There is only one way up No Mans Mesa - that being the Jepson Goat Trail. The trail was established by Lewis Jepson in 1927 so that he could graze approximately 800 Angora goats on top of this mesa. The historic gate, as well as, fencing he used to keep the goats on the mesa, are still at the top of the trail.
Wanting to see the Jepson trail, all of us (Tom, Kent & Allison) were very interested in using it to climb this impressive mesa fortress. Kent & Allison primarily wanted to see what was on top, but Tom wanted to use the trail to reach the highpoint located three and a half miles away on the southern tip of No Mans Mesa. The views from the top were outstanding and Tom, albeit very tired, made his highpoint – what a great outing!
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| No Mans Mesa is huge! It rises 800 vertical feet from the sandy floor . . . is 3.5 miles long . . . 1.5 miles wide . . . And only has a single access point which is located on its northern end |
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| This picture of our route is taken from Michael R. Kelsey's book Hiking and Exploring the Paria River (We highly recommend ordering this book from Kelsey Publishing!) |
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| After a fun ride we arrived at our starting point . . . By the way, it was 26 ° this morning at the campsite! |
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| If goats could make it up, surely so can we! |
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| This rock was chiseled away to form a step for the goats |
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| Some of the cliff walls were covered with lichen |
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| Near the top . . . an interesting view off to our east |
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| We passed through the Jepson gate that was built in 1927 . . . 94 yrs ago! |
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| Gate hardware is still intact |
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| Looking back through the gate opening at Park Wash in the valley floor below |
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| Jepson must have really wanted to keep those goats locked up! |
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| Deer Range Point can be seen through this bent over fence post |
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| The top of No Mans Mesa is landscaped with pines, manzanita, juniper, lots of sand & cacti! |
After hiking with Tom for a mile across the top, it became pretty monotonous, and we decided to return to the trailhead and wait for him. Tom continued on "Alone Again, Naturally" (a little musical humor) to slog another 2.5 miles to the southern highpoint.
In retrospect, if we were to do this hike again, we would walk a mile along the western rim, then cut across the mesa, and return to the trailhead by hiking a mile on the eastern side. By doing this route you would get a good experience of the mesa top landscape and enjoy views of both the west and east sides. This would make for a nice five-mile round-trip hike (includes the Jepson trail).
Tom ended up hiking nine miles (r/t) and successfully reached the highpoint on the southern tip of the mesa. If you would like a GPS track and topo map of his hike, please click here for his post from Peakbaggers.com.
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| Off to our north is Deer Range Canyon . . . We might have to come back and explore this area . . . it looks very interesting |
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| It's time to head back down (Did you notice how the weather has changed?) |
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| Barely visible behind those snow squalls is Bryce Canyon |
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| We took our time with all the loose rock . . . Can you picture 800 goats coming up this trail? |
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| Tom and Kent help Ezy down a tricky spot (By clicking on the picture, it will enlarge and you will more "easily" see him) |
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| Lola waits her turn with Allison |
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| It's late afternoon as we are just about back to the UTV |
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| Do you see a trail through the rocks? It's the only way up & down the mesa! |
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| Another great day! Time to head back and pack up camp! |
Tom ended up hiking nine miles (r/t) and successfully reached the highpoint on the southern tip of the mesa. If you would like a GPS track and topo map of his hike, please click here for his post from Peakbaggers.com.
If you're interested in doing this hike, but don't have an ATV, here are a couple of links to folks who have come in from the north using Lick Wash off the Skutumpah Road:
