Didn't want to deal with the crowds at Bryce National Park on a weekend so wandered on down to Escalante and the Hole-In-The-Rock area of the Grand Staircase National Monument. Drove the 50 mile 2WD road and camped at the beginning of the 4WD portion of the road.
Stopped off at the Devil's Garden on the way in. Pretty cool, sorta like a miniature Canyonlands. Lots of slick rock, a few hoodoos and a couple of Arches all within a confined area.
10/12/03 Hiking Hole-In-The-Rock Trail (10.5 miles round trip):
The last 5+ miles of the Hole-In-The-Rock Road requires 4WD which I don't have. It's a nice hike along the 4WD part of the road so off I went about 9am. Passed by several of the rugged 4WD sections and snickered at all the burnt rubber and scrapes on some of the worse sections.
Behind me were the Straight Cliffs, tall reddish cliffs stretching for several miles. Off in the distance I could see the cliffs on this side of Lake Powell, my destination. Except for a couple of short steep pitches of slick rock, the road is more of a rolling type grade with some fairly easy ups and downs.
I got to the end of the road in about an hour and 45 minutes. Hole-In-The-Rock is not a hole in a rock but a big crack blasted out and enlarged by Mormon settlers so they could get their wagons down the 2000 foot cliff. The damming of the Colorado River in Page Arizona filled in about 1000 feet of the cliff with water but its still quite a drop.
I wandered around the slick rock for a while, enjoying the scenery and then headed back. Surprisingly I saw no one at all on this Sunday morning.
10/13/03 Hiking Davis Gulch (10 miles+ round trip):
Major gale force winds last night. A couple from Germany had their tent flattened and poles broken. I just pointed the truck into the wind and closed the windows to keep some of the dust out.
Davis Gulch is a little dinky wash just up the road from where I'm camped. It soon deepens into a serious slot canyon. 100 feet wide at the top, it narrows to a foot or two at the bottom and I had to climb up on the left hand ridge to continue.
No trail here, just a lot of slick rock to climb up and down. There are 3 arches along the trail starting at the 1.5 mile mark. I started getting dizzy about the time I got to a sharp left hand turn a mile or so into the hike. Dunno if it was too strenuous, my medication acting up or if I was just having a bad day. When I slipped and fell a couple of feet off some steep slick rock and stopped several feet short of a 200 foot drop I decided to call it a day.
Looking in the guide book showed this was listed as a strenuous hike. I didn't think I had done that much yet but I have to listen to what the body tells me.
10/14/03 Hiking Fifty Mile Creek (10.4 miles round trip):
This trail follows through red sandstone canyons the entire way to Lake Powell, Unfortunately I only got 5.1 miles of the 5.2 mile hike and didn't see Lake Powell.
This is another hike that begins with a dinky little wash just off the road but soon meanders into deeper and deeper canyons. 1/4 mile brought me to a Glen Canyon National Recreation sign. 25 minutes into the hike I climbed up onto a bench when I saw the canyon narrow down to a slot. The trail guide said the canyon was completely blocked here.
45 minutes later the going got rougher up top with huge mounds becoming huger and steeper and then I came to a deep cross canyon. I found a way that took me down most of the way. The last 15 feet turned into a slide down the steep slick rock. I just got minor abrasions on my shin and butt.
After an hour I came to a Y with another canyon. I went left, mainly because that canyon floor seemed to have a slight decline while the other canyon seemed to incline slightly. Soon mud appeared, then trees and then a tiny stream came flowing out of the ground. Amazement turned to disgust as slogging through mud quickly lost its appeal. Most of the canyon floor is rocky and walking on them gets old pretty quickly too. I was soon looking for clear routes even when I had to do extra walking to get to them.
1.5 hours brought me to a large amphitheater (large alcove) and an arch way up on the wall. About 10 large bushes with lily like flowers seemed to be purposely planted at the base of the wall. I passed many cottonwood stumps, the remains of beaver activity in years gone by. Beaver in the desert?? Crossing the stream I found myself ankle deep in quicksand before I could react and get myself out. I walked on rocks from there on.
2.5 hours into the hike brought a second Y as my canyon joined with another. This time I went right because that's the way the water was flowing. Here the canyon narrowed down to a slot canyon and the shoreline disappeared. I waded into the ankle deep stream to a mud bank. Looking up the slot canyon I could see bright sunlight pouring in from Lake Powell just around the corner. The water ahead looked about knee deep nearby and deeper farther on. I didn't care for the look of the sandy bottom. With the fresh memory of quicksand in mind mind I turned back.
Back at the Y I turned up the left hand canyon. I quickly ran into obstacles and found muddy boots and slick rock are not a good combination. I got far enough to see this canyon narrowed into a slot with high walls above and beyond it.
So, I turned back up the right canyon a second time. I took off the boots, rolled up the pants and used the walking stick as a probe to test the bottom in front of me. I didn't get very far though. The water was very cold and got deeper and the bottom was very soft. Numbing cold water in the desert?? Who'da thunkit?
On the way back I entered the blocked slot canyon and found it really is blocked. A lizard might get through but not much else. I had to backtrack a little. I found some steep slick rock I thought I could climb. I climbed 10 feet and used a couple of rock climber's pressure holds to help me up over a small ledge.
10/15/03 Hiking Willow Gulch (4 miles round trip):
The object of this hike is Broken Arch. The trail drops down a sandy hill and then down some slick rock before reaching the canyon floor. The canyon soon narrows to a slot canyon barely passable. I found a path leading to a bench and followed it above the canyon until it led back down.
Wet sand soon led to another tiny stream. It was only an inch or two deep but I followed another path out of the canyon and continued along the rim. Back down on the canyon floor I rounded a bend and there was Broken Arch except it didn't look broken to me. 150 feet high and 50 feet wide, it sits on top of a hill.
I wandered around for a while and then headed back. The slot canyon early on turned out to be impassable on the way back. I also didn't pay any attention to the rock cairns and went down the main canyon rather than branching to the left above the slot canyon.
10/16/03 Hiking Sunset Arch (3 miles round trip):
Drove 4.3 miles up Forty Mile Ridge Road to a parking lot by a large water tank. This is the trailhead for some backcountry trail. My directions said to go up the road .1 miles to a smaller water tank and head off into the desert. There's a bluff out there and when I got to it I head down a wash I found there.
A mile down the wash produced much slick rock and there on top of a slick rock mound was Sunset Arch, so named because it provides great photos at sunset. Off to the left is another nice arch.