Squirrel Canyon and The Beehive

With our stimulus money Kent decided it was time to upgrade his GPS. Armed with this new electronic gadget there was only one thing left to do – test it out! But where to go? After several days of tossing possibilities around with Tom, we settled on “The Beehive”.

Many are familiar with Water Canyon, located just outside of Hilldale on the Utah-Arizona border, but few have heard of Squirrel Canyon that is accessed from a nearby trailhead. From here one follows Short Creek for a mile until veering off to the north up Squirrel Canyon. After following an enchanting stream for another mile, a hike out of the canyon is required to access The Beehive.

We had read that it was possible to summit The Beehive, without ropes, if we scrambled up the slickrock from the north side. Sounded like a plan, until we stood at the base and looked up. “Wow, that looks steeper than I expected” was the general consensus, but we hadn’t come this far to not give it a try. After all, we wanted to see the unique hoodoos that can be found on top of this sandstone mountain. We didn’t make it – let’s just say, “We were stung by the Bee!”, but what gorgeous scenery and fun memories were made. We’ll be back – we have a plan to get the best of the Bee!

 It's early morning and the sun hasn't yet come over the ridge . . .
Short Creek flows gently beside the trail . . . it's rather soothing

After crossing the creek, we followed an ATV trail to Squirrel Canyon
That's the Beehive in front of us . . . 
Even though it looks close, it's another two miles until we can attempt our ascent

The ATV trail ends in Squirrel Canyon at this small diversion dam . . .
Water is channeled into a pipe, which flows under the ATV trail . . . 
We assume it ends up in Hildale and is used as part of their water supply

Ahhh . . . it feels good to be up and out of Squirrel Canyon . . .
We're looking back to the south towards Short Creek

The terrain quickly changes . . . it looks like we are in for a treat!

There is no trail in this area and Allison "sort of got lost" for a few minutes . . .
She blew her whistle and Tom quickly spotted her!  Whew! 

There it is!   They call it The Beehive . . . we call it The Beast!

Kent and Tom planning our ascent . . . it looks different from here, huh?
Hey, Tom, "Is it really that steep?  No, it's just an optical illusion" . . . yeah, right!

It really is as steep as it looks!

Tom is trying to get good finger holds along this crack to work his way up to Kent  

Traction on the slickrock was an issue
We spent 30-45 minutes (on the rock) contemplating the "what if's!". . . 
Ultimately, it came down to . . .
"If we make it up (and that was a big assumption), could we safely get back down."

Here we are answering our question . . . 
 Butt scooting our way back down . . . bummer!

Hmmm . . . I think I could have made it . . . really!
Those other two guys are just a bunch of wimps!

This place is as remote as it is beautiful . . . no one, but us!

Moqui Marbles . . . aka, iron concretions
They are made of iron oxide and sandstone and then formed by the wind

Tom and Kent "think" we will return one day and conquer The Beehive . . .
from the southwest side . . . we shall see!

Not sure what to call this . . . a moqui marble blob?
Still needs a little more wind work to get them separated

Feeling defeated by The Beast, Tom had to summit something . . .
This hoodoo was the lucky winner!
After all, he is a Peakbagger!

Not to be "outdone" . . . Kent had to poke fun of The Beehive in the distance!
"We're coming back for you!"

Indian Paintbrush growing near the base of he sandstone

What?  No Coke!  Who left an empty cooler out here in the boonies?
It actually served as a good trail marker for heading back down Squirrel Canyon

On our way back down the trail we could hear trickling water, a mini waterfall . . .
You gotta love springs in the desert! 

So pretty . . . a Brassicaceae or member of the Mustard family 

Unique alluvial fan swirl in Squirrel Creek

Cushion Phlox

 8.6 miles later and we have come full circle . . . that's the trailhead in the distance
What a great day it has been . . .
despite the fact that we were "stung" by The Bee!

As a side note . . .We came back in January 2021 and bagged The Beehive using a route that came in from the southern end.  Click here for a link to that post - it was amazing!

Red Reef High Point

Tom emailed us and asked if we would be interested in doing Red Reef with him. Red Reef (the name of the rock strata unique to the Leeds area) is accessed from the Red Cliffs Recreation Area. He had tried it some time back with Lola (his dog), but had turned around when they came to a chute that was impassable for her. That should have been our first clue that we were in for a rock-climbing adventure. Okay, maybe we’re exaggerating a bit . . . but coming down the chute was pretty scary! This trek had a lot of things that make a short-day hike enjoyable: a small slot canyon, some rock-climbing, route finding, beautiful scenery with nice vistas and a peak with a bench mark. All-in-all a very good hike for a beautiful April day!

Click here for Tom’s detailed description of the hike from his Peakbagger post.

We're in the midst of Covid-19 closures . . . however, it's still safe to get outdoors!

We started from the parking lot on the Red Reef trail . . . however . . . 
To access the Red Reef high-point you must take the first side canyon that heads south . . . 
There are no signs, only social trails from here on!

Soon enough you will come to this mini slot canyon . . . 
It is a fun side excursion that is worthy of exploration . . .
Here we are coming back down from the dead end that was just around the corner

In the upper section of the slot, we came across some flowering trees . . . so pretty!

Look at this moss covered wall with all the water pockets . . . a fun find!

Out of the slot we continued to climb up through the canyon . . . 
This route will provide you a way around the slot canyon

Here's the crux of the hike!
None of us found it too hard going up . . . but coming down was pretty scary!
You have been warned!

Look what we found at the top of the chute . . . 
It would have been a tad bit easier and safer with a rope!

Once out of the chute . . . things open up as you begin to leave the canyon

Do you see the trail?  There isn't one, just a few rock cairns here and there

Snow covered Pine Valley Mountains appear in the distance

Now it's time to follow a bench that will lead us to the base of Red Reef

Do you see Kent?  He's about to disappear!
This will be our route up to the ridge that will lead us to our final destination

Our southwest Utah landscape has some of the most interesting shapes and colors 

It's getting steeper and we are getting higher . . .

We stopped to take in the views once we reached the ridge . . .
  Quail Creek is in the distance between Kent and Tom 

Almost there . . .

That's the summit of Red Reef up ahead 

   2 hrs and 1.8 miles later we reached the 4240 ft summit of Red Reef with a gain of 1191 ft! 
 We took a little snack break and enjoyed the views

We knew Red Reef was a high-point, but we didn't expect to find this survey marker . . .
I don't think very many people know it is here!

It's time to head back down . . .
We know what lies ahead . . . the dreaded chute . . . we must descend!

Indian Paintbrush brightens up the desert landscape

Working our way back down, around and over obstacles like these . . . what fun!

In case you're wondering . . . we made it back down!
Don't worry, Kent didn't drink the water . . . just freshening up a bit

Quail Creek . . . 
we should have cooled our feet off in the creek,
 but we had to get home to check on our dogs!