Hiking high above the Virgin River Gorge, AZ

[Rented mule]

http://usera.imagecave.com/mochajo/hikingaround/

The Virgin River Gorge, is sometimes a very overlooked gem of a hiking destination. This may be due to the roaring traffic of I-15; always present.
And, don't most of us want a quiet, pristine, commune with the elements, devoid of human technology?
a connection with nature beyond the concrete?

Once, during the huge blossom explosion the other year, I met a lady whilst taking pictures of some wildflowers in Valley Of Fire State Park. I commented on how pretty the flowers were. But, was having a difficult time of capturing them in their desert environment with the durn road in the shots.
She laughed and explained that it was all an attitude thing.....
She was filming the ROAD and didn't want the flowers without it.
she was working for Arizona Highway Mag. hehehe What an eye opener for me. So now, I look at the destinations and pictures much differently.
the same old gorge with its traffic humming below couldn't possibly of any interest, right? wrong!!
I hike in the gorge a ton, now!!
to get to this particular area, drive out of St. George on the dirt road out of Bloomington, heading west. At the split, where the signage takes you to the Bloomington caves? Turn to the southwest. Always point your vehicle ever upward and ever toward the gorge. You will after 11 miles,
come to an overlook where the cliffs drop away 1500 ft. And the
ugly interstate? WoW!!! Next time you drive throught he gorge?
Stop at the lonely bnridge in the middle of the rec area and park awhile,
watching the stars above, as the cliffs start to illuminate. And always,
below, standing in the very center of opposing traffic, north and south,
people are moving in and out; up and down. Cars, motorcycles, people moving, north and south.

So, give the gorge a try. there are 13 arches visible from the interstate.

but, watch the road, hehe there are more dangerous curves then Marilyn Monroe....32 curves.

cheers!
jerry

[oldno7]

I've been out to this point. There is a guzzler there for the Desert Bighorns. We hiked along this rim as far as you could towards the Gorge. Maybe 1 1/2 miles.
Saw about 40 Bighorns.

[Rented mule]

right on! Numero 7!! I forgot to mention the guzzler on the tip of the side canyon. That's just what I did. I walked a couple miles up and back.
there's some seashell fossils in the rocks. How cool to see the sheep herd.
but, from up there you can see forever! Clean over to Moapa Peak in Nevada. Pine Mtn with all the connecting redrock that lies behind Ivins and snow canyon. That side canyon, if you start all the way back up into it, would be a great all day long hike to the gorge where You would need a second vehicle or some arrangement for someone to pick me up.
Glad you liked it. Probably some snow to deal with now on the road?
This April, I'm going to park at mp 16 and hike over the anticline into Migrant's cove, in the gorge. Lots of bouquets of claret cups blooming.
There's also supposed to be the remains of a cabin in there.
Just like the cabin frame that remains on the side canyon down Utah hill on a side canyon just before getting to the caves at the Arizona side.
also, some gold in the area.
I want to put a cattle skull in the driver side of that old rusted car in the wash that sets right there off 91 hehe

[nelsonccc]

YOu can do the same on the other side. Its a bit prettier with the juniper trees and occasional pine. You can take the black rock exit and head south. You'll come to a junction , just keep right and up. There is a radio tower there and some very impressive views. There are all sorts of things to explore up there and I've been amazed at how nice it is up there.

[erial]

I've hiked up to Shivwits and the horse arches a few years ago after seeing your route descriptions on the hikearizona site. I'm still looking for the other 11 every time I drive thru the gorge which is probably worse than texting. Need to pull over, get out and do some exploring.

http://usera.imagecave.com/mochajo/hikingaround/

So, give the gorge a try. there are 13 arches visible from the interstate.

but, watch the road, hehe there are more dangerous curves then Marilyn Monroe....32 curves.

cheers!
jerry

[erial]

I have a copy of a Rented Mule post from 2004 in which he tells of meeting a fellow who worked on the construction of I-15 thru the gorge. The fellow advised that there were 13 arches visible from the interstate; however, the only beta he passed along to Rented Mule was "go find them."

Rented Mule did report on Shivwits Arch (mm 23.5) and another he dubbed Trojan Horse (mm 16.5). I've been to both. Both are worth the scrambling effort to visit. In the eight years since that Rented Mule post whenever passing thru the gorge I've always looked left and right and up and up for any of those other 11 arches. Looking about on that stretch of I15 is not easy to do. Alas, no luck. No sightings. Nor had I run across any internet reports of VRG arches other than what Rented Mule had already reported.


No luck until this past Sunday. Spotted one on the northbound side while heading back to Vegas. Gave a yelp and nearly gave my wife a heart attack. It's not much of an arch. 3 or 4 feet of opening perhaps. Located about 200 yards north of the 15 mile marker. I had to crawl thru a drainage pipe to get closer photos. May not be one of the elusive 13, but it was near a blasting site. The crew didn't blast it so it might indeed be one of the baker's dozen that that construction worker had in mind.

Photos below: