Thursday, April 17, 2008

Accidental Rediscovery

What the plan was for this day was to hike up La Verkin Creek as far as physically possible. So I took the same path that you take to Toquerville Peak, which actually is Mt. Anderson. I just discovered that looking at my new TOPO software. So I jutted off the road where I saw it went down to the creek. Pretty nice and I was happy to be by the creek on this cool, windy day. There was a path, created by ATV's and dirt bikes. It went in and out of the creek. I was not too thrilled about that as I tried to cross without getting my feet wet. Just when I was starting to feel like Alexander Supertramp, I gave it up and decided to just let my feet get wet. It was unfortunate, but made it all easier. The creek was running high from Spring run-off. Just minding my own business and wondering how long this trip could go upstream, I stumbled upon an enormous waterfall. I was shocked because the terrain could be pretty much described as boring. I heard about Toquerville Falls before, but was never sure where it was. I decided that this must be it, but that thought frustrated me a bit. You could see the impact from all the ATV's right by the waterfall. I figured there must be an easier path than the one that I took to get there. There was and the road was graded and I believe even my truck could have possibly navigated that road. I walked to the end of my forward progress. A fairly well maintained gate with KEEP OUT and NO TRESPASSING ended the day. I sat down and ate a sandwich, then using my new Camelback decided to run the road back. I did a decent job, arriving in half an hour to forty-five minutes shorter duration on the trip back. The waterfall was excellent and the trip was well worth it. I don't think I would want to do it on a warm summer's day as that waterfall, I am sure, turns into a nice swimming hole for everyone. It would ruin the pristine nature from which I got to rediscover it for myself.

1 comment:

Mark said...

That looks like a very stunning destination! I can only imagine the crowds during the warmer days (especially since there is a road). We miss you both...tell Jackie hello!