I had to make a quick overnight trip to St. George, Utah yesterday to help my in-laws get their swamp cooler running in preparation for a big heat up coming this weekend. I haven’t done much hiking because of the virus situation and so I thought I would take the opportunity to explore a bit in the desert landscape of southern Utah. I’ve seen pictures on the internet of Toquerville Falls for several years and I’ve wanted to see and shoot it. The problem with this particular waterfall is its remote location and difficulty accessing it. I did a little research and found conflicting information, but in general, it didn’t seem overly hard. I got off I-15 on the Toquerville exit, drove into town and turned off on Spring Creek Rd. At the end of the pavement on the edge of town, I encountered a sign warning of the “Extreme Rough Road” conditions. I was driving my Toyota 4-runner, but I didn’t want to risk damage to my vehicle if it wasn’t necessary. A local informed me that it was only a two-mile hike. I figured I could easily do two miles, even if it was in the middle of the day during a building heatwave in the Utah desert. I parked my car on the side of the road, put on my pack, grabbed the sunscreen, and started walking.

Always be aware of extreme warning signs, especially when they are topped with razor wire!

My two-mile hike stretched to three miles, and then to four. It was a tough climb up a gnarly dirt road. After a while, another local drove past on her way down the mountain and stopped to show me a shortcut on an even worse jeep track off to my right. She assured me I would save lots of time and enjoy an easier path. Without a map in hand and not really knowing where I was going, I took her direction and began my descent down the mountain towards La Verkin Creek. It was a rough trail of scree rock and powdered dirt. Another mile passed underfoot, and it was getting hotter in the early afternoon sun.

The landscape was desolate and beautiful, but I found it hard to enjoy as my concern grew that I was in a remote area of the state with no one around me, and no one knowing I was there. I only had one bottle of water and no indication of where this waterfall was.

I finally reached the river and began threading my way upstream crossing through the water several times as I continued up the old jeep track. Checking my cell phone, I noticed I still had a weak signal to the outside world. The thought occurred to me that perhaps my wilderness guide daughter might be able to help me out. I wondered if it would be possible to send her my GPS location and have her tell me if I was nearing the waterfall. Sadly, the signal wasn’t strong enough to get to her in a timely manner. After I figured I had gone 5.5 miles on a 2-mile hike, and I was hot and tired with 5.5 miles to go on my return 2-mile hike, I was ready to concede defeat. The last thing I wanted to do was be the headline for another search and rescue effort.

By now my feet were feeling sunburned because I chose to wear my Chaco sandals for the first time of the year. I was hot, dirty, and tired, and I had a mountain to climb on my way out. I was disappointed to not find the waterfall on my first attempt at Toquerville Falls. When I climbed up out of the canyon, I had enough signal to exchange numerous texts with my daughter and her husband. They could see exactly where I was on the map and I enjoyed a nice conversation with them about my adventures. I think on my next attempt to find this falls, I’ll take two seasoned guides with me ; )

Luckily, I parked near Ash Creek. When I finally returned to my car after my jaunt through the desert, I enjoyed a much deserved soak in the cool water to wash the 10 miles of dust off my feet and legs.