Twin Lakes

Friends, John & Mary, texted us from Big John Flat on Tuesday night . . . they were trying to entice us to come up and camp with them.  They said the temperatures were lovely and they even had a cooling rain shower or two.  After seriously mulling it over for an evening, we decided it probably wasn't worth it to load everything up for one night . . . in retrospect, we wished we had!  Instead, we decided to drive up for a day and return home that evening.  Not that this was a bad thing . . . but camping in the low 50° temperatures has a certain kind of appeal . . . especially when you step out of your truck, at home, and it's 105°!

We were treated to a beautiful sunrise as we headed up I-15 . . .  it does pay to get up early!

As we headed north, towards Beaver, we kept an eye on the clouds . . . 
Could this be the first signs of monsoonal moisture for southern Utah?

Heading into the Tushars . . . 
One of the many does we saw in the high country meadows

After visiting with John & Mary, at their camp, we loaded into their ATV and headed for Twin Lakes
Along the way, we crossed Merchant Creek . . . as pretty a creek as you'll ever see!
(Kent tried fishing here, but to his amazement didn't even get a bite) 

Parry's Primrose . . .  is usually found growing along streams

Shortly after crossing Merchant Creek, we parked the ATV, and began our trek to Twin Lakes
There are no trails into the Lakes, but we made good time on the ascent when we came upon an old road

What a pretty spot!
This is the first lake . . . Mt. Holly can be seen off to the East

Here's a panoramic shot of both lakes
(Click on the picture to get an enlarged format)

We often come across wildlife cameras on our hikes . . . but have never seen anything like this!
The DWR prohibits trail cams on public lands from July 31 to Dec. 31 . . . their reasoning is
this helps to level the "playing field" for big game animals during the hunting seasons
This camera was seized by The Utah Division of Wildlife Resources on November 23rd  

Kent fished both of the Twin Lakes . . .  there were no signs of fish

Colorful rock near the lake

After enjoying the Lakes, it was time to head back to the ATV . . .
It was refreshing to be in the mountains with temperatures in the 60's

Almost back to John and Mary's ATV . . .
It was so nice of them to transport us around the on mountain roads

We enjoyed a lunch break back at Big John Flat . . .
 Keeping our eyes to the sky, as the clouds begin to build

After lunch we began our hike to the West Fork of Merchant Creek . . .
It was thundering, off to our east, as we headed down the trail

Kent is showing Mary the Bosman Trail System map . . . 
Yep, it's looking like monsoonal moisture is going to get us!

After a short hike, we came to a beautiful meadow that is bisected by West Merchant Creek
John and Mary are anxious to see Kent hook a trout

It didn't take long for Kent to feel a tug on his line

Brook trout
Small, but still fun to catch!

John and Mary . . .
We sure have enjoyed some good outings with them over the years!

Kent was really surprised to pull a Bonneville Cutthroat trout out of the creek
(One of his most favorite fish to catch!)

The sky was rumbling on our hike out and we got pelted with hail . . .
After dodging storms all day, one finally caught us . . . thankfully, it didn't last long

Shelly Baldy Peak
Is it any wonder that the Tushars are one of our favorite mountain ranges?

What a great outing!  The hike into Twin Lakes was about three miles (r/t) with only a little over 200 ft of elevation gain.  The trail to West Merchant Creek was about half a mile (one-way) with just about 300 ft of elevation loss . . . that's right you have to climb back up, out of the valley, to get back to the trailhead!  (John & Mary enjoyed this stream so much, that they headed down with their fishing poles the next morning.)  Don't miss out on getting into the Tushars this summer!

Pace Knoll

This was one of those "memorable hikes!"  Not so much for the scenery (which was truly outstanding), but for the ordeal we put ourselves through to get to the top of three different peaks.  We will remember this June day for our bushwhacking through scrub oak, traversing over mountain mahogany, avoiding spiny cactus, a relentless sun and running out of water.  If this sounds appealing to you, then you've found the right post for a truly grueling hike!  In reality, there is a sense of accomplishment that we actually made it and will live to see another day . . . not that we are exaggerating or anything . . . but this was one tough hike that we were glad to see come to an end!

The Strawberry Moon was still high in the sky, early Saturday morning, as we headed out

   A scenic five-mile drive on the Kolob Canyons Road took us to the Timber Creek Overlook Trail parking area
(Getting here early provided us with cooler temperatures and a place to park before the crowds arrive)

We weren't expecting this much bushwhacking

It was slow going . . . breaks were a must

We are headed for Peak 6965
(This picture gives one a good idea of the magnitude of the oak thickets)

At times there was no way around the scrub oak

It took us a little over an hour to reach the top of Peak 6965 . . .
We are already feeling tired and we have two more peaks to go! 

Pace Knoll is next . . . then Peak 6336 . . .  both look so far away!

Ferris' Sandwort

More bushwhacking . . .
It was exhausting and unrelenting . . . especially in the heat!

It was nice to finally have slabs of sandstone to walk on!

 Allison took a scary tumble here on our way to Peak 6965 
  Kent & Tom are looking for her wristwatch that came off in the fall . . . Tom found it!

Finally, off the ridge and on our way to Pace Knoll
(Pace Knoll is the mesa in the center of the picture) 

Our destination is just up ahead . . .  so close, yet so far away

When planning this hike, Kent could see this slab of yellow sandstone on Google Earth . . .
Tom and Allison used it as a ramp to get them on top
(Kent's leg was beginning to give out, so he waited at the bottom for them to return)

Tom & Allison are standing in the Blackridge Wilderness area . . .
With the exception of a small portion, most of Pace Knoll is located in this wilderness . . .
To the east of this Boundary Marker, is Kolob Canyons of Zion National Park

Pieces of petrified wood were scattered in places

After meeting back up with Kent we began working our way back towards Peak 6336

We took many short breaks under any shade we could find . . . it was hot and we were almost out of water
(Looks as if Kent is wiping sweat away from his face with Tom's shirt . . . not to worry . . . that wasn't the case!)

We were hoping this was a running spring . . .
But, alas, there was no water for us to filter!

One last 400 ft push to the top of Peak 6336 . . .
It doesn't look too steep from this angle, but the picture is deceiving

Here's a better idea of how steep this little ridge truly was
It was not easy . . . we were exhausted . . . but determined to finish this hike!

We have never been so happy to see a trail at the end of a hike!
 This is the Timber Creek Mountain Overlook Trail and Peak 6336 . . .
It will lead us back to our vehicles!

As we look back on this post, and the pictures that Allison took, it reminds us of the beautiful landscape that is almost literally in our backyard . . . people travel from all over the world to see what we have available to us everyday.  Too bad we didn't take the time to enjoy what often became mundane on our desire to just complete the hike!  If you are interested in seeing our route, Tom has provided a topo map and GPS tracks on his Peakbagger.com post.  You can find them by clicking here.

Graff Benchmark

One of the things that we like about recovering benchmarks is that it forces us to seek out places that we wouldn't necessarily put on our list of hikes we want to do.  An example of just such a hike is Graff Benchmark.  Ordinarily we wouldn't hike a non-descript peak such as this one . . . there wasn't anything "crying out" to us to come hike this peak other than we knew there was a benchmark on top of it.  So, looking for something to do that was fairly close to home, we decided to head towards Hamilton Fort and check out this little hill.

If you wanted to, it would be possible to drive to the top of this peak . . . we opted for some exercise!

Nearing the top and looking back towards where we started . . . 
That's Graff Peak on the skyline . . . it looks interesting . . . another hike for another day!

It wasn't long until we had located the benchmark

Graff Benchmark . . . placed here in 1948

This wire, presumably from 1948, appears to have been used to hold the tripod in place,
that would have originally been set over the benchmark and used for triangulation

Reference marker #1 wasn't too hard to locate . . . but #2 proved to be a challenge!

Note the arrow on the reference marker points to the benchmark

Trying to locate reference marker #2 . . .
We know it is set in a rock, but don't know the distance it is from the benchmark . . . 
Kent thought maybe it was under this ant pile . . . nope!

Looking west at the fields that surround Hamilton Fort . . . 
Hard to believe I-15 is between this hill and the fields!

Kent is not giving up on finding reference marker #2 . . . 
Maybe it's under this old log . . . nope!

After 30 minutes of trying to locate the marker, we finally gave up . . . we'll leave it for Tom to find . . .
Afterall, he's the one who's passed on his passion for these markers, to us!

Although, not a remarkable hike, our searching got us to an area we hadn't been to before.  We parked our truck early on so we could get some exercise.  We ended up making this a 1.6 mile (r/t) hike with only about 250 ft of total elevation gain.  One more benchmark down . . . and a thousand more to go!