Scott Chandler
Wildness is a necessity- John Muir
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2014
- Messages
- 1,099
4/26/15
The Red Cliffs Recreation Area is a popular site north of St George. It has a developed campground, dinosaur tracks, old buildings, and a little canyon with a waterfall. I thought all of that fine and cool, the first time I visited. But as the visits there started to add up I began to wonder what else would be possible to find. So after a day cooped up by rain I headed out to a familiar place in hopes to find some new sites.
It's odd how such a simple thought could turn out to be so difficult. I walked up the trail a couple hundred yards and veered into a drainage that I always thought had promises to get on top of the cliffs.
See?? It's promising!
It had flowers! Surely it must reach the top!
But after a bit of bushwhacking the drainage decided to slot up and turn into a twenty foot chute. With a little drive, some P-cord for the backpack, and someone to take me to the hospital if I fell, the chute would have been climbable but not today so I turned around to find another way.
I tried a weak looking side drainage, really more of a gully and quickly I was above the chute! Yes this could still work! Until another hundred yards hit another dryfall, this one not comfortably climbable. I spied another weakness to follow ledges to what might have been a passable crack. Darn it this was going to work!!! Alas, another spot of climbing, only ten feet, juggy, but a fall would have been more than the ten, more like thirty-forty... Dismally I turned back.
The view on the way out.
I headed around to the east, hoping that if the drainage wouldn't work maybe the ridge would. No. No. Not there. No. Holy cow this ridge won't work. So around the ridge I went into the next drainage, another very promising one. It has a giant soft slope for crying out loud!
It also had flowers!
But I couldn't even get to said slope across the seemingly easy looking slickrock terrace. Sure enough... that sheerly dropped into the drainage. At least the way down had a cute little flute of a crack.
Finally I had reached a slope that I could see reaching a "top." It even had flowers! And agave.
Not only was I gaining elevation, I was gaining views! My upward goal was finally working!
I hit the ridgeline and started following it up. I hit another questionable spot but following a ledge appeared to go to another weakness. Would this end like all the other trial routes?
Weakness reached and surpassed, I found myself now above my original drainage. Holy cow looky there. I quickly moved to retake the ridgetop, where I found a moqui marble factory.
The views were great on the ridge.
Sadly my upward journey looked like it would stop here for today. On another day I might try to tackle the ledges to reach the top but for today I was content.
So back I went. I had somehow wandered only a square half mile in this crazy country and gotten beaten by it. Gorgeous stuff.
Featured image for home page:
The Red Cliffs Recreation Area is a popular site north of St George. It has a developed campground, dinosaur tracks, old buildings, and a little canyon with a waterfall. I thought all of that fine and cool, the first time I visited. But as the visits there started to add up I began to wonder what else would be possible to find. So after a day cooped up by rain I headed out to a familiar place in hopes to find some new sites.
It's odd how such a simple thought could turn out to be so difficult. I walked up the trail a couple hundred yards and veered into a drainage that I always thought had promises to get on top of the cliffs.
See?? It's promising!
It had flowers! Surely it must reach the top!
But after a bit of bushwhacking the drainage decided to slot up and turn into a twenty foot chute. With a little drive, some P-cord for the backpack, and someone to take me to the hospital if I fell, the chute would have been climbable but not today so I turned around to find another way.
I tried a weak looking side drainage, really more of a gully and quickly I was above the chute! Yes this could still work! Until another hundred yards hit another dryfall, this one not comfortably climbable. I spied another weakness to follow ledges to what might have been a passable crack. Darn it this was going to work!!! Alas, another spot of climbing, only ten feet, juggy, but a fall would have been more than the ten, more like thirty-forty... Dismally I turned back.
The view on the way out.
I headed around to the east, hoping that if the drainage wouldn't work maybe the ridge would. No. No. Not there. No. Holy cow this ridge won't work. So around the ridge I went into the next drainage, another very promising one. It has a giant soft slope for crying out loud!
It also had flowers!
But I couldn't even get to said slope across the seemingly easy looking slickrock terrace. Sure enough... that sheerly dropped into the drainage. At least the way down had a cute little flute of a crack.
Finally I had reached a slope that I could see reaching a "top." It even had flowers! And agave.
Not only was I gaining elevation, I was gaining views! My upward goal was finally working!
I hit the ridgeline and started following it up. I hit another questionable spot but following a ledge appeared to go to another weakness. Would this end like all the other trial routes?
Weakness reached and surpassed, I found myself now above my original drainage. Holy cow looky there. I quickly moved to retake the ridgetop, where I found a moqui marble factory.
The views were great on the ridge.
Sadly my upward journey looked like it would stop here for today. On another day I might try to tackle the ledges to reach the top but for today I was content.
So back I went. I had somehow wandered only a square half mile in this crazy country and gotten beaten by it. Gorgeous stuff.
Featured image for home page:
