Memories from November 21, 2018.
I took the alternate north northeast out of Hildale this morning. The first problem was that the obvious route (based on the roads on my GPS app) to get to the trail running down Short Creek was blocked by private property. I backtracked and cut over to the creek through a fence and garbage strewn drainage which didn’t say No Trespassing. Eventually a 4×4 came in from the right so I guess a I should have taken the road out of town which didn’t appear to connect all the way to the trail.
The Squirrel Creek Trail (per GPS App) was actually pretty interesting. It connects the was to an ATV route at the top of the wash and is steep at the end but goes up through some sandstone and trees which reminded me of the Sundown Trail after Dark Canyon.
I had been expecting to cruise on the ATV route but it was sandy and windy and while visually interesting (the sand was kinda like snow in some ways) was a little onerous. The ATV route exits a wilderness boundary which says no ATV to a Jeep road which is also sandy.
Today was more tiresome than I expected through that might also be because I ate a lot as I have extra food. I stopped at about where the alternate joins the main trail. However instead of bushwhacking directly across for the last mile or so, I followed the road in a big U which probably added a few miles.
Isaac Takes A Hike 