Lamerdorf Kilns & Peak

Tom said he was planning on hiking Lamerdorf Peak, in the Wah Wah Mountains and thought we might be interested in coming along.  We have always wanted to explore the Wah Wah's (which means good clear water), so when Tom made the offer we didn't hesitate to accept.  As we were planning our route, Kent noticed some old charcoal kilns in the area, so we incorporated them into our outing.

Part of this adventure was taking Tom's Can-Am, from his home in Enoch, and traveling 40 miles to the Wah Wah mountain range.  Once there we made a 30 mile loop that incorporated the Lamerdorf Kilns, Lamerdorf Peak and the Blawn Mountain area.  Then another 40 miles to get back to Tom's home . . . 110 miles of dirt roads . . . phew!  It was a great day and a grand adventure!

North of Lund we saw several small groups of wild horses . . . they look so healthy!

We spotted these kilns, in Lamerdorf Canyon, on Google Earth and knew we needed to visit them . . .
Only one was still completely intact

The craftsmanship is beyond amazing! 

All things considered . . .  can you imagine building one of these?!     

Tom found the doors, to the intact kiln, laying next to it . . . 
Hard to believe they were still there after nearly 150 years since they were last used!

Notice the two rows of vent holes . . .
They were used to regulate the burn.  By wedging pieces of rock, wood or brick into the vents they could dampen the fires and prevent the burn from becoming too hot which would produce ash rather than charcoal

Phlox were blooming on the hillside

Standing the test of time . . . it almost looks like a hoodoo . . .
This is all that remains of an upper portion of a kiln wall

From the hillside we had a view of the kilns and Lamerdorf Peak . . . our next stop

Before leaving this segment of our route, we thought we'd share a little history on kilns that we were able to obtain from an article called Charcoal Kilns: A Photo Gallery  These kilns, along with others in the area, were independently owned and operated.  They supplied charcoal for the smelter in the silver mining town of Frisco (circa 1877) and were used continuously until 1885.  Kilns were often built with their backs to wash walls so that wood could be fed through an upper window rather than building a ramp to achieve this purpose.  Interestingly, the one complete kiln had this window still in place on its backside.

Astragalus in bloom

We are now working our way up Lamerdorf Peak . . .
In the distance is Frisco Peak (9,660 ft) . . . at its southern base is the ghost town of Frisco . . .
The Lamerdorf Kilns transported their charcoal twenty miles across the valley to the Frisco smelter.

Lamerdorf Peak is directly in front of Kent & Tom
(Click on the picture and it will open for a panoramic view)

Several bunches of Lewisia covered the north side of Lamerdorf Peak

Upland Larkspur

Tom taking a break on top of Lamerdorf Peak (8,425 ft)
He (and Ezy) have a knack for finding antlers

We're heading back down . . . 
Notice the great views we had from the top of the Peak . . .
This is looking north towards the Wah Wah Range highpoint (9,383 ft)

Phlox and King Bladderpod

We took a side trip up a wash to Willow Spring . . . this was an especially lush and beautiful place
Tom is already making plans to come back and hike this peak (8,926) . . .
We plan to be with him!

Next, we were on to Blawn Mountain, our final destination for the day . . .
We passed by this old mine shaft on our way to the top

That's Blawn Mountain up ahead . . . supposedly there's a benchmark on top

On the 'rocky top' of Blawn Mountain . . . unfortunately we couldn't find a benchmark
(Do you see Lola standing by Tom? . . . he likes to say, "She's there hiding in plain sight")
Now it's time to descend and make our 40-mile journey back to Enoch

What a great day!  We can hardly wait to go back and hike a few more Wah Wah peaks with Tom, Lola and Ezy.  Our hike to Lamerdorf Peak was only about two and half miles (r/t) with about 600 ft of elevation gain.  If you would like to see our route, you can click here to get Tom's post from Peakbagger.com - by doing so you can view a topo map and download our GPS tracks.  Don't miss out on discovering this often overlooked mountain range!

Jarvis Peak

We always enjoy going to the St. George Art Show that takes place on Easter weekend.  So, today we thought, "Let's combine the Art Show, with a short hike, as we'll be on 'that' side of town."  While at the show we were surprised to be greeted, near one of the booths, by Carolyn who we met last week on our hike to Amphitheater Lake . . . it certainly is a small world!  After spending some time visiting and discussing ideas for future hikes, we strolled around the Art Show and then headed for Jarvis Peak.

Jarvis Peak is one of the "pointy" little peaks on the western skyline of St. George.  There is a lightly used social trail (it disappears and then reappears) that follows a spiny ridge to some really impressive views of St. George and the surrounding areas.  It is a relatively short trail (2 miles r/t), but fairly steep (1,100 ft elevation gain).  It provided us with a nice half day hike to some country that we haven't explored much.

The trail isn't maintained . . . but if you "hug" the spiny ridge, you'll figure it out 

Blooming Mountain Phlox were scattered everywhere 

Jarvis Peak is now visible . . . just keep heading up this ridge

Looking back towards West Mountain and Zion View Peak . . . we did both last November  

Jarvis Peak with its' sandstone cliffs and pinnacles

Pink Buttercup were in bloom

The trail climbs 1,100 ft in one mile . . . it gets the heart pumping

This rugged spine continued down the east side of Jarvis Peak

Looking north toward Red Mountain and the Pine Valley Mountains

To our south we could see the winding road that leads up to the Apex Mine

Wire left by the surveyors when they mapped this area 

Working our way back down . . .
That middle ridge is the spiny one you will work your way up . . .
If you drive as far as we did (see caution below), you'll park near it's base

It turned out to be a nice day to hike up Jarvis Peak . . .  not too hot, cold or windy . . . just right!
(We parked at the corner of the road that is visible . . . the trail cairn is just a few feet away)

One word of caution, should you decide to do this hike, is the road condition.  We certainly would suggest using the instructions that Alicia Baker provides in her blog "Girl on a Hike" as a starting point for this adventure.  We went 1/2 mile further in our Tacoma, but it was a very, very rough 4WD road that needs lots of clearance.

For a topo map and GPS tracks for this hike, you can click here and get Tom's Peakbagger post for Jarvis Peak.  We drove and started from where Tom did, but are not sure we would go that far if we were to do it again!

Amphitheater Lake

Last year, after we had hiked The Beehive, we were checking out Google Earth to see what other interesting things we could explore in the Canaan Mountain Wilderness area.  To our surprise we found an alcove that held a small body of water and was called Amphitheater Lake - never heard of it before - better add that one to our list!

Surprisingly, there isn't much "out there" on this hike (you can click here to find the only article that we came across that details some of the early history and exploration of Short Creek).  It certainly looked interesting and one that not a lot of folks had done, so we made plans to do this relatively easy hike on a nice spring day!

We got an early start . . . the creek was flowing nicely and the birds were chirping

Right away we noticed a lot of tracks, then we spooked up some Bighorn Sheep
(Allison managed to get a picture but it didn't turn out too well - sorry!)

Hmmm . . . not sure how to explain this!

There were a few pools that didn't appear to have a way around them . . .
We finally gave up on keeping our feet dry and waded in - only ankle deep!

We could hear this little waterfall before we found it just around the corner

We took the hard way up, not realizing there was trail that bypassed this section
(If you don't want to get your feet wet, it'll get you around these narrow pools -
but then what fun would be in that?!)

Looking down on the waterfall flowing into the pool below . . .
That's quite the little trough the water has eroded over the years

Allison spotted this baby bighorn sheep skull just as we approached the lake

Up ahead is the amphitheater that holds the lake we have come to see

Amphitheater Lake is fed by several springs seeping out of the sandstone cliffs
 and looks to be quite deep in the center
(We couldn't see the bottom and suspect that this is where a good portion of the pool is
fed by an underground spring)

Water flowing out of the sandstone

Not sure why this ladder is here???

This lizard was enjoying the sun

We enjoyed having the lake all to ourselves

Can you see the reflection?

Kent is doing the "butt scootin' boogie" back down the hard way . . .
Allison discovered the previously aforementioned bypass and descended the "easy" way

At first we thought this was a string . . . it's a jelly string of toad eggs

Working our way back down Short Creek Canyon and back to the Squirrel Canyon Trailhead

For much of this hike, which ended up being just shy of nine miles (r/t), was following an ATV trail along Short Creek.  We were glad when the canyon walls "closed in" and the ATV's couldn't go any further.  This last mile, or so, was the most enjoyable part of the canyon, as we wandered through some narrows that had interesting slits that the stream had cut through.

As we were leaving, we met another hiking party and received an email from them the following day saying that they had found a way up through the Amphitheater and then went north of The Beehive and came down Squirrel Canyon.  I suspect it added a few extra miles, but was a great idea for making a loop hike out of this excursion.