were going to do a slight variation of the hike I normally take my kids on.

The normal route which starts from the parking area at the end of 200 West is on a trail called Tortoise Track. It gets it's name because it finishes by the desert tortoise preserve. The last time my kids and I were down there last summer, a worker was in the preserve (an open area surrounded by barbed wire fences) feeding and watering the tortoises. He let my kids and I come it and view the tortoises up close. It was a great experience for my kids.

This is the intersection where the Confluence View trail intersects the Tortoise Track trail.
The Tortoise Track heads straight while the Confluence View turns off to the left.

Instead of taking Tortoise Track on the way down, Liz and I decided that we would take the Confluence View trail. The Confluence View Trail intersects the Tortoise Track trail, but actually starts at the end of Main Street in Hurricane. That trail head is marked with a plaque that has some interesting information about the scouting out of the area by Parley P Pratt to see if it was suitable for settlement.

The Confluence View Trail intersects Tortoise Track just a few hundred yards past the fence and it is a faint old jeep road where it crosses. We took a left and went down hill towards the Virgin River. The Confluence View trail winds down under the cliffs we had just been on. The cliffs over head cast a shadow on the trail and both Liz and I were anxious to get back to the sunlight to warm up a bit.

The Virgin River from the trail.

Once the trail makes it down to the river, it intersects the Virgin River Trail, which is marked by a trail sign with no name. We headed up stream on the trail until we got to the normal spot where we take the kids to play in the river. At this point, the fence to the desert tortoise preserve is visible. Liz and I spotted 3 tortoises that had come out of their tunnels to sun themselves.

Once past the desert tortoise preserve, the trail splits and the one that heads up the hill (and back to the car) is the Tortoise Track trail. We headed back up the hill and made it to our car at 11:55. Our total hike was abut 1.3 miles. This will be a fun area to explore further.

The view at the start of the hike.

The Watchman, Zion National Park

18 October 2012

I was in the mood for an easy hike so I thought I would try The Watchman again. The Watchman was the very first hike I ever went on in Zion National Park about 15 years ago. I had forgotten a little what it was like, so I thought I better make it's acquaintance again.

Liz and I got to Zion National Park about 11:00, got our passports stamped and got on our way about 11:15. The trail head starts just across the bridge that leads to parking and the visitor's center, and is signed from the road. We parked in the dirt parking lot because the trail runs along the west side of it which makes it easier to access.

After just a quarter of a mile, the trail crosses a service road and starts the ascent to get to the look out point. The trail is extremely well maintained and is easy to follow, much of it covering man made stairs and flattened ground. In fact, we passed 6 park rangers maintaining the trail on our way up.

As the trail ascends, it follows the north side of a side canyon, until it wraps around to the south side and continues up to the look out point. We spent a few minutes at the top taking in the beauty and getting a neat birds eye view of the layout of the visitors center, movie theater, museum, and lodging for the National Park staff. It is really the best view of the layout from above of any of the hikes I've been on in the park.

We made it back down to the car at 12:45 after 3.13 miles. (The trail head sign indicates that the round trip hike is 2.7 miles, but my GPS registered it being a little longer). There was a total elevation gain of just over 400 feet. This is a great family hike as it is not very difficult. Although the morning was cool when we started, by the time we finished, it was warmish. The hike is completely exposed to the sun so bring lots of water if hiking it in the summer. 

Looking up canyon. Foreground: Staff Lodging. Background: Zion History Museum

Looking down canyon. On the left: Dirt parking area where the trail starts off to the far side, and where I parked. Background: The movie theater. And in the trees in the middle is the Visitor's Center.

Liz looking out over Zion Canyon

Me with Springdale in the background

 

 

 

Taylor Creek, Kolob Canyons

After a few more draining hikes the past few weeks, Liz and I decided to try a little more family friendly hike. We decided on a short 5 miler up in the picturesque Kolob Canyons portion of Zion National Park. Our neighbor, Matthew Arscott, decided to come with us.



The trail head.

Getting to Kolob Canyons is easy, just take exit 40 off of I15, check in at the visitors center, and start driving up the road which leads back into a beautiful and rugged wilderness. The Taylor Creek trail head and parking area is about 2 miles up the canyon road on the left side of the road.

We arrived there about 10:10 and with a bit of a chill in the air got started on our hike about 10:15. The trail head is clearly marked and starts by dropping down some wooden steps to the creek. The trail crosses the small stream several times on it's way to the confluence of the North and Middle forks of Taylor Creek about a mile from the trail head.



Horse Ranch Mountain (left) and Tucupit Point (right)

By this time, Tucupit Point, which had been watching over our approach, now towered above us. It makes up the left (north) wall of the Middle fork of Taylor Creek. Also just after reaching the confluence is the old Larson homestead cabin. This cabin was built in 1930 by Gustav Larson, who spent summers here from 1930 to 1933 raising pigs. Although parts of the cabin have been refurbished, some of the original white fir logs, which were hauled in by wagon from Cedar City, are still present on the cabin.

The trail continues past the Larson Cabin and up the canyon between Tucupit and Paria Points. About a mile up canyon from Larson Cabin is Fife Cabin, built by Arthur Fife also in 1930. He used this area to raise goats. We took some pictures and continued about another half mile to Double Arch Alcove, the end point of the hike (although it appeared that exploration further up canyon was possible).

Double Arch Alcove

The first thing I noticed about the alcove was the echo that was produced from it. There was also a little seep that had been working it's way through the sandstone for hundreds of years to finally see the light of day once again, and then trickle down to Taylor Creek.

The hike back to the car is just a backtrack of what we had already done. Over all, we hiked for about 4.8 miles (round trip) and it took us just shy of 3 hours. It is a very family friendly hike, as there is not much elevation gain or loss, Taylor Creek which you are constantly crossing is very shallow, the cabins are a nice piece of the area's history, and the alcove is a really cool culmination of the hike.

Larson Cabin

A small waterfall along the trail.

Fife Cabin

Side view of Fife Cabin

Just about to Double Arch Alcove

The seep coming through the sandstone in the Alcove

 

 

Ashdown Gorge via Potato Hollow

Two weeks ago, Liz and I started off on what turned out to be quite the adventure. Somehow we lost the Potato Hollow trail and ended up bushwhacking our way through Long Hollow until we came to Ashdown Creek.

So this week, we decided to go back and try to figure out where we went wrong. Holli, my step-daughter, is leaving in just a couple of days to be a nanny in New York for a year so we wanted her to go on another hike with us before she left.

The turnout where the pick-up car is left

Two cars are required for the hike. The first is dropped off at a small turn out just before the construction on the left side of hwy 14 seven miles from Cedar City. The turn out is easy to miss - in fact I drove right by it today even though I've been there the past 2 weeks.

The actual trail head, although we parked .2 miles up the road from here

We dropped the pick-up car off there and continued up the canyon. Just past the campground and the "S turn" in the road, there is a dirt road that comes in on the left that is marked with a small wooden sign which reads, "Crystal Spring." We took our Accord up the well grated dirt road until we reached the top of the hill. This is where we left our car last time and we decided to leave it there again, even though the dirt road continues down hill for another .2 of a mile.
We started down the dirt road at 10:15 and quickly made it to the trail head. Maybe 100 yards after the trail head, we came to a fork in the trail. A small post sign indicated that the "trail" went off to the left, although no trail name was given. The main trail that we were on (which was really a grown over old 4-wheel drive road) wasn't marked at all. In studying my map, I came to the conclusion that the crossing trail was possibly the Blowhard trail.

We continued on the overgrown road through the meadow and just as the trail started to transition into a forested area, we came to a sign marking the Ashdown Wilderness.

Shortly after the trail took us through the forest, we came to a trail sign staked to a tree indicating that the "Black Canyon Trail" went off to the left and the Crystal Springs trail continued ahead. I looked on all 3 of my maps for the Black Canyon Trail but it isn't found on any of them. I'll have to go back to explore where that trail goes.

The Long Hollow and Potato Hollow split. Stay right.

The well worn trail continues through the forest for a while and then comes to a meadow where a sign marks the Potato Hollow trail joining the Crystal Springs trail. I guess officially, this is where the Crystal Springs trail ends and the Potato Hollow trail takes over although there's no significant change in the direction or upkeep of the trail. (Note: The sign indicates that it's the blowhard trail, but the map indicates that it's the Potato Hollow trail.)

Maybe .25 of a mile later, the Long Hollow and Potato Hollow trails split, as is indicated by a big sign. The Long Hollow trail continues to follow the Long Hollow canyon, which we had been hiking in, and breaks off to the left. The Potato Hollow trail breaks off to the right and traverses up and over the small ridge to the right and then down into Potato Hollow.

At first the Potato Hollow is well defined, just as had been the Crystal Springs trail. But after only a hundred yards or so, the trail starts to look more like a game trail. At one portion of the trail it cuts back and switches back up the ridge. This is the trickiest part of the hike, and just two weeks before Liz and I missed the switch back up the ridge and continued heading straight. Eventually we caught up with the Long Hollow Trail, still thinking we were on the Potato Hollow trail, but that's another story that can be read about in the Long Hollow Bushwhack trip report.

This is the spot where the "trail" does a 180 and switches back up to the right

Once you pass the sign indicating the Long Hollow and Potato Hollow trail splits, keep an eye out on the ridge to the right because it's actually easier to spot a cairn up there than it is to see the actual spot where the trail switches back because there is no trail at that point. There is a downed tree that has apparently been placed at the spot where the trail switches back to try to discourage hikers from going the wrong way, but with all the downed trees and brush that we had already had to hike through or over, it looks just like part of the landscape.

The ridge top between Long Hollow and Potato Hollow

Once to the cairn up on the ridge, the trail becomes well defined once again. It climbs steeply up the ridge and the 8500+ feet of altitude take their toll, but this is just about the only ascent on the entire hike. Once to the top of the ridge, the surrounding views are beautiful. The trail then descends through a forested area down into Potato Hollow. A small meadow is encountered where there is no trail at all but if you scan the area below, you'll see a sign marked "trail" which lets you know which way to head. From here, the trail is hit and miss for a while, but there are numerous large cairns and just knowing that you have to follow Potato Hollow down to the road, means that the way to go is pretty obvious.

The dirt road as seen from the trail

After 3.2 miles of hiking from where we parked our car, we came to the dirt road and a sign marking the Potato Hollow trail. When we got on the road we took a right, as the maps indicated we should. After maybe a tenth of a mile, right after the road turns back east, a well defined trail, marked with a sign reading "Potato Hollow Trail," breaks off on the left and heads down to the river. We decided to stay on the road and take it to the river instead because we wanted to see the old sawmill which is right across the river where the road ends. In all, we were on the road for .8 miles until we came to the river at 7730 feet in altitude.

The sawmill

We took some pictures at the sawmill, being mindful that it's on private property, and left for our hike out down Ashdown Gorge. I tried to remember to look for the Potato Hollow trail that leads into and crosses the river, and where we entered last week when we started at the Rattlesnake Creek trail, but I missed it. We came to the Grotto, the amazing cave like area that words don't do justice describing, and had some snacks.

We continued down canyon until we came to Tom's Head which marks the confluence of Rattlesnake and Ashdown creeks. We asked Holli if she wanted to add the extra mile round trip on to see the waterfalls, but she decided not to so we continued on our way. If you have the time and the energy, I highly recommend seeing the waterfalls. I have pictures of them on my Rattlesnake Creek trip report. Seeing them is definitely worth the time and effort.

Flanigan Arch

The route continues to follow the stream course and by this time me feet were starting to ache from being so cold, hiking in and out of the water. A little short of a mile down from Tom's Head is Flanigan Arch which can only be seen from the left bank of the river and is easily missed. A large dark colored boulder is a land mark to look for and there is a large cairn marking the view point.

From Flanigan Arch, it's not much longer until the road can be spotted in the distance. Once the road is right above you, the most unpleasant part of the hike begins. The landslide has completely covered whatever trail there might have been before and navigating the stream course is impossible because of all the brush that over hangs it. So we made our way up out of the stream and through trees, over boulders, around potholes, and in mud to get around the landslide.

Once you get to the man-made water ways, the trail climbs out of the river to the right and follows an overgrown road that will eventually take you back to the pick-up car. We made it back at 3:10 after about 8.5 miles of hiking.

The trail as it heads up the ridge out of Long Hollow right after the trail splits.

A meadow with no trail. If you look closely in the distance on the left hand side you can see a sign making the trail

A close up of that sign

 

This is Potato Hollow. Follow the cairns or just follow this ravine down to the road.

A blurry picture of the Potato Hollow trail that breaks off of the road. We didn't take this trail - we continued on the road so we could see the sawmill.

Holli was determined not to get her feet wet at first. That didn't last long...

Entering the grotto

 

A view of the grotto from the side

Tom's Head. This landmark marks the spot of the confluence of Rattlesnake and Ashdown Creeks



Splash! Liz jumping into the water.