Udink
02-06-2010, 12:27 PM
It snowed again last night, adding to the 1'+ we've got on the ground here in Price and around the San Rafael Swell, and instead of playing in the snow today I stayed in and spent some time looking at old photos and dreaming about when it was warmer. Here's a trip report from April 2006, when some friends and I camped at Justensen Flats and hiked the San Rafael Knob, which is the highest point in the San Rafael Swell at 7,921'.
We reached our parking spot at the base of the Knob at around 9:30am and were on top of the Knob by 10:30am. The first part of the hike was up a steep and loose slope on the west side of the Knob. Once we reached the flat ridge about halfway up, we followed it around to the north side of the Knob and skirted the bottom of some steep cliffs that still had some snow at their base.
View from near where we parked
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S221_aC7R4I/AAAAAAAAISc/Et6qM8goCZI/s800/IMG_4311.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iNZe_EAzEK2rKdAW0z-PtA)
Atop the first ridge halfway up the Knob
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222BARGhbI/AAAAAAAAISo/Dz52iyATW1M/s800/IMG_4315.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lqnM40oy8lFUjxAhSHvAwA)
Traversing the north slope of the Knob
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222CIpZj6I/AAAAAAAAISs/ylHpGfjmurg/s800/IMG_4319.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zERc0KTj4YgYdGB-dNG9_A)
Base of cliffs along the north side (with dirty snow at the very bottom)
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222C7ZrM5I/AAAAAAAAISw/YQ8nokluK0g/s800/IMG_4322.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/R8Tx7LzCKh1mtSQsEtKklg)
At the northeast side of the San Rafael Knob, there's a route to the top that requires some serious scrambling, and we used a hand line in a couple of spots for the less experienced hikers (myself included).
A couple of meat anchors
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222IksGtuI/AAAAAAAAITM/28aWNGF9Y00/s800/IMG_4330.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ZSk96axSa22V83InG45hBQ)
Handlining up a small cliff
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222Jh-c-VI/AAAAAAAAITQ/Znm7WLkFPCg/s800/IMG_4331.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cdH1rO_KEGRoMVcq-AhVgA)
Once past the worst part, it was an easy walk west to the highest point. We spent about an hour on top, taking in the view and finding the geocache on the far west side (which, since then, nobody else has found). It took about an hour to get back down to the vehicles, so it was a three-hour trip, and the total hiking distance was only 1.2 miles.
Survey marker on top
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222KyTtMFI/AAAAAAAAITU/kw7QCmvzWC0/s800/IMG_4334.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7zmuSTAW8HXDXSu5KB7x0w)
Cort at the highest point
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222LuPRTzI/AAAAAAAAITY/q_IXcPwPw3s/s800/IMG_4338.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6SOz2wm9rR-6WDRAnBVoGg)
View off the west end of the Knob (our parking spot visible near the bottom)
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222PANcVKI/AAAAAAAAITk/aFK5W7VODpA/s800/IMG_4341.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VqWt7HTJikryafSd7sjUoQ)
View southeast toward Family Butte
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222FkQHb7I/AAAAAAAAIS8/ZrRQYMuJ42k/s800/IMG_4327.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/oBUxsLPKjdcfr-kk6diOFw)
View south
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222P0_zjEI/AAAAAAAAITo/5goj3DvsIs0/s800/IMG_4346.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/1OWOqyxBI2NVCI3N56y60Q)
Back at our parking spot
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222T1oziyI/AAAAAAAAIT4/0rLU4njW5a0/s800/IMG_4359.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/KOLzTLAfz6nbh3qCpwPghw)
San Rafael Knob viewed from Justensen Flats
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222U3u4Z8I/AAAAAAAAIT8/PS-7eoTb8B8/s800/IMG_4368.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jxNLCoRKjU_O9kOV7sem1A)
There are some more photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Dennis.Udink/SanRafaelKnob#
Google Earth .KML file including GPS tracklog and waypoints with embedded photos:
http://castlecountry.org/geo/SanRafaelKnob.kml
We reached our parking spot at the base of the Knob at around 9:30am and were on top of the Knob by 10:30am. The first part of the hike was up a steep and loose slope on the west side of the Knob. Once we reached the flat ridge about halfway up, we followed it around to the north side of the Knob and skirted the bottom of some steep cliffs that still had some snow at their base.
View from near where we parked
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S221_aC7R4I/AAAAAAAAISc/Et6qM8goCZI/s800/IMG_4311.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/iNZe_EAzEK2rKdAW0z-PtA)
Atop the first ridge halfway up the Knob
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222BARGhbI/AAAAAAAAISo/Dz52iyATW1M/s800/IMG_4315.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/lqnM40oy8lFUjxAhSHvAwA)
Traversing the north slope of the Knob
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222CIpZj6I/AAAAAAAAISs/ylHpGfjmurg/s800/IMG_4319.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zERc0KTj4YgYdGB-dNG9_A)
Base of cliffs along the north side (with dirty snow at the very bottom)
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222C7ZrM5I/AAAAAAAAISw/YQ8nokluK0g/s800/IMG_4322.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/R8Tx7LzCKh1mtSQsEtKklg)
At the northeast side of the San Rafael Knob, there's a route to the top that requires some serious scrambling, and we used a hand line in a couple of spots for the less experienced hikers (myself included).
A couple of meat anchors
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222IksGtuI/AAAAAAAAITM/28aWNGF9Y00/s800/IMG_4330.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/ZSk96axSa22V83InG45hBQ)
Handlining up a small cliff
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222Jh-c-VI/AAAAAAAAITQ/Znm7WLkFPCg/s800/IMG_4331.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/cdH1rO_KEGRoMVcq-AhVgA)
Once past the worst part, it was an easy walk west to the highest point. We spent about an hour on top, taking in the view and finding the geocache on the far west side (which, since then, nobody else has found). It took about an hour to get back down to the vehicles, so it was a three-hour trip, and the total hiking distance was only 1.2 miles.
Survey marker on top
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222KyTtMFI/AAAAAAAAITU/kw7QCmvzWC0/s800/IMG_4334.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/7zmuSTAW8HXDXSu5KB7x0w)
Cort at the highest point
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222LuPRTzI/AAAAAAAAITY/q_IXcPwPw3s/s800/IMG_4338.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/6SOz2wm9rR-6WDRAnBVoGg)
View off the west end of the Knob (our parking spot visible near the bottom)
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222PANcVKI/AAAAAAAAITk/aFK5W7VODpA/s800/IMG_4341.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/VqWt7HTJikryafSd7sjUoQ)
View southeast toward Family Butte
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222FkQHb7I/AAAAAAAAIS8/ZrRQYMuJ42k/s800/IMG_4327.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/oBUxsLPKjdcfr-kk6diOFw)
View south
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222P0_zjEI/AAAAAAAAITo/5goj3DvsIs0/s800/IMG_4346.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/1OWOqyxBI2NVCI3N56y60Q)
Back at our parking spot
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222T1oziyI/AAAAAAAAIT4/0rLU4njW5a0/s800/IMG_4359.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/KOLzTLAfz6nbh3qCpwPghw)
San Rafael Knob viewed from Justensen Flats
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_JpEWXOITrzw/S222U3u4Z8I/AAAAAAAAIT8/PS-7eoTb8B8/s800/IMG_4368.JPG (http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/jxNLCoRKjU_O9kOV7sem1A)
There are some more photos here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/Dennis.Udink/SanRafaelKnob#
Google Earth .KML file including GPS tracklog and waypoints with embedded photos:
http://castlecountry.org/geo/SanRafaelKnob.kml