There’s a whole world out there, right outside your window. You’d be a fool to miss it. —Charlotte Eriksson

In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous. —Aristotle

We arrived at the trailhead, Jumpup Cabin, the night before and spent a chilly night camped out next to the cabin. We wished we had thought to reserve it for the night. But, the morning was just perfect as we headed down into Jumpup Canyon.

It’s about 4 miles, walking down the wash, to get to the junction with the Jumpup/Nail trail. At this junction, we left the wash and headed up to the Esplanade. What a great name. Once we got high enough and around the corner, we were amazed at the gorgeous view.

Unlike many of our other adventures, we had a trail for quite a while. It was so pleasant to just follow this level, well-defined trail while taking in the scenery. The next four miles went by all too quickly and we headed down into Sowats Canyon where we’d make camp for the night at Mountain Sheep Spring. Lots of water, so it was just perfect.

The richness I achieve comes from Nature, the source of my inspiration. —Claude Monet

We got up, packed, and headed down Sowats Canyon along the creek, crossing back and forth. Not very much water, so it wasn’t a problem. It was just so pleasant. About a mile down, we came to the junction with Jumpup Canyon. At this point we stopped for breakfast. Also at this point, the creek went underground, never to be seen again.

The rest of the day was pretty awesome too. Four miles hiking through a deep slot canyon. Lots of uneven rocks, gravel, and sand, but wow. We even took a break for lunch and hiked up a side canyon called Indian Hollow just to check it out.

We finally exited Jumpup Canyon as it met with Kanab Creek. In spite of Kanab Creek being over 50 miles long and a major drainage of the southwest, all its water was underground. Our plan was to take a rest day here and hike down canyon the next day to bring back water for the next two days since they were to be dry camp days.

Junction of Jumpup and Kanab Creek. We camped up on the second level of green grass.

Well, we got lucky! There was a muddy pool, left over from a rainstorm some days prior. Now we had something to think about. We knew there was an impending storm at the end of our trip. So, we decided to forego our rest day and exploration downstream and continue on with our hike. We camped here at the junction up on the green grass. You couldn’t ask for a better campsite.

Should you shield the canyons from the windstorms you would never see the true beauty of their carvings. —Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

We tanked up on water from the muddy pool as we had 8.5 miles this day and 10 the next before we’d see water again. It was just a lovely and sometimes arduous hike up the creek bed. Lots of small boulders to hop up, over, and around.

Well, what do you know?! About four miles up, the creek appeared! At first it was just a small, stale puddle. But less than 1/4 mile further up, it was a full running creek. For those interested, it was just above the junction with Chamberlin Canyon.

We followed water for maybe two miles before it dried up again. It was getting late in the afternoon and the canyon walls were starting to turn more orange. As we approached the junction with Hack Canyon, we knew this was the point where we’d find the Hack-Lawson trail to take up back up to the Esplanade. It was pretty difficult just to find the trail that left Kanab Creek. We believe whatever signage and/or cairns had been washed away. We finally found it and it was pretty overgrown. But our campsite was pretty nice.

Nature’s beauty is a gift that cultivates appreciation and gratitude. —Louie Schwartzberg

We got up, packed, and found the trail back up to the Esplanade. We quickly were out of the brush but were also quickly heading up. The trail itself was very well defined and well constructed. It wasn’t long before were were up on fairly level sandstone where we sat and had breakfast. The sun felt wonderful but we could see the clouds from the incoming storm.

Being up on the Esplanade, you’d think would be fairly level walking. But, the first five miles were up and down, in and out of ravines. But, once again, the trail was really well kept and well defined, which made the walking fairly easy. Good thing, since we had 10 miles to go today!

As we crested the last ravine and rounded the corner, the full Esplanade came into view. It also became a mostly slickrock, level trail. It was just so pleasant, peaceful, and beautiful. We continued for another five miles, heading back to Jumpup Canyon.

Once we got to the Jumpup Canyon junction, we went downstream about a half mile until we hit Lower Jumpup Spring. Not a lot of water running, but enough. We filled up as the wind started really picking up. We looked for a while until we found an overhang to set up camp. We knew it would rain overnight. What we didn’t know is that the wind would HOWL and send heaps of sand into our tent. We ducked inside our sleeping bags to hideout from the blowing sand but it was hot and steamy so we would poke our head out to breathe. Sleep? Not much for me. I heard the rain come pouring down but we did stay dry.

Sunshine is delicious, rain is refreshing, wind braces us up, snow is exhilarating; there is really no such thing as bad weather, only different kinds of good weather. —John Ruskin

So, after shaking sand out of as many things as we could, we packed up and headed out. This would be a short day, with only 5.5 miles to get back to the car. In spite of the rain, the canyon dried quickly but, it was cold. After about a mile hiking up the canyon, we stopped for breakfast. The sun came our intermittently, which felt really good.

We finished up the canyon and were back to the car by 11:00. The skies kept trying to clear up and it did get a little warmer.

But, the adventure wasn’t over yet! Now we had to travel 20 miles on a muddy, clay road to get back to the pavement. We had heard that after one rainstorm, the ranger in his 4WD couldn’t even get through. Oh wait. Is that snow? Just beyond the car at Jumpup Cabin, we encountered snow. The road back goes up a couple thousand feet higher and it was white everywhere. That meant REALLY muddy roads. It was a nail-biter and we slipped and slid our way out. When we hit the pavement, I could finally relax. What a beautiful trip. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.

The snow got even deeper on the way out

The goal of life is to make your heartbeat match the beat of the universe, to match your nature with Nature. —Joseph Campbell

THE END

#goplayoutside

#dosomethingepic