Twig Adventures

Friday, April 28th, 2023, 0645-1910Mile 35 of Bryce Extension to 1.5 miles south of LeFevre Cabin28 miles, elevation 5900′ This was one of my longest days on the Hayduke and it certainly felt like it at times. We got an early start and immediately enacted new plans. Overnight, we’d noticed that we could take a lower elevation route called the Grandview Trail. It stayed well below the rim and outside the park, only rising to 7900′. The main Under the Rim route would have taken us over 9000′ and we’d already been encountering a lot of snow at much lower elevations. For some reason, the south end of the park seemed to be holding more snow, perhaps because a lot[…]

Thursday, April 27th, 2023, 1000-1910Tropic to just south of Noon Canyon Butte, mile 35 of Bryce Extension, just outside of park boundary 20.5 miles, elevation 7740′ We got a late start, as I was once again dragging my feet. Tropic was actually easy to leave, since all we had to do was simply walk out of town, resuming the trail on what’s known as the Bryce extension. The official Hayduke route skips the best parts of the park, entering it far to the south at a remote trailhead. But I wanted to see all the hoodoos and pillars that the park is famous for. It was named after a Mormon guy, Ebenezer Bryce, which gave rise to my invented Bryce[…]

Tuesday, April 25th, 2023, 0630-0930Paria River 0.5 mile south of Sheep River to Willis Creek Trailhead, then ride to Tropic8.5 miles, elevation 6300′ I hiked the final miles of this leg as if I was being pursued by the Paria meerkats. Or maybe it was the possums…I couldn’t keep them straight. It felt pretty warm when I woke, with temps in the mid 40s, but as soon as I started crossing the river, I was freezing again. A cold wind was blowing straight into my face and my feet quickly felt like blocks of ice. I should have put my neoprene socks on but I was too stubborn and cold to stop. Town awaited. We turned up Sheep Creek right[…]

Monday, April 24th, 2023, 0650-1945Lower Hackberry Trailhead \ Yellow Rock alt. to Paria River 0.5 mile south of Sheep River20.5 miles, elevation 5230′ It rained for awhile overnight, but only lightly. The wind really picked up several times but luckily the trees kept me sheltered. Everything was pretty damp and covered in sand in the morning. Still, I felt like I’d been extremely fortunate with hardly any precipitation during the journey, mostly just a few nights when I was already in my tent. I couldn’t complain. We got ready early and immediately started up the alternate trail to Yellow Rock. This was one of many alternate attractions suggested by Jamal Green on his page Across Utah, and as usual, it[…]

Sunday, April 23rd, 2023, 0640-1800Round Valley Draw \ Hackberry Canyon confluence to Lower Hackberry Trailhead \ Yellow Rock alt.21 miles, elevation 4690′ I was pretty excited to wake and pack this morning because I was seeking redemption for the failed Round Valley Draw adventure the day before. I’d decided to do an out and back up the canyon, adding 5 miles total to my day. Such extra miles were no big deal and the canyon was very much worth it. We left our packs under the cover of the junipers, as the ravens were already soaring above, looking for an opportunity. It was typically cold (30s) and felt even colder deep in the canyon. RVD was a classic slot canyon,[…]

Saturday, April 22nd, 2023, 0640-1800Grosvenor Arch S8 to Round Valley Draw and Hackberry Canyon confluence.21.5 miles (but only 9 official trail miles), elevation 5750′ I got an early start so I could take more pictures of the nearby arch. The light wasn’t as good as the night before but I did manage to catch some of the sunrise. We walked a little ways down the road to our cache, which we’d originally intended to leave by the arch, but couldn’t make it all the way due to the road being muddy, icy, and covered in snow. In retrospect, this was a good thing, since I’ve learned that burying food in the vicinity of people and picnic tables is a recipe[…]

Friday, April 21st, 2023, 0640-1830Right Hand Collet Canyon to Grosvenor arch 25 miles, elevation 6230′ It was 25 degrees under the trees and 23 degrees in the wash in the morning. Three nights prior, the low had been 60 something. I’d never been on hike with such temperature swings, except maybe the GET and MRT. There was one benefit to the freezing temps: the quick mud in the creek was quite firm to walk over, making for easy travel for a few miles. But I still wished it would warm up some. It was supposed to be back in the 60s by the end of the day. I thought we only had a few miles left before beginning an easy[…]

Thursday, April 20th, 2023, 1130-1840Escalante\Hole in the Rock Road Devils Garden S7 to Right Hand Collet Canyon15.5 miles, elevation 6000′ I really didn’t want to leave town this day. Normally I’m very eager, especially after a zero. I guess I was just liking the good food, people, and conveniences too much. I ate breakfast in the room and got a second breakfast at the natural food store. I saw Page at the Post Office as I was walking by. You know it’s a small town when you start getting waves from the locals after only being there just 2 days. We said goodbye to Mac, Leah and Sky and then met another Hayduke hiker, Emily. She’d gotten off trail at[…]

Tuesday, April 18th, 2023, 0630-1130)Beginning of Coyote Gulch to Hole in the Rock Road, hitch to Escalante 12 miles, elevation 5870′ I survived the night, untouched by ROUS’s. I slept pretty well except that I did have one momentary complaint in that I was too hot! It was in the mid 60’s in the morning and I was sweltering under my quilt just as I went to bed, like I was back in Florida. At least everything was bone dry \ no condensation in the morning…kind of weird being next to a stream…not at all like Florida. I got to enjoy about 7 miles of walking up Coyote Gulch, one of the most popular hikes in all of Utah. The[…]

Monday, April 17th, 2023, 0645-1900Halls creek  end to beginning of Coyote Gulch18 miles, elevation 3750′ There was a 2000′ climb to start the day, glad we saved it for the morning while it was still cool. Instead of waking up to the 30s, temps were in the 50’s! We got a great start before sunrise and were flying up the Waterpocket Fold. From afar, the feature looked like a giant homogeneous slab of white sandstone. But there were many peaks and valleys, ripples and rumples. It was incredible to see how varied the formation was up close. As the name suggests, there were many pools of water but also tiny micro-cosms of habitat, including juniper and pinon pine. I spotted a[…]