zionsky
Member
- Joined
- Dec 23, 2018
- Messages
- 714
Day 3 of my man-cation was the first one to start off sunny. That was good as my first destination were the candy cliffs outside of St George. Several of you on this board had told me to be there early for best light. FR31 was a fun drive through some beautiful terrain. It felt remote even though civilization was close by. The road was fine up to the last mile or so where it got a little rutty. I was the second car at the trailhead. The snow capped Pine Valley mountains to the north looked so close you could reach out and touch them.
The cliffs were amazing and I wondered around for hours snapping photo after photo.
A couple of times I just found a rock to sit on for a bit and stare at the surrounding scenery. I could have spent all day there but I had other plans and also started to get hungry.
After a quick lunch, I headed up the kolob terrace on a scouting trip for the next day to see if my main goal for the week, south guardian angel was doable. I had attempted it last spring but got off route descending into the left fork and lost too much time bushwhacking to make it to the summit and back so I had to abort. Sadly, the road was still closed below Maloney Hill due to snow. Not yet deterred, I parked below the turnaround and cut thru the forest to pick up the connector trail. It was very wet and muddy with sporadic piles of snow. As I made my way up the trail towards Pine Valley peak, the snow disappeared and the ground grew drier. Just as I was beginning to get my hopes up, I reached the base of Pine Valley Peak and the snow returned. It got deeper and deeper as I trudged on towards Wildcat. Near the junction, it was a steady 2+ feet deep slog.
With some regret, I turned around knowing SGA would have to wait another year. As it was getting later in the day, I decided I would head towards cave knoll in hopes of catching a nice sunset against the western cliffs of Zion and lifting my spirits. I was not disappointed.
I will say the route up onto the ridge was chocked with more bushwhacking than I expected. Navigating across the hoodoo ridge was quite fun. The sunset was amazing. I took a more direct route back to the car and arrived just before dark.
All in all, another great day in Zion
The cliffs were amazing and I wondered around for hours snapping photo after photo. A couple of times I just found a rock to sit on for a bit and stare at the surrounding scenery. I could have spent all day there but I had other plans and also started to get hungry.After a quick lunch, I headed up the kolob terrace on a scouting trip for the next day to see if my main goal for the week, south guardian angel was doable. I had attempted it last spring but got off route descending into the left fork and lost too much time bushwhacking to make it to the summit and back so I had to abort. Sadly, the road was still closed below Maloney Hill due to snow. Not yet deterred, I parked below the turnaround and cut thru the forest to pick up the connector trail. It was very wet and muddy with sporadic piles of snow. As I made my way up the trail towards Pine Valley peak, the snow disappeared and the ground grew drier. Just as I was beginning to get my hopes up, I reached the base of Pine Valley Peak and the snow returned. It got deeper and deeper as I trudged on towards Wildcat. Near the junction, it was a steady 2+ feet deep slog.
With some regret, I turned around knowing SGA would have to wait another year. As it was getting later in the day, I decided I would head towards cave knoll in hopes of catching a nice sunset against the western cliffs of Zion and lifting my spirits. I was not disappointed.
I will say the route up onto the ridge was chocked with more bushwhacking than I expected. Navigating across the hoodoo ridge was quite fun. The sunset was amazing. I took a more direct route back to the car and arrived just before dark.
All in all, another great day in Zion
