South Bowl of Fire - 2/5/20

Back View of Elephant Arch

First Canyon Wash

South Bowl of Fire from Approach Trail

Hikers on Approach Trail

On Northshore Road at mile marker 18.2, there is a stand alone ridge on the north side of the road. Peekaboo Ridge would be a good name for this ridge since it blocks the view of the beautiful South Bowl of Fire from the Trailhead at "MM 18." In recent years, a fantastic trail has been worn between the turnout and the bowl of multicolor redstone. Some hikers take their HCVs down the ramp at MM 16 and drive a couple of miles out Callville Wash Road to get to the bowl's wash entrance. But, the trail from the turnout is only 0.75 miles to where it drops into the entrance wash and the extra hiking goes by like a breeze ... without the hassle of collecting HCVs.

Wall next to First Canyon Wash

John appears under Arch

Scramble

Hillside Ascent

We haven't done a special hike into the South Bowl of Fire for a while so effort was made to devise a good moderate hike that would not require too much difficult scrambling. By overlaying a few previous hikes, I believe the effort was rewarded with a winner! Ten hikers showed up for its debut and we hiked in effortlessly on the easily followed trail. The third photo above was taken as we rounded the corner of Peekaboo Ridge. The trail took us to a short down climb into the bowl's main wash. We crossed the wash and started up another, less worn, trail that led us up the hill to circle around a landmark rock outcrop. From there, we wound our way down to a colorful wash below finding the trail as we went.

Heart Rock on Hillside

Various Colors

Overlook

Huge Monolith marking Small Canyon

This wash is, perhaps, the most beautiful of all the washes in the South Bowl. It can be negotiated with a few scrambles or there is a trail that travels up along the left side. After the second dry fall, we curved around and began climbing the hillside on the right passing Heart Rock. We crested the hill and turned to our left today. The canyon on the other side of the hill is a fun canyon to descend but we had other fish to fry. Circling around the rocks to the left brought us to an overlook that peers down the approach canyon for our Anniversary Narrows Peak hike. Continuing down the trail, we circled around to the right and found a tamer canyon that we would use as a descent to one of the main washes below.

Small Canyon

Various Colors

Large Arch

Ron giving me his Best Side

The wash was fun without any serious scrambling and, near the bottom, we hiked past a huge arch as seen in the photo above. The rocks in front of it shielded the look of the arch. We continued down, turned right in the cross wash, then quickly turned left into another wash. This wash was a good stair-stepping wash up into the redstone at the base of the mountain ridge beyond. There is a tall cairn that marks (at this time) where you may exit the wash and cross up to the Dog Face Rock. We circled around the rock to get the full effect of the "Dog Face." Next, we climbed back to the wash further up and diagonally crossed it into the next separation of redstone.

Liz in Second Wash Ascent

Dog Face

The Group at Elephant Arch

Trail above Big Wash

Up and over the next hill, we came to the Elephant Arch, probably the most significant rock formation in the South Bowl of Fire. A large cairn marks the area on the rocks near it ... just in case you can't see it from afar among all the camouflage! We took our break here.

After the break, there is a choice of directions. If you continue down the alley that holds the Arch, you will come to a fun slide down to the left. Following the slide are two more gently difficult scrambles to emerge into the open. Our moderate hike did not go this way. Instead, we turned left right after the arch and crossed over to an even bigger main wash. A vague trail took us to it, down into it, across it and up the following embankment.

Trail leading to Thru Boulders

Out the Other Side of Thru Boulders

Ridge Trail

Descent to 1st Slot

We turned to follow the vague trail down next to the wash below and had to make one crossing of a side wash. The trail continued to a bunch of large boulders. Making our way through the boulders on the rock wall side, we dropped down into another break in the redstone. A trail through this break led us to a larger trail that followed a ridge down between the redstone and another wash. Soon, the trail dropped down to cross the wash on the left right above the 1st Slot, showing that there is more redstone that lies beneath. The trail goes up the other side here, then crosses over to a shallow wash at the base of the blackstone. The 2nd Slot is found here. This slot cannot be negotiated without ropes!

2nd Slot

Block Boulder

Exit Scramble

Exit Wash

We took a look-see then followed an up and around trail to get back to the wash at the bottom. This wash led down through the exit scramble and back to the climb out of the overland trail. Five miles of this sort of hiking with intermittent scrambling is a good workout. Needless to say, the photos (or just staring at the beauty) are half of the enjoyment. We'll probably do this hike again! Great group!

5 miles; 800 feet elevation gain; 3.25 hours; average moving speed 1.5 mph

Climbing back to Approach Trail

Rounding Corner of Peekaboo Ridge

Family of Cotton Barrels