Kanab, Utah: Separation Canyon, Yant Flat, White Domes, Powell Point, Bull Valley, Petrified Forest, Bisti Wings (Oct. 15–24, 2023)

Janet Jacks at the White Domes

Personnel. Stan Wagon and Joan Hutchinson, Katie Larson, Elke Dratch, Janet Jacks, JeanneMarie Mendesh, and Bob Portmann.

Oct. 15, 2023. Joan and I drive to Kanab via Richfield. Uneventful.

Oct. 16, 2023. Katie, Elke, JM, Bob, Janet and I did the Separation Canyon/Checkerboard Canyon loop, with a side trip to Nippletop Summit for Katie, Janet, Elke, and me.

Oct. 17, 2023. Katie, Elke, Janet and I went over to Yant Flat north of St. George and rambled on the nice Navajo sandstone. We returned to Kanab via the road through Zion National Park.

Oct. 18, 2023. Katie, Elke, JM, Bob, Janet and I went to the White Domes from Water Canyon north of Hildale, Utah. This was a strenuous day.

Oct. 19, 2023. Rest day. Joan and I hiked the Canyon Overlook trail near the tunnel.

Oct. 20, 2023. Katie and I went to Powell Point. This was long drive, but the point itself, and the trees en route, were spectacular.

Oct. 21, 2023. Katie, Bob, Janet and I did a loop in Bull Valley Gorge.

Oct. 22, 2023. Joan and I drove to Flagstaff, first doing a short hike in Walnut Creek National Monument.

Oct. 23, 2023. Joan and I drove to Gallup, doing the route to Onyx Bridge in Petrified Forest National Park along the way.

Oct. 24, 2023. Joan and I drove to the Bisti Wings area in the Bisti Wilderness, and then drove home via Farmington, Durango, Pagosa Springs, Wolf Creek Pass, and Leadville.

Summary: This was the first time to Kanab for this group and it took a bit of research to find hikes suitable for good photography, good exercise, and interesting terrain. Prior to the trip Katie and I planned five long hikes, and we did them all.

Highlights: 10/17: A strenuous hike to the White Domes over widely varying terrain.
10/19: To Powell Point, a spot I have thought about reaching for 20 years.
10/20: Bull Valley Gorge, using a tripod for slot canyon photography. Entered the way I knew a mile down the rim, but exited through the nice upper section of the canyon.

Elke on the dividing ridge N of Nippletop.
The final steep slope to Nippletop summit.
Janet descending from the summit.
Nippletop from Separation valley.
The view into Zion from Nippletop. That is West Temple at left, with Bridge Mountain in front of it.
Yant Flat, west of the town of Leeds on I-15, is a noted location for Navajo sandstone. The drive from Kanab was a bit long, but the hike was rewarding, though I would say the features are not as spectacular as similar locations in South Coyote Buttes or Edmaier’s Secret. Lichen as we descended after the 2-mile approach on a flat road.
Katie and Elke as we descended into the canyon.
Navajo striations.
Yellow Top, at the east end of the area.
Prickly pear in fruit. The paddles are edible (called nopales), as is the fruit (tunas). We cut into one of these and tasted it. Excellent. That night we had prickly pear margaritas at the Sego restaurant, which include a syrup made from the tunas. Later in the week I bought two bottles of syrup at the Petrified Forest National Park visitor center, and these margaritas are easy to make.
A banana yucca with its fruit. These are also edible.
Water Canyon Arch appears high on the right as one starts the hike. One can reach this arch by the Squirrel Canyon trail. We had a long day in front of us (it would be about 9 miles over 8.5 hours), so started relatively early.
The amount of water flowing in Water Canyon was impressive. So the name is appropriate. But what is the creek called? Water Creek seems silly. I am not sure it has a name. Maybe it is part of “Short Creek”.
This image took some careful editing because the sky was washed out in the original.
This portrait of Bob and JM was taken on descent, but shows well the ridge we followed (right to left) to reach the White Domes.
Ponderosa pine and domes. (Photo by Elke Dratch)
It was a relief to finally reach the domes as the hike was becoming tedious along the ridge we used for the approach. These domes are at just under 7000 feet, so there were broad views in all directions. Elke and Janet above.
The White Domes.
My favorite view of the domes, taken as we were leaving the area.
The Claron formation is the same sandstone as at Bryce Canyon. The hike to Powell Point was relatively easy, but it was 5.6 miles one way. The bristlecone pines up top (Pinus longaeva). were spectacular and numerous. This species is not the same as the ones we have in Colorado (Rocky mountain bristlecone)
The view of Powell Point from the highway. Our ascent trail was at the left edge but around the corner. Photo by Katie Larson.
I had been here several years ago, but we did not get very far. This time we headed directly for the easy entrance a mile down the right rim. We got sidetracked on a dead-end trail (maybe it goes somewhere?) and retraced a bit to descend the obvious gully to the canyon floor. Then we went downstream for a mile or so, had lunch, and retraced beyond our entry point. We saw a couple approaching us, so it became clear we would be able to exit near the bridge. There were a couple logs leaning against the rock at one steep climb, and that allowed the easy exit.Nice colors in the slot. I had a tripod with me, which is unusual for me.
Mud curls.
In a deep canyon the diffuse daylight does not make it down to the bottom. But the mostly blue light from the sky does. This means the canyon can look blue. The image below is the same as this one except that I saturated blue to the max. This shows that there is indeed blue color present even though the canyon walls are reddish. A discussion of this phenomenon can be found at
< https://www.synnatschke.com/news/best-of-slot-canyons >.
In 1954 there was a bad accident where the Skutumpah Road crosses the canyon. Three local men died. The pickup truck remains stuck between the canyon walls. For more on this story see https://web.archive.org/web/20221204081312/https://utahadvjournal.com/index.php/the-bridge-at-bull-valley-gorge
Janet and me. Photo by Katie Larson.
In 2019 the bridge that replaced the one that collapsed after the 1954 accident was destroyed by a utility company that dug a trench in it. A new metal bridge was then constructed. (Photo courtesy Sunny Stroeer.)
An unusual spiral thread on a banana yucca. The ruins were a little interesting, but the general ambience and flora of the spot were more interesting. There are indeed many walnut trees in the canyon.
A nice gambel oak leaf.
Onyx Bridge, a very long piece of a single petrified conifer from 210,000,000 years ago (Triassic era). Prior to 2019 the piece that starts at center of the image above and moves right spanned the wash and there was no break at the end of the dark brown section. The image below shows what it looked like in 2018: a more impressive structure.
The painted forest (Chinle sandstone). This was taken from the trail climbing back to the car.
Nice petrified wood logs are everywhere in this area.
Joan on the return hike, crossing Lithodendron Wash (a great name). This was a boring hike and, on the way out, the route finding was tricky as there are no markings, just a reasonably accurate handout from the Park’s visitor center.
The Bisti wings are about a mile walk (flat) from a somewhat obscure and unmarked trailhead. This is in the Kirtland sandstone formation. The name here is from the Navajo Bistahi, which indicates the pronunciation. Note the small wing at lower center. It appears these wings were already formed withint the sandstone body and show up after erosion. This name comes from the Navajo Bistahi, so the pronunciation is Bist-eye.
A nice guardian hoodoo is the first interesting feature as one approaches.
Returning to the car.