UTAH, 2011: 08/05/11

It's already August; the end of our four-month contract is three weeks away. Only three more get-away trips!

This week's excursion was a one-nighter to Escalante, the next town over (if you don't count tiny Cannonville and even smaller Henrieville), 38 miles east of Tropic. The plan for Wednesday was to leave here early, drive 26 miles on Hole-in-the-Rock road to Dry Fork then hike Spooky and Peek-a-Boo slot canyons. Since the weatherman predicted a 40% chance of afternoon thunderstorms we aimed to return to the parking lot by noon.

The first section of Spooky was easy although crouching under a huge chock stone wedged 3' above the floor was an unsettling reminder of the hazards in slot canyons. Just beyond the stone, the canyon became extremely narrow. Feeling claustrophobic, I chose to wait at the entrance while Fred penetrated further.

10 seconds, not 127 hours

We back-tracked and spotted the entrance to Peek-a-Boo, an opening about 12' up a rock wall. At the base of the wall sat a large puddle surrounded by slippery, sticky mud which would make climbing to the opening dangerous. Rather than risk injury, we decided to try the up-and-over route: hike along the side of the canyon to the top, drop over the rim, hike down to the opening and exit with a jump across the puddle. The poorly-marked trek to the top was hard, hot and unproductive--we couldn't see the bottom at the point where dropping into the slot was feasible and a bit farther along there was standing water of unknown depth.

Muddy Entrance to Peek-a-boo

Tired, hungry and concerned about the building clouds, we trudged back a route which seemed longer, hotter and steeper than when we traveled it a few hours earlier. Nevertheless, we met our goal of being out of the canyon by noon, giving us time enough time to detour to Devil's Garden. It's a delightful pocket of fanciful rock formations: hoo-doos, arches, windows and spires carved from vividly colored rock which we found much more accessible and engaging than Goblin Valley. We would have explored and played there longer but those dark storm clouds were drawing ever closer.

Exit from Dry Fork

Playing in the Devil's Garden

Driving through heavy rain on a dirt road crossed by numerous washes wasn't a happy prospect and we were relieved to hit the asphalt highway about 2 PM. Just minutes before it began to rain really, really hard. We'd been very lucky on all counts.

We checked into a motel, cleaned up, had an adequate dinner at the restaurant next door and walked to the grocery store to purchase yogurt and fruit for breakfast. Along the way, we revised the plan for Thursday. Instead of a 10-mile desert hike to another slot canyon, we selected a 5-mile out-and-back along tthe Escalante River to Phipps' Arch.

What a great hike! It offered a bit of everything you cold wish for: scrambling up slickrock, splashing through the river, bush-whacking in tall weeds, slogging through sandy washes, route-finding with GPS and topo map, spotting an eagle, wildflowers, an unusual arch and great views. The hike turned out to be 8 miles rather than 5 and 5 hours rather than 3.5--we enjoyed each step and every minute of it. After a quick lunch in Escalante, it was time to return to Tropic with another batch of wonderful Utah experiences.