Kimball Benchmark is located on an impressive looking mesa
in the GSENM. It has cliff walls that
look impenetrable to anyone who would try to ascend – probably why the benchmark
was placed there by helicopter in 1954. So,
when Tom invited us to come along with him and “the crew” a couple of weeks
ago, we decided to stay home and finish a garden project – we should have gone!
Tom made it to the top with his dogs and said he had found a
route on the north side that wasn’t too bad.
The real “kicker” was the pictures he sent us of the unique capstone
that held the benchmark and reference markers on the east end of the mesa. After seeing these, we knew it wouldn’t be
long until we did some route finding, for ourselves, and experience the solitude
and beautiful views from atop this fun mesa.
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Back in February when Allison took this picture of the moon she did not realize
one thing would lead to another!
(Our route went up the left hand side of the mesa and then wrapped around the backside) |
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We worked our way up these colorful hills in order to gain the ridge line . . .
Then began our ascent on the north side of the mesa |
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Right away Allison spotted this rock . . .
What do you think? Is this a dinosaur track? Or just a rock with a peculiar pattern? |
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Here we are approaching the third cliff band . . .
All had weaknesses that you could walk through . . . part of the hike's appeal is the route finding! |
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The cliff walls had some interesting geologic features
(Looks like the rocks have termite tubes/tunnels) |
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Kent is working his way up through another rock layer . . .
Never got much harder than this on the ascent |
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| Not only did we have great views, but fun things to look at along the way |
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Kimball Benchmark is atop this formation at the east end of the mesa
Isn't that capstone unique? |
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| Red on white . . . it's very unusual . . . where did this come from? |
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Kent is searching for a copper nail & washer . . . the benchmark is bottom center
(One of the reference markers is cemented into the flat slab behind Kent) |
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Tom could not find the benchmark when he first arrived . . .
Using the reference markers, he had to remove loose rock and brush away sand to find it . .
When we arrived, it was nearly covered up, yet again, after only two weeks
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| Wire left by the surveyors |
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| One of the two copper nail & washer reference markers |
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Evidence of wind
After 67 years, the wire has cut quite the gouge in the sandstone |
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| It was quite windy up on Kimball Benchmark, which is also the Highpoint (6,537 ft) |
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| More fun rocks on to see on the way down |
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Getting close to where we will descend off the mesa
What's with that strange white rock? |
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These Moenkopi hills weren't too bad to walk on (they'd be a mess if it were wet) . . .
It was like walking on a popcorn . . . at times we would sink in & other times we'd slip
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If you'd like a topo map and GPS tracks for this hike, you can click
here for a link to Tom's post on Peakbagger.com. The only difference between his route and ours was that we started one more wash over to the northwest, so we could avoid some of the loose scree under the first two cliff bands.
