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Southwest 2014
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Beyond the stretch of "shower path", the trail emerged onto flatter terrain. We were nearing the Canyon Overlook itself, and the end of the trail. Soon we were at the interpretive plaque at the very edge of a huge dropoff into lower Pine Creek Canyon. We had arrived at the overlook.
Canyon Overlook
There wasn't much to see at first: a huge bank of cloud had filled airspace of the canyon beyond the overlook. Fortunately, though, our timing was good: as we watched, the cloud bank dissipated, and we began to get views down the large lower stretch of Pine Creek Canyon.
courtesy PChen
 Roland and Jenn at Overlook
Up to this point, just the hike through the crazy waterfalls from the trailhead had been worth it. But now, with the view of Pine Creek Canyon from the overlook just starting to emerge, the rewards of our little hike had just tripled - or perhaps quadrupled.

Still wreathed in shifting mists, the walls of the canyon had become visible. On both sides, waterfall after waterfall coursed down the walls, receding into the distance until we could no longer distinguish them from the mist. Each waterfall's delicate tracery moved in seeming slow-motion - a clue to their immense height.
courtesy PChen
courtesy PChen
Wonderland of Waterfalls
Jenn and Misty Slickrock
Victorious Couple
We took many shots (as you can see) at this magical spot - a magical spot not only in location, but also in time. Very rarely does a diluvian-type view such as this appear here.
courtesy PChen
I wish...
At one with the canyon
Ramparts of Stone and Water
courtesy RHanel
Best Waterfall Shot of the Bunch
Clearing Out
Pu at Canyon Overlook

Zion in Flood, Video Clips - Click on video above to start

We returned back the way we came, once again running the "shower alley" gauntlet and back through the overhanging alcoves. We arrived back at the road - and the van - to discover that most of the traffic had cleared away. Still no sign of the Hatko's red rental van.
Interactive trackmap with photo points - Canyon Overlook Trail - click map to view
Interactive trackmap with photo points - Canyon Overlook Trail - click to view
Canyon Overlook Trail - Hike Data
Start Time: 11:40a.m.
End Time: 12:40p.m.
Duration: 0h59m
Distance: 1.98 km (1.23 mi)
Average Speed: 2.0 km/hr (1.3 mph)
Start Elevation: 5202ft (1585m) *
Max Elevation: 5202ft (1585m) *
Min Elevation: 4739ft (1444m) *
End Elevation: 5107ft (1557m) *
* : +/- 75 feet
Total Elevation Gain: 357ft (109m) *
Total Elevation Loss: 404ft (123m) *
 
 
* : +/- 75 feet
Elevation Graph
We decided to head back down into Springdale to get a cellphone connection. Perhaps we'd be able to establish contact with the mysteriously-missing hatko van. Along the way back down, we took another series of shots of Pine Creek, now flowing (incredibly) even higher and stronger than before. We also continued to notice the sudden mysterious absence of other vehicles. Had they closed the park? Indeed, as we continued out of the park, we passed several manned barricades. Zion National Park was temporarily closed, except to exiting vehicles.

We stopped by at our campsite along the way. No Hatko van.
courtesy RHanel
courtesy RHanel
courtesy JInnes
Flooding Pine Creek
Pine Creek
Virgin River @ 4000 CFS
We stopped in Springdale and did a bit of shopping at an outdoor store. During that time, I received a message from Chris: they were now in the town of Hurricane, and planning to have lunch. Hurricane, I thought? that was a thirty minute drive out of town to the west. How the heck had they ended up there?

I sent a message back stating that we'd head out in that direction to meet them. We were heading in that direction in any case, since our plan for the latter half of the day was to start our journey west back to Nevada. We had already packed up our gear in the morning (anticipating lots of rain and wanting to avoid getting our gear soaked), so we were fully ready to start the journey, and Hurricane was along the route.
courtesy RHanel
 La Verkin Overlook
I sent another message as we rolled into Hurricane. I received a response back indicating that they had just left, and were now heading back east to Zion. We must have passed each other along the way.

By now, I was a little annoyed at all of this chasing around. I sent a curt message essentially stating "ok, fine, we're outta here - have a nice rest of your trip", and we started off west again. The trip plans of our two sub-groups were to diverge today in any case, so it wasn't absolutely necessary to meet up.

We headed west through the town of Hurricane, then onto Interstate-15, and then southwest through the city of St. George. Driving along, we could see the last of the stormy weather moving off to the northeast behind us. In the distance, in fact, we could see the beginning of clear blue sky. A stormy day it had been indeed, but as quickly as it had come, it was soon going to return to typical desert conditions.
So, with our emergence out from the gray dark overcast to a sunny desert sky, our thoughts (well, mostly my thoughts) turned to the next objective, the next "checklist item", if you will, on the agenda.

Back during the trip planning, I had floated the idea of a climb of some "random desert peak". Not a peak in a national park, or in some particularly noteworthy place, but one of the peaks we had seen many times while travelling through the Mojave desert terrain between Las Vegas and the Utah border. This was mostly a dream of Roland's, but the idea had appeal with me as well. In the trip planning, the idea had gained lukewarm support, and, seeing as it fit in nicely with our journey back to the Las Vegas area (our trip was ending in a couple of days), I had done research and had planned it in as our activity for the next morning.
courtesy PChen
 Distant Moapa Peak
The peak I had picked out was a trailless desert mountain called Moapa Peak (I know... having done research in advance makes the whole "random desert peak" thing a bit less random. But seriously, would anyone have really wanted me to randomly pick a peak of unknown hiking quality on the day before we needed to be back in Vegas to catch a flight?). Moapa Peak had all of the characteristics we needed: relatively close access from the Interstate, no formal trail, and an exciting and interesting summit. Oh, and at-large camping at the start of the route (Roland's favorite way of camping).
The approach to the start of the Moapa Peak climbing route was along an unnamed desert track off of I-15, about ten or fifteen miles west of the town of Mesquite. We could see the ridge-like prominence of Moapa Peak off to the right, as clear as could be in the fresh, post-storm air. We turned the van off the highway and onto an obscure but quite passable gravel track that led north through the desert.
courtesy JInnes
 A watery obstacle
Even though our rental van was only 2-wheel drive, its large truck frame and high clearance made driving along the rough gravel road quite easy. Easy, that is, until the road ahead disappeared into a large brown pond. Of unknown depth. The recent heavy rains had afflicted this area as well.

To scout out this snag, we sent out our usual automated depth stick (Pu) for an up-close inspection. He got about as far down as knee-deep. I joined him to suss out the softness and texture of the roadbed beneath. Could the van make it, we wondered?
courtesy RHanel
 Medium Depth
If the muddy pond had been two or three inches shallower, I think we would have gone for it. As it was, though, and especially without 4-wheel drive, we were slightly worried about getting stuck, deep in the middle of it.

While we milled about, trying to figure out the best course of action, Roland and I noticed that the pool covering the road was linked with an adjacent pool that in turn was very slowly draining down a channel. The ground looked fairly soft, we thought, and if we did a little bit of canalwork, might we be able to lower the level of the pool across the road?

The others thought it was a preposterous idea, but Roland and I were keen to try. In any case, it'd be fun.
courtesy JInnes
 Drainage Waterworks
So, putting together our canal-building tools (the camp trowel and a piece of random car part found on the ground nearby), we began scooping out channels between the road pool and the larger side-pool, and between the larger side pool and the top of the drainage ditch. It was slow going at first, but we did start to see water begin to flow. We put marks where the road went underwater so that we could mark the progress of the draining.
courtesy JInnes
courtesy PChen
Drainage Waterworks
Drainage Waterworks
Moapa Peak
Eventually we made quite a trench between the large side pond and the top of the drainage ditch, and we probably had a flow of about one or two cubic feet per second. Now, how long would it take to lower our obstruction?

We returned to our scratchings in the dirt, and indeed, the level had gone down. Perhaps by half an inch to an inch so far. Slow, but it indeed was progress.
Impressive Flow
Standing around outside the van, waiting for the pool to drain, we began to discuss the logistics of the climb: drive the remaining way up the road to the route start, camp at-large, get up super-early and complete the climb by early afternoon - then drive the remaining hour's drive to Las Vegas and prepare for our red-eye flight at midnight.

It was soon obvious that many were not all that sure about a challenging and unknown-quantity objective on the last day of our trip. I clarified what I knew about distance and elevation gain, and what the route was like in general. The general sense I got was a lack of enthusiasm for the endeavor.
courtesy RHanel
 The Watery Obstacle
Our trip wasn't authoritarian, and everybody's input was valuable. So, after some further discussion, we took a vote - a vote that couldn't end in a tie, since we were an odd number. The results were clearly in favor of the let's-not-do-Moapa side.
courtesy JInnes
 Deciding what to do
So, that was that. It was time to plan an alternative. An idea that had been thrown out was to camp overnight in Valley of Fire - a state park about thirty minutes' drive closer to Las Vegas. There were many easy and scenic hikes there, and we'd be well positioned to reach Las Vegas quickly in the afternoon, in preparation for our red-eye flight.

So, with some wistfulness over not getting to do Moapa (and perhaps also because we were very curious about how our water-drainage works would turn out), we turned the van around and headed back to the Interstate. The "random desert peak" checklist item was not going to get done on this trip....
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[ Return to "The Checklist Edition" Home page | Introduction | Day 1 : South Kaibab to Clear Creek Trail | Day 2 : Clear Creek Tr to Cottonwood Camp | Day 3 : Cottonwood Camp to North Rim | The North Rim | Drive to Zion | Lady Mountain Redux | The Subway | Angel's Landing | Zion in Flood | Valley of Fire | Wind-up and Return | The "Short Report" | GPS Data ]


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