Nippletop

Kent was trying to make plans for a hike, but he seemed to be running into a block wall while looking for something new and exciting that was close to home (Now he knows how writers feel when they experience a creative slowdown!)  What to do?  Often, in times like this, he looks at Stav Basis' website for new ideas, albeit most are outside our skill range.  Low and behold the first one he viewed was located in Zion and was called Nippletop . . . it looked amazing and seemed to fit our skill set to a tee!  Now we had a plan . . . the only question was, "Could we complete it?"

You know it's going to be a fine day when the first thing you see upon exiting your truck is a herd of bighorns!

Looking back at South Ariel Butte (just left of center), where we saw the bighorns . . .
We parked at Ariel's base in a pullout just off the Zion-Mt. Carmel Road 

Allison, Mike & Hudson all noticed these unique Moqui balls . . . Kent, of course, did not!

This hike is crazy steep from the start and remains so until reaching the top of the ridge . . .
Do you see Kent working his way up the sandstone?

It's always interesting, when hiking on sandstone, to observe the different layers of crossbedding

More spectacular scenery and a perspective of how steep this ascent can be

We had watched the Wizard of Oz the night before and this tree reminded us of the Wicked Witch . . .
"I'll get you my pretty!"

Another taste of the beautiful sandstone you will come across on this hike

After gaining the ridge, we got our first view of Nippletop . . . 
Our first thoughts were, "You've got to be kidding me! We can't make it up this without ropes!"

One of our favorite parts of this hike was walking (or should we say "scooting") along this spine . . .
Honestly, this skinny spine looked intimidating, but was actually a very pleasant walk

Nearing the end of the spine that reminds one of Angel's Landing and getting ready for the final push to the top

This section would be the crux of the hike . . . Stav said there was one class 3 move we would have to negotiate
Mike & Hudson had no problem . . . if you look closely you can see them on the skyline
(Click on the picture for an expanded view)

Obviously we made it, as this picture is taken from the summit block . . . 
It really wasn't all that sketchy and, surprisingly, we found it easier going down than up . . .
We are looking north back at the spine and ridge we traversed to get on top

Mike is looking over Hudson's shoulder as he reads the registry

As an added bonus, there was even a reference mark on top . . . 
Although, we have no idea where the benchmark it is pointing towards can be found!

Hudson and Mike looking at Kent who was a little leery of going up the summit block . . . 
Allison had little fear and scampered right up with "the boys!"

We're not sure you can find better views of Zion than those from Nippletop . . . 
Here we are on this unique sky island with unobstructed 360° scenic views of the Park!

No, this picture doesn't need to be rotated!
On the way down, Allison noticed these unique rocks that were "growing" sideways!

Working back down the spine . . . 
We decided to try and make a loop out of this hike . . .  so, instead of heading down the ridge we came up
(pictured directly between the pine trees), we took a crack that led us down the eastern side of the spine
to an interesting sandstone bowl

Down in the bowl and looking back up at Nippletop

Sidehilling through the bowl on our way to flatter ground

What a neat shot of these two ponderosa pines growing on sandstone slabs . . . 
This would make a nice painting, if we were artists!

Once at the bottom, we all took different routes back to the truck . . . 
Hudson went one way, Mike another, and we decided to explore this drainage that emptied into Clear Creek

Allison discovered this old telephone insulator as we looked for a way to get down into Clear Creek

Finally, after several attempts, we were able to find a fissure that led off the cliffs . . .
It was fairly steep and quite brushy . . .
Allison lost her glasses and didn't notice that they were gone until we got back . . .
Fortunately, we were able to drive back up close to where we came down and Mike hiked back up and recovered them! 

Walking Clear Creek back to the truck . . . 
The Zion-Mt. Carmel Road is just above us on the right

What a fantastic hike!  It still amazes us, that after 25 years of living in the shadows of Zion, that we can come across unexplored (at least, by us) places like this!  We were all in agreement that this was one of the most amazing hikes any of us had done in Zion!  Surprisingly, it was a rather short hike of just under 3.75 miles (r/t) . . . the real "kicker" being the 1,400 ft elevation gain in a little over a mile!  If you would like a more detailed posting of this hike, please click here for a link to Nippletop from Stav's website Stavislost.com.  Many thanks to Stav for helping us find this amazing hike!

Wet Sandy Peaks

Have you ever not expected much out of a hike?  That's kind of the way we were feeling when we set off to explore, what we're calling, the Wet Sandy Peaks.  Since it was a beautiful, sunny December day, and we didn't have much to do, we decided to get some exercise by hiking these little peaks that are near our home.  Boy, are we glad that we did.  The hike certainly provided the workout we were counting on, but it was the little surprises that we found along the way that made this a memorable outing.

Kent is pointing to the little peaks he has been wanting to summit
(We see them each time we get on the Toquerville access ramp as we head north on I-15)

It took us about an hour to reach the first little bump . . .
Our plan is to walk the ridgeline and hopefully summit the highpoint off to Kent's left

Colorful twisted exposed bark on a Utah Juniper tree

Once we reached the top of the third bump, we realized our destination was still a ways off . . .
If Tom had been with us he wouldn't have been happy . . .
There's nothing he hates worse than having to give up a lot of elevation only to regain it later!

Manzanita bushes have such a unique red bark

Kent is working his way up toward the top of the summit . . . 
It looked worse than it really was . . . only took about 20 minutes to reach the top

After lots of little ascents and descents we have arrived at the top of the ridge!
(This picture is deceptive, when you first look at it . . . the foreground is actually a large rock
that is masking Allison's view of the canyon to her west )

As we reached the tippy top, Allison said, "Are you sure there isn't a benchmark up here?" 
 Not one second later she saw this old elevation marker! (Elevation 5,088')

Looking back at Peak 5088 as we descend yet another ridge

About halfway down, Kent spotted this knife partially buried in the sand

Through the thick coating of rust we could read Schrade Walden NY USA
It appears to be an old hunting knife with remnants of the sheath . . . pretty cool!

Living in Southern Utah, the Pine Valley Mountains offer many opportunities for recreation

We came upon colorful chert, a tang remnant and an arrowhead!
(Guess we weren't the first one's to explore these hills!)

"Here, kitty, kitty" . . . we saw several cougar and deer tracks
 Strangely (or maybe not!), we have never seen any deer when hiking in this area

There were clumps of Prickly Pear cactus growing throughout the Wet Sandy area 

Here's a picture of the Wet Sandy Peaks from a different angle . . . 
#1 is Peak 4814 (where we started) and #4 is the highpoint, 5088 . . .
5 & 6 are on a different ridge that we used to descend on our way back
(Click on the picture and it will open in a larger format)

  This road built by the Washington Water Conservancy was a welcome sight . . .
It provided a nice shortcut as we looped around and reconnected with the Wet Sandy trail 
What a beautiful December day!  

If you decide to give the Wet Sandy Peaks a try do so in the winter months and be prepared for some bushwhacking.  There's a lot of manzanita, prickly pear, sand and a fairly deep wash (Wet Sandy) that needs to be crossed  . . . all part of the adventure!  Expect about a 6-mile hike with approximately 1,600 ft of total elevation gain.  The water conservancy road helps to make the area more accessible, but it is closed to vehicle traffic by a locked gate.