|
| | | |
| |
|
| Hiking | 14.71 Miles |
1,908 AEG |
| | Hiking | 14.71 Miles | 6 Hrs 42 Mns | | 2.57 mph |
| 1,908 ft AEG | 58 Mns Break | | | |
|
|
| |
| Linked |
|
none
[ show ]
| no linked trail guides |
| Partners |
|
[ show ]
| partners | | This was our second full day of hiking on a multi-day trip in southern Utah/northern Arizona. We ended up choosing to hike La Verkin Creek to Kolob Arch instead of hiking at Snake Gulch, despite that one being a shorter drive from Kanab. This was a longer trail, and I wanted to hike in Zion after more than two years since my last visit.
We started at Lee Pass Trailhead, and the route to the Kolob Arch viewpoint is roughly shaped like a lopsided 'U'. The trail starts heading south with steady downhill, eventually following Timber Creek, which was dry, and passes Shuntavi Butte. To the east, we had fantastic views of the red cliffs that are common in Zion. We didn't see many people early, and the trail itself is in good condition, with mostly smooth, packed dirt.
The trail turns east for the lower part of the 'U' and continues descending toward La Verkin Creek. We started to see more traffic on the trail along this stretch, including several backpackers. The most recent triplogs were more than four years old, so I wasn't sure what to expect for water levels in La Verkin Creek, but I could hear it flowing as we approached the spot marked "falls" on the topo map. We took the small spur to the falls...they were small, but it was a beautiful area with cool, clear water and the red cliffs in the background. The only downside was that we'd seen a sign at the trailhead warning about toxic algae in the water.
[ youtube video ]
The trail generally followed La Verkin Creek east/northeast from there, with a lot of nice greenery and the sound of flowing water for much of the route as we passed the turnoffs to the numbered campsites. In a few places, the trail followed the steep bank of the creek and was very narrow...a few more years of rain, and it's not hard to imagine sections of the trail getting washed out, though the west is getting less and less rain these days...
A little before campsite #10, we made the final turn north for the 0.7-mile leg that forms right side of the "U" toward the Kolob Arch viewpoint. That section of trail was very pleasant, with a lot of pine trees and water flowing in the creek bed. That was also the rockiest section of the trail...nothing too difficult, but more ups and down as the trail followed the banks of the creek. The arch was impressive--as others have mentioned, Kolob is the sixth-longest arch in the world.
It's possible to hike further into the side canyon to get closer to the arch, but there was a sign at the "official" viewpoint saying that further travel was not recommended to help avoid erosion and vegetation destruction, though a faint trail continued toward the arch. We stopped there for some pictures and a lunch break, and we had to continually shoo away an obnoxiously aggressive squirrel that was obviously used to receiving handouts from humans, not unlike it's Grand Canyon brethren to the south.
One other person showed up before started the hike out, and a few others weren't far behind him. We had clear skies and comfortable temperatures all day, but I could see where the southern part of the trail along La Verkin Creek could get toasty on hotter days since there are stretches without much shade. Overall, this was a very scenic and enjoyable trail, though it was busier than I'd expected--we saw well over 20 people by the end of the hike. I wasn't exactly expecting a remote hike on a Zion trail, but several triplogs mentioned that this was a less popular area that didn't get much traffic, but I assume it's grown in popularity over the last 4+ years, like most places. We finished early enough that we decided to drive the longer, scenic route back to Kanab through Zion and the Zion-Mount Carmel tunnel, which was a nice way to finish the day. |
| | |
|
|
|
Route Editor
Route Scout
Route 
! The hike down has some UPs stuck in there but nothing too dramatic. I just assumed it was a gradual downhill all the way but that's not quite the case. We did cross over the mostly dry creek several times and of course, that's where a lot of the little Ups and Downs are.
. Besides, I think for us we only had another mile and 1/2 to go. We ran into the folks who had stayed at our campsite the nite before and they told us we would have to take our shoes off to cross the water to get to the site and that it had been cold.... neither which turned out to be true in our case.
we found the change in the air currents from warm to cold and back fascinating. It seemed to do that until we retired. It was nice to sleep by the creek and I think I slept well. I thot the rise and shine time was 6:30AM so I woke up and prepared accordingly but apparently they meant 6:30AM AZ time so I had to kick back in my tent on my deflated mattress for 1/2 hr or more 
.
