Peak 4416 first caught our attention, a few weeks ago, when we hiked to Wash Benchmark. The pyramid-like summit looked intriguing and so we began making plans for hiking to this pointy peak. After spending some time researching our route, we decided to follow Spanish Wash to the base of the peak and then catch a narrow ridge that Peakbagger, Otto DeGroff, had used to make his final ascent of 4416. This ended up being a more challenging hike than we expected, but the rewards and sense of accomplishment, once we reached the summit, more than made up for any doubts we experienced along the route.
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Our hike began as we exited the culvert that spans underneath I-15 near Coral Canyon
(If you use this as your access point, make sure to bring a flashlight as this is a long dark tunnel) |
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| Nathan and Kent are figuring out the best way to reach Peak 4416 . . . it's farther away than it looks! |
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| We followed Spanish Wash for about two-miles . . . Peak 4416 is visible off to the left |
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| Walking through the deep sand wasn't fun . . . but there were so many cool rocks . . . like this rose! |
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| We hiked up, over and around bands of slickrock |
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We are now making our way out of the wash and working towards the ridge . . .
This cross-bedded sandstone impressed us with it's unique striations that were caused by either water or wind |
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| Nathan noticed this millipede crawling up from the grass |
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| It was fun traversing across the "dinosaur like skin" sandstone . . . Peak 4416 straight ahead! |
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When we reached this ridgeline, Peak 4416 looked doable, albeit more formidable than we were expecting . . .
As usual, Kent had his doubts (What's new, right?)
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| Finally . . . heading up the last section . . . it wasn't too bad, after all! |
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| It took us 2 1/2 hours to reach the top |
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This is the second hike Nathan has done with us . . .
He brought along his drone and was planning on using it to shoot a video for our blog . . .
But the winds were too gusty to safely maneuver it |
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Although it was cloudy, the temperatures were very comfortable . . .
That is until we took our lunch break and our bodies began to cool down . . .
Then it was time to put on the down jackets to protect from the cool winds!
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The views were amazing . . .
This picture provides you with a good idea of some of the obstacles we faced as we were going up the ridge |
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The ridgeline appeared longer on the way back . . .
The "dinosaur like skin" that was pictured earlier can be seen ahead of us on the ridgeline . . .
This is where we came up and where we will make our descent |
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| We were surprised to find this old rusty can as we descend off the ridgeline |
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| Redstem filaree was in bloom |
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| Down off the ridge . . . soon we'll drop back into the canyon where Spanish Wash begins |
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| We came across this interesting design in the sandstone |
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| There were several patches of moss in the shaded areas of the wash |
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| Just some of the many interesting geologic formations that can be seen along Spanish Wash |
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| This was the last of the slickrock |
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| Now it's time to drop back into the main channel of Spanish Wash and make our back to the Interstate |
This hike ended up being just a little over 7.5 miles in length (with 1,500 ft of ascent) and took us about five hours to complete. Be prepared for lots of sand . . . especially over the first (and last) two-miles of the hike. It certainly gets annoying, but the effort is rewarded with a great hike along a challenging ridge to the summit of Peak 4416. For a topo map and GPS tracks you can click on Otto DeGroff's name in the introduction and it will direct you to his Peakbagger.com post for the ridge section of our route.
