April 23
The Cedar Break’s NMon park website’s latest weather information from April 14 says the park experienced record snowfall this past winter. Snowpack was at 217% of average, with 10-foot depth the standard level, and drifts between 30-40 feet covering the main road, route 148 (and route 143). The park is therefore delaying its summer VC opening until June 16. Snowmobiles and skiers can access the park at any time. I saw trails along my “walk”.
Knowing the two roads were closed, I had to select the best option of getting close enough to the park boundary so I could walk in. The town of Brian Head is at the north end of the park. This is a big ski resort complex. I figured Utah and the city would have as many roads cleared as possible, and maps showed a 2-mile hike from the edge of town to a trailhead for a place called Rattlesnake Creek Trail. Heck, I can walk through two miles of snow. All of our parents and grandparents reminded us for years about the 7-feet of snow they had to trek through for miles upon miles to get to school, and then back home, right? Sure enough, the road up to Brian Head was perfectly clear. And the clean road kept going up, so I kept going onward. Finally, I came to a road barricade, saying “Road Closed”. I had hoped the state would have plowed right to the entrance sign of the park, allowing cars to go that far. Then I would get out, press the buttons on my GPS unit, take one photo, and drive away. Well, I got part of that correct. There was plenty of asphalt showing past the sign, so why not but on the hiking boots and see what was around the bend. I went under the sign (snow was 6-feet deep on both sides of the barricade) and began walking. And walking, and walking. And nary one flake of snow on the road.
Finally something in the distance. Soon I could make out a large snowplow, smack dab in the middle of the road. Now, when I say middle, the entire road so far had only been cleared for a single lane of traffic. The path was as wide as the plow. Then I saw the park entrance sign, covered by a good six feet of snow, only being able to make out the NPS symbol. That should mean the trailhead was near. I gave up the search quickly. There was no way to tell if any trail was nearby. Or maybe it was still ahead of me. As Nancy Sinatra sings, these boots are made for walkin’, so onward-ho. In 0.4 miles (I checked later on Google Maps) I came to a snow-covered parking lot. Turns out this is the north entrance fee station, at the North View Overlook. GPS unit, do your thing. And I was then able to hike 100 yards, on top of 4 feet of packed snow, to the overlook platform. The “Bowl” was beautiful, the sun shining on the south-facing hoodoos, towers, and features. There were plenty of ski and snowmobile tracks in the area, so others have been making it to this spot. But how about hiking 1.5 miles? So, a different ordeal than I was expecting when I planned this segment of my Quest.
Oh, yeah. On the hike back to the car, as I passed the entrance sign, I saw a small building, nearly buried by snow, only its roof showing. This had to be the starting point for Rattlesnake Creek. I never saw the structure when going into the park because the plow had pushed 12 feet of snow between it and the road. Well, I am glad I did miss it.