Expansive views of southern Utah and northern Arizona, cool canyon narrows, Pueblo II petroglyphs, a deep sand slog and delicious quiche in Kanab, "Utah's Little Hollywood."

On the trail to Mansard Benchmark (mesa on the left).

Ancient Moqui steps carved into Red Canyon (AKA Peekaboo)
Also called "moki" steps, these were carved into sandstone to access alcove above.  The lowest step is about 5 feet from the canyon floor.  Handmade ropes and ladders were possibly used to access the steps, or sediment has washed away, making the access higher.  There may have been a granary in the alcove.
more Peekaboo photos below

Kanab, "The Greatest Earth on Show" is adventure-central for southern Utah and a nice little city with good restaurants, a museum, and a great bakery.  We stayed in an RV park with our small trailer for two nights, walked into town for dinner one night, and did two hikes.  Mansard Benchmark and East Mansard Peak were just out of city limits, and a great way to get the lay of the land for miles around.  The Peekaboo Canyon hike was a slog through deep sand to get to the slot canyon (we didn't have the right tires on our pick-up).  Kanab has adventure companies galore that will take you to Antelope Canyon, Horseshoe Bend, Peakaboo Canyon and the Grand Canyon.  It's not far from the now world-famous "The Wave" in Vermillion Cliffs, as well as Buckskin Gulch and Wire Pass.  It used to be easier to get into "The Wave";  Fred and I have gone twice about 20 years ago, when all we had to do was to be the first in line at the Kanab Ranger Station by 8:00 a.m. to get two of the limited number of permits.  Now you have to go through a lottery system.

​There's a reason you may feel invigorated after visiting Kanab.  There's a lot of orange.  Orange is the color of warmth, vitality, and creativity.  According to Color Theory, orange increases our activity levels and gives us a sharper awareness of our surroundings.

Mansard Benchmark and East Mansard Peak
This short hike combines most of the great attributes of southern Utah:  slickrock scrambling, spectacular views, petroglyphs, striking landforms and geology, junipers and pinyon pines, and some route-finding.  A couple of weaknesses in the north cliffs proved a bit daunting for me to climb, but then we found a rope that assisted me up and down the cliff band.

Hike Summary

• One mile of switchbacks from trailhead to arrive at top of Vermilion Cliffs, to see both summits.   
• Mansard Trail takes a left at the saddle between these two high points to end at a junction with a sandy road.
• Hike left up this road to find the signs for the petroglyph site.  Most hikers/runners stop here and return.
• Hike to Mansard Benchmark summit:  access is on the north side of the mesa, reached by hiking on the sandy road in the opposite direction, leading northeast.
• Hike on this road ~ 0.4 miles, then leave road and head up the slope toward the north side of Mansard Benchmark's cliffs.
• Walk along base of cliff until you find a spot you can do a Class 3 move to get over the cliff.  I eventually found a rope tied to a sturdy tree and used it to ascend onto ground above cliff band.
• We found cairns to mark the way through the brush on top to a nice lookout over petroglyph site to the south, making sure to take a visual of the descent point.  In this case, there is a distinct-looking juniper that is right over our entry point.
• Climb East Mansard Peak: Descend back down to sandy road; we bush-whacked from road to Mansard Trail to find a 0.2-mile social trail that went toward the base of East Mansard.  Class 2-2+ scramble on white slickrock to summit.

Peekaboo Slot Canyon (Red Canyon) 
​We didn't trust our truck's tires on the jeep/ATV road's  deep sand (Road 102 from the highway trailhead), so we walked that 2.8-mile distance to the entrance of Peekaboo, which admittedly got a bit frustrating on the last mile back.  But it was worth it.  Within the confines of towering 80-foot high walls, you enter a silent, almost mysterious world.  It's mind-boggling to consider how many millions of years it took for water to carve this Navajo Sandstone.  We walked through at optimal light that shifted orange, red and purple hues during our time in the slot.  So many compositions of curves, textures, lines can be captured with a camera.  It becomes darker as you progress to the end, requiring a tripod if using a digital camera to capture sharp images.  The moqui steps carved into a vertical wall by Native Americans were the most amazing feature.  They clearly lead to a ledge, at this time illuminated with a fiery orange.  Stripped and bleached tree trunks wedged between narrow sandstone spaces above attest to past waters moving fast enough to deposit them there.

Oh, yes.  I mentioned we had the best quiche at Kanab Creek Bakery, which prepares food using "traditional European" methods.  Their croissants looked so good.  We got there when it opened at 8:00 a.m., and soon after there was already a line for breakfast.  

The best modes of transportation to explore the desert around Kanab and Grand Staircase are jeeps and UTV side-by-sides.  White Pocket in northern Arizona's Vermilion Cliffs is our next goal - just outside of Kanab near the famous "Wave" in Coyote Buttes.  We just need to talk our neighbor, who has a jeep, into going with us.

Keep On Exploring!!

"The Wave" in Coyote Buttes North - Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness, Bureau of Land Management.

Mural in Kanab.
(more city of Kanab images at end of post)

Cairn a short distance from parking lot.  East Mansard Peak is center horizon.

Vermilion Cliffs:  first mile of trail switch-backs up to the top where it heads north toward saddle between Mansard Benchmark and East Mansard Peak.

Mansard Trail switchbacks.

Off the switchbacks, onto the plateau.   East Mansard Peak on the right.

 Mansard Benchmark seen once on top of the plateau.  The route to summit this is from the other (north) side of this mesa.

Pleasant stroll  - East Mansard Peak seen here.

On the way to petroglyph site on south side of Mansard Benchmark.

Mansard Trail petroglyphs are ~ 870 - 1,070 years old according to Bureau of Land Management Mansard Trail page.

Detail in sandstone wall near petroglyph site.

Some cool stuff on the trail.

Just had to photograph (in high dynamic range) this beautiful, huge juniper!

Point at which we left the sandy road and headed toward Mansard Benchmark's north cliffs.

Approaching north cliffs.

Looking for a route to the top.

Get to climb beautiful slick rock!

Walking along cliff base to find a Class 3 weakness.

Found this rope:  Fred used it only to climb down.  He climbed up a weakness in the cliff just before this.

At the top of Mansard Benchmark looking over Kanab and Kanab Plateau into northern Arizona.

Heading down:  large juniper marks where we ascended the cliff band.

Looking up at East Mansard Peak.

Social trail takes you from main Mansard Trail to base of East Mansard; begin climbing through sand/on sandstone to the left.

Maneuvering over sandstone to ridge and then following it to the right.

Summit at the right.

Cairn on summit.  View includes Mansard Benchmark (left).  Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument on right in photo.

Base of East Mansard Peak.

Our GPS tracks and elevation profile 
click on map for larger view

The road leading to Peekaboo from the trailhead off Highway 89.  Sand gets deeper than this in some parts of this road.

Some cool stuff in Kanab.

More than 100 movies and television shows, like Gunsmoke were filmed in Kanab and vicinity.  It was the setting for The Lone Ranger, Billy the Kid, The Outlaw Josey Wales and even Planet of the Apes.  A walking tour of "downtown" Kanab presents many nice-quality plaques that feature actors like John Wayne, Frank Sinatra, Dale Evans, Jack Nicholson, Clint Eastwood, Ronald Reagan, and many other stars who came to Kanab to film movies.

"Love Thy Neighbor as Thyself"......Jacob Hamblin, Buckskin Apostle.

Our Hike
If you ever happen to be in southwestern Utah the first week of October, I highly recommend this hike.  The onset of autumn makes an enchanting forest in the Pine Valley Mountains; it reminds me of the spectacular autumn foliage we saw when we lived in New Hampshire.
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​In my last post, I indicated that most people aren't aware of the hidden, magical world of southern Utah's Ashdown Gorge beneath the highway out of Cedar City.  It's the same with the steep and rugged Pine Valley Mountain Wilderness just north of St. George.  In this case, you can see this "sky island" rising like a hulk over red sandstone and black cinder cones, but it's not until you actually get into the heart of this wilderness that you realize its extraordinary beauty and find solitude.  
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​We timed our hike to the highest point in the Pine Valley Mountains - Signal Peak - perfectly.  The autumn colors were at their optimum, adding variety and depth to this dense forest.  We had already summited Burger Peak, the second-highest in this beautiful, lightly-traveled mountain range, navigating deep snow banks in the spring.  Lucky for me, afternoon clouds provided the best light that made these colors glow, so I spent a lot of time yelling ahead to Fred that I had stopped to photograph.  We saw only three other hikers who were also enjoying the "zen" of this enchanting forest.

We are frequent visitors to this range that is remarkable for having the most botanical species than any other Utah mountain range - including three new species to Utah recently identified.  We hiked Gardner Peak, a summit not often traveled a few months ago with friends.  

​Striking rock formations growing gnarly old trees form steep cliffs with almost vertical valleys that drop toward the south when you finally emerge from the forest for a huge view of Southern Arizona and the red and yellow rocks near St. George at about 10,000 feet elevation.  It's a brief view near the base of Burger Peak, and then it's back into the forest for the one-mile walk to  Signal Peak summit.  The spur trail to Burger Peak, ~ one mile before Signal Peak, is marked by an easy-to-miss two-rocked duck.