Lower Red Lake Canyon, Canyonlands NP

July 18, 2012

It was time for another hiking excursion, and since it had been 10 years since I had last explored Canyonlands, that's where I decided to go. We left Hurricane, UT after I got home from work about 4:15 and took I15 north to I70 east, then went south on UT191 and then back west on UT211 to the Needles District of Canyonlands. Since we arrived there at 10:45 at night, the campground was full so we camped about 7 miles from the entrance to Canyonlands and about 28 miles in on UT211, at a campground called Creek Pasture. It was a perfect campground with quite a few spots and vaulted toilets. We had the campground all to ourselves besides the many ants and occasional coyote howls in the morning.

The main hike I had centered this trip around was to be a grueling 18.2 miler down to the Colorado River and back in one day - a hike that maybe only a couple dozen people attempt from the Elephant Hill 4 wheel drive road each year, most preferring to do the hike as an overnight adventure.

We woke up and started breakfast around 5:30, ate about 6:30 and made our way to the Visitors Center which was still closed (opens at 8:00 am). So we continued on to the Elephant Hill Trail Head which is accessible by using a well maintained 3 mile gravel road. There is a parking area and trail marker where the trail head starts. The Elephant Hill 4 wheel drive road is one of the most technical 4 wheel drive roads in Utah and this is the road that we started our hike on. We arrived at the trail head a few minutes after 8:00 and after getting our gear together and posing for a few pictures, Holli, my 18 year old step-daughter, Matthew, my 14 year old neighbor, and I started on our way up the road at 8:15.

The trail for the first mile and a half heads for the most part in a north west direction along a rough, rocky road. It then turns south for the next 2 miles before coming to Devil's Kitchen. Along the way, the trail passes through huge boulders along a sandy bottom. Once to the Devil's Kitchen junction, the 4 wheel drive road that the correct trail down to the Colorado River follows turns back hard right (towards Devil's Lane, as indicated by a sign). It was at this point that we became uncertain as to which way to go.

We took some time exploring the Devil's Kitchen area which is like an oasis of sorts among a hot, unforgiving desert. Many huge boulders create a grotto and give much needed shade to a couple of picnic areas  that are complete with picnic tables and vaulted restrooms (no water). The main 4 wheel drive road loops around at the end of Devil's Kitchen, and a small foot trail that leads to Chesler Park breaks off. Again, you'll have to back track to the sign and head toward Devil's Lane if your destination is the Colorado River.

We headed back to the 4 wheel drive road that turned back hard to the right because I knew we were supposed to be on a 4 wheel drive road for another .6 of a mile. When the 4 wheel drive road ended, we found ourselves overlooking a meadow intersected by a jeep track. A sign was there that didn't have the information that we were hoping for on it. But we saw another sign in the distance where another foot path broke off. Matthew ran over to see if it would have some info on Lower Red Lake Canyon or the Colorado River, and sure enough, it did! It told us that the Colorado River was 5.0 miles ahead.

This new trail headed right for a large reef of sorts that upon first inspection seemed a daunting task to get around or over. We were lead to a patch of trees that we went through and then up on a thin ledge which leads to a very scenic view down into Cyclone Canyon below.

Once down into Cyclone Canyon, the trail heads across another small meadow where a sign reassured us that we were still headed in the right direction by indicating that we were at Lower Red Lake and that the Colorado River was only 4 miles away. It should be noted that despite the name, there is no water here or anywhere for that matter on the hike save for the few puddles left over from the rainstorms a couple days prior.

From here, we gained about 150 feet of elevation and came to the Lower Red Lake Canyon overlook. Here we had our first view of the Colorado River far in the distance. We also saw the trail that we would have to descend to 900 feet below us.

We slowly made our way down the switchbacks until we finally realized that we were on the trail that we had spotted from way up above. We also noticed a sudden and dramatic change in the temperature. Where it was hot before, it suddenly became scorching! The high temp was supposedly supposed to be about 95 degrees on the rim, but here in the canyon it must have been at least 10 degrees hotter.

Tamarisk trees lined the final few hundred yards of the canyon as we were obliged to follow the narrow wash as it entered the Colorado River Valley. The Colorado River was very wide at the point where the trail came in and it was here that we encountered the first people of the day - they were in a kayak heading across to the other side of the river where a group was waiting for them.

At about 12:45, we rushed for the river to cool off. As I started wading into the river, my feet sank a bit in the muddy bottom. We went in where the water was just up past our knees and laid down to cool off. After spending 45 minutes at the river swimming, eating, and taking in the beautiful scenery, we decided we better get started back.

We quickly took an inventory of our water and realized that we had drunk over half of our supply on the way down. We started with 3 full camelbacks, and 12 water bottles between the 3 of us and it still wasn't going to be enough. I was a little concerned but knew that we could stretch the water we had and be ok.

We started back out, hoping that our soaking clothes would be enough to keep us cool through the extremely hot canyon that we were about to be hiking through. Our clothes dried out much faster than I had anticipated. In fact, they were about completely dry as we came to the switchbacks where we would have to gain back all that elevation while doing so in even hotter temperatures than on the way down.

We made good time up the switchbacks, though we went through a lot of our remaining water to do so as it was very difficult to find good shade to rest in. With about 4 miles remaining about another 500 vertical feet to go, we had 1 water bottle left between the 3 of us. We hiked from shade to shade, constantly looking overhead to see when the next cloud cover would soften the piercing rays of the sun.

We wet our selves in every rain puddle we could find and filled up our empty bottles with the muddy water to dump on us to keep us cool. It was actually a fun way to keep my mind occupied - trying to find the next good shade to take cover in and the next rain puddle to soak in - although the puddles were very few and far between.

We had told Liz and the girls who were back at camp that we would be done at around 6:00 or slightly later. So the plan was that they would get to the trail head where they had dropped us off, and start hiking in at 6:00. At 5:30, we had 2 miles left and no water. I knew finishing at 6:00 was out of the question, but I also knew that we wouldn't be much passed that and that we'd probably run into Liz and the girls on the trail.

Images of them coming to meet us with snow cones and Matthew's favorite drink - a Texas Twister - kept us going. We finally ran into them at about 6:15pm and made it back to the trail head, tired, thirsty, and dirty, but with a great sense of accomplishment at 6:30pm. The 18.8 mile hike (exploring made it slightly longer according to my GPS then the 18.2 I had read that it was) took us 10 hours and 15 minutes to complete. Surprisingly, my legs weren't very tired, probably since there was only 1400 feet of elevation gain/loss total on the hike. But once back to our van, water never tasted so good!

Scoggins Wash, Zion NP May 10, 2012

With the temperatures still pretty mild, I thought it a good time to try a hike that would be pretty exposed to the sun. Liz and I decided that we would try Coalpits wash so that we could do a little reconnaissance for a future loop hike we wanted to try - up the Chinle Trail, and down Coalpits Wash.

We drove from our home in Hurricane just past the small town of Virgin on hwy 9 - a route we travel frequently on our way to Zion National Park. The parking area is on the north side of the street just east of the signed bridge that crosses Coalpits Wash. There were a couple of tents set up in the parking area and we encoutered a couple of people that had apparently camped there the night before.

The trail starts on the north side of the parking area just through the Zion National Park boundary fence. The wash itself lies in the southwest portion of Zion Nationl Park. As we got out of the car and gathered our gear, we were graciously welcomed to the area by unbearable biting gnats and flies.

It quickly became apparent that standing in one spot for too long was a very bad idea as it gave time for the gnats and flies to catch up and start in on their lunch buffet - us! I will know for next time to bring plenty of bug spray!

We went through the fence and started on the well used trail. The beginning of the trail follows a small almost stagnant looking stream - Coalpits Wash - on the left and soon opens up and winds through sage brush and crosses several small but steep washes.

Not quite a mile into our trek, we came to some power lines overhead. About another mile after the power lines, and about 1.7 miles from the trail head, we came to a sign marking campsite 6. It was at this point where we made a navigational error and started following Scoggins Wash, which comes in from the right, and which the trail follows. Instead, we realized later, we should have headed toward campsite 6, crossed the little stream, and followed it to the left.

Regardless, as we headed up Scoggins Wash, the views of The West Temple were spectacular! It was fun to see this prominent land mark of Zion National Park from a different vantage point then normal.

Scoggins Wash was completely void of water which seemed strange to me since I had read of several small pools throughout the canyon. At one point, we came to a 6 foot dry fall that required a little fun climbing up a not-so-steady tree branch.

 After about 3 miles from campsite 6 (and the confluence of Coalpits and Scoggins Washes) we came to a well defined trail that crossed Scoggins Wash and several small washes that connected to Scoggins Wash.

Realizing now that we were for sure not in Coalpits Wash, I told Liz that I was "about 85% sure" (yes, I'm a nerdy stats guy) that we were in Scoggins Wash. We decided to backtrack a bit and take the trail we found to the east for a little bit. Not long after we started on this newly found trail, it started up hill and turned hard south. I told Liz that I had a feeling that we had found the Chinle Trail.

So we turned around, recrossed Scoggins Wash and decided to follow the trail to the west for a little bit. There was a lot of petrified wood in this area. When I pulled out the map (for short period of time so as to not get completely eaten by the hungry gnats that were still all around us) I found that this made sense as the Chinle Trail was shown crossing through a petrified forest just south of where we were.

After following the Chinle Trail west for a short while, we decided we better turn around and head back. On our way back, I spotted a sign labeled "Old Scoggins Stock Trail" which I had seen earlier on our map. The posted sign was neither close to the trail or Scoggins Wash, but rather was back almost in some thick sage brush and it was a stroke of luck that I even spotted it at all!

As we headed back out the same way we had come in, we were welcomed by cloud cover and a slight rain drop or two which made the warm day, much more pleasant. We made it back to the parking area and our car after about 10 miles.

Red Pine Lake Snowshoe

I decided to snowshoe up to Red Pine Lake - one of my favorite spots in the Wasatch Mountains. I was a little nervous to go and went back and forth on whether I should go or not because of the weather. I knew I wouldn't have many more chances to snowshoe in the near future because of my move back to Hurricane in 2 weeks so I decided to go.

As I was driving down the freeway, I could see very dark clouds over the mountains and my nervousness returned. As I got to Little Cottonwood Canyon the snow started coming down. Shortly thereafter, I reached the cloud line and visibility was about 30 yards. But fortunately the snow wasn't sticking to the roads. I pulled into the snowcovered parking lot and started up the trail at about 11:00.

I could see that a couple of skiers were up ahead of me which made finding my way on the "trail" easy. Quickly the clouds closed in, snow was comming down hard, and I thought a time or two about turning around.

After 2 miles, the clouds thinned, although the snow never stopped comming down. I came to a few snow caves, one which was still being occupied.

I made it to Red Pine Lake at 1:30 and waited for the clouds to break so I could get a pretty picture of the sun on the snow covered lake. It never happened. So I ate a couple of frozen granola bars and made my way back down. I arrived back to the car at 2:45.

Here are some pictures:

The drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon.

The first bridge.

A look at the river crossing to Red Pine Lake.

A look down at the stream under the bridge.

Heading into the clouds.

The Maybird Gultch bridge.

A snow camp I passed on the way up.

My snowshoes...helped me blaze the trail to the lake!

Made it to the lake!

Red Pine Lake

The sun peeking through the clouds over Red Pine Lake

White Baldy Elev 11,321' via Red Pine Lake

I was really excited to give White Baldy a try. A week ago, I hiked Pfeiferorn with Liz Kapcsos and while I was hiking, I made sure to scope out the route to White Baldy, as those two mountains share a ridge line. From the looks of it, White Baldy seemed like it would be quite a bit shorter and easier than Pfeiferhorn...boy was I in for a surprise!

The first 4 miles of the White Baldy hike uses the same trail as Pfeiferhorn, the Red Pine Lake trail. To get there, drive up Little Cottonwood Canyon until you come to a sign marking the White Pine Trail head on the right side of the road, about .7 miles before the Snowbird Ski Resort, and about 5.2 miles up canyon.

I parked in the parking lot at 8:59 am, got my gear together, and hit the trail at 9:03. The trail starts past the restrooms on a paved trail that looses elevation (don't worry, you'll gain it right back) for the first 100 yards or so until it crosses the stream on a nicely built bridge. Once across the bridge turn right and start up an old jeep road for a mile or so until you come to the trail junction sign, marking the Red Pine Lake and White Pine Lake split off.

You can actually get to White Baldy using either approach, but I chose the Red Pine Lake approach since that's the route I scoped out the week before, and because Red Pine Lake is the most beautiful lake I've ever come across. The Red Pine Lake trail leaves the jeep road and starts up a single track that crosses the river on another steady bridge.

The trail heads west from here and in about a half mile more, you are rewarded with amazing views down Little Cottonwood Canyon and into the Salt Lake Valley. Up to this point the trail has been on a nice grade, but now get ready for heavy breathing and throbbing muscles as the grade steepens. It was on this next portion of the trail that I saw 2 moose on the way down from Pfeiferhorn the week before. After a mile of steep hiking, the junction with the Maybird Gulch trail joins on the right and crosses a small stream on a footbridge. Continue straight.

The grade eases for a while as the trail meanders through meadows, and pines, before steepening again. After 3.5 miles from the trail head, the spectacular Red Pine Lake comes into view at about 9500 feet. I could write a whole post just on this lake, and maybe I will, but as this is about White Baldy, a short description will do. Red Pine Lake is a pretty emerald color but yet it is so crystal clear that it is easy to spot trout swimming up to 30 feet away in the lake and a few feet under water. The lake is dotted by pine trees on the north,west, and south sides, a rock slide on the southwest, and a steep meadow sloping down towards the lake, which the trail goes through, on the east.

Once at the lake, stop and take a moment to look at the mountains and ridges in the background. White Baldy is visible off to the left (east) side of the lake high above and the ridge you must climb to get there is right behind the lake on the other side. It is good to get your bearings at this point as the trail going up the ridge line is sporadic at best. Sometimes there are a few different trails that all seem to go in different directions, but they all end up in the same spot. But knowing where you need to end up makes it easier on the psyche.

I took the trail around the Lake on the east and peered down into the clear lake and spotted many fish swimming nearby. I noticed 3 hikers just up ahead of me and wondered where they were off to. As I came to the south side of the lake, Neil, one of the hikers, asked if I knew how to get to upper Red Pine Lake. I told him that I was headed in that direction and that they were welcome to come along. As it turns out, Bryce, another hiker, and I had a friend in common from my Thanksgiving Point days. The third hiker was a lady named Whitney. Our conversation had led me to mention that I had seen 2 moose last week on this trail, and they then informed me that they had just had an encounter with 2 moose not long before Red Pine Lake. We hiked up the steep trail, which crosses the small stream feeding into Red Pine Lake, for about a half mile and then I pointed them off to the left to reach the Upper Lake while I continued on the trail to get to the top of the ridge.

Once to the top of the ridge, I was greeted by a meadow which just a week earlier was filled with streams and rivers but which now was all but dried up. I could believe the difference a week made. I was also greeted by the daunting sight of White Baldy to the left and the summit ridge I would have to climb. Truthfully, it looked like a piece of cake from the spot I was at. I picked the low spot on the summit ridge relatively straight ahead and a little left and started crossing the meadow to reach the start of the boulders. (The route to Pfeiferhorn turns right on the ridge and continues ascending that ridge to the Pfeiferhorn summit ridge).

From here, it's a boulder hop for a while, stepping from boulder to boulder until finally, the grade steepens and using hands becomes a necessity. I should mention that once you start crossing the meadow, there is no trail from that point on and it becomes a route finding mission, which is pretty straight forward considering the goal is in sight. The final 30 or so feet is steep and I was beginning to wish I had stashed my trekking poles earlier so I could have both hands free for climbing.

As it turned out, I made the summit ridge at about 10,500', stashed my poles, turned left and started the class 3 climb. It really isn't that far of a climb and it doesn't seem that it should be that hard, but it seemed to take forever. I stayed on the ridge for the most part, bypassing any obstacles on the south side. A couple of times I had to back track as I had led my self into a class 4-5 situation. And while I'm always up for an adventure, I'm in no hurry to die. As I was climbing on the ridge I noticed movement in the cirque to the south. I looked and noticed that I had spooked a red fox and it was hurring down the rocks until it felt that it was safely out of danger.

I reached the false west summit first. From this point to the base of the White Baldy is more of a gentle class 3 or hard class 2 hike. Once to the base of the summit, class 3 climbing begins once again for just about 40 feet to get to the summit.

Once on the summit I signed the register which was nicely contained in a awesome mailbox. The last person who had summited White Baldy had done so 3 days prior and only about 30 people had summited all year; one of whom was Randy Winters - the Author of "Wasatch Eleveners," the book I read to research all my hikes. He had summited on July 14th.

I took pictures with my phone as I realized that I had forgotten to charge the battery in my camera so it wouldn't even turn on...Then I ate a couple of granola bars and pretzels and just took a while to enjoy the views of Red Pine and White Pine Lakes and all the surrounding peaks and valleys. I spent a half hour on the summit and headed down about 12:45.

On the way down the summit ridge, I once again noticed movement out of the corner of my eye and looked down and spotted a bighorn sheep just about 60 feet below me, looking back up at me. I watched him for a good amount of time and his hooves clicked on the boulders and he made his way over to a remaining patch of snow where he ate a little of it then scratched his head with one of his hooves just as a dog would. It was amusing, but I decided I better get a move on.

Again I stayed on the ridge proper for the most part occasionally dropping down on the south/west side. The problem was I got too low off the ridge and had to climb steeply up loose dirt to get back up to the ridge. Once I had done so, I realized that I had overshot the spot where I had stashed my poles so I climbed back on the ridge top to find them. I located them and started down.

Down climbing the loose rocks and talus was treacherous in spots and I fell on my back side on a few occasions. But I finally made it back to the meadow, then Red Pine Lake. I spotted a fisherman on the north side of the lake and stopped for a second to talk with him. It turned out that he normally catches rainbow trout at Red Pine but has heard that there are also some cutthroat in there too. He hadn't caught anything yet today though.

I finished talking and descended the remaining 3.5 miles without incident. Overall, it took me 6 hours and 25 minutes and it was about 10.5 miles round trip.

Below: White Baldy as seen from Pfeiferhorn...

Below: Red Pine Lake from the ridge...

Broads Fork Twin Peaks elev 11,330' via the North Ridge Robinson Variation

Back up in northern Utah and time for another hike! I decided on Broads Fork Twin Peaks. After reading about 3 different ways to summit, I decided on the Robinson Variation of the Broads Fork Trail head because it sounded like the safest route, and perhaps the easiest.

I left my Layton apartment a little after 8:00 am and reached the Mill B South Parking area at 9:01. The trail to Broads Fork is at the west end of the parking lot, marked by a small sign. There was also another paved path and restrooms at the east end of the parking lot. When I arrived, there were a half dozen or so cars in the parking lot, all of which were parked at the east end, so I figured I'd have the trail to myself. I was right!

I got my gear together and started up the steep trail at 9:06. The trail climbed steeply at first, and although I figured the grade would be more severe than I had been on for a while, I hoped it would ease a little from how it started. Broads Fork gains 84% of the total elevation gain of Mt Whitney, but in 1/3 of the distance, which means I was in for a steep trail...

I came to a small sign marking the Twin Peaks Wilderness area after a quarter of a mile on the left and then another large sign marking the same thing after 1/3 of a mile on the right. I could hear the sound of a large river up ahead, and soon the trail steepened and led me to a sturdy bridge that I used to cross it. The water flowing over the rocks from up above was a pretty sight so I took a picture and got on my way!

In reading about this route, I read that the trail split after 2.2 miles in a meadow, but I encountered the first of a couple of trail splits prior to entering a "meadow" and after almost 2.0 miles and an elevation of about 8300 feet. The right fork of the trail is the Robinson Variation which leads off to the right side of the "meadow" (no grass, just plants) and into the east facing couloir. The left fork of the trail is the standard Broads Fork route.

I went right and followed a faint trail through intermittent willows and over boulders. A short distance after the first trail split, it split again. Again, I took the right fork as the left fork appeared to go towards the middle of the meadow. In places, I followed cairns to stay in the proper direction. To this point, the trail was very well defined and easy to follow.

Just through the meadow, I looked over to the left to see if I could spot the other trail. I noticed a large lake that I hadn't seen before and was also able to spot the other trail on the opposite side of the meadow.

By this time, I made it to a rock slide at about 8600 feet elevation in the couloir and saw cairns above. From here the trail just follows the rock slide up to the ridge for about a mile and 1500 vertical feet higher. It is very steep climbing. At first, the rocks are bigger and it's more of a rock hopping trek, but as I got higher up, the rocks became smaller and more loose and would slide with every step. The advantage of this portion of the hike is there are a ton of raspberry plants growing, so when I needed a break, I stopped for a second to refuel on raspberries.

The point to aim for on the ridge is on the right hand side, which is the low point at about 10000 feet elevation. Once I reached the top, I had my first views into the salt Lake Valley. They were amazing views! I took in the scenery, stashed my hiking poles, and then turned left and followed the ridge, dropping about 40 feet below it to the east (left) to avoid overly technical climbing. I read that parts of the remaining trek would be class 3 so I knew I would need both hands free to aid with climbing.

I made my way to the ridge top again so I could get my barrings and see about how far I had to the summit. When I got back to the ridge, I was surprised to see how close the Twin Peaks were, but also at how daunting the remainder of the route looked! I also noticed some scary storm clouds forming to the north and could see visible rain in the distance coming down from the clouds.

At one point, I couldn't see a possible way to continue because the route seemed to be blocked by pine trees along the ridge. But as I explored further, I saw that if I crossed a small chute, a slight climbers trail led through the trees and on towards the summit. I crossed the chute and made my way through the trees. I had no sooner done so than I was greeted with the sound of rolling thunder to the north.

I looked over at the clouds and then over at the summit not far away. Surely I could make it there and back before the storm arrived - if it even would arrive. I picked up some pine needles and threw them in the air to check the direction of the wind. The wind was blowing the storm away from me. I still couldn't make up my mind. I started taking a few steps toward the summit along the trail and then thought of my kids, stopped, and turned around to head back.

It was so frustrating to have struggled for so long up that vertical rock slide just to be forced back before reaching my goal. But I was glad I turned around soon enough. As I got back to where I stashed my hiking poles, more thunder rang out and it started hailing. By this time, I realized that I was not in a good place - a high, exposed mountain ridge in the middle of a lightning storm. I hunkered down for a little while and ate my peanut butter and jelly sandwich and tried to wait a bit for the storm to pass.

It stopped hailing for a second so I decided it was time to make my move and start my decent down the rock slide. As soon as I started, it started raining on me, making what big rocks there were, among all the little ones, that much more slippery. I got about a quarter of the way down and heard more thunder in the vicinity of the Twin Peaks Summit. I quickened my pace and finally reached the bottom of the rock slide.

I lost the trail and bushwhacked my way through dense bushes until I reconnected with it a short time later. As I reached the meadow, this time a loud crack of thunder sounded from right behind me in the coulier. Nothing gets my adrenaline flowing like being chased out of the mountains by thunder and lightning. I hurried back down the trail, all the while hearing loud crackles of thunder behind me. I finally made it back to my car at 2:27 after 5 hours and 21 minutes and 7.55 miles of hiking.

Deer Trap and Cable Mountain, Zion National Park

A week after my Mt Whitney summit, I thought it was time for another hike! A good neighbor friend of mine, Matthew Arscott, wanted to do Cable Mountain so Cable Mountain it was!

Cable Mountain has, in my opinion, the best views of anywhere in Zion National Park. The view down on Angels Landing, The Organ, and Big Bend are amazing!

We left the house at 9:00 and after arriving at Zion and getting on the Shuttle, we arrived at the Weeping Rock stop, the start point for the East Rim trail and Cable Mountain, at 10:30.

We started quickly up the trail and I was quickly informed of Matthew's desire to do both Cable and Deer Trap mountains, and, if we had time, Observation Point. Knowing that Cable Mountain by it's self is 15.5 miles, I had to wonder if maybe time would change his mind...

We made our way up the switchbacks to Echo Canyon and did a little exploring there. I had explored Echo Canyon just a couple weeks earlier and had to wade through a couple of deep pools of water. It was amazing that one of those pools had completely dried up and another was significantly lower in just 2 weeks!

We continued on until we came to the turn off to Cable Mountain which is marked by a sign. Prior to getting to the junction, we looked up and saw the cable works not too far away. It was frustrating to know that we had to walk miles around the back of the mountain to get there when it looked so close.

We took the Cable Mountain trail to the right and continued on our way. We seemed to be heading in the opposite direction of Cable Mountain for miles, but it was a necessary evil to get back up and around the canyons near Cable Mountain.

There is a short portion of the trail that follows rock cairns which was the first time that Matthew had to locate the cairns to follow a trail. By this time, my hips were already getting sore. I obviously don't have the same quick recovery time I used to have!

We finally came to the turn off to Cable and Deer Trap mountains. Stave Spring is just about 150-200 yards past the turn off and as we were getting a little low on water, we decided to head up there and check it out and also fill up a couple water bottles. The cold water was flowing steadily out of the pipe that had been stuck in the ground to help with the access. We filled up our bottles and made our way back down to the junction.

After about a mile and some time exploring a small waterfall along the way, we came to the spot where the Cable Mountain and Deer Trap Mountain trails split. Matthew wanted to do Cable Mountain for sure, so we headed that way first. After another 2 miles we arrived at the newly remodeled cable works at 2:44. Some time between this summer and last, a restoration project had been done on the cable works which was obvious from the new lighter colored beams in place. Also, the cables were removed from the structure.

We ate some snacks and enjoyed the awesome drops - about 2000 feet straight down - before leaving about 3:00. As we were leaving I was trying to figure out how I could convince Matthew that we should head back instead of trying to tackle Deer Trap Mountain too, but he was so excited to try it. So when we came back to the cable/deer trap junction, after asking him what he wanted to do, he predictably wanted to do Deer Trap Mountain.

The Deer Trap Mountain Trail is much more overgrown and less used then the Cable Mountain Trail. I was wishing I had worn pants as my legs were getting whipped by the tall grass overlying the trail. We had to go up and over 2 small draws and my legs felt every step. Finally at 4:45 after about 3 miles, we came to the edge of Deer Trap which gave us a great view of Zion Lodge below and to the north. We were both shocked to see that we had come so far south, especially considering the fact that the Weeping Rock trail head is two stops past the Zions Lodge stop!

We snapped some pictures but knew we needed to hurry back so we didn't run out of daylight. So we left at 4:52 to make our way back. Thunder started cracking around us in the distance and it started to drizzle here and there which felt good. As the thunder got closer, we reviewed lightning safety procedures and quickened our pace.

My legs were definitely not so politely reminding me that I had just hiked Mt Whitney a week ago and I knew that Matthew's had to be screaming at him too. But we pressed on making really good time.

We got back to the Weeping Rock shuttle stop just before the shuttle arrived at 7:47 and made it back home just before 9:00 after 21.5 miles and a full 12 hour day!