Shadow Mountain

Shadow Mountain

Continuing our trend of summiting infrequently climbed peaks, we took off Monday morning to hike Shadow Mountain. The route began from our camp area at the Shadow Mountain Mine and followed old mining roads and eventually the southwest ridge to the summit. It is a rather small and insignificant peak compared to its neighbors Kingston and Clark, and that combined with the bad roads make it a rarely visited summit.

Shadow Mountain as seen from camp
Shadow Mountain as seen from camp

To start out, we followed an old road past the mill building ruins and machinery pads and into the hills that flank Shadow Mountain. We could have driven most of this road, but a large washout about 1/4 mile past the mine site blocked progress by vehicle. No problem – we don’t mind walking!
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Mesquite Mountains High Point

Mesquite Mountains High Point

The bright sunny Sunday morning that we were hoping for didn’t materialize exactly as planned, but the clouds had cleared enough for us to get a peek at our objective for the day, Kingston Peak, and we didn’t like what we saw. Behind the ridges the higher rocky peaks were coated in a fair amount of snow. The last part of the route up Kingston is scrambling around rock, and none of us were eager to do that in icy or potentially deep snow conditions. Luckily we had come prepared with a nearby alternate: the high point of the Mesquite Mountain range.

Oh dear, I didn't bring snowshoes. Or crampons. Or an ice axe. It's the desert, for Pete's sake!
Oh dear, I didn’t bring snowshoes. Or crampons. Or an ice axe. It’s the desert, for Pete’s sake!

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Turquoise Mountains: Mines and Squaw Peak
Joshua Trees on the way to Squaw

Turquoise Mountains: Mines and Squaw Peak

I always enjoy visiting the desert during the week of Thanksgiving since the weather is usually so perfect for the activities we enjoy. Instead of the oppressive heat that is normally associated with such a place, the temperatures tend to hang around the 60s during the day and 30s at night. Sometimes a little colder, sometimes a little warmer, but overall it makes for comfortable hiking and climbing weather during the day, and nothing that a good campfire and jacket can’t handle in the evening. Every once in a while we get a bit of a sprinkle or snow, but hey, it’s the desert, and it likes to stay dry.

Driving into the Turquoise Mountains

Driving into the Turquoise Mountains

Well, this year we headed out right as a big weather system moved through the area. The forecast kept changing, but overall it looked like the rain would move out of the area by Saturday mid-day. We headed out from San Jose and met up with our friend Robin around 9 am on Saturday in Baker. It was foggy and drizzly, but we decided to charge on with our plans: exploring the Turquoise Mountains, a small range on the north side of highway 15 between Baker and the CalNeva border.

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Observation Point and Gold Butte

Observation Point and Gold Butte

View of Angel's Landing from Observation Point
View of Angel’s Landing from Observation Point

By Friday morning we knew we had to start working our way back home. But we didn’t want to leave Zion without at least one more hike! We chose Observation Point since it was one of the few canyon hikes that we hadn’t yet done.
The Observation Point trail starts at the Canyon bottom at the Weeping Rock trailhead. It climbs 2500 ft in a little under 4 miles to an outcropping on the rim of the canyon. A handful of switchbacks climb to the junction with the Hidden Canyon trail before continuing up to Echo Canyon. We had hiked this trail in the past, so everything beyond the junction would be new to us.
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The Subway, Zion National Park

The Subway, Zion National Park

The Subway, Zion National Park
The Subway, Zion National Park

The moment we decided we were driving to Denver for this year’s GABF, I decided that I would determine our route home through Southern Utah based on one factor: where can I get a permit? There are two places on my desert bucket list that have access restricted by permits, so I applied for them both. If I got one, that would determine our route. If I got none, well, we’d figure something else out. If I got both? I would be very fortunate and would make it work somehow.
The first permit lottery to be drawn was for the Wave, something I have tried for (and not gotten) in the past. Unfortunately, I wasn’t selected. The second was the Subway in Zion National Park, and I got my second date choice. Woo hoo! Once that was on the calendar I was able to plan out the rest of the week that you’ve been reading about up until now.
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Hole-In-The-Rock-Road: Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Canyon

Hole-In-The-Rock-Road: Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Canyon

Morning view from camp
Morning view from camp

Our dispersed campsite down Hole-In-The-Rock road was no less beautiful in the morning when the sun hit the cliffs that parallel the road. We had driven to the furthest point out the road that we intended on going the previous day, so today’s agenda had us heading out, stopping at several places along the way.
The first stop of the drive out was the side trip to the Dry Fork Trail. This trail leads to several slot canyons and we planned on spending a few hours exploring them. Accessing the trailhead from Hole-In-The-Rock road involves a short ~1.5 mile drive down a dirt road that had a big rut running through it from the recent storms. I don’t think the truck has ever been that off-canter but we made it just fine.
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Capitol Reef’s Cassidy Arch and Grand Staircase’s Hole-In-The-Rock Road

Capitol Reef’s Cassidy Arch and Grand Staircase’s Hole-In-The-Rock Road

Capitol Reef
Capitol Reef

After our fantastic visit to the Great Gallery, we drove over to Capitol Reef and snagged a campsite in their campground. Considering that October is the busy season for the Southern Utah parks, I was pleasantly surprised by the peaceful and quiet nature of the half-occupied campground. Everyone wants to hit the ‘big boys’ like Zion and Bryce, and Capitol Reef is often overlooked.
The campground is in an area known as “Fruita”, an old mormon settlement that still has old buildings standing between the red rock walls, including the school and the blacksmith shop. There is even an old home where they bake and sell pies. Several orchards still grow among the buildings. A large herd of deer wandered through camp and we watched some males fight at sunset. Hello ladies.
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