Bunting Trail

We all wanted to hike, and the weather was forecast to be beautiful, but the question that lingered was, "Where did we want to go?"  After a half hour of throwing options back and forth, Tom suggested retrieving Bunting Benchmark.  We knew, from a trip last year to Kanab, that the BLM had a maintained trail to the top of Bunting Mesa.  Upon reaching the top, we would have to use some route finding skills to traverse to the mesa's western side (about 1.5 miles) in order to recover the benchmark.  This seemed to fit the bill for everyone . . . so plans were made to rendezvous in Kanab the next morning.

The Bunting Trailhead is located on the southwest side of Kanab, Utah

The trail ascends gradually for the first 1/2 mile

It became more challenging as we neared the base of the cliffs
(This trail wastes no time in getting you to the top!)

 Once we reached the top of the mesa we started seeing a lot of fresh deer tracks

Using a GPS we worked our way west to reach the Bunting Benchmark . . .
 Do you see anything wrong with this picture?
(Guess it was as hard to find good workers then, as now! Ha!)

This little mushroom was growing under a juniper tree near the benchmark

  Cottonwood Canyon and its' namesake trees that line the creek bed miles below

The unique rock formation was perched on the edge of the canyon wall near the benchmark


One of several deer skeletons we came across up on the mesa

We couldn't resist climbing up this rock to check out the views

Not exactly what we expected to see . . . a frying pan!

Looking north toward the southern end of Bryce Canyon National Park . . .
Notice the miles of canyons and cliffs that lie in between in the area known as the Grand Staircase

It turned out to be a great day for a hike . . . good visibility in every direction

Beyond the White Cliffs we could see Mollies Nipple thirty-five miles away

We were surprised at how steep parts of the trail were as we descended
(Ironically, they didn't seem that steep going up)

What a gorgeous day and an enjoyable hike!
Fall, winter and spring are the best time of the year to hike in Southwest Utah

We really enjoyed this outing and couldn't have asked for a better day to explore the Kanab area.  Although going across the mesa was nothing special, the trail going up and the views from the eastern rim of Cottonwood Canyon were outstanding.

If you're interested in doing this hike (or a portion of it), you can find the topo map and GPS tracks of our trek on Tom's Peakbagger.com post by clicking here.  Round trip was about 7.5 miles with 1,900 ft of elevation gain . . . most coming at the start.

Gardner Peak

Several of our friends have used the Gardner Peak Trail to reach the rocky outcrop that overlooks Pine Valley.  All of them said it was an interesting and rewarding hike.  So, we were a little surprised to find that Tom had never climbed this peak . . . seems he was well aware of it, but had shied away due to the bushwhacking that was reportedly involved to make it to the summit.

Kent called Tom to see if he would be interested in doing a hike on Saturday.  Before he could tell him where we were going, Tom answered, "Yes, let's go . . . what time do you want to meet?"  Then Kent told him we were doing Gardner Peak . . . too late for Tom to back out . . . he was committed!

We enjoyed a good trail to the base of the peak, but once we encountered the steep ascent that was covered with snow and deadfall, we all agreed the summit wasn't that important . . . we were satisfied with a good long hike, that gave us and our dogs plenty of exercise!

It was fun watching the sunrise on our way to the trailhead . . . pink, purple and orange!

Picturesque Pine Valley is located 35 miles north of St. George . . . 
The Gardner Peak Trail starts in the Pine Valley Recreation Area on the east side of town

The Santa Clara River originates in the Pine Valley Mountains and flows through the valley

We had a good trail all the way to Jodes Flat

This high elevation meadow took us by surprise

A change of seasons

Chipper wears his pack well

Rock cairns guided us through large sections of huge boulders and Ponderosa pines

We weren't expecting to come across a spring so high up the mountain

We had a short search for the trail in the burnt remnants of the 2020 Gardner fire
(It actually wasn't too hard . . . we split up to find the next cairn and moved on)

Gardner Peak starts to come into view . . . it does look steep!

This interesting craggy formation stood out . . . we could see it both coming and going
(Several hikers have commented that it is a good reference marker to use when hiking this peak)

Someone obviously carved this for a reason . . . take heed, it's for real!
(If you choose to go farther, be prepared for a 900 ft ascent in ½ mile . . . without a trail!)

There really is such a thing as 'tree huggers!'
(There were many enormous Ponderosa pines on this trail)

Ascending the peak was not easy . . . too much deadfall, forest litter and rocks under the snow
(We certainly could have made it, but our safety and lack of desire to summit,
 just didn't seem to justify the risk)

Lola and Chipper wait patiently as Tom looks for an easier way up . . . 
We decided to turn back with no regrets

This poor tree with its' roots growing around the rocks couldn't escape the fire

 Mountain Mahogany fuzzy tails disperse seeds into the wind

There were several fun rock formations along the trail

Chipper rarely sits still . . .  so  Allison decided to take a quick selfie

Tom and his best buddy Lola taking a lunch break and sheltering from a chilly breeze

We came across a few small pools of water in the rocks from recent storms 

Who could resist a picture with Dino or Dina the Dinosaur . . . not us!

Heading back down the trail and into the snow on the northwest side of the ridge

Soon, we crossed a saddle and were on the sunny south side enjoying the Fall afternoon
We had nice views of Pine Valley, which is surrounded by the Pine Valley Mountains

Back to where we started . . . the dogs enjoyed a drink from the river

There it is . . . Gardner Peak (9,488)
Whether you reach the summit or not, this hike has a lot to offer

There are many places we would like to visit in the Pine Valley Mountains, but all seem to require miles of hiking rugged terrain to reach our desired destinations.  This hike certainly reinforced our feelings of just how much effort is needed to reach the top of these mountains . . . no wonder you find so few people up there, even though they are a hop, skip and a jump from St. George!

This hike gained approximately 2,600 ft over 4.5 miles (9 miles r/t).  If you would like a topo map, along with GPS tracks, you can click here for Tom's Peakbagger.com entry.  Another article that we found very helpful and gives a lot of historical information, was written by Sue Birnbaum and can be accessed by clicking here. 

Joshua Benchmark

The seasons are definitely changing in southern Utah and that means we must begin to shift our hiking away from the higher elevations and into the lower deserts for the winter months.  After receiving a glorious two inches of rain on Friday (and snow in the mountains) it was time to make that move.

True to his nature, Tom gave us a call and said he had a short hike for us just west of the Beaver Dam Wash Conservation Area.  Even though we aren't big fans of desert hiking, we were "itchy" to get out and so when he said there was a benchmark and a nearby spring to check out (we love finding springs in the desert), we were in!

We had to pass through St. George on our way west of the Beaver Dam Mountains
After all the rain, from the day before, we were able to experience a desert rarity - fog!

The sun was rising off to our east while a layer of fog covered the valley
(Somewhere below that layer is St. George)

Today we are searching for benchmarks . . .
This nondescript knoll is supposed to have an azimuth marker and a benchmark . . .
kind of a rarity to have both so close to each other

We found the Joshua Azimuth Mark first . . . the arrow points toward the Benchmark

It turned out to be a beautiful day . . . the rain gave us clear skies and good visibility
(Looking north towards Lime Mountain - center of picture)

This colorful barrel cactus stood out in the desert landscape

Tom and Kent are looking at Reference Marker #2
(Do you see the Benchmark just to the left of center in the bottom of this photo?)
There were, surprisingly, good views from the top of this small peak

1944 was a long time ago!
Joshua Triangulation Station measures the horizontal position rather than the elevation

Kent and Chipper are watching Tom and his dogs as they set off to hike another little peak
We needed to head back, and wanted time to explore Snow Spring, so we didn't go with him

Heading back down to our vehicle

We had never driven the Snow Spring Road before . . .
along the way we passed through several Joshua tree forests

Snow Spring, a desert oasis out in the middle of nowhere!

Just a small seep coming out of the hillside
(If you look closely, you can see a filter attached to a PVC pipeline that feeds the nearby pond)

It is amazing that this small spring could fill such a beautiful pond! 

The corral was made from old telephone poles . . . parts included!

This pretty, but poisonous, Sacred Datura was growing on a fence 

 The road crosses Beaver Dam Wash which is normally dry or has a trickle of a stream,
but due to the rain it was flowing nicely!    

We had a nice view of  the Virgin Mountains
before leaving Lytle Ranch Road and joining back up with US 91
(The highest point on the ridgeline is Mt. Bangs which we did in April)

Did we mention we hadn't been in this area before?  It was good for Tom to push our horizons a little and we can definitely seeing us going back and doing a few more hikes.  If you're interested in going to the areas we visited on this trip, you can pull up Tom's trip report from Peakbagger.com by clicking here.  This will give you a topo map and GPS tracks for our approximately 2.5 mile r/t hike.