Apr 19, 2019 — Aftering hiking Canaan Mountain yesterday, I was feeling pretty excited about exploring more in the Canaan Mountain Wilderness Area, so I headed back to summit The Beehive and Water Peak, with a visit to the Water Canyon Arch (aka Eye of Heaven Arch). I'd seen the arch from below in Water Canyon multiple times, but seeing it close-up sounded pretty appealing.
I left the Squirrel Canyon Trailhead and followed the wide trail up the creek and made a left at the only obvious junction a couple of miles in. The trail started to gain in steepness and eventually led to great views of The Beehive as I neared the junction with the Sawmill Trail (the same trail that leads west toward Canaan Mountain). I wanted to do The Beehive (right at the junction) first since it was Class 3 and earlier in the day, but I'd be back at this junction afterward to bag Water Peak (left at the junction. The trail lost some elevation and entered a slickrock wash. The trail continued steeply out of the wash, heading east, but I kept within the wash, which led south to the now very visible The Beehive. Eventually after some easy cross-country terrain, I landed at the base of the peak. It seemed formidable on the approach, but a Class 3 route became clear. I'd head up the steepening slickrock to a pine tree, where a break seemed to lead higher to lighter terrain to the summit. This was exactly what happened, fortunately. Summit block was attained via Class 2 on its east side.
Back at the saddle, I headed west through a pretty canyon with a ridiculously cool dome of slickrock to the north. The Eye of Heaven Arch side-trail popped up on the left and I followed it, losing it at times because it's poorly marked and regularly crosses slickrock. The attached map should be pretty close to the trail's intended route. Water Peak can be summited by heading along the sandy ridge, and Eye of Heaven Arch is to the peak's southwest, and the trail leads right to it. Initially I didn't realize this and did some unnecessary exploring on the west cliffs of Water Peak, but I removed my mishaps from the map. The arch is incredible, and the views into Water Canyon are too.
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