Southern Utah March 2013

It's becoming increasingly difficult for my wife and I to leave southern Utah after attending the annual geocaching event there. Three days wasn't nearly enough time to get our fill this year, even though we packed a lot of fun into those three days. Our friends Eric and Sherie once again offered us a room at their house for the weekend and this time we brought our kids and dog, and my friend Chris stayed there as well. My family and I left home as soon as I got off work on Thursday and met Chris in Cedar City during the drive south. We spent what little was left of the evening simply hanging out at Eric and Sherie's house. On Friday morning we all met up with friends and fellow geocachers Kenny and Paul. We convoyed our Jeeps (two Wranglers and two Grand Cherokees) up onto Sand Mountain to do some rappelling. A few weeks earlier Eric had placed a geocache in the middle of a cliff in the same canyon we'd checked out together when I was camping in the area with my sons. Nobody had tried finding the cache in those three weeks, so the rest of us went there hoping to get the coveted first-to-find. We used Kenny's Jeep as an anchor, and Chris, being the most experienced, rappelled first after waiting for Sherie and Traci to drive two of the Jeeps to the bottom of the rappel so Sherie could belay Chris. Paul went second, then me, then Kenny, and finally Eric. (Incidental side note: as I was typing the last sentence, another geocacher called me asking for help on finding this cache. :) ) With the help of the belayer we all signed the log in the geocache on our way down, except for Kenny who was trying to focus on the rappel. He didn't have a lot of experience before this weekend but now he's got a few more rappels under his belt.




Traci and Sherie leaving to pick us up at the bottom of the rappel
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-h...5/IMG_3183.JPG


Chris preparing to rappel
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-C...5/IMG_3188.JPG


Chris going through the keyhole
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...5/IMG_3200.JPG


Locked off on rappel to take some photos
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-i...5/IMG_3205.JPG


Our trusty anchor
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-K...5/IMG_3214.JPG


Paul on rappel
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/--...8/IMG_3222.JPG


My view up through the keyhole
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-M...5/IMG_3225.JPG


View down-rope
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-p...5/IMG_3227.JPG


Ken on rappel
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-o...5/IMG_3234.JPG




We piled into the two Jeeps at the bottom of the cliffs then drove down the canyon a bit. Several of us waited in the canyon while a few got into the most capable Jeep (Eric's) and drove up a steep sand dune to retrieve the other two Jeeps, the rope, and any remaining gear. When they returned we all stopped for lunch at the place where I camped last month. After lunch we ended up on the opposite side of the canyon from the previous rappel, and we found another place to rappel and place yet another geocache. This rappel consisted of two vertical drops down a dryfall with a nice platform in the middle where Chris hid his geocache. All the guys rappelled at this location as well, then we split up for a couple of hours to get cleaned up. We met back at Eric and Sherie's place for burgers and cocktails that evening.




Driving to our lunch spot
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-K...5/IMG_3247.JPG


Our lunch spot, the same place I camped last month
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U...5/IMG_3248.JPG


Cliffs at Sand Hollow. Notice the bulldozer at the lower-left, building the next phase of the Southern Parkway.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v...5/IMG_3250.JPG


Moving on to the next place to rappel
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-J...5/IMG_3255.JPG


As usual, Chris went first
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-7...5/IMG_3260.JPG


Ken starting the rappel
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-Q...5/IMG_3266.JPG


Me at the second stage of the rappel
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-3...5/IMG_3277.JPG


Lots of birds eat lots of rodents in this canyon!
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G...5/IMG_3279.JPG


Ken on the second stage of the rappel
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-c...5/IMG_3281.JPG


Cocktails after the day's fun
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-U...5/IMG_3288.JPG




Saturday was the big geocaching event at Golden Corral in St. George. It's usually the biggest geo event in the state, although the best part about it is the after party. People often gather in the parking lot before breakfast and make plans for the day. In the past two years we've gone to the Grand Canyon at Toroweap and the Tri-State Corner where UT, AZ, and NV all meet up. This year, our small group had already made plans to hike around the interesting rock formations south of Yant Flat. I'd seen this area several times online in the past month, purporting to be a secret location, but it was easy to ascertain the location. We drove there after breakfast with the same group as the day before, except with a few extra wives this time. ;) The first part of the hike was along a now-closed dirt road. It was a pretty easy mile and a half along the road before reaching the slickrock portion of the hike. The scenery exploded into a colorful, textural wonderland after that point. We stopped for lunch after reaching the slickrock, then those able to do so explored the sandstone formations. I knew @ibenick would be there and we met up and chatted for a while, but somehow I missed meeting up with @pixie1339 and @americanhero who were exploring a different part of the area. I found a couple of arrowheads and a piece of pottery while hiking the area. We didn't have time to explore the entire place, but I got a good feel for it. We returned to civilization and cleaned up again before meeting up at Kenny's house for dinner. My kids ended up staying there Friday and Saturday nights because of their allergies to Eric and Sherie's cat. I'm tremendously grateful to Kenny and his wife for letting those brats stay there. :D




Part of the group at Yant Flat
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-j...5/IMG_3299.JPG


Bradley eating lunch
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-J...5/IMG_3304.JPG


Bosley and Eric
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-e...5/IMG_3315.JPG


Concretions
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-I...5/IMG_3319.JPG


Ooh, a pretty rock!
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-6...5/IMG_3321.JPG


Some sort of phlox?
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-3...5/IMG_3322.JPG


Yant Flat area
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-G...5/IMG_3326.JPG


https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-M...5/IMG_3328.JPG


https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-H...5/IMG_3329.JPG


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-o...5/IMG_3344.JPG


https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-0...5/IMG_3350.JPG


Eric surfin'
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-s...5/IMG_3357.JPG


Moqui marbles
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-5...5/IMG_3360.JPG


Large concretion
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-0...5/IMG_3367.JPG


Ooh, another pretty rock! Although it wasn't pointed, it had been worked on three sides.
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-x...5/IMG_3390.JPG


Yant Flat area
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-5...5/IMG_3393.JPG


Pine Mountain
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-G...5/IMG_3394.JPG




Our plan for Sunday was to meet up for some more rappelling. However, Kenny got called out on a search-and-rescue mission to a place where he himself had been rescued a few years ago. He placed a geocache where he'd gotten his Jeep stuck then, and now he found himself in the place of the rescuer three years later. Paul and his wife couldn't make it on Sunday. :( Anyhow, our smaller group did some rappelling at Cougar Cliffs. On our way there, Sherie took pity on a homeless man riding his bicycle up the hill west of the Quail Creek Reservoir turnoff, and we lost a bit of time towing him up the hill. "Lost" may be a poor term for me to use, 'cause I'm sure the guy and his two dogs really appreciated it. The kids and noobs did some easy rappels after we got to Cougar Cliffs, the we moved along to a 130' rappel that gave pause even to those of us with more experience. It was my longest continuous rappel to date, and somehow I ended up going down the rope first. It was exhilarating! Kenny even made it there to do the long rappel after his rescue mission. Since we'd gotten a late start that day, after the rappelling it was time for my family to start the long drive home. It was difficult to leave. To make matters worse, we ran rain and snow on the drive home, doing the space warp over Salina Canyon when the snow was at its worst and I was driving with only the fog lights on.




Chris pulling the dude up the hill
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-C...5/IMG_3404.JPG


Michael on his first big rappel
https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-F...5/IMG_3418.JPG


Karin rappelling
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-R...5/IMG_3429.JPG


Bradley doing a more difficult rappel
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-x...5/IMG_3435.JPG


Eric setting up the 130-footer
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-r...5/IMG_3442.JPG


Chris checking out the drop
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-2...5/IMG_3443.JPG


My view up after being first down the 130-foot rappel
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-H...5/IMG_3450.JPG


Placing another geocache
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-T...5/IMG_3483.JPG


Heading up the boulder field back to the top
https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-Q...5/IMG_3491.JPG


Driving home at warp speed through Salina Canyon
https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-b...5/IMG_3497.JPG




I've been to southern Utah twice already this year and I'm left craving more. Traci has even been talking about moving there (which is pretty amazing considering how attached she is to her family here!). In another couple of months it may be too hot for me to venture down south, but I'm pretty sure I'll be back at least a couple more times this year.



Full photo gallery:

https://picasaweb.google.com/Dennis....nUtahMarch2013



Map:

See how to embed Google Maps in your posts

Viewing on a mobile device? Click this link to open the map: https://maps.google.com/maps?q=http:%2F%2Fudink.org%2Fgeo%2FSouthernUtahMarch2013.kmz&hl=en&sll=39.499761,-111.547028&sspn=4.907901,10.821533&t=h&z=11
http://udink.org/geo/SouthernUtahMarch2013.kmz

Great Trip Report! My wife and I talk about moving to St. George after every visit too. The main thing holding us back is me being able to find a job with similar pay.

I know the feeling. I hate leaving the area and have often thought about living down there. I do love the northern Utah mountains too though.

Great report @Udink. You guys know how to squeeze in some amazing stuff. :2thumbs:

I live here and have a hard time going anywhere else for recreation. It is unreal in the amount of scenery/jeeping/canyoneering/lakes, etc that there is here. I have lived in this area for a long time if anybody every needs any info on anything

I've spent quite a bit of time around Yant, very cool area.

Nice report

As always, great TR! :2thumbs:

You are coming dangerously close to having your reports moved to the canyoneering forum. :haha:

*peers into crystal ball* I seeee slot canyons in your fuuuuturrre...

Great report, Dennis!