Mike and I dithered a little bit about doing more in Capitol Reef. We had loved the water hike, but were feeling a little lazy, so enjoyed some quiet time at our campsite and then started to make our way toward Bryce Canyon.
Lou’s brilliant idea for the Sulphur Creek hike had come from Alltrails, which I had kind of forgotten about as a resource. So when we headed southwest toward Bryce, I looked for hikes along the way. The most popular one focused on a couple of slot canyons so we decided to make our way toward a campsite near-ish.
On the way, we drove through part of the Dixie National Forest where we again saw a huge change in terrain and flora. We went pretty much directly from red rock, shale, desert and primarily junipers into forests of huge evergreens and yellow-leaved aspen interspersed with grassy fields. We slowly made our way over mountains of this landscape and then descended back into the desert.
We stopped for a hike along the way as I had found a two mile round-trip hike to a waterfall, which we thought would be a nice little leg-stretcher. I hadn’t paid attention to the elevation, however, which was 600 feet change over a mile. It was quite doable, but very different as it was entirely over slickrock with cairns to (mostly) show the way. The falls themselves were quite high and a little hard to see as we hiked to the top of them, however, the Upper Calf Creek itself was lovely. Clear water flowing over a pale rocky landscape, with the water carving out potholes and creating little ponds that have an oasis feel to them with all of the trees and plant life around them. Mike jumped in the biggest pond before we climbed up and up back to the car. Our first hike in Grand Staircase-Escalante was complete.
Then on to Hole in the Rock Road. We had been making our way southwest on a scenic byway and when we got to Hole in the Rock Road, we encountered our first scenic backway. There was BLM land right off the highway, so we went just a bit down the gravel road to find a lovely desert campsite. We chose it because the slot canyons we wanted to explore were about 45 minutes down the road and we really didn’t want to take the trailer any further.
The next day we headed down the road to the trail that led to Peekaboo and Spooky canyons. I had read some reviews that said that the climb into Peekaboo could be difficult so bringing rope could be handy so I packed a set of hammock straps in my backpack as we geared up. We hiked along the rim of a canyon and then found our way down slickrock into a wash (dry river bed). When we got to the entrance to Peekaboo, I was able to get up with a few pauses along the way, but Mike had a hard time (he’s been struggling with eczema on his hands). I threw the our hammock strap down and helped pull him over the lip, the only casualty being the front of his shorts. (Note to self: empty all pockets before entering any slot canyon.) We wound up pulling four more people up to the entrance before heading into the canyons.
And they were beautiful! The sun lit up the orangey and red rocks as we slithered through the canyons. It was absolutely beautiful with quite a few narrow parts and only one other tricky area, this time a descent. We slowly made our way through the canyons, following the curves, enjoying the light and sucking in our guts when needed.
Apparently all hoodoos or interesting rock formations conjure up thoughts of hell, so we stopped at Devil’s Garden (Outstanding Natural Area, officially) on the way back to our site and had a lovely walk.
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Our campsite was situated on the edge of a wash and looked out onto some very interesting landscape, so we decided to stay a couple of days and just explore. Mike and I both took separate, long walks wandering around the area. It was so easy to just wander looking ahead to the next hilltop or around the curve in a wash wanting to go just a little further to see what was ahead. Both of us came back with pictures that just couldn’t capture the beauty that we found along the way. We walked through land that was probably mostly seen by cows (open range), following their paths and then venturing beyond, sometimes pusbing through brush or ducking under barbed wire.
Before we left the area, we headed into the lovely town of Escalante to fill up on propane (Phillips 66), make use of wifi (visitor center), and pick up a fabulous pizza and have an interesting time trying to buy a bottle of bourbon (Escalante Outfitters). Oh Utah.
Escalante is a hidden treasure. So many places to explore!