Ibapah TR

[rwpontius]

Ibapah Peak
Getting there: We left Draper about 6:30 and arrived at our campsite about 3 hours later. We took the old Pony Express trail out, passed through Fish Springs and on to Callao. We went south at Callao to Granite Creek Canyon. From Callao on the route was well signed and we had no problem. No established campground in Granite Creek Canyon although there are a number of camping sites available. We found perhaps a half dozen other groups camping there. The road in is rough and we did not take the Subaru wagon all of the way to the trail head. Like many others we just crossed the first creek crossing and went up a bit further. I would not bring take the family sedan through the first creek crossing. Stopping lower makes for a longer hike though.
Return to the city: We returned via Wendover and I-80. My hiking partner calculated 40 miles of dirt and gravel road before we hit pavement. We had at least that on the way there through the desert. Unless the route in through Delta has less dirt and gravel, figure on at least 40 miles of dirt and gravel to get there. It took us 3 and a half to 4 hours to get back.

The hike: We left the vehicle about 6:30 AM. Most of the trail is steep and unmarked. Actually, I did not see any trail signs. We followed the road to the Wilderness Study Area Boundary and then followed it on up until the double track ended and the trail continued. Not difficult to follow the trail at this point but it is quite steep in places. Eventually, the trail ends in a large meadow near a saddle just north of Red Mountain. At this point you need to pick your own route toward Ibapah Peak. We went to the east side of the ridge connecting Red Mountain with Ibapah and at some point before hitting the last saddle before beginning the climb up the final ridge hit the trail again. Steep climb up to the top but the trail is easy to follow. Lots of steep slopes but no vertical exposure for people like me who are bothered by an abyss. The view from the top is beyond description-just incredible. It took us 3 hours and 45 minutes from the car to the summit. The return trip took only 2 hours and 15 minutes (As the saying goes your mileage may vary). We saw quite a few wildflowers but almost no wildlife on the trail. As we were heading up the trail we met a large (10-12 people) group coming down the trail and as we returned to the car we saw one person heading up the trail. That was all, not bad for a lovely Saturday in late June. There were a few drifts left around but literally no snow on the trail. Note that this is an incredibly isolated area so if you are not comfortable away from everything it is definitely not a trip for you. My hiking partner

[BrokenHorn]

Pics, Pics! What is a post like this without pics???

[rwpontius]

Sorry, I am still in the film age. The pics are in the camera and waiting to be processed. After that I still need a slide scanner! So sorry. My hiking partner may use a digital option on his film. Hopefully the other info on Ibapah was useful. I can say it is an incredible area.
RP

[James_B_Wads2000]

Thanks for the TR rwpontius, I have added it to the Utah High Pointing Index .

Wow you guys are fast. Hiking from the second stream crossing to the top in less than 4 hours is really fast. Three hours from Draper to Granite Canyon is really fast to. It took me over 5 hours to drive from my house in SLC via the Pony Express Trail. I only did it once after which I always drove via Wendover. 40 miles of dirtroad vs. nearly 200.

the trail ends in a large meadow near a saddle just north of Red Mountain. At this point you need to pick your own route toward Ibapah Peak. We went to the east side of the ridge connecting Red Mountain with Ibapah and at some point before hitting the last saddle before beginning the climb up the final ridge hit the trail again.

The west side of that ridge gets pretty steep and cliffy before reaching that minor summit south of Ibapah. When I climbed it in 2000 I got on that side of the ridge and lost a lot of time scrambling around on those rocks. It is much easier to head out across that meadow in the direction of Ibapah. You drop down a little bit as you cross a gully between the meadow and the minor summit. Climbing the right or east flank of the minor summit is much easier than the west. From the top of that minor peak that good trail begins and takes you all the way to the summit.

The views up there are awesome. I really hope you get your pictures scanned and post them.

I hope to make it out there again over the 24th of July weekend. One of the best unknown places in the state.

James

[Sombeech]

Sorry, I am still in the film age. The pics are in the camera and waiting to be processed. After that I still need a slide scanner!

I empathize with ya, bud. I've probably got 150 pictures posted on here, that I had to develop, then scan. I just had one of those "All in one" printer/scanner/fax machines on my PC. You can probably buy them around $50 now, but trust me, you'll spend more than that if you continue to develop your film, then trash 30% of the pictures right out of the store.

Gotta getcha a Canon Powershot. Around $180 at WalMart. Great camera for digital starters.

[rwpontius]

I am planning on going digital this winter-hopefully a Nikon D200 but also am considering a digital point and shoot for trips like this. I want to get 7 or 8 mp so I have the option to blow up some prints.
As noted the Deep Creeks are an undiscovered gem. We have discussed going back in Sept or Oct. I suggested Red Mountain but my hiking partner wants to do Haystack. We are tend to hike fairly fast. I would have to confess that both of us were in some pain at the top of Ibapah, but wow what an area! As I recall we went around the east side of the subpeaks after the meadow but went a long way before finding the trail that approaches the last notch before beginningthe summit climb.
Ben Lomond tomorrow from N. Ogden Divide!
RP

[Iceaxe]

Gotta getcha a Canon Powershot. Around $180 at WalMart. Great camera for digital starters.

I just bought a Canon Powershot S50 for $200 off ebay. The camera is like new! One year ago these cameras were the top of the line point and shot and cost $800.

I also have a Canon Powershot S30 that I bought new about 3 years ago and paid $500. At the time this was a top of the line camera.You can now pick an S30 up for under $100 on eBay.

The Powershot Sxx series are some of the best slot canyon cameras I have found. They are the only camera with a flash strong enough to shot in the darkest slots and get good pictures. The camera is also bullit proof.

The S80 is now top of the line.

More info
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/canons50/