When I go hiking around Central Ohio, I often look for a more out-of-the-way place. Sure, I also hit the main attractions, but I also have a yen for the different.
So, here in Zion, after hitting Observation Point, we went to Huber Wash.
If you haven’t heard of Huber Wash, you’re not alone. It’s not along the Zion main drag. In fact, it is outside the Canyon, in an area called the Southwest Desert. You can see it on this map.
Location of Huber Wash
It’s a “wash” because it is usually dry. But the occasional flash flood comes through, and that gives it its character. The Wash sits in its own canyon—just not a canyon as spectacular as Zion.
Finding it was a bit tricky. There is a roadside parking area on either side of the wash—we chose the more westerly one. We had to pass through a gate with the warning to close it behind. This land isn’t even in Zion; it is state-owned. However, going north a short distance puts on into the park proper.
Here are my son Ian and me just starting to head up the Wash.
Starting Up the Wash
The desert flora is so different from what I am used to. Here’s a Soaptree Yucca hybrid.
Yucca
(Yes, I bought an identification book.)
And a close-up of the flowers.
Yucca Flowers
There were also an awful lot of these plants.
Milkvetch
Along the way, all I managed to do was identify it as a legume (the leaves and pods are a dead giveaway). Back in camp with the book though, that is a Specklepod Milkvetch.
There was also this Claret-Cup Cactus.
Claret-Cup Cactus
I was tending to think everything was a Prickly-Pear until I realized that the body wasn’t flat, but barrel-shaped.
Continuing up the Wash we were presented with a great view of Mt. Kinesava. (We see the other side of it from our campsite.)
Mt. Kinesava
Eventually we made it to the dryfall of Huber Wash.
The Huber Wash Dryfall
It is pretty reminiscent of the recess caves in Hocking Hills. And it wasn’t a complete dryfall—there was some water dripping down (you can see the plants taking advantage of that).
According to my hiking guide (Hiking Zion & Bryce Canyon National Parks, by Molvar and Martin), it was supposedly possible to scramble up to the top of that.
Hikers who are prepared to hike out along the Chinle Trail can bypass the dryfall obstacle. Backtrack approximately 100 feet and climb over boulders onto the shelf located on the left (west) side of the canyon. Seek out a narrow chimney through which you can climb out onto the mesa above.
So we took a shot at it. Here’s one of the “boulders”.
Bouldering
It’s really not a “chimney” you are looking for, but a side tributary to the main Huber Wash channel. It has its own little dryfall that’s just not as high up as the main one.
The Route Up
It was actually pretty fun to climb up that (and bare feet sure helped).
From on top of the mesa the view of Mt. Kinesava was even better.
A Closer Mt. Kinesava
Here’s the view looking down from atop the dryfall.
Dryfall From Above
Finally, this whole area has a petrified forest. We came across a few pieces of petrified logs. Like this one:
A Petrified Log
Heading up to Observation Point was like hiking the Zion National superhighway. Huber Wash? Not so much. There was one other car at the trailhead (from Alaska!), and we never met them on the hike. Glorious solitude.
The trip back down the wash was equally interesting, except we missed our location to climb out of the wash to get to our car. Lost? Not really. We were both experienced woodsmen, and that translates pretty well to desertsmen. We knew which way to do a bit of cross-country, and met up with the gate (and car) easily.
By the way, people ask about snakes in the southwest. Quite frankly, the vegetation is far enough apart that I think one would show up pretty easily. It’s the eastern forested mountains you need to be more careful in.
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