Twig Adventures

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′ We hiked our final miles of this leg as if we were being pursued by the meerkats. Or maybe it was the possums…I can’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 O was too stubborn to stop. Town awaited! We turned up Sheep Creek right away and the[…]

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 quite a bit more overnight, but it didn’t worry me. It was light rain but the wind really picked up several times. Luckily all the trees kept us sheltered. Everything was pretty damp and covered in sand in the morning. Still, we’d been extremely lucky with hardly any precipitation during the days, mostly just when we’re already in our tents. I’m not complaining! We got ready early and immediately started up an alternate trail to Yellow Rock. It’s a giant dome of yellowish and orange sandstone. Its rise is gentle enough that one can easily[…]

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 we were seeking redemption for our failed Round Valley Draw adventure. We’d decided to do and out and back up the canyon, adding 5 miles total to our day. 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 is a classic slot canyon, very popular with tourists and locals alike.[…]

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 walk close to the arch. The light wasn’t as good as the night before but I did manage to catch some of the morning pink from the sunrise. We walked a little ways down the road to our cache, which we’d originally intended to leave by Grosvenor arch but couldn’t make it all the way due to the road being muddy, icy, and covered in snow. Things had changed greatly since then. The snow was gone, and the road dry and grated. Any car could drive it. We[…]

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’ve 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. We thought we only had a few miles left before beginning a road walk[…]

Thursday, April 20th, 2023, 1130-1840Escalante\Hole in the Rock Road Devils Garden S7 to Right Hand Collet Canyon15.5 miles, elevation 6000′ I didn’t really 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. Plus, I still felt like I hadn’t gotten much done. I ate breakfast in the room and then 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 2 days. We said our goodbyes to Mac, Leah and Sky and[…]

Tuesday, April 18th, 2023, 0630-1130)Beginning of Coyote Gulch to Hole in the Rock Road, hitch to Escalante 12 miles, elevation 5870′ We survived the night, untouched by ROUS’s. I slept so well. Actually, I did have one complaint in that I was too hot! We woke to 60’s in the morning! I was sweltering under my quilt but wasn’t quite sure what that feeling even was so I just ignored it. I only recalled that I’d felt that way in Florida several times before. At least everything was bone dry \ no condensation in the morning…kind of weird being next to a stream and all. Not at all like Florida. We got to enjoy about 7 miles of walking up[…]

Monday, April 17th, 2023, 0645-1900Halls creek  end to beginning of Coyote Gulch18 miles, elevation 3750′ We had 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 looks like a giant homogeneous slab of white sandstone. But there are 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 microcosms of habitat, including juniper and pinon pine. We spotted a[…]

Sunday, April 16th, 2023, 0650-1845Muley Tanks to Halls creek, just before the Baker route23 miles, elevation 3830′ I woke with a bit of a headache, probably because of staying up too late. The party people didn’t stay up too terribly late but I’m not really sure since I took measures to be dead to the overnight world…earplugs and herbal remedies. We ran into Artemis and Mac pretty early and all started hiking in the vicinity of each other. Soon we spotted a side trip that 3 of us decided to try while Mac continued on. He was heading over on the main Hayduke route to the Escalante River to packraft down for about 25 miles. The rest of us were[…]

Saturday, April 15th, 2023, 0650-1830End of Swap Canyon to Muley Tanks, S618 miles, elevation 4630′ I woke to the usual chill, 32 degrees, which was starting to feel pretty normal. I got used to sleeping with my filter every night from the beginning. We walked out of the canyon in a few miles and entered Capitol Reef, our 3rd National Park on the route. There was a humble sign to welcome us and an easily bypassed fence to keep cows out. There was more cow poop on the park side of the fence, plus lots more hoof prints, go figure. We made it to the road leading to the various points of interest in the southern end of the park,[…]