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| 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) |
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| 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 |
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| Colorful twisted exposed bark on a Utah Juniper tree |
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| 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! |
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| Manzanita bushes have such a unique red bark |
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| 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 |
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| 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 ) |
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| 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') |
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| Looking back at Peak 5088 as we descend yet another ridge |
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| About halfway down, Kent spotted this knife partially buried in the sand |
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| 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! |
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| Living in Southern Utah, the Pine Valley Mountains offer many opportunities for recreation |
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| We came upon colorful chert, a tang remnant and an arrowhead! (Guess we weren't the first one's to explore these hills!) |
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| "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 |
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| There were clumps of Prickly Pear cactus growing throughout the Wet Sandy area |
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| 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) |
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| 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.
