11/10/01:
I picked up Cottonwood Canyon Road a little past Church Wells on US89, west of Lake Powell. I thought this would be a scenic route on the way to Escalante. I guess it was OK but 50 miles of dirt road? I wouldn't do it again unless it was to explore some of the side roads
Then I got to Hole-In-The-Rock Road. In 1879-1880, Brigham Young wanted the San Juan Valley settled. 200 Mormons, their wagons and possessions and 1000 cows traveled this road. At the end they encountered a 1000 foot cliff. They enlarged an existing crack in sandstone rock and lowered everything to the bottom and continued their journey. Lake Powell now flows at the bottom of the cliff.
This is another 55 miles of dirt road, through a desert no less. The first 30 miles or so the road was OK, mostly washer board. The next 10 miles alternated between OK and very rocky. The next few miles deteriorated pretty badly with a couple of steep descents over ledges, etc.
The last 7 miles I knew were 4X4 only. When I got to that section I decided to turn around. I was somewhat concerned about being able to get back up some of those sections I'd come down. I drove out 3 miles or so and think I went up one of the sections with no problem. So I got bold, turned around and went back to the start of the 4X4 section and camped. I'll hike the rest tomorrow. If you don't read this you'll know I died back in there somewhere.
11/11/01:
One of the steep descents I came down yesterday was some exposed slick rock. I woke up well before dawn worrying about getting back up it again. I figured if I were to hike the remaining 7 miles to Hole-In-The-Rock I would be worried the entire time. So I head back at first light.
I had gone 12-13 miles before I found the slick rock. It was longer than I remembered but not as steep and I had no problem negotiating it.
I started down the 50 Mile Bench loop but the road was too stoney. Then I tried the 40 Mile Ridge road but it had a large washer board surface. 7 miles of that would have rattled the truck to pieces. Only 1.5 miles back to Red Well Trail and the road isn't bad. I have no idea what it's like but I'll do that tomorrow.
11/12/01 Hiking Hole-In-The-Rock Road:
I decided to go back to the beginning of the 4X4 section of Hole-In-The-Rock Road and hike in from there. That was a 17 mile drive over bad road with the sun in my face the whole way, especially when I was going up a steep hill. Then I had the sun reflecting off the hood and sneaking under the sun visor. I went up one hill with slick rock at the top and had to stop because the sun was reflecting off the rock also and I couldn't see anything.
I parked where I had camped before and started walking. The road included 6-7 sections requiring 4 wheel drive. The road went up and down over ledges and included two fairly steep, pitted rock hills. Apparently the roads are either difficult or a lot of folks don't really know how to drive 4X4's. Lots of burnt rubber marks from folks spinning their wheels.
Off in the distance I could see a gap in 40 Mile Ridge which turned out to be Hole-In-The-Rock. I thought it would be something like an arch eroded in a sandstone ledge projecting out over a cliff that the Mormons had enlarged and lowered wagons and livestock from. Not so.
It is actually a fault in the ridge leading down to the bottom of the cliffs (now Lake Powell). When the Mormons got to it they blasted to make the passage wide enough for their wagons to fit. I think it took them all winter to do so and then they had to lift and lower their possessions and animals up and over boulders for 100 yards or so on the way down. Quite a job.
Instead of following the trail down to the lake I headed up on the slick rock bluffs to get a better view of the lake. It didn't appear to be a 1000 feet drop, more like 500-600 feet or so. Of course Lake Powell may be accounting for 500 feet or so. Steep slick rock led to a 500 foot drop. I stayed well away from that.
I took an early lunch and found I hadn't closed the backpack this morning. It's a wonder I didn't leave a trail of goodies on the trail. I watched a powerboat go by below and couldn't hear it.
I don't know about the drive in but having driven to the 4X4 section, the 14 mile (round trip) hike was well worth the effort with the great views. It would be an even greater canoe or kayak trip. Beautiful, beautiful shorelines.
11/14/01 Hiking Red Well Trail:
Yesterday was fairly cold and blustery. My hip was bothering me from the 14 mile walk the other day so I just took it easy for the day. This morning was in the 40's as I headed out on the Red Well Trail. I was camped at the trailhead so I didn't have far to go.
The trail led downhill for 1/4 mile or so to the bottom of a wash. I followed the footprints along the wash. Sometimes the wash was open and sometimes 100-200 foot sandstone walls narrowed the canyon down considerably. Large cottonwood trees still sported some of their fall foliage.
I soon suspected I had missed the trail turnoff and was following cow tracks but I didn't care and kept going. A tiny rivulet appeared and I had to cross back and forth over it many times. Fortunately the surrounding area is sand rather than mud so I didn't get too dirty. Soon I came to the confluence with another rivulet and soon after another, this one with a small waterfall.
After a few miles things seemed to be turning in a marsh. I turned back hoping to pick up the real trail where I had lost it. Walking back along the rivulet I spotted what I first thought were deer tracks. These were about 2 1/2 inches long, pointy, but they didn't come together at the back. It was kinda like it was walking on tippy-toes. I presume it was a mountain goat or something. Then I saw small footprints with claws. They didn't look like coyote (dog like), were too small for bear and mountain lions wouldn't show the claws. Looked to be a 15-20 pound animal of some sort.
I found myself back where I entered the wash without having spotted a trail leading off somewhere. I did see a narrow canyon and wandered up it. This turned out to be a slot canyon. Runoff had eroded a deep channel through the sandstone with lots of tiny gooseneck turns throughout. It went back a couple hundred yards. Naturally when I wanted the sun for some photographs it wouldn't reach into the canyon. I snapped a couple anyway.
11/15/01 Hiking Dry Fork Trail:
40's this morning with wind blowing 10mph. I camped near the Dry Fork Trailhead last night. A short, bumpy ride got me to the trailhead by 8:30am. The trail got off to a rocky start. It leads down over some ledges which is fine. However, rock cairns and footprints led off in every direction. Which one to choose? After a false start or two I just followed the trails that went downward towards the canyon floor. Halfway down things became a little more obvious.
Signs on several of the area trails warned of the plague? Bubonic? They warn of it being transmitted by flea bites and handling chipmunks, ground squirrels and other little critters.
Once on the canyon floor I looked around because I could go either way. Right seemed to lead down the wash while left seemed to go into a slot canyon. So I went left into what apparently is Peek-A-Boo Canyon. It started out about 10 feet wide, 50-75 feet high with a flat, sandy floor. As I progressed into the canyon it narrowed all the way down so the floor was only a few inches wide and you'd jam for foot between the walls as you walked.
A lot of rocks and small boulders had apparently washed down during past floods and were now jammed in the narrow walls. This, of course, requires some scrambling to get up and over them. 3/4 miles and the walls shrink down to 10-15 feet, the floor opens and I broke into sunlight.
I continued on out of the canyon into a wash with sandstone hills and formations on either side. In a mile or two I came to a fork. To the left the floor was a gray, limestone type sand while to the right it was a red, sandstone sand. I went left. After another half mile or so the hills flattened out and I could see nothing but desert. So I turned back.
Back at the fork I went right. This was more nice, red, sandstone hills and formations. This quickly gave way to a baby slot canyon with 10-15 foot walls. Unfortunately it petered out in 1/4 mile or so. Back in Peek-A-Boo Canyon, the sun still wasn't far enough advanced to provide any sunlight. I snapped a couple of pictures, just because.
Back in the original wash at 11am, I followed it in the other direction. Half a mile brought me to some cairns pointing off to the left so that's where I went. Another half mile and another wash and another slot canyon. This one had lots of alcoves as soon as I entered. A hundred feet into the canyon I came up against a large boulder wedged between the walls just a couple of feet from the floor. Crawling under it I was confronted with a very narrow passage. The backpack wouldn't fit so I left it behind. Moving sideways I only advance a short distance before I didn't fit either. Rather than try to crawl and twist and turn to get through I just gave up and worked my way back out and then back to the trailhead.