Hike Ferns Nipple to George Benchmark Traverse Capitol Reef National Park, UT

May 22, 2023 — This traverse within Capitol Reef National Park visits some of the most gorgeous scenery of the area by linking up a few backcountry peaks as it leads along the Waterpocket Fold monocline from Grand Wash to Capitol Gorge. With rain in the forecast, we decided to do the traverse from the north first so at least we could hopefully reach Ferns Nipple before being forced to turn around. Fortunately the weather held for the whole day, allowing us to enjoy this fantastic desert outing. We parked our end car at the head of Capitol Gorge here (38.20854, -111.19438). We originally thought we could drive down to the Golden Throne Trailhead, but the graded dirt road is closed indefinitely after some bad flash flooding in 2022, so we learned we would have to walk it on the way back later, adding a few miles to the day. We then shuttled our start car to the Cassidy Arch Trailhead, where we started down through Grand Wash.

We only hiked within Grand Wash for a short time before spotting a cairn on the right marking a surprisingly good social trail leading up a Class 2 slope out of Grand Wash. The slope brought us onto a sandstone ledge/bench higher up, where cairns guided us above Grand Wash and we could see people hiking below. A Class 3 move brought us up an obstacle along the ledge, and then we wrapped south along this now very wide ledge that denotes a change in sandstone layers. The slanted ramps we would be following were pretty difficult for my brain to comprehend, somehow forming lovely walkways that would weave in and out of four canyons total along the approach to Ferns Nipple. Following the cliff base, this ledge descended toward the first canyon that cuts through the cliffs, where the ledge formed a natural walkway beneath the drainage and brought us easily to the opposite side of the canyon and we could continue along the cliff base.

A cairn soon alerted us to leave this ledge and ascend to higher ground. The terrain is complex here, a series of zig-zags on smaller ledges and up Class 2/3 weaknesses leading to the sandstone layer above. It was overall well-cairned, so we didn't have trouble. We then emerged onto a slickrock section where we could see Cassidy Arch across Grand Wash. Then Ferns Nipple came into view, and we followed another major ledge as it wrapped beneath a sheer cliff face and progressively weaved in and out of two more canyons, the ledge angled downward slightly as a descent toward the canyons, then slightly angled upward as we left each canyon watercourse. At the fourth canyon weave for the route, a cairn directed us to scramble up Class 2/3 boulders within the break in the cliff, and then pull a Class 3 move on a minor dryfall. More fun Class 2/3 led to higher ground.

Now above all the ledge wrapping and cairn-assisted route-finding, we ascended on Class 2 slickrock toward Ferns Nipple, which came back into view after a few hundred feet and was now directly in front of us. Ahead was the dome-like windswept sandstone surrounding the summit. Here I recommend keeping to the right to avoid the steepest stuff, then head directly toward the "nipple". The sandstone is lumpy, and we found ourselves zig-zagging up the slope to keep the ascent route to the summit block base at Class 3. Once at the base, a Class 4 seam seemed the most promising option, but the easier option is to just take the main northen ridge crest (Class 3/4). From Ferns Nipple's summit we could see the remainder of the peaks on our route, still quite an undertaking to come.

Peak 6920 was the next on our list, but it was disconnected from the main ridge traverse. Knowing it's unlikely we'll be back to go for it if we skipped it today, we decided it was a worthwhile second objective. We backtracked from Ferns Nipple and headed around its east side in order to head toward Peak 6920. Planning ahead, we noted Peak 6920's west face was sheer, but had a promising-looking gully in its center. It was unclear how difficult the gully would be from this far, but it seemed to be the most reasonable and direect route to reach the summit. The descent from Ferns Nipple required a bit of route-finding on complex sandstone, lots of little cliffs and ledges forcing us to plan in advance and backtrack a couple of times.

Once at the base of Peak 6920, we decided to give the gully we'd spotted a try. A steep Class 2 talus slope led to the crux, a Class 4 high-angle slab that I wasn't happy about. My friends dropped me some webbing. Alternatively, rather than use the Class 4 option we took, you could wrap around on the left of the west face of Peak 6920 (purple on my attached map) and use a Class 2/3 route, though it's longer. This route is compliments of my friend Whiley, who provided that route segment track.

Once above the Class 4 move (or longer alternative workaround), we used a steep Class 2/3 slope to gain the summit ridge of Peak 6920. The high point was on the right, despite the left seeming taller at first, and the small summit block required a Class 3 move. We backtracked from Peak 6920, then started the process pof navigating complex terrain to get back to the main ridge south of Ferns Nipple. We took a wide sandstone rib initially, but the rib ended in a Class 3 downclimb with some light exposure. I don't know if there was an easier option, but the canyons in the area looked either brushy or cliffy. This section can potentially be a bit of a route-finding hell, so I think we just got lucky (or maybe just missed something more obvious). You may want to consider just backtracking to the base of Ferns Nipple and route-finding along the main ridgeline.

Back on the main ridge, we could see Ferns Nipple behind us. Onward to Peak 7080, our third summit. The ridge leading toward its base is wide and angled slightly (since all of Capitol Reef is tilted at a mind-melting, unnatural angle), so it's hard to find the most efficient route, plus there were occasional gullies and canyons to wrap around. Choose your own adventure, but nothing should exceed Class 2 and all the bushwhacking is avoidable. The base of Peak 7080 has a ten-foot steep face, but we were able to gain the initial sandstone slab above the face using a lower-angle Class 2/3 spot. It was Class 2/3 from here to the summit. There are little cliffies that you can easily avoid along the way. From the Peak 7080 summit, we got an incredible view toward George Benchmark's sheer north face.

We backtracked from Peak 7080 and continued descending toward its saddle with George Benchmark, where we located a very fortunate Class 2 descent on a sandstone rib, encountering a single Class 3 move near the bottom. If this were much more high-angle, we would have had to do a lengthier work-around since this was the only nearby resonable spot to get down. From the saddle, we took a little gully/canyon to overcome the initial cliff band at George Benchmark's base. Some Class 2 hiking led to a Class 3 headwall, heavily featured and quite fun. This headwall brought us to the north side of George Benchmark, where some tame hiking led to a Class 2 slope. A couple of hundred feet of light scrambling and we were on the summit of George Benchmark, where we got more absolutely fantastic views of Capitol Reef National Park and a unique persepective of the Waterpocket Fold.

After backtracking from George Benchmark, we located a sandy wash we could use to continue south. I highly recommend reaching this wash since the terrain surrounding the wash is lumpy and riddled with little cacti as well as tons of cryptobiotic soil. We followed the wash for a mile or so, and at its end we located a cairn which led us onto a good social trail. Soon, Golden Throne came into view, but the social trail became difficult to follow. Now heading east, we descended along the wildly ramped reef. I recommend sticking to the sandstone ramp as much as possible. If you go too far left (north), you'll be on crypto-galore. However, too far right (south) and you'll end up getting cliffed-out at the bottom of the descent. Once we fully descended the ramp into the canyon below, we passed over the canyon at a key crossover, just before it drops. An obvious social trail continues on the opposite side of the canyon, gaining elevation as it follows yet another sandstone ramp. This social trail was overall easy to follow with a couple of minor exceptions, ultimately leading to the official end of the Golden Throne Trail.

We reached the end of the Golden Throne Trail and started down along this beautiful official NPS trail, currently devoid of people since the Capitol Gorge Road is closed and most hikers don't want to add miles of road walking to the day. The trail was constructed along ledges/benches like much of our ascent route to Ferns Nipple had been, the sandstone formations creating lovely low-angle ramps for foot traffic. After enjoying the trail, Capitol Gorge came into view below and the trail weaved down to it. The trailhead had no water source, so that was a bummer since we were totally out of water. Maybe hiking in the desert in late May isn't a great idea?

Capitol Gorge is a deep canyon road walk that initially we were annoyed we'd have to hike, but without cars streaming by we actually thought it was a lovely walk full of wildflowers between its sheer cliff faces. We arrived at the head of Capitol Gorge, where we'd parked our shuttle car.