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 Simpson quoting tree hunter and canyon rapping rockhound who longs for the return of his trapped Toyota
Salt Lake City, UT
USA
2268 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2007 : 4:51 PM
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After the long day of constant movement in Heaps Canyon, I was well and truly prepared for a rest day. The focus of the trip shifted at this point to the Escalante area, as a participant in the "Tom's Canyon Festival", of course run by the aformentioned Tom. A sedate day and short drive up to the Escalante area brought me to one of my favorite camps out southeast of town, for a nice relaxing evening. The following days would bring on a trio (for me, anyway) of shorter day trips. The first, as part of a larger group of like-minded folks, descended a route referred to as "Jungle Love". Lots of easy walking in a vegetation-crowded streambed, followed by a spectacular rappel down a waterfall that may seem familiar to some (the pseudonym is very appropriate, and keeps that vague degree of anonymity needed for this route). A very pleasant day with great people, but I was feeling like I was running on fumes. A few pix:
Tom makes the opening jump. I needed this drop as I visibly sweated pounds off in the warm sun
The lovely upper falls
Various streambed scenes-lots of walking in shallow stream on slabs. Incredibly lush for this part of the world
     
And finally, some shots of the waterfall rappel. Pretty cold, but not coldly pretty...
   
A nice walk out in the warmth of the afternoon, then out along the Hole-in-the-Rock road for some, well, exposed camping. Lovely sunsets out here:
The plan for the following day involved a potential descent of a slot canyon bearing the somewhat ominous name of "The Beast". Beast is a well-known skinny slot that gained notoriety amongst canyons group members via a particularly good TR involving a descent through the ultra-tight gorge. I won't recount the details, other than to note that the end result was the author ending up upside-down with his pants around his ankles. With a sales job like that, how could anyone resist??
I was a little uncertain about this one as my experience in the very skinny slots (otherwise termed "Mae West" slots) was limited. Nonetheless, I decided that I would have a look and decide on its viability before I committed to the squeezy stuff. If nothing else, the section above the middle "Beast" part was still on my must-do list and somewhat less problematic. Tom's idea was to go high, as a reported weakness (so to speak) existed at 75' off the deck. I would probably opt to follow the smaller people low down. We geared up with a minimum of stuff and headed out. Tom, naturally, picked a pleasant route through another rather pretty slot that most of us had been in before. A datura flower:
And the beautiful slot traversed en route to the tight stuff:
  
We eventually navigated our way over to a suitable drop-in point for Beast, quickly finding a fair amount of water in the bottom of the developing slot. Not a good thing-in fact, with little room to maneuver and a potential need to maintain friction (mud never helps!), the slot had epic written all over it. Fair enough, the others opted to scout for additional entries, while I would explore up-canyon into my section of interest. As it turned out, the upstream option had its own water issues, and I soon turned back down and followed the canyon rim in hopes of catching the others. Not far beyond the bail point, I located another easy drop-in with signs of a dry section below. Intent on having a good exploration, I dropped in and explored a short section down to where the hard stuff began. This slot, to me, seemed very unique due to the amount of patina (Fe-Mn oxides) on the walls, as well as a surprising amount of luminous green moss. A few photos:
   
There were no signs of the others, so I regressed and followed the rim down-canyon to where I could drop in to the bottom section of slot. A short walk up-canyon brought me to the rest of the group-some of whom were exploring the cold pools at the bottom end:
 
The eventual walk out concluded a short day. At this point, I felt even more tired. The following day was planned for a full descent of Neon Canyon, a route that would finish with a 1300' climb out of the Escalante gorge. At this point, I couldn't seem to visualize myself hiking out at the end of a long day, so a few of us opted for a shorter route down the nearby Egypt 2 slot. Very nice and kinda short:
  
A mysterious canyon-lovin' Canuck:
and more E2:
 
The hike out was not too bad, especially since the weather had cooled down a little and I had a rather hilarious dialogue going on between two of my partners. I could feel, however, an enveloping tiredness that signaled a good point to either take a proper rest day, or conclude the trip. A last side trip was needed, however-a mandatory soujourn through yet another unpeopled range in the Nevada Great Basin. Farewells were made, and I headed off through miles of emptiness, watching as snow-laden clouds announced the onset of autumn. The Colorado Plateau had receded for another year. |
Edited by - Too Many Canyons on 10/19/2007 12:50 PM
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Beaverton, ON
Canada
1295 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2007 : 5:07 PM
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Geeze TMC, you sure packed a lot in during your trip down there. 
Sept and S Utah = heat! 
That certainly is a 'lush' area, considering the area you were in.
Great reading/series of TRs and photos. 
Cheers, Dusty
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 Big pack hiker who sleeps with bears in tent and falls on slippery logs
Langley, BC
Canada
7647 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2007 : 5:39 PM
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| Rappelling down a waterfall - sweet! |
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Hope, BC
Canada
7098 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2007 : 7:03 PM
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That looks awesome! I like the rock there, how it is all cut out from the water, it sure is nice. Going down that waterfall looked like an incredible rush, and refreshing and fun at the same time.
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Happy go lucky, plaid wearin, postholin, safeway gaitor sportin, old-school film shootin, giver of many regards
Abbotsford, B.C.
Canada
13466 Posts |
Posted - 10/18/2007 : 7:48 PM
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Nice shots of the pool and waterfalls. Your photos show this place to be a pleasant oasis and place to visit.
K |
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Delta, BC
Canada
172 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2007 : 06:37 AM
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| That looks like a beautiful spot - I'll have to do some research! (Good photo of you on Tom's Rave page, BTW.) |
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Herbal tea drinkin, tree huggin, view seeking, tortoise paced, ultralite wannabe
Vancouver, BC
Canada
2847 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2007 : 3:05 PM
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incredibly beautiful stuff. I must visit there someday. Your photos are, to say the least, stunning  |
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maple
Canada
534 Posts |
Posted - 10/19/2007 : 10:38 PM
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| Beautiful place, great pics, What a trip. |
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Kits Beach
Canada
216 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2007 : 12:48 AM
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| Very Cool. Great Photos. |
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Telkwa
1176 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2007 : 08:49 AM
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| I love the Escalante area (thanks to you). Did you get Neon then? |
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Peak bagging, bushwhacking, zamboni driving, snowshoeing, self portrait artist, and speed demon who loves to hang out on Mt. Seymour
4000 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2007 : 09:30 AM
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| Some of those pictures look out of this world. That was a great trip. |
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Vancouver, BC
Canada
1126 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2007 : 4:20 PM
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Finally caught up with your TRs. You sure packed a lot into that trip. Some really cool photos as usual.
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Grouse Grinding, GPS carrying, lawn chair packing, bike riding North Shore tech addict who stares at Crown Mountain from his office window all day
North Vancouver
Canada
1905 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2007 : 7:30 PM
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I could go for some of this about now!
I'm enjoying this series of trip reports TMC, the canyon trip reports definitely have their own flavor. |
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Terrace, BC
957 Posts |
Posted - 10/20/2007 : 11:49 PM
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Any concerns about flash floods through those slots.
BTW they look totally otherworldly. Are you sure you weren't on Mars? |
Edited by - MJB on 10/20/2007 11:56 PM |
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Utah's canyon trekking,deck chair packing desert explorer who dreams of visiting Canada someday
3988 Posts |
Posted - 10/21/2007 : 5:29 PM
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Unreal! So nice to get out and be able to do the combo hike. I get to an impass and the rest of your world is not available for me to see. Still, I am greatful for the always always amazing TR's and pictures that are stellar and top drawer. Thanks for sharing.
p.s. is there any way a non climber can access below the falls upstream to them? hmmmm....hungry hungry hungry....hehe |
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Simpson quoting tree hunter and canyon rapping rockhound who longs for the return of his trapped Toyota
Salt Lake City, UT
USA
2268 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2007 : 08:19 AM
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Kathie: no Neon (not enough left in the tank!)
MJB: flooding was not a huge concern. The day I left, a cold front was moving in and depositing some snow on the high country (including Bryce), but the style of weather wasn't really the big convective type that generates the bad floods. The concern was more the aftermath of the previous floods.
Jerry: The entire length of "Jungle Love" is accessible by hiking. We just did it as a through route. |
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Terminator shade wearing, summit questing, double Grinding, Gordo voting self annointed 'dumb ass' and Aconcagua Bagga who dreams of Robson, Teton, The Judge, and.....and....
Port Moody, B.C
Canada
2210 Posts |
Posted - 10/22/2007 : 11:42 AM
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| Great little serious of trips Chris!! Glad to see you getting into those canyons again. |
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6: An Escalante canyon triplet, S. Utah
