T-Bone Hill

It's very unusual, for us, to receive a solid week of rain . . . but that's exactly what we got this past week. So when sun was forecasted, for Saturday, we knew it was time to get out and stretch our legs.  However, two questions kept coming up. "Where can we go that isn't muddy?" and "Where can we go to get out of the wind?"  Fortunately for us the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve provided suitable answers for both of our concerns.  After doing some searching on Google Earth it looked like T-Bone Hill (a semi-prominent landmark in the St. George area) would make a good choice for a relatively easy, albeit, somewhat short hike.  So off we went . . . 

The Sun Independent said T-Bone Hill would provide "stellar views, fun scrambling and surprising isolation despite being close to civilization."  We'd say their description was spot on!

Although it might look a little intimidating, the 300 feet of elevation gain wasn't too bad!
It only took us about fifteen minutes to make it to the top.

We're almost there . . . Where's Mike? . . . That "Youngster" must be on top already!

Once through the black basalt rim, that guards the top, we had great views in all directions
St. George lies between the snow covered Beaver Dam Mountains and the Red Cliffs Desert Reserve

We particularly liked the long narrow arm of the T-bone mesa . . . 
It's always fun to walk a ridge where you can see down both sides at once

Looking back, from where we've come, you begin to see the unique T-Bone shape as it comes into view

At the end of the mesa someone has erected this American flag . . .
It can be seen as one drives on the Red Hills Parkway

Heading back . . . We plan to make a loop around the base of the T-Bone

Off to our east are the Red Cliffs of the Cottonwood Canyon Wilderness area . . .
We hiked Peak 4416 (the one to the furthest right) last February with our friend Nathan

 We were surprised at how much moss was thriving on the north facing lava boulders

Somewhere around here we descended off the north rim of T-Bone mesa
(As you can see, it's pretty easy to find a route up or down the mesa)

Looking west towards West Mountain (7,680 ft) . . . the highest peak in the Beaver Dam Mountain range

Kent is headed north as he works his way around the base of the mesa

We stopped to check out these red rocks

Kent looks as if he was expecting a mountain lion to pop out of the cave . . .
Nothing more than a large pack rat nest was found!

Catching one more glimpse of the mesa before we make a beeline for the truck

We came upon this piece of garbage on our way back . . . it took us a while to figure out what it was . . .
It ended up being an old rusted remnant of a turntable . . .
Wonder whose it was and what kind of music they listened to on it!

If you're looking for a short hike (our route was about 2.5 miles r/t), you might want to consider this unique mesa.  It's close to town and will provide you with some good exercise and views while exploring the Red Cliff Desert Reserve.  If you'd like a topo map and GPS tracks for this hike, you can click here for our friend Tom's Peakbagger.com post, from several years back.  We didn't follow his route exactly, but his path will give you a good idea of where to park and how to get up the mesa.