Backcountry Explorer

Embedded into the backcountry areas of Zion National Park, the Sierra Nevada, Death Valley National Park, and the Mojave Desert, Courtney Purcell's ramblings have also taken him all across the country and the world. From hiking, climbing and peakbagging in the Rockies, the Andes, the high volcanoes of Washington and Mexico, into the depths explored in spelunking, and the canyoneering of the Colorado Plateau, here you'll find trip reports, route beta and "stuff" relevant to the world of...

Spendlove Knoll, Firepit Knoll & Moqui Peak

Tabernacle Dome from the hidden slot on Moqui Peak
After spending the previous day peakbagging (got 4 more of 'em) in the Mojave, DB and I headed back to Zion for a little fun. With a couple of solo warm-up peaks, simple snow-covered endeavors with far-reaching, aesthetic views, including a group of mule deer near the summit of the second one, Spendlove Knoll, it was time to get down to business...

Spying a craggy, unnamed peak I'd been looking over for awhile, I decided it was time to go for it...but the north face, the side that faces the road, didn't look too promising. But, oh what fun!

Heading up the east face via class 3 slabs and short faces, we traversed onto a ledge on the south face and cut west until we found a brushy chute heading up. At the head of the chute, it looked like we'd struck out...but lo! a hidden slot (a squeeze, of all things) showed promise. Leading through it, we popped out on the north face of the peak!

Traversing west on exposed ledges under a couple alcoves, we then bent left and picked up another chute that took us to the base of the 5.2 summit block. Loose, dangerous climbing (thankfully short) put us on the tiny highpoint. No cairn, so I built one.

A really nice peak. We named it Moqui Peak for the moqui marbles we found on the summit.

...those moments when time stands still. The catalysts are as varied as the individuals who pursue this path: a meteor shower; a night sky so star-filled that it snatches your breath; another rise of the sun over distant mountains vast and untouchable; dodging a rock careening crazily down a gully; a desperate icy struggle through whiteout and ground blizzard down to the safety of camp after an unsuccessful summit attempt; standing atop a mountain with a friend, the whole world at your feet, a blinding sun blazing out of a flawless sky, taking the time to watch that sun dip below the horizon even though camp is still many miles and many thousands of feet distant; stumbling over boulders and through brush in the darkness; watching the starlight and the storm wrest for possession of the night sky, seated on a narrow ledge beside your rope-mate with only the clothes on your back for shelter, shivering the night away, knowing that, sometime in a distant place you cannot now touch, the world will once again grow bright, the sun will rise, and you will look out on the infant day with new eyes.

-Bruce Binder

One final paragraph of advice: do not burn yourselves out. Be as I am - a reluctant enthusiast....a part-time crusader, a half-hearted fanatic. Save the other half of yourselves and your lives for pleasure and adventure. It is not enough to fight for the land; it is even more important to enjoy it. While you can. While it’s still here. So get out there and hunt and fish and mess around with your friends, ramble out yonder and explore the forests, climb the mountains, bag the peaks, run the rivers, breathe deep of that yet sweet and lucid air, sit quietly for a while and contemplate the precious stillness, the lovely, mysterious, and awesome space. Enjoy yourselves, keep your brain in your head and your head firmly attached to the body, the body active and alive, and I promise you this much; I promise you this one sweet victory over our enemies, over those desk-bound men and women with their hearts in a safe deposit box, and their eyes hypnotized by desk calculators. I promise you this; You will outlive the bastards.

-Edward Abbey