Saturday, July 21, 2007

Does Superman check the coin return slot in phone booths?

This morning I was in Escalante Grand-Staircase National Monument. The big draw here were the slot canyons. My first stop was for a decent hike to Lower Calf Creek Falls. After that it was a 25 mile dirt road built onto a washboard to reach the gulches of Spooky and Peek-a-boo. Slot canyons are a lot of fun to explore. They are very thin chasms that are just large enough to slide, wiggle, and crawl through in something equated to outdoor spelunking. After research I had chosen these two since they allowed for a loop hike instead of just out and back. I had a blast crawling through in many spots which I had to exhale to comfortably squeeze through. As long as there isn't rain in the area, and thus the potential for flash floods, it can be fun. I later tried to hike to Brimstone, through some really hot canyons and open desert trail. At one point I thought I missed the turn off, so I headed back, only to think again that I had been on the right track so I returned. after going even further, always thinking it was just around the other corner, I finally had to turn back. I was getting overheated due to lack of shade and my water was going to run low. I found a small shaded brush area and rested for an hour before heading back to the parking area. I later found that at the point I had stopped, the opening for the gulch really was around the next corner. After leaving Escalante, I headed towards Bryce Canyon so that I could be there in the morning light.


















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