Signal Peak is the highest point of the Pine Valley Range, which dominates the skyline north of the city of St. George in southwestern Utah. For many miles, the range seems to stay at or above 9,500 feet, with many peaks jutting just above 10,000 feet. An impressive band of cliffs stretches for miles along the range's southern flanks, averaging about 1,000-1,500 feet in height. It is a very pretty range set in a very pretty part of Utah. I had planned to hike this peak a year ago but other, more important things came up (the birth of my niece).

As my folks live in Henderson, Nevada, I planned this trip around a visit to them, and of course, a free place to stay! I left Phoenix on Friday the 22nd, spent a day relaxing on the 23rd, then left early the 24th for the 170-mile drive to the trailhead. I opted to take the southern route from Oak Grove Campground. A northern approach had about the same gain and a bit longer mileage, but it would have meant about another 60 miles of driving for me. I left Interstate-15 in the town of Leeds and took Silver Reef Road west for about 2 miles at which time the road turned to gravel and I entered Dixie National Forest. There is one junction about 3 miles from the interstate, but it is well-signed, and Oak Grove Campground is about 9 miles overall from I-15. The road is well graded, but narrow in places with blind curves. I arrived at the campground at 6 a.m., the quiet ruined by the loud buzz of a generator at a nearby Boy Scout camp. I started in at 6:20 a.m. The trailhead's elevation is approximately 6,540 feet.

From below, the cliffs look very imposing, but here and there a ridge emanates down from the main range crest. The Oak Grove trail basically snakes up one of these ridges. Looking above I really could not identify which bump was Signal Peak, as there are a couple of other peaks nearby that are only a hundred feet shorter. A look at the topo would seem to indicate that Signal Peak itself is not visible. For reference, another ridge to the west, with a small peak called Trail Peak, rises up to the main range crest but is itself still to the east of Signal Peak. From way down below, i.e. St. George, I could not even attempt to identify *the* actual bump that is Signal Peak. Oh well. On with the hike.

From the trailhead, the trail gains moderately for 500 feet, making one turn, before coming to the Pine Valley Wilderness Sign at elevation 7,061 feet. The undergrowth is pretty heavy, although the trail is well-defined. At the wilderness sign, I turned right and started a very long, steep grind up to the top of the range. This section seemed to break into four parts: the first, from the wilderness sign, gained with few switchbacks up the west side of the ridge leading down from the main range crest. Early in the morning, this portion was shaded, which was nice. The undergrowth was still quite thick. The second portion stayed on the west of the ridge, but had more switchbacks while the undergrowth lessened. This part topped out at a rocky knob at roughly 8,100 feet. The third portion continued, with the steepest series of switchbacks, to about 8,800 feet. Here, I gained the forest and the trail now wound its way up through large pines and talus blocks. From here, it was more switchbacks, finally gaining the main range crest at elevation 9,800 feet. From the trailhead to this point was about 3.5 miles and 3,300 feet of steady gain. This bit took me just under three hours. I stopped to rest and look out over the valleys, ranges and cliffs; the uniquely shaped mountains that lead to Zion National Park were visible behind a foreground range. This would be my best views for the day, as the summit is wooded.

From here, I dropped down about a quarter-mile to a trail junction at about 9,700 feet. A sign is at this trail junction, but faces the other way. I was in heavy forest cover, and some snow patches still survived in the shaded areas. At the trail junction, I turned west, gained a saddle and crossed a very nice meadow called Deer Flat. The trail is kind of faint but still evident, but rock cairns help, too. The trail then re-entered the forest, gained another saddle, then dropped down to a spring called Further Water, about elevation 9,800 feet. Here, I crossed the stream, gained the trail again, and crossed another long meadow, slowly gaining about 200 feet. Signal Peak was in view, directly ahead of me. I re-entered the forest cover, gained another 100 feet or so, then simply left the trail and headed up a drainage through the forest. There is no trail to the summit, but the route is mostly common sense, and the forest cover is not so thick as to hide everything. I finally gained the summit blocks and walked along the series of knobs to the western-most block, topped by a cairn. I made the summit right about 10:30 a.m., and I stuck around for about a half-hour, eating lunch. There are views but they are blocked here and there by the large trees.

The hike down was straight-forward. I followed my route, coming back to the main range crest at about noon, where again I stopped and soaked up the views. The hike down the switchbacks was interminable, and I stopped often wherever shade was available. The heat was getting noticeable, but I had plenty of water so I was fine. I slowly, methodically and tediously descended these switchbacks, making good time. The final portion, basically the lowest part that was under heavy undergrowth, was the slowest as I had to step carefully so as to avoid unseen rocks, roots and other things that could trip me up. I did have a couple near misses, and I must have kicked about 3 dozen rocks- my toes are now paying the price. Well, I finally did arrive back at my truck at 1:45 p.m., an overall hike of 7.5 hours. The net gain was about 3,800 feet but with the drops and gains up high, the gross might be just above 4,000 feet. Either way, this was a good leg-stretcher. I'd say the mileage was about 10 miles round trip. No technical bits. Overall, this was just what I needed! I got into my truck, turned on the A/C and started the drive back to Henderson. That evening was spent with my folks and family friends, all of whom lived near one another when my dad was stationed at White Sands Missile Range, New Mexico, in 1969-1970.