“Life is an adventure that is best lived boldly.” – Bear Grylls

This route was plan B after getting “weathered out” of our plan A in the Grand Canyon. In looking for hikes in the Escalante, I found this one. Didn’t realize quite the adventure it would turn out to be!

Arrived at the Fortymile trailhead at around 2pm, just behind a group of 16 people. Sigh. They got a head start on us but we were able to catch up and pass them before “crack-in-the-wall.” That’s the place where you lower your packs over the wall about 40 feet and then skinny through a slice in the rock hoping you don’t get stuck. Once through, packs back on, it’s smooth sailing down the sandy slope to Coyote Gulch. We climbed back up to the (not so) secret hilltop and made camp for our first night.

Today we scramble down with heavy packs containing nine days’ and nights’ worth of food and supplies, including a rope for some climbing sections. We headed north and down the next gully to the Escalante river. No easy task with these heavy packs.

The morning was brisk. Probably in the low 30’s given it was high 20’s overnight. We had three river crossings to make. Although the water level wasn’t much over our shins, it was unbelievably, icy cold. Our feet hurt and went numb in just a short distance. This didn’t bode well for our return to the river later in the loop, where we needed to make multiple crossings that were much deeper.

Finally, at the mouth of Steven’s canyon, we dried off, warmed up, and began the long trek up the canyon. It was pretty cool to see Steven’s Arch from the backside, too.

The weather was cool but the views were heating up. Occasionally, there was brush to break through and then, more pretty canyon walls. A short but sketchy climb up some piled rocks got our attention but, we continued on. Little did I know, that was probably the easiest challenge.

And then more beauty.

Soon, we came upon the famous “grotto” with its hanging arch. We also faced the wall of steep, wet clay, peppered with poison ivy. Fortunately, the poison ivy was just barely budding out. I wouldn’t want to do this any later in the year! But the wet clay…. Ugh. It was really difficult to make vertical progress.

Onward and upward through the red slickrock. Water was never a problem here in Steven’s Canyon. Finally, we stopped for the night.

A beautiful day to climb up onto the bench. First, scramble up the rock pile. OK. Oh wait. Then there’s a steep, exposed climb? Thank you Lenny for always being willing to carry my pack up.

From the rockpile, you can’t see the steep ramp.

Next up was a thin trail clinging to the edge. You can barely see it but it’s literally at the edge of the wall below the greenery. Don’t look down. Just look ahead. Phew! On our way along the sandstone bench.

And then more “edge” walking.

After a bit more slickrock bench walking, we rounded the corner on a steep, sandy slope that bypasses a pouroff. From there, it was a nice slope down to the flat “patio” where the creek was running.

As the day wore on, there was a mix of beauty and the beast. Thick vegetation came into play that we had to push through.

Finally, we decided to camp for the night. We found a great spot and Lenny invited me to dinner. I had my choice of “Rocky Flats” or “Boulder Creek Inn.” These were giant boulders that we could both sit on and make dinner. I chose the Boulder Creek Inn.

In the morning, we saw all kinds of animal tracks in the sand. It was fun trying to think of what they were.

We also looked for and found a mining claim that was mentioned. We also found an old, heavy pot.

2/17/1911?

Up the creek we go and it wasn’t long before this day’s first challenge. First, you scramble up the rock pile. Then up a VERY steep, 70ft wall that must be climbed. No way to really use a rope or even your hands. Just gotta trust the friction from your shoes. Breathe.

“In every journey comes a moment… one like no other. And in that moment, you must decide between who you are… and who you want to be.” ― JC Marino, Dante’s Journey

Once again, Lenny went up, dropped his pack. Came carefully down and got mine. He stayed behind me while I made my way up. That was truly the most scariest part of the whole loop.

Up on top, it was smooth sailing. Beautiful views from the high bench.

Looking back to where we came up, just past the big group of trees in the middle

Looking forward up the canyon

Lunch time. Tortillas with rehydrated peanut butter.

The next challenge was the climb up to and over the pass between Stevens and Fold canyons. After heading into the bowl that makes up the head of Stevens, we had to find a place not too steep so we could get up the first layer of sandstone. Next was working our way up the Kayenta layers. The real challenge came in locating and then physically climbing the ends of two layers along the ridge on the right, with drop offs on both sides.

Somehow we have to get over that purple Kayenta band in the center of the picture

Once above the climbing part, it was a matter of working our way back to the center to get over the pass to Fold Canyon. Views were amazing!

Saying goodbye to Stevens Canyon

Hello Fold Canyon – yes we still have to get down that steep hill

Once on the canyon floor, we found a terrific place to camp, next to some large potholes of water. The evening was warm and the stars were out in abundance. It was really lovely.

End of a hard day

Today should be a day of slickrock bench walking. And, of course, it was. But it was oh so much more than that of course! What would the day be like without a challenge?

Just ahead of the “Hell” sand dune, seen in the picture above, came a pretty sketchy traverse. The slickrock slab was steep with a drop off going into the canyon prior. It’s imperative that you get as much of your shoe on the rock to get as much friction as possible. The scary part comes when you need to lift and move your foot. There was yet another worse version immediately following this but, we chose to get up above it and traverse that way.

Yes, you have to get across that wall!

And, if that wasn’t scary enough, you have to traverse a sliding sand cliff just feet from a 100+ ft drop off! Every step you take slides down about a foot or so before (hopefully) stopping.

Note the “trail” just above the rocky layer

OK. Back to bench walking. What a relief that’s over! It was yet another wonderful walk to the end of the canyon. Once we could see the Escalante below, we needed to turn left and go over the shoulder and into the next canyon. It was a bit of a grind, but we did it and were able to find another great campsite.

So, this is the big day we’ve been waiting (fearing) for! We need to get down to the Escalante river. That starts with a 30ft down climb off the edge. Yes, we used ropes. Though my heart was pounding, it was definitely easier knowing I was roped up.

Well, with that behind us, it’s now time to test the waters. Will they be frigid even after the weather has warmed up? Will that cause more snow melt and make the water colder and higher? We have five miles and a lot of bushwhacking to figure that out.

Feeling pretty good both mentally and physically

Well! What do ya know! The water was delightful and not high at all! We spent the afternoon in and out of bushes and river crossings. Actually, the crossings were more enjoyable than making progress on land, where the reeds, willows, etc. were thick.

Just when we’d had enough, we reached the mouth of Fool’s canyon. Lots of nice camp spots there but you can tell it gets a bit of use. Used toilet paper left freely out. Pack it out people!

Just a quick 2.5 mile jaunt up Fool’s Canyon and we should be there before lunchtime right? Haha. They don’t call it Fools for nothing. Today, we’d see the warmest day of the trip – or the year, for that matter.

Fool’s Canyon starts out very pretty and relatively easy. Morning light made everything look even more pretty.

About halfway up the canyon that all came to an end. The bushes got unbelievably thick, including poison ivy vines that, fortunately, hadn’t sprouted yet. Our progress slowed considerably as we tried to make our way through the dense brush.

And, suddenly, we came to a dead end.

That’s when we realized, we’d been “Fooled.” At mile 1.8, we should have climbed up above on the left and gone past all that brush. This is the place the ends in the known downclimb. So, we backtracked through most of the brush until we found a way up and were at the downclimb soon enough.

I had been worried about this and was hesitant to take the Fool’s Canyon route. But, given all we’d been through so far, I figured I should be able to do that too. Lenny found the spot marked by a pile of rocks. He was dismayed that someone would think to use the rocks as an anchor to hold their rope! What if they pull the whole pile down on themselves?!

Note the pile of rocks. It has a sling around it showing someone thought was safe to anchor from!

Using the rope again, we lowered our packs and then Lenny put me on the rope so I could climb down safely. He didn’t have a way to be on a rope but didn’t need one anyway. #billygoat

We arrived just shy of our campsite in the afternoon but, were stymied on just how to accomplish the last 100 yards. It was extremely hot (85) and not much shade to speak of. We just needed to get up a 15ft wall. We looked all around. Tried different ways. Lenny actually climbed a tree and got up but that wasn’t really practical. After about an hour of milling around, he finally found a slight depression in the wall that we could friction climb up.

But Fool’s wasn’t done with us yet. We had set my pack down right in the middle of an ant’s nest and they were not happy! There were hundreds of ants crawling all over my pack. Lenny didn’t realize this until he had my pack partially on. He got bit a few times and we spent even more time making sure we got them all off.

Perfect place to relax for the afternoon

Finally, we arrived. And, from here on out, we’d done this before. What a relief! No more surprises. We spent the rest of the hot afternoon bathing, washing clothes, and just resting in the shade. It was nice – except for the bugs. We didn’t realize they were biting gnats! Some call them no-see-ems. We both were bitten quite a number of times, especially around the hairline. These bites itched terribly and it looked like I had the measles!

We set the alarm for 6am to hopefully beat the heat as we had to cross a wide-open, shadeless, slickrock mesa for four miles. And, to our delight, we were greeted with a most glorious sunrise! Off we go to climb up the steep cliff up to King’s Mesa. Even though we’ve done the trail before, it still got my attention, being only one shoe wide at times.

The view from the top is spectacular. Even if one doesn’t go down into Fool’s Canyon, it’s worth getting to the edge to take a look. We continued on. King’s Mesa has a pass in the middle. It’s mostly uphill on the way to it and mostly downhill on the way out. It’s pretty much solid, petrified sand dunes. Although it’s relatively easy to walk on, it does take a toll on your feet. Lots of different side-hill walking. And, the repetitiveness can give you blisters.

The day was cooler and quite windy at times. Lenny worked hard (too hard) at trying to follow a previous GPS track he made. So much so that he became frustrated and irritated. He admitted being grumpy. I really wanted to keep going so, I asked him, “How long are you going to be grumpy for?” It was a serious question but one that gave him pause and he snapped out of it. We both laughed and still laugh remembering that.

Along the way, there are thousands of “moqui marbles” which are really hard bits of sandstone and iron that, after rolling around for years, become rounded. We stopped a few times to do some bowling!

Time on the mesa had come to and end and it was time to climb down. I thought I would feel better about it, having done it before, but I still wanted a rope. After I was down, I practiced partially climbing some. Then we went off down the long branch of Sleepy Hollow to the confluence of Coyote Gulch and just past Hurricane Wash to camp for the night.

In the morning, we talked about some options. One would be to stick with the original plan, going down Coyote Gulch and spending the night where we did on our first night. The second would be to exit just past the Jacob Hamblin arch, since we’d seen Coyote Gulch before. This is a bit sketchy and, again, would require a rope. But we’d be back to the car pretty quickly. Given there’s a chance of rain in the forecast, it had a bit of an appeal.

However, I really wanted to see Coyote Gulch again. It’s just so stunning. I proposed we do the whole gulch and hike back out through crack-in-the wall, the same way we came in. It meant a pretty long day, especially with a couple hours’ drive back to town on top of it all. Luckily, Lenny agreed.

This area is just SO beautiful. I won’t say anymore – just let you see for yourself.

We made it to the place where you leave Coyote Gulch and the water behind and head up the big sand hill. It was slow going. Probably an hour to go 3/4 mile. Lenny pulled the packs up at crack-in-the-wall and we hustled the two miles back to the car. Those miles seemed to go on forever!

We got to the car about 6pm after about 10 miles. We hugged, kissed, and high-fived. Then high-tailed it out of there to get to town before we’d lose an opportunity to get food and a room.

“As soon as I saw you, I knew a grand adventure was about to happen.” – A. A. Milne

#goplayoutside

#dosomethingepic