Bakers Benchmark

Sometimes May can be a tough month to plan a hike! It’s usually too warm to stay in southern Utah, yet going north, the snow hasn’t melted on the highest peaks and keeps many of the roads closed. Keeping this in mind (and wanting some cooler air) we decided to plan a “road hike” to Bakers benchmark in the Tushar Mountains east of Beaver. Our plan was to walk from the Jimmy Reed Trailhead, using Paiute ATV trail #5 (which we assumed would be closed due to remaining snow drifts) to hike and recover Bakers BM. Sounded like a good plan (and it was), but the road was open and we could have driven to within a half mile of the benchmark. Oh well, we enjoyed a nine-mile hike to an area of the Tushar’s we had never been to – and it won’t be our last!

We could have driven the road . . . but we wanted some exercise! 
Off to our left is Crazy Creek 

A little farther up the road we came to Lousy Jim Creek . . .
We could see a few small trout . . . might have to come back and wet a line! 

This old sign shows more trails in the area . . .
Kent has already planned a route for a future hike!

Wilson Creek was really flowing . . . crystal clear spring water

Water flows no matter what . . . even under this snow bridge
(Notice the optical illusion . . . that's a white boulder you can see through the window . . .
not a clump of fallen snow)

One of the many carvings we saw on the aspen trees along the road . . .
Not sure what this one is saying . . . Don't make this a National Park??

Bakers Benchmark was placed here in 1938 . . .
It's in remarkably good condition after 83 years and surviving a forest fire!

We located the Benchmark using GPS coordinates . . .
Views of the Beaver Valley are visible through the burnt trees

Reference Marker #1 was easy to find . . . we could not locate RM #2 . . .
It's possible it was destroyed in the recent fire or a tree has fallen on it

Update on Reference Marker #2:
We returned (with Tom) to the area one-week later to hike Lousy Jim Creek and Tom wanted to
recover Bakers BM for himself.  He had the coordinates and just as we expected a tree had
fallen and covered it up

Reference Marker #2

This area burned during the Skull Flat 2 fire in 2019

It was hard to avoid the soot . . .
for a minute Allison thought she was hiking with the Frito Bandito!

Even Chipper added a few black soot stripes to his liver spots!

We had nice views of Circleville Mountain (left) and Birch Creek Mountain (right) . . .
Birch Creek Mountain is on our "to do" list for this year

Looking to our east, Mount Holly (left) and Lake Peak (right) were visible . . .
 Both show what little snow is left after a very dry winter
(Lake Peak is where we first met our buddy Tom, and his dog Lola, nearly three years ago)

So much to do in the Tushar's . . . looking forward to another good season of hiking and exploring in these special mountains.  Let the fun begin!
 

Skutumpah (Skum,Tom, Pah) Benchmarks

Tom has gotten us “hooked” on recovering benchmarks and it has added a new element to our hiking - we consider them a real bonus when we can include them on our outings. So, when Tom suggested we try and get three-in-one day we thought, “Why not?”  Our plan was to go after “Skum”, “Tom” and “Pah” benchmarks. What made this particularly interesting is we believe the surveyors named these on purpose to mimic the word Skutumpah (pronounced Scoot-Um-Pah) which is a canyon and a dirt road northeast of Kanab and in the vicinity of where we hiked. Unfortunately, “Tom” (the one Tom really wanted to get) was located on private property, but we were able to pick up another named “Falls” on our way back to the vehicles to complete our trifecta.  A different sort of day . . . a different sort of adventure!

Skum is our first hike of the day . . . sounds exciting . . . huh?!

Off to the east, and under hazy skies, Mollies Nipple was easy to spot 

We saw several clumps of cushion phlox . . . quite a contrast in this barren land

We couldn't find the benchmark, at first, but Tom had done his homework and
knew from the data sheets that it was embedded in a rock . . .
Moving aside a bush, and brushing away sand, revealed the circular disk we had come to see

Yep . . . we bagged a Skum!

This area has been clear-cut to help manage the deer habitat . . .
On a side note . . . the two reference markers, for the BM, had been placed in trees that
no longer existed

Now we are headed to Pah . . . also known as Carly Knoll . . . it's the hill on the left

It was a steep ascent . . . 525 foot ascent in about ½ mile

What are they pointing at?
Off in the distance is "Tom," a Benchmark for another day!

We have to wonder why Pah and not Carly?
(The data sheet showed that Pah never had any reference markers)

These ravens were constantly flying overhead making lots of noise . . . 
Is this a "murder of ravens??"

We spent some time on Pah having our lunch . . . then it was time to head down

This is Bald Knoll (a bonus hike) . . .
Google Earth made it out to be an impressive cinder cone . . . we were a little underwhelmed!
It was a steep bushwhack to the top . . . 407 ft gain in about ½ mile

From the top we could see Pah (although not visible in this picture) and an interesting circle of trees in the valley
(In the distance are the southern reaches of Bryce Canyon National Park)

Our third and final Benchmark of the day!
  Apparently, the surveyors could see "The Falls" from here . . . we are headed there next!
(We were unable to locate any reference markers for this BM)

"The Falls"
They are actually a part of Kanab Creek and were quite a surprise . . .
 We could see water gurgling up from the base of the cliffs . . .
During a rain storm or snow melt, The Falls would live up to their name . . .
We might have to come back to see that! 

If you're interested in locating any of these benchmarks for yourself, you can find them by clicking Skum, Pah, Falls or Bald Knoll (bonus hike).  These will link you to Tom's Peakbagger posts and each has a topo map and GPS tracks that we hope you will check out!