Exploring Escalante, UT and beyond!

[Greg@RME]

My wife and I had a chance for a 3 day weekend with Presidents Day and since it was also Valentines Day on Sunday we decided to make a fun, just-the-2-of-us trip. Rather than camp like we'd normally do, we opted for a hotel with a comfy bed and hot shower. We headed to Escalante, Utah early on Friday morning, stopping in Hanksville to check out the Wolverton Mill at the BLM office. We made the drive thru Torrey, over the 9,500' pass on Highway 12 into Boulder and turned off at the Lower Calf Creek Falls parking lot to start our hiking. This hike is easy, but over 6 miles round trip... I feel like we should have stretched, as we were pretty sore on the way back.

The weather was perfect, mid to high 50's and plenty of sun! It was a bit chilly in the shade with all the snow and even more so at the waterfall itself! There was a pretty good wind coming off the Falls and there was a lot of mist in the air, making it the coldest part of the hike. I was wishing I had brought my jacket along at that point!

 

[Greg@RME]

The 2nd day took us down the Hole in the Rock Road 26 miles, to the Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch and a few slot canyons; the Dry Fork Narrows, Spooky and Peak-a-boo. Getting to them required descending some steep, treacherous snow & ice covered slickrock. We decided to pass on Brimstone, as it's very technical and has some places with only 8" gaps!! The slot canyons were the highlight of the trip for me! The trail directions we used recommended going up Spooky first, as to avoid climbing the 25' entrance into Peak-a-boo. This also meant we had to scramble up 2, near vertical 10' climbs. It wasn't too hard for me being a lanky 6' 4" tall, but my shorter wife had some challenges. There were many places in Spooky that we had to turn sideways, side-step and still scrape ourselves against the rock as we passed by! Peak-a-boo had some neat arches and holes to crawl thru, then eventually the 25' drop at the exit. Both those were a blast! The Dry Fork Narrows were a bit of a letdown after the first 2! I believe we did 4 miles on Sunday, but even that short hike it was a workout!

 

[Greg@RME]

The 3rd day we decided to take a break from hiking and spend some time in the Jeep... we decided to drive the Hole in the Rock Road down to the end, which is 62 miles one way! We lowered the tire pressure to 23 PSI for a better ride and hit the dirt, covering ground quickly. We stopped at Dance Hall Rock, where the Mormon pioneers threw a 1 1/2 month long party!

It took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to the end and the result was worth it! I've been on the Hole in the Rock Trail on the other side, so it was nice to tie both sides together finally! Seeing this gap and decent down to the lake below makes one really respect the massive effort they put in!

I hiked down about 1/3 of the way and it was crazy-steep, I can't imagine what it looked like when the Mormon pioneers dropped their 26 wagons down!

After awhile, we headed North, then into town for air, gas and fuel then headed home!

 

[Abel Villesca]

Awesome!

 

[mph]

Nice...glad you guys got to enjoy!

 

[SmoothLC]

Very nice - great place to go explorin'.

 

[mhiscox]

Great photos and narrative. Thank you very much.

 

[Greg@RME]

Awesome!

Nice...glad you guys got to enjoy!

Very nice - great place to go explorin'.

Great photos and narrative. Thank you very much.

Thanks all, glad you enjoyed the report and pics! I love it down there, thinking about the next trip already.

 

[Mad Matt]

Love the pictures!

 

[1leglance]

I didn't know about the hikes in that area, thanks for posting up pics and info.
Looking forward to getting back up there, thanks for taking us along for the trip

 

[4x4x4doors]

Nice. Thanks for the share!

 

[Greg@RME]

Love the pictures!

Nice. Thanks for the share!

Glad you guys enjoyed the report!

I didn't know about the hikes in that area, thanks for posting up pics and info.
Looking forward to getting back up there, thanks for taking us along for the trip

There are some EPIC hikes out there, it's an area that's begging to be explored! But you should go find out for yourself.

 

[Dougnuts]

Wow! Impressive photography, thank you for sharing.

 

[SIZZLE]

Purdy!

 

[Greg@RME]

Wow! Impressive photography, thank you for sharing.

Purdy!

Appreciate it guys!

I left the DSLR home for this trip, these pics are all from my Samsung Galaxy S6! :Wow1: Not bad for a phone!