Tom has gotten us hooked on recovering benchmarks. Lately, whenever we are planning a hike we check the
National Geodetic Survey site to see if there are any in the vicinity of our outing. Such was the case today. Red Cap looked like it would fit the bill . . . an outing to a rarely visited small peak east of Kanab that had a three inch disk attached to it!
When we got to the trailhead, Tom suggested we add another small peak to make a slightly longer loop . . . boy are we glad he did! It turned out this additional hill had tons of petrified wood . . . in fact, we found several whole trees encased in the sandstone and in some cases completely exposed logs.
Then it was off for Red Cap to find the benchmark. After almost giving up on finding reference marker #2, Tom located it (opposite direction of where we were expecting to find it). It was a sense of accomplishment to locate both reference markers and the benchmark!
 |
| We need to remember to wash our windshield next time! Still a beautiful sunrise! |
 |
| Red Cap is on the left . . . the little peak on the right was a fun added surprise |
 |
| Utah has a lot of wide open country . . . you can go for miles and never see another person |
 |
| We took a little detour to check out this white capped peak |
 |
| We came across some neat conglomerate rocks . . . that's Red Cap in the distance |
 |
| We could see Mollies Nipple from the top, which brings back good memories from 2020 |
 |
| This really surprised us . . . huge pieces of petrified logs covering the top |
 |
| Being the peakbagger that he is, Tom couldn't resist |
 |
| Kent & Allison had to check it out, too! |
 |
| A piece of petrified wood embedded in a huge conglomerate boulder |
 |
| This boulder consisted of sandstone, a petrified wood layer and a conglomerate layer |
 |
| Now we're heading to Red Cap |
 |
This is the first time we have seen a sandstone etching with the benchmark
Red Cap Benchmark dated 1954 |
 |
| This Royal Crown Cola can has been here for a long time |
 |
| Red Cap Reference Marker #1 was easy to find . . . dated 1933 |
 |
It took a little work to locate reference marker #2.
After checking for true north, Tom reread the coordinates and realized we should be searching
to the east rather than west of the benchmark. Voila! It was by the bush to the left of Kent.
(Chipper could care less . . . he just wanted to know when we would pour him some water!) |
 |
| What are the dogs looking at? |
 |
They were watching to see if Tom could squeeze through this crack on his way down
. . . and he did!
|
 |
| Kent & Allison opted for a different route . . . we're just glad that boulder didn't fall! |
What a great little hike! Although only about 4.5 miles in length, it provided outstanding views, interesting finds and as always, good camaraderie with our friend Tom and the Crew. For a topo map and GPS tracks of this fun outing, click
here for Tom's Peakbagger.com post.
