Nippletop and the Search for "The Skull"

In the Zion Canyon Visitor Center, there is a picture of a rock formation referred to as "The Skull". Many visitors would come in and ask about the location of that formation. No one knows where it is and for many years I did not consider trying to find it.When Derrick and Seth told me about their search, I got inspired. I knew that once I put my mind to it, I would exhaust every possibility until I tracked it down. Some days during work we would quickly go explore some rock formations near the road that could contain "The Skull".

So far we had been shut out. I had a picture of "The Skull" that I printed out. There was only one out there meaning whomever had found it first had not shared information with anybody else. I had determined that forget work time, I was going to go find this on my own time. I started in the location where near the road it seemed to have the most hoodoo formations with iron concretions on the top.
This naturally led me on the path toward Nippletop, a peak that Paul Holthouse and I had attempted to climb the previous December. We did not like the appearance of the steepness of the climb and had instead climbed a lesser peak. This time though, I found a different way to approach the peak, the same way that Paul and I had bailed the previous time.

This kept us from the exposure of coming up and approaching the peak from the ridge route that was very exposed. It still put me on the ridge, but later on the ridge route. It was still exposed, but I just took it slowly and eventually I got to the steep section. From below, it looked nearly vertical. Once I was there, though, it wasn't too bad. It was semi exposed, but picking my way up, I followed a faint trail that led me to the only class 3 move I had to make the whole time. Then it flattened out once I was above the thick Navajo layer. I followed the shallow incline until getting to the summit block. I maneuvered around that until I figured out the right approach and was soon standing on top.

Of course, the view was awesome as it usually is with most east side summits. I enjoyed the top for a time, happy with my accomplishment. I started down and this time I stayed on the ridge to look for "The Skull". My route took me over exposed slickrock, through canyons, and down steep drop-offs with some excellent looking hoodoo formations, but never was I able to track down the infamous "Skull". I put in a full day out there and felt good about the exercise and the peak that I had climbed in the process. I was not done and "The Skull" would have to be found on another day.