Three years ago, I discovered the Escalante River Canyon and recruited Brian to join me on an epic adventure backpacking and camping and exploring what seems like the last place on earth left untouched by humans. That was technically our 2nd date :) Every year, my memories pop up and get me thinking that I need to go back and explore a little bit deeper into Coyote Gulch. We'd wandered up that canyon a few miles on our initial trek, but ran out of time and it left us wanting more. Fun fact: The Escalante River is the windiest river in the world. It's pretty crazy to look at it on Google Earth. This year, we decided to go back and to take Brian's son along on the adventure.
We headed out after work on Monday and spent the night at Lee's Ferry Lodge. It was pretty much the cutest little motel room ever, in the middle of nowhere. We all slept well and hit the road by 5:30 through Bryce Canyon to Kenab for breakfast and then Escalante, UT for lunch and to grab our back country permits.
After getting our maps, permits, and "waste disposal bags", we hopped on Hole In The Rock road for 30 miles on the worst washboard EVER. It seemed to go on forever. Brian had been wanting to check out Spooky Canyon and Peekaboo Canyon since we were last there, so we made a pit stop along the way for a short hike. The road had been washed out from recent flooding, adding an extra 2 miles to our trek, so we hoofed it across the desert into a big wash. I'm not sure why we continue to plan these crazy desert trips during the heat of the summer, but that seems to be the only time we can do it, so here we are, 90 degrees. It's hard to do anything in 90 degrees, but throw on a 30 lb pack. We were as prepared as we could be, though, so it wasn't really that terrible.
It was pretty much the hottest part of the day already, we climbed back out of the canyon at about 4 pm, so we were already drenched in sweat and hadn't even begun the hard part. We drove another 10 miles to the trail head for our hike into the canyon. It started out in deep sand across a seemingly endless vista of rolling dunes and slick rock.
I remember, 3 years ago, thinking about how crazy it was that this massive, 85 mile long, 900 foot deep canyon was right there and you wouldn't have any idea by looking out over the landscape. It just drops off in the most dramatic way.
Looking out over the canyon, you'd never have any idea how absolutely magical it is down there. About 2 miles in, the slick rock dropped off into the canyon and a rope was waiting for us. We had to literally rappel down the cliff into the canyon with our packs...it was really scary actually. A harness would have been nice, but we made it down safely.
There were tons of people down there...it was kind of heartbreaking at first. The first few campsites were packed, so we just kept on going up the canyon until the echos subsided and nobody was around. We found a quiet little spot in the shade and set up camp. We were pretty pooped, so after a couple of card games, we hit the sack.
A few hours later, we felt raindrops through the screened top of our tent and Brian and I scrambled to get the rain fly on in case it kept up. We got all settled back in and listened to the storm. It was really freaky because these huge gusts of wind would come down the canyon and, combined with the rushing of water, sounded like a wall of water coming towards us. It was really loud and dark and scary, so I went out with my flashlight and checked the creek levels. It had only risen about 4 inches and our tent was about 4' up from there, so it would really have to pour rain to get up to us. Plus, there really wasn't anything we could do, so if we were going to die in a flash flood, well then that was it. We just waited it out and woke up to sunny clear skies.
That morning we had coffee and oatmeal and set out exploring. Brian and Chokyi opted to explore a side canyon and I continued to the top of the canyon...about 4 miles out.
I just couldn't help but think about Katie Lee's adventure exploring Glen Canyon before the dam was built and how that canyon probably looked just like the Escalante Canyon 65 years ago...so perfect and grand and delicate and unspoiled. It makes me really sad to see what human's are doing to the earth.
Hours later, we met back up and explored the lower part of the canyon...where everybody else had been camped the night before. Pretty much every single site was empty so we had the entire canyon to ourselves.
We moved camp up closer to the drop in and took a nap. It wasn't long before the voices of about 20 boy scouts started echoing up the canyon. Of course, they set up camp just on the other side of our camp, so after a bit of deliberation, we opted to just pack up and hike out that evening instead of the next morning. I managed to rack up 19 miles that day, and it was not an easy 19 miles.
It was about 5 pm, so the heat of the day was starting to break and we could still make it back long before dark. We strapped on our packs and pulled ourselves, sweaty and sandy and exhausted, out of the canyon. Luckily, the ropes were still on the cliff, so we hooked up some of our gear to pull out and were up and out in no time. The initial climb up the slick rock was pretty brutal, but soon the sun was low, the temperatures cooled, and a breeze met us at the sand dunes and gave us enough oomph to get back to the car (or maybe it was the snake I stumbled upon).
As soon as I had a signal, I booked a cabin in Bryce Canyon for the night and, after a cool shower, we all slept like babies. That gave us the chance for a hearty breakfast and an early start to get back home. Such a great weekend!