10/18/03:
As I was leaving the Hole-In-The-Rock Road area a ranger told me there might be a camping fee there next year. I might have stayed but the area was filling up with some sort of Utah Teacher's Association thing and probably a bunch of kids and families for the 3 day weekend so I left anyway. I might go back again this year to finish up the hikes I didn't complete.
I passed through the beautiful area between Escalante and Boulder on UT-24. What a drive, lots of deep valleys and canyon through beige slick rock many, many hundreds of feet down. My goal was Notom Road just east of Capitol Reef National Park on UT-24.
It's 66 miles from UT-24 to Bullfrog Basin on Lake Powell. The first 10 miles are now paved. The next 30 are very rough washer board. The remaining 25 miles are pretty good except for the numerous washes that have to be crossed.
I spotted Muley Twist Canyon, Surprise Canyon, Quartermasters Canyon and Brimhall Arches trails and continued on down to Bullfrog Basin. I had planned on staying there overnight but they're still charging for primitive camping so back I came. I did find nice paved road outside the Bullfrog Basin entrance on UT-276 and followed it all the way back the Brimhall Arches/Halls Creek Overlook junction, thereby saving 25 miles of dirt road.
10/19/03 Hiking Brimhall Arch Trail (5 miles round trip):
This trail immediately drops from 5300 feet at the Halls Creek Overlook down to 4500 feet on the valley floor. The trail to that point is rocky, stony, gravelly and slippery with a fair amount of steep spots and a few level spots. It took me 45 minutes to travel the mile to the bottom.
Once the trail leveled off, another .2 miles brought me to a sign saying the Halls Creek Narrows were 7.5 miles down a wash and Brimhall Arch was 1.1 miles. Another .2 miles brought me to the mouth of a canyon and I followed the footprints into it. Several large alcoves are carved out of the 300 foot walls.
1/4 mile brought me to a dead end. A big tumble of large rocks and boulders straight ahead and steep slick rock to the right, Someone had stacked a pile of rocks against the slick rock but I still didn't care for the looks of it so I tackled the boulders. After struggling up for a little I could see around some of the slick rock and saw nothing except another dead end. So back down and over to the pile of rocks again. This time I saw a little nub on which to place my right foot and then was able to place my left foot on a tiny ledge and was up and over.
But not for long. Another dead end with more tumbled boulders and a narrow canyon with a large choke rock blocking access. It took a while but I worked my way over the choke rock but then I was faced with more tumbled boulders. The goal of the hike is a beautiful double arch but this wasn't worth it to me. I had already made a couple of risky moves which is not what I want to be doing by myself. So I turned back.
On the way back I met a backpacker who said the trail description was pretty complicated. So next time I'll make sure I know where I'm going on this trail. It does seem worthwhile.
I later found I had the trail description in one of my hiking books. I was on the right track but just hadn't gone far enough. After getting over the choke rock I had to climb a boulder field. Then comes an unclimbable dryfall that must be passed on the right by climbing a steep scree hill. The bridge is visible from the top of the ridge.
10/20/03 Hiking Lower Muley Twist Canyon (13 miles round trip):
I started this hike off expecting to do a couple miles of Headquarters Canyon, turn around and come back. Then I found it leads into Lower Muley Canyon so I decided to go for it.
Headquarters Canyon leads up through red sand from 4800 feet and then switches to white slick rock until it crests at the top of the Waterpocket Fold at 5500 feet. A few ups and downs and then it begins a decent of a couple hundred feet. After slogging through a sandy wash for 1/4 mile or so I finally came to what I assumed was Lower Muley Twist Canyon but turned out to be Headquarters Canyon. I followed it another 1/4 mile and it dumped into Lower Muley Twist Canyon.
Lower Muley Twist Canyon has walls varying from 100 to 500 feet high, at least the 4-5 miles I went. What's interesting is the many narrow ledges that go much of the way to the top. Juniper trees grow on many of these ledges making a very nice view rather than just barren rock.
The other attraction to this part of the canyon is the huge, giant alcoves and overhangs. Some of these go in 50 feet or more and some are several hundred feet long. The canyon floor alternates beteen (mostly) firm packed sand and a rocky bottom.
Somewhere around mile 4 is the largest and maybe deepest overhang. A lot of boulders have fallen from the overhang making the way difficult. I only saw a couple of tracks in there so I guess most people make a detour. Not me, though. Up and over I went and it really wasn't difficult although its muddy in the wet season.
A little farther on the canyon narrows and a big jumble of boulders have to be negotiated. I managed to find a path through a couple of cracks and didn't have to do any climbing. The walls eventually got shorter and switched to layered, shale like formations. I figured I was nearing the end of the good stuff and having no real desire to see any more wide open desert views I called it quits and began the 3 hour return trip.
10/21/03 Hiking Surprise Canyon (2.25 miles round trip):
Today was an off day so I decided to do this short canyon. It's right up the road from Headquarters Canyon and you can see the crack in the Waterpocket Fork from the road. I entered the canyon and soon beige walls were towering several hundred feet above me.
I continued into the narrow canyon until I came to an overhang. I had seen a couple of cairns just behind but continued anyway. Of course I hit a dead end. I tried climbing up 10-15 feet of steep slick rock but only got 2/3 of the way up. A more experienced friction climber wouldn't have had any problem. I had to backtrack and a steep climb through scrub oak got me up on a bench and past the blockage.
The way continued to be difficult with rocks and boulders blocking the way. I followed them for a ways but found myself getting dizzy, a sure sign its time to turn back.
10/22/03 Hiking Upper Muley Twist Canyon (10 miles round trip to Saddle Arch):
It was cold in the canyon this morning. I had to bring along my vest and gloves for the first hour or two. I drove in on the access road, went past the trail registry, down a small hill and then turned around and came back . I was in a fairly narrow canyon and didn't want to get to a rough spot from which I couldn't retreat nor turn around. Smart, maybe, but I had already passed the worst the road had to offer.
So I walked the 3 mile access road to the Upper Muley Twist Canyon Trailhead. This was no hardship because of the towering walls and formations along the way. I guess this canyon's claim to fame is the arches along the way. I found 4 1/2 arches. The 1/2 is Peek-A-Boo Arch that is still abirthin'. It sits way up on a ridge and isn't much more than a crack yet. Give it another couple hundred years and if it doesn't collapse it should be a nice one.
I found two more arches before the trailhead and two more after the trailhead. Saddle Arch is about 2 miles from the trailhead (5 miles from the start of the access road) right across from the Rim Trail junction. I continued on for another 1/2 mile until I found a small arch way up on the red sandstone slope and then turned back.