The Spires (a name we gave them) are located east of Apple Valley and south of Smithsonian Butte. If you're familiar with the Yellow Man pictographs, then you know where we started our ascent of Dutton Pass and our traverse of a steep ridge that ended at the Spires. For not knowing exactly what we were going to do, the Spires ended up providing us with unique rock formations and spectacular views . . . and a pretty good workout!
Round trip for this hike was 4.5 miles and took us a little over three hours. If you're interested in doing this hike, or need a route that will take you to Yellow Man, click here for Tom's Peakbagger post with topo map and gps tracks.
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| This was the bench road we used to assess Gooseberry Mesa Highpoint . . . You can see what a beautiful day it was! |
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| We parked our vehicles in front of this old building and walked to Dutton Pass . . . That's Smithsonian Butte in the background |
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| Heading up the ridge toward the Spires provided us with nice views of Zion |
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| This contrail looks like a smoke signal or a flare . . . This is looking at East Lower Mountain . . . possibly a future hike near the Eagle Crags |
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| We had to watch out for these! |
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| Kent is excited to see the Spires . . . He's been curious about them . . . they are visible from HWY 59 |
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| Here is the first one! It's the most obvious one when looking at the ridge from below |
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| Kent and his trusty sidekick, Chipper |
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| Curious about the cave . . . Kent had to check it out . . . He thought there might be some petroglyphs, but alas, no |
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| Tom really wanted to bag this Spire (and truly thought he could make it) . . . But we had to remind him he's peakbagger not a rock climber! |
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| Kent stayed with the dogs while Tom & Allison hiked over to the next Spire (You're familiar with Lola and Chipper, but meet Tom's new dog Ezy who is carrying Lola's pack) |
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| There were several Juniper bushes full of berries up on the ridge |
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| What a great place for a picnic! This is looking south toward another one of the Spires |
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| Tom is one happy Peakbagger on top of 6160 . . . the second highest point! |
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| Here's a panoramic shot of both Spires (Click on the picture to enlarge the view) |
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| This rock almost has a face . . .can you see it? |
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| An interesting piece of sandstone . . . it almost looks like a lizard |
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| Smithsonian Butte towers over Dutton Pass as we work our way back to the trailhead |
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| Cacti and snow were plentiful on the north side of the ridge |
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| Here's a zoomed in view of the Spires from the trailhead |
Round trip for this hike was 4.5 miles and took us a little over three hours. If you're interested in doing this hike, or need a route that will take you to Yellow Man, click here for Tom's Peakbagger post with topo map and gps tracks.
