Lime Kiln Canyon

Posted by2epic 13 Comments on Lime Kiln Canyon

Lime Kiln is a place in the Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument that has been calling for a while. The Grand Canyon Parashant National Monument is 30 miles south of St George and covers over a million acres. It is huge and remote. It has no food, supplies, camping, lodging, first aid etc. Nearest is St George. A bit far out there to venture solo but manageable duo these days.

The flowers in the desert are off the charts and this route went through the heart of them for 130 miles. End of the day we tallied about 16k feet of climbing – boy that turned out to be a big one.

It was a spur of the moment trip when we passed a poster ad on the road on the way home from a Smith Mesa/Jem Trail lap that said Casablanca Casino Mesquite $29.99 for room and buffet. Now that is a deal and to make it more of a deal we figured riding our bikes all the way there would maximize the buffet trip…Sleep then ride home. Luxury bike overnighting.

The route took us out of St George, up Lowe Mountain and to the Cedar Pockets overlook.

Big ol’ road grader.

Then over towards Mt Bangs. Instead of the fast route down Elbow Canyon to Mesquite we continued on down Hatchet Valley. About here was new territory for us both.

Tom and Cull Canyon – love those crazy names.

Soft and spiky flora

The pointy mountain in the distance is Mount Bangs. We came over the saddle on the right a few hours back. These rocks were awsome. Called Red Pockets.

Here is just above Mud Crossing. We turned up and West towards Lime Kiln Canyon and Mesquite. Down and East towards Hidden Rim in the distance looked uber attractive – must go back…must go further…what is around the next corner???

Top of Lime Kiln Canyon looking East. Hazy day. Windy windy too. Headwind for about 80 miles today.

Wonder why it is called Lime Kiln Canyon?

A spare dress is easy to carry in a Camelbak but the Casino buffet saw 2 pairs of dusty cycling shoes.  LW dazzled in her dress while DH repelled in his stinky jersey.  Yin and Yang.

Giddy flower love

Flowers, flowers, flowers

Flowers

13 replies on “Lime Kiln Canyon”

  3. giddy flower love + 130 miles +16K vert + dress&sidi combo …. = perfection.

    ;-)

    truly inspiring! glad to see new pix and big big smiles!

    huge hugs!

    jj

  4. Hey, didn’t you have a torn AC joint, or was that in a different reality?!
    Great pics, huge views, I’m jealous.
    Dave

  5. Ha! Yep the AC joint is still a bit worked but I’m functional. Rapid healing seems to be one of my strengths thank goodness cause I keep needing to heal…

    Good to hear from you – coming back to GLR this year? Deep snows on the Unc right now, neck deep on a giraffe.

  6. Absolutely,
    It’s all Ive been thinking about since I had to pull out at mile 263 last year. I have the gps route to follow this year if is an issue. The creek crossings may be where the real intrigue comes in. I see on the mtbr site you may be pulled in a diffrent direction. How tough would finding water be in the fall on the GL? I would assume you might see a few more people with hunting season.

  7. Awesome Dave.

    Water in the fall I think would be fine, so long as you made use of the ranger station at Westwater and aren’t afraid to filter the big muddy along the way…and of course assumes reasonable conditions. Other dry sections would be tab crk to the unc (Glencoe ditch would be questionable?) and the last 55 miles or so if memery serves from Dominguez crk to the end.

    But…I expect you’ll be there May 30. Having been denied on my first whack at it I completely get that ;)

  9. The dress and Sidi’s would be perfect ad in Dirt Rag or MTB Action Mag. Priceless!!! I want to come back in my next life as one of you two. Thanks for sharing your weekend with us.

  11. Nice loop! I had no idea all that riding was so close to St. Geroge. Any way to get a copy of that gps file? One more addition to the to-do list.

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