Utah Canyoneering - take 4

In October I made my 4th annual pilgrimage to Utah to worship its amazing rock formations. This time, I went with friends, which made the trip even more fun. We flew to St. George, in the southwest corner of Utah, and worked our way east, across the entire state, to Moab. The plan was to drive to Escalante, which is a small town a few hours east of St. George, and spend most of the week exploring the narrow slot canyons outside of Escalante. Unfortunately, we found out after arriving that Hole in the Rock road, the backroad that gives you access to all the slot canyons, had been severely flooded in a recent storm and was closed by the county. So instead, we worked our way across the state, stopping to hike at many places along the way, spending a few days in Moab, and then driving back the way we came.

Traveling across southern Utah means driving on state highway 12, which is probably one of the most scenic roads in the world. It goes through impossible canyons, over mountains blanketed with Aspen trees, and then through tumbles of red, red rocks. We spent a lot of time gawking from the car, and had to pull over frequently for pictures.

We also did some hiking :)

Day 1: Angel's Landing trail in Zion National Park. Pretty much straight up to the top of a 2000 foot spire, and then back down again.

This (the bumpy rocks with the trees) is actually the trail.

Day 2: Navajo loop in Bryce National Park. A fun playground of hoodoos and other finger-like rock formations. BTW, Bryce is at 9000 feet, so the camping that night was COLD!

Starting the hike at the canyon rim.

Day 3: Moab! Devil's Garden train in Arches National Park. Also a fun loop trail through arches, over rock fins and other outcroppings. This is definitely the most "interactive" trail of the bunch - you get to climb over lots of rocks, and walk through arches and stuff.

Can you spot all three of us?

Day 4: Backcountry canyoneering with Desert Highlights guide company. They took us out on short notice and we had an awesome day of climbing up the side of a rock mesa, and then making our way down from the top through a series of rappels.

We also went out for dinner & drinking afterwards, which ended up being a little bit painful the next day :)

Day 5: Head back towards St. George on Highway 12, which goes through Capitol Reef National Park. A short, relaxing hike there and the discovery that Hole in the Rock road has been reopened! So we head to Escalante for the night, and plan to do a hike to one of the slot canyons the next day. On a personal note, I think that I may have fallen in love that night.

Day 6: We finally got to explore a slot canyon! I have been a big fan ever since I visited Antelope Canyon (in Arizona) in 2007. I love the swirls of sandstone and the glowing light, and the feeling like you've discovered a hidden treasure. We chose to go to Zebra Canyon, named for its stripey rock walls. Driving down Hole in the Rock road, you'd never guess that there are rocky canyons nearby.



The road is completely flat, and surrounded by prairie and tumbleweed. We parked the car and headed towards the canyon, through a flat grassland, and then into a large, flat, sandy wash. Still no sign of rocks. After about three miles, there were finally some rocky walls rising up along the sides of the wash. We headed towards one of these rocky outcroppings, and sure enough, there was a big crack in the rock - it was Zebra Canyon!

And it was full of water. Remember back at the car, when Madi said "What if it's still flooded from last week?", and I was like "Nah, I'm sure it'll be fine by now". Well, I was totally wrong, but we made it all the way out there, so we weren't gonna turn back. We stripped off our socks and shirts and packs, and waded into the water. It was freezing. And it kept getting deeper, until we were in up to our belly buttons. And then we had to turn sideways and shuffle because the canyon got too narrow to walk forwards normally.

Just a little bit of water....

But the narrow canyon, and the swirls in the sandstone... I was in heaven. So worth it.

This was the part after we got out of the water.

We emerged from the water and got to scramble up over a few tricky obstacles. One requiring a climb up a crack in the rock, and one requiring getting around a deep pothole full of water. And then we could go no further, as the next obstacle was too sheer a wall for us to climb without any special gear. So we returned, grinning, across the obstacles, back through the belly-high water, to the entrance of the canyon, where we had left our packs. And then through the maze of washes and across the prairie to the car.

That evening, we headed back through Zion and into St George. Checked into a hotel and cleaned up and got ready for the flight back home the next day.

Day 7: Took it easy, packed up our stuff, and headed to the airport. I probably could have stayed another week, but I guess every good trip has to come to an end. That was my 4th consecutive year of going to Utah in the fall, so hopefully I'll keep the momentum and go back for more next year.