Arrowhead Peak (4938)

Peak 4938 (Arrowhead Peak) has been on Kent's radar ever since we failed to gain it's summit back in November.  Having to look at this enticing peak, everyday, from our living room picture windows only spurred him on to find a way to get us to the top.

After thinking on it for several months, he decided that coming down the ridge (rather than going up as we did in November) would get us to the top of it's white domed summit.  So, after making plans to have John drop us off near the Icehouse Trailhead, the three of us (Mike, Kent & Allison), began our adventure.  It had rained/snowed the night before and this allowed us a unique weather day that consisted of beautiful sunshine (with no wind), some low clouds and a fresh layer of snow on the Pine Valley Mountains. 

Unfinished business . . .
Today we are going to make it on top of Peak 4938!
(Click on the picture to enlarge)

John dropped us off at a spur road that lead to the upper Icehouse Trailhead . . .
You can't tell from this picture, but the road was a slimy mess, so we had him turn around and 
we walked the road for about 1.5 miles to the trailhead.

Interesting set of deer tracks in the sand

Fortunately, a good portion of the ground was still somewhat frozen as we began our walk . . .
This made for some interesting muddy ice puddles that had formed overnight

Oh, oh!  The ground is starting to thaw!

After about a mile of road walking, we finally broke from the trees and were treated to this
beautiful view of the Pine Valley Mountains . . . it's going to be a great day!

The road began to thaw and became a sloppy mess

Thankfully, it wasn't far until we reached the trailhead . . . 
From here, we headed off trail, making our way eastward towards Peak 4938

We were surprised at how far away the peak looked (directly above Kent's white hat) . . .
But, we were glad that it was just an optical illusion and a half hour later we were at it's base

There were so many nice views of the Pine Valley Mountains along the way . . .
It was hard to narrow them down to only a few!

Some interesting moss growing on a basalt rock . . .
Hard to believe that it can survive the brutal summers!

Almost there! What's Mike looking at?
(Go to the next picture to find out)

He was looking down into this gorgeous view of Washington Hollow
(We're already planning a hike down this drainage)

Mike found this lucky horseshoe . . . I believe we are meant to make it!

Starting up . . .
It was steeper than it looked, but was a relatively short ascent and we were standing on top 15 minutes later
(We ended up going up the draw that is left of center)

Kent found this arrowhead near the top . . .

In honor of Andrew Cross (aka The Desert Drifter), we left it to be enjoyed by others . . . maybe you??

The clouds began to rush in from the canyon below as we made our final push to the summit

Strangely, if we looked to the south and westward it was still a bright sunny morning
(The ridge was acting as a dividing line for the clouds)

Standing on top and looking down into Washington Hollow
(Kent really needs to get his "head out of the clouds!" . . . or was he vaping? . . . ha!)

The clouds cleared enough that we were able to get this picture as we began walking down the ridgeline

Mike setting the pace as we head down

Of course, one interesting rock was enough to slow him down and allow us to catch up

What a beautiful day and a wonderful hike!

Looking back towards the summit of Arrowhead Peak (4938) . . . 
Wouldn't you know the clouds had cleared out!

Heading down Peak 4184 (this is where we had turned around in November) . . .
You can see Kent, but where's Mike?
We know he's down there somewhere because his tracks are in the sand

Almost off the ridge!

Broom Snakeweed

We found Mike, at the bottom, with his prized Valentine's balloon he found stuck in a shrub on the ridge
(You can see the bottom third of the ridge we came down, just above Mike's head)

We did it!
(Click on the picture for an enlarged view of our route)

Wow!  Hard to describe what a great hike this was!  It was everything and more than we had hoped for!  We ended up covering 7.5 miles one-way and it took us about 4.5 hours to complete.  If you'd like more information on this peak, you can click here for a topo map (and another possible route) from when Tom did Peak 4938 a few years back.  If you're interested in a GPS track of our route, just shoot us an email and we will be glad to send it to you.

 

Peak 4762

Every time we get on I-15, and head north, Kent always stares at Peak 5101 and the ridge that leads up to it.  After doing some investigative work, on Google Earth, it looked like it should be possible to take a prominent ridge all the way to the top without too many cliff bands to maneuver around.  So, on a beautiful January morning we decide to take the short trip up the interstate, to the Toquerville exit, where we began the hike just off a side road that lead to an old quarry.

Looking at Peak 5101 and the ridge leading up to it
(It certainly doesn't look as steep and narrow as it ended up being)

It's always fun to come across these scratch circles . . .
They are made when the wind pushes the grass blade around in a circle

Getting ready to start our ridge hike . . .
We ended up going up the ridge to Kent's left and coming down the one on Kent's right . . . 
If we were doing it over again, we'd use the ridge on Kent's right, both up and down 

First we needed to get across this valley/drainage and then make our way towards the left skyline

Looks like someone didn't make it!
(Pretty sure this is a coyote skull)

Almost through the drainage and getting ready to top out on the skyline/ridge . . .
Do you see Kent among the boulders?

Finally, on the ridge!  Now the fun can begin!

As you can see, the middle section of the ridge had quite the interesting rock formations . . .
Although, from a distance, it looked as if getting around these boulders was going to be difficult,
there always seemed to be a path that was fairly easy to negotiate

Looking back at were we have come from . . . as you can see, the views are getting pretty good! 
(That's Zion in the far distance.  The interstate is somewhere between us and the Park)

Nearing Peak 4762 . . . just above the dip to Kent's left
(Peak 5101 is the highest most point of the ridge)

Kent standing on Peak 4762 and deciding whether to continue on to Peak 5101
(He was concerned that the two and half hours of side hilling were beginning to take a toll on his knee)

It was a difficult decision, but in the end we headed back down
(We estimated we had another 400 ft of scrambling and a minimum 30 minutes more to reach the top)
Allison says she would have made it!

Almost back down . . . and a little dejected . . . but knowing it was probably the right choice

One last look at Peak 5101
(It would be fairly easy to make this into a loop hike once you reached the top)

While this ridge hike is certainly doable, it wasn't meant to be completed by us today.  That being said, we still managed about 4.5 miles (r/t) and around 1500 ft of ascent . . . a nice four hour workout!  If you decide to try this hike, it would be easy to make it into a loop once you reached the top, by walking north and coming down a smaller ridge on the northeast side.  Come to think about it, maybe we'll try it, again, but in reverse order.