Mount Tukuhnikivatz
Distance: 4.8 miles (round trip)
Walking time: 4 1/2 hours
Elevations: 2,362 ft. gain/loss
La Sal Pass (start): 10,120 ft.
Mount Tukuhnikivatz: 12,482 ft.
Trail: There is a vague hiker-made trail most of the way to the top of Tukuhnikivatz, but don’t worry if you never see it. It is fairly easy to trace the route up the mountain. The terrain is fairly open with few obstacles to impede your progress, but the climb is very steep.
Season: Midsummer through mid-fall. The road to La Sal Pass is usually closed from mid-November until the end of June. For current conditions call the Moab Ranger District, Manti-La Sal National Forest, at (435) 259-7155.
Vicinity: Near Moab
Anyone who has visited Canyonlands
or Arches National Parks in the early summer has probably gazed
admiringly at the snow capped peaks of the La Sal Mountains.
The sight of snow seems oddly out of place in the midst of the
desert heat, but snow is usually visible on the higher summits
of the La Sals well into July. Tradition has it that the mountains
were named by Silvestre Valez de Escalante, the Spanish missionary
and explorer, who saw them during his expedition through Utah
in 1776. He called them the Sierra La Sal, or “Salt Mountains”
because he deemed it so unlikely that they could be covered with
snow so late in the summer.
As small and isolated as the La
Sal Range is, it is actually the second highest mountain range
in Utah. Only northern Utah’s Uinta Mountains are higher.
The highest point in the La Sals is Mount Peale (12,721 feet),
but the most celebrated peak is the one with the most unpronounceable
name: Mount Tukuhnikivatz. Tukuhnikivatz is prominently situated
on the western side of the La Sals and can be easily seen from
the desert canyon country around Moab (see photograph, page 209).
The exquisite red rock wilderness of Canyonlands and Arches is
laid out in a vast panorama below the peak, and the resulting
view from the top of Mount Tukuhnikivatz on a clear sunny day
is extraordinary. The mountain’s tantalizing name is supposed
to mean “The Place where the Sun Sets Last” in the
language of the Ute Indians.
Before you begin the hike, pause to look northward from the parking area at the top of La Sal Pass. Mount Peale is the broad peak on your right, and Mount Tukuh
Hike provided by www.utahtrails.com