Zion National Park - LaVerkin Creek Trail - August 20, 2010 - Member Trip Report
| Hike Name: | Zion National Park - LaVerkin Creek Trail |
|---|---|
| Country: | United States |
| State: | Utah |
| Trip Rating: |  |
| Trip Date: | August 20, 2010 |
| Duration: | 11 hours |
| Trail Conditions: | Good |
| Trail Traffic: | Light |
| Trip Weather: | Sunny |
| Trip Winds: | Moderate |
| Trip Precipitation: | None |
| Trip Temperature: | High: 91-100, Low: 71-80 degrees Fahrenheit |
| Trip Report: | I started down the LaVerkin Creek Trail at 130P and it was pretty hot already, with a few hours to go before the heat of the day peaked. The heat was mitigated somewhat by the frequent shade along the trail under the junipers and pines. The Park Service rates this hike as strenuous and I am sure they are thinking of it as a day hike – 14 miles roundtrip with a climb of 700’ in the heat would be strenuous. My plan was to do it as a backpacking trip, camp in LaVerkin Canyon and explore sans backpack in the upper end of the canyon from a base camp. In that light, this was not a strenuous hike – although it wasn’t easy carrying nearly 40 pounds in the heat, once the temperature topped 90 degrees. After descending off the ridge that constituted most of the descent on this trail, the nearly level conditions of the trail were offset by the fact that the vegetation was thinner down there and thus, there was significantly less shade. Timber Creek was entirely dry except for a few wet places near a spring. That was not unwelcome as the trail crosses Timber Creek about 20 times over 2 miles. Only in the last few crossings did I find any water at all, and that was not sufficient to even cause a flow. I had 4 liters of water on my back when I started this hike. The hydration bladder stayed relatively cool, but the water in my bottles in the outside pockets got as hot as bath water. In spite of the heat, there were a few day hikers on the trail, although I saw no more after I reached the bottom of the Timber Creek part of the trail. Crossing over into the LaVerkin Creek drainage is done by climbing about 100’ over a ridge extending off of Gregory Butte, and then walking across a hard baked surface where the trail is barely discernible, through low vegetation that provides scarce shade from the blistering sun. Dropping down on the east side I had a great view of the mouth of LaVerkin Canyon, and the thick green vegetation testified that LaVerkin Creek indeed still has water. When the trail leveled out a short distance from LaVerkin Creek, it turned to loose red sand that was akin to walking on a beach. That slowed me down a bit, and the workout really made me sweat. Campground #4 is the westernmost of the LaVerkin Creek campsites and it is near the cascade in the creek that the map shows as “falls.” There were 2 people in the creek near that campsite, but campgrounds 5 through 9 were empty. Campsite #10 had 2 people in it, and then the rest were empty. I arrived at my reserved campsite (#13) at 515P after crossing LaVerkin Creek to the south side. I had deliberately chosen one of the 3 or 4 campsites on the south side of the creek to give me more seclusion, but it was not necessary. After I set up camp, 2 guys arrived in #14 and 3 arrived in #12. With only 10 of us camping in the canyon, seclusion was the order of the day. I have no idea, of course, if there was anybody staying in 15, 16 or 17 farther up the canyon. My guess was there couldn’t have been more than a few, given the emptiness of the rest of the canyon. After I set up camp, I took only a bottle of water and one trekking pole and set out on the Kolob Arch Trail. That half-mile trail was amazing. The canyon below Kolob Arch is very narrow and strewn with huge boulders. The trail picks its way over and around these boulders for nearly its entire length. At the end, I saw the Kolob Arch, but it was so far up that it lost all perspective for me. It simply did not look bigger than all of the arches in Arches National Park. The temperature in the canyon dropped into the comfortable 70s quickly after the sunset. I had a very pleasant and comfortable, bug-free evening meal, visited with the guys in #14 briefly, and crawled into my tent at dark. It had been a nice day full of awesome scenery, and now my night’s sleep would be helped by the soothing sound of LaVerkin Creek, just below my campsite. |
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