James_B_Wads2000
07-25-2006, 10:17 PM
We headed out of SLC on Friday afternoon and headed for Wendover. We stopped at the Ibapah Trading Post in Ibapah to top of the gas tanks. The Ibapah Trading Post is a little building behind a ranch house where the owners live. It is the first ranch on the right off the Ibapah road about three miles south of the Pony Express Trail turnoff. The buildings are set off the road about 100 yards and my be hard to see at night. They are normally open until 6pm but if you show up and call them (435-234-1166) from the payphone they will come out from their house and turn on the pumps. They do sell basic groceries and cold drinks, but sorry no beer. That's where I got my "I Love Ibapah" t-shirt pictured in my avatar.
From there we drove to Granite Canyon and camped. The road/ATV trail in Granite Canyon has been closed much lower than were it was in 2001. Now the wilderness study area signs are about ½ mile passed the second stream crossing. In 2001 I was able to drive past the third stream crossing and park about one mile above where it is now closed. It looks as if a section of the trail has eroded away and rather than repair it the BLM just moved the markers down the canyon. Any 4X4 can easily make it to the trailhead.
The trail follows the old road for about two miles then it becomes a hiking trail. The trail goes to a large meadow at the saddle between Red Mountain and the minor summit before Ibapah. From there you bushwhack to the minor summit where a good trail can be found that leads to Ibapah.
I turned around at the end of the road. But two of my hiking partners were able to make it to the summit. On the way down I remembered that someone had told me that there was a large panel of petroglyphs under a granite boulder. I realized I had been to a spot like that in the canyon many times before but never looked for the petroglyphs. Sure enough there they were. The cave is right off the main road about ¼ mile above the second stream crossing. The petroglyphs are all over the roof of the cave and are kind of hard to see. We found that taking pictures with a flash make the petroglyphs show up better.
We spent the second night in the canyon. In the morning Joel, Kerri and Bambi had to go home and Leonard, Angelo and I went down to the CCC camp to have lunch. This would be a great place to camp in the spring or fall. It has picnic tables, firepits and water in the stream nearby (water should be treated before drinking). But in the middle of a heat wave it is too hot. We drove up Indian Farm Canyon a little ways to some cool cliffs. This canyon also has a spring fed stream that flows year-round like Granite Canyon. After hanging around there for awhile we got in the car and headed toward the Gandy Warm Springs.
James
From there we drove to Granite Canyon and camped. The road/ATV trail in Granite Canyon has been closed much lower than were it was in 2001. Now the wilderness study area signs are about ½ mile passed the second stream crossing. In 2001 I was able to drive past the third stream crossing and park about one mile above where it is now closed. It looks as if a section of the trail has eroded away and rather than repair it the BLM just moved the markers down the canyon. Any 4X4 can easily make it to the trailhead.
The trail follows the old road for about two miles then it becomes a hiking trail. The trail goes to a large meadow at the saddle between Red Mountain and the minor summit before Ibapah. From there you bushwhack to the minor summit where a good trail can be found that leads to Ibapah.
I turned around at the end of the road. But two of my hiking partners were able to make it to the summit. On the way down I remembered that someone had told me that there was a large panel of petroglyphs under a granite boulder. I realized I had been to a spot like that in the canyon many times before but never looked for the petroglyphs. Sure enough there they were. The cave is right off the main road about ¼ mile above the second stream crossing. The petroglyphs are all over the roof of the cave and are kind of hard to see. We found that taking pictures with a flash make the petroglyphs show up better.
We spent the second night in the canyon. In the morning Joel, Kerri and Bambi had to go home and Leonard, Angelo and I went down to the CCC camp to have lunch. This would be a great place to camp in the spring or fall. It has picnic tables, firepits and water in the stream nearby (water should be treated before drinking). But in the middle of a heat wave it is too hot. We drove up Indian Farm Canyon a little ways to some cool cliffs. This canyon also has a spring fed stream that flows year-round like Granite Canyon. After hanging around there for awhile we got in the car and headed toward the Gandy Warm Springs.
James