From: Chris Grant Subject: [OUTDOORS] Trip Report: Signal Peak Date: 07 Jul 1997 08:55:39 -0600 (MDT) Let's start off with a multiple choice question: Signal Peak is (a) the highest point in Washington County; (b) the highest point in the 50,000 acre Pine Valley Wilderness Area, the second largest Wilderness Area in the state of Utah; (c) the highest "bump" on a long, pine-covered, crescent-shaped, igneous ridge located about 25 miles north of St. George; (d) all of the above. Answer: (d) On July 2, 1997, I climbed 10,365 foot high Signal Peak. My hike started from the Browns Point Trailhead in the Pine Valley Recreation Area, which is just up the road from the town of Pine Valley. The Browns Point Trail starts 6880 feet above sea level and heads south, ascending about 3000 feet in the first 3 miles of switchbacks. From there, the rest of the climb is pretty much a cakewalk. The trail descends, again via switchbacks, 300 feet into the upper section of Nay Canyon, where it joins up with the Summit Trail (a trail that runs the length of the summit ridge). About a half mile later, the Summit Trail is joined by the trail coming up from the Oak Grove Trailhead (the trailhead Michael Kelsey recommends to would-be baggers of Signal Peak). After a few more minutes of easy walking, you enter Deer Flat, which is one of a number of small meadows gracing the top of the Pine Valley Mountains. Shortly after that comes Further Water, another of these meadows. At the far end of Further Water, I left the trail and headed uphill in a southwesterly direction. A map and compass came in handy at this point, because the forest is fairly thick and Signal Peak really isn't visible until you're on top of it. It's about 500 vertical feet from Further Water to Signal Peak. You'll know you're on the right "bump" if you find the peak register in a jar near the southwest corner of the fairly flat summit area. (By the way, am I the only one who gets depressed reading the sort of things that are written in peak registers? So much for the outdoors bringing out the best in humanity. :-( ) Here are a few details that may be useful to those of you who are considering doing this hike: (1) LENGTH: About 12 miles round trip, with a net elevation gain on the ascent of about 3500 feet. To the extent that it makes sense to talk about total (as opposed to "net") elevation change, I would estimate it at 9000 feet for the round trip. It took me a little less than 7 hours round trip, including the 45 minutes or so I lingered in the summit area taking pictures. (Your mph may vary. I would characterize my physical condition as mediocre. My main training for this hike consisted of taking the stairs, instead of the elevator, to the candy machine at work.) (2) ACCESSIBILITY: The road to Pine Valley Recreation Area is paved. The fee to park there is waived for hikers parking at trailheads. The turnoff to the Browns Point Trailhead is clearly marked, and the last couple hundred yards to the trailhead are on a gravel road in good condition. The "old jeep road" that Dave Hall describes in _The Hikers Guide to Utah_ apparently is gone. (3) TRAIL CONDITION: Hall warns that "finding the blazes" on the Browns Point Trail "may be difficult". Michael Kelsey in _Utah Mountaineering Guide_ says that the Browns Point Trail is "well used". Personally, I found this trail very easy to follow. (This is coming from someone who got lost in the Rock Canyon Campground!) (4) VIEWS: The trail is heavily wooded so views are limited, but on the way up the switchbacks there are occasionally good views of the town of Pine Valley. From the summit of Signal Peak, there are good views to the southwest, including Snow Canyon. If you're willing to spend a few minutes hiking to some of the nearby summit "bumps", you'll also have good views of St. George and of Zion National Park, including Kolob Canyons. (5) WILDLIFE: I didn't see much: one deer, one squirrel, and some birds. Maybe I need to walk more quietly. (6) WATER: I think this has been an average or slightly below average water year in Southwestern Utah. Deer Flat was dry. Further Water had a little stream maybe 6 to 12 inches deep and 1 to 6 feet wide. The sections near the middle of the meadow were quite "mossy", but towards the bottom of the meadow the water looked very drinkable. (I didn't have to try, since I brought plenty of water from home.) Hall says to "take advantage of the water" in Nay Canyon before the Browns Point Trail leaves the canyon when heading back north to the trailhead, but I didn't see a single drop of water in this section of Nay Canyon and it didn't look to me like there'd been any there for a long time. (7) CROWDS: For the first 6 hours of my 7 hour hike, I didn't see another human being. (On the way down the switchbacks to the trailhead I met a friendly family of 8 on their way to 3 days of camping at Further Water.) I was the 4th entry in the peak register for 1997. (8) TEMPERATURE: I left the trailhead at 6:30 a.m., and the weather was beautiful on the way up. The trail was cool and shady; exposed ridges were a bit breezy, but that felt good. On the return trip, I hit the switchbacks in early afternoon and it was a little sunny despite the many trees along the trail. It seemed a bit warm, but I imagine it was only about 80 degrees. I'm sure it was cooler than if I had taken Kelsey's advice and taken the trail up from Oak Grove, which has much less tree cover and is on a south-facing rather than a north-facing slope. (9) BUGS: There were a few bugs buzzing around (deerflies, I'm guessing), but they weren't a nuisance. I'm the kind of person who can't even watch a TV show on insects without starting to itch, but I got along fine on this trip without using any bug repellent. Chris Grant ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Diener Subject: [OUTDOORS] Trip Report: Buckskin Gulch Date: 10 Jul 1997 08:59:51 -0600 Buckskin Gulch & Paria River (Wire Pass to White House) July 4, 1997 After staying at the White House campground the night before, we headed out to Wire Pass the morning of the 4th. A friend had come up from Tucson, whereas I was down from SLC, so it was the perfect opportunity for some one-way shuttle hikes. The dirt road out to the trailhead was in great condition, but a late start left us heading down the wash at about 8:30am. About a mile of open wash led to some tight narrows before joining with the Buckskin proper. The next 5 or so miles included some deep, dark narrows, as well as some more open sections with high benches. It was very dry; we passed only 1 or 2 very small water pockets. We were beginning to think we'd miss out on wading, when we hit our first big pool. This first one must be the one labeled the "Cesspool", because it was pretty ugly looking. We contemplated chimneying by it, or trying to get by on a ledge to the right, but both looked a little risky so we decided to wade it. Once in, we wished otherwise as the stink made the trailhead outhouses seem pleasant, but luckily it was short (20 ft) and shallow (low-thigh on my 6' 6" frame). Following pools were much cleaner (with the execption of one, which was completely unavoidable and almost as bad as the Cesspool), but _icy_ cold. None of the 10 - 12 pools were deeper than mid-thigh. After about a half mile of these intermittent pools, the canyon dried out again and we reached the Middle Trail entry/exit. We only partially explored the exit, but it didn't seem too bad if you avoided the loose sand. Headed down-canyon again, the walls became taller, with mixed narrow and slightly more open sections. Within the last half-mile before the boulder obstacle, we hit some more pools (3 to 4) of fairly clean and shallow water. The boulder obstacle turned out to not be much of an obstacle. There were at least 3 options: on the left was the boulder face with cut steps (dicey depending upon footwear), on the right was a fairly low spot between two large boulders (good landing), and near the middle was the easiest route - down and under some of the boulders. However, the status of the latter route can probably change a good bit from flash flood to flash flood. From the boulders on was the most beautiful section of the Buckskin: incredibly deep, some narrow spots, and running water. Water seepage began approximately a half-mile down from the boulder falls, and soon enough was collecting to flow on the surface. A short ways above the Confluence the canyon widened briefly with high benches, then narrowed again until the junction, which we reached at approximately 3pm. From there we headed up the Paria, saving down-river exploration for another trip. "River" is kind of a misnomer because on this day it was bone-dry. For about 2 miles the walls stayed high and the canyon relatively narrow. Above this we baked in the sun, and in retrospect it may have been better to hang out around the Confluence area for a few more hours. Still, walking conditions weren't too bad as the footing was generally firm, and most of the deep sand could be avoided. After checking out some nice petroglyphs on the west wall just upstream of the power lines, we reached the White House trailhead shortly before 6pm. Other notes: 1) We didn't hit any quicksand, nor did we have any bug problems. 2) We carried all of our water, although the water in the lower Buckskin was clearly clean enough to filter and apparently flows year-around. Some of the standing pools would probably be OK sources too. 3) Total distance was a little over 20 miles. John Diener ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: John Diener Subject: [OUTDOORS] Trip Report: Orderville Canyon Date: 10 Jul 1997 09:00:55 -0600 Orderville Canyon (from North Fork County Rd. to Temple of Sinawava) July 5, 1997 Starting from our camp at the Paria, we set up the car shuttle and finally arrived at the hike starting point about 11:30am. Holiday traffic in Zion NP was ugly, but out on the dirt road things were nice and quiet. We parked just off the road rather than drive down to the corral area (directions from "Exploring the Backcountry of Zion National Park" by Brereton & Dunaway). The guide distances were right on, as this turn-off was very close to the stated 11.9 miles from Rt. 9. We headed down the secondary dirt road, past the corral, and down the hill towards the bottom of Orderville Gulch. A HC 4WD vehicle could cut up to 2.5 miles off the hike start, but it is easy walking. At the bottom we found the stream flowing a bit, and after the end of the road followed worn footpaths criss-crossing the stream. Shortly a high "dryfall" was reached that has carved some interesting convoluted patterns into the sandstone. We bypassed it on the left and continued down into the deepening canyon. Soon we passed the head of the flowing water; apparently a rancher was letting water out up-valley. On the left we checked out the Birch Hollow drainage, which enters the canyon with a high (dry on that day) waterfall. We continued past several other drainages, on both sides, and several sets of narrows, crossing into Zion NP (boundary marked) in a narrow section. Shortly thereafter was a boulder obstacle. We decided against the chimney on the right (kind of slick rock), and rappeled down off of a solid rappel ring on the left side. The height was about 15-20 ft. The next mile plus brought us through more beautiful canyon, with several interesting side drainages and narrows, plus an arch. Seeps began appearing and soon water was running. Still, it was easy to stay dry at this point. Bulloch Gulch then entered from the right, adding more water to the flow. At this point the canyon was fairly wide at the bottom, but shortly an amazing set of narrows was entered where the stream cuts through a tremendous wall. Following this were two huge chockstones, one forming a waterfall, the other above the canyon bottom. We followed the water down and the water stayed below waist level. A little further down canyon we ran into the first people up from the Narrows, however, this did not mean there weren't any more obstacles! During this time we had crossed several pools, but none over waist level. Next we reached another boulder with waterfall. Initial testing showed that it was at least waist deep, and finally my partner went for broke and found that it was actually well over head deep, and required about a 20 ft. swim. After tossing the packs from one to the other across the deep portion, and my nice cold swim, we continued onwards. More pools and then another boulder/waterfall were encountered. Follow the left side (waterfall) if you don't want to swim on this one, as I found out the cold way. The excellent narrows continue on to another small waterfall, where you could downclimb slimy holds on the left, or get low over the pool on the left and just jump in, as we did. Below the best jump-off shelf (6 ft. high?), the pool was about 4-5 ft. deep which provided a nice landing. After this there are several small obstacles, some more great narrows, and finally the confluence with the North Fork of the Virgin River, from which it is a few more miles through the crowds. We reached the Temple of Sinawava at about 6:15pm. Other notes: 1) Guides I have read say a permit is required. I called and talked to a ranger a few months before the trip, and she said we didn't, even after I stressed the fact that we were coming from the top down. I don't know what the deal is, but we didn't get one. 2) We didn't see any obvious, good, camp sites except near the top of the canyon. 3) Total distance was about 13 miles. Once again, we carried all of our water, but good stuff was available from about mile 7 onwards. The canyon was so deep and cool we needed very little beyond this point anyways. 4) Some of the side drainages looked to be well worth exploring if you have time (Bulloch Gulch in particular). John Diener ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Steve Trottier Subject: Re: [OUTDOORS] Trip Report: Orderville Canyon Date: 10 Jul 1997 15:36:49 -0600 Those are excellent, detailed reports. Thanks John! ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- From: Ken Jaynes Subject: [OUTDOORS] Trails in American Fork Canyon (by foot) Date: 31 Jul 1997 22:02:14 -0600 Many months ago there was alot of discussion on the trials in american fork canyon and provo canyon. My question is if any has saved some of the comments or expirences on those trails, please email me them directly. Thanks for your help, thanks dave for the list, and if any also has comments on trails by Alexander Lake and Trial in the Untias. Fisherman Sam Ken Jaynes Web page: http://www.utw.com/~outdoors Email address: mailto:outdoors@utw.com