Death Hollow beta needed.

[nieder]

Wondering if I can get some opinions on the best way to do Death Hollow in Escalante two weeks from now (6/5/08). From what I have read and researched, it seems that there are three basic options:

1- Top to bottom, Upper and Lower, from Hell's backbone road to the Escalante, 4 days and 20 or so miles.

2- Lower canyon only, McGath Bench Road and Boulder Mail Trail to the Escalante, 1 long day or 2 short days and 7 miles.

3- Lower only, Up and back. Start at the Escalante and go up as far as you want and go back.

If anyone has a suggested route or experience of a good 2 day trip there, I would love to hear it. I am also wondering if it would be worth doing the upper canyon up and back from the Boulder Mail Trail. Any ideas on that?
Also, if you had to pick the best part of the canyon to see and hike this time of year, which would it be? Upper or lower?
thanks!

[Scott P]

It depends on how sensitive you are to poision ivy. If you don't know the answer to the question then you will shortly after completing Death Hollow.

If you aren't so sensitive, I would suggest doing the entire canyon. Four days seems about right. If you are really sensitive, just do the bottom end from the river.

If you only have two days, either the upper end or lower end would work (i.e. the loop via the Boulder Mail Trail or just visiting the upper up from the BMT). Both are very beautiful. I would say the lower is perhaps more beautiful to me because of all the running water. The upper end is more challenging.

[nieder]

Thanks for the great info-
I am not sure about the Poison Ivy, I have never touched the stuff. That does give me one more thing to consider though. I have reactions to other plants, so it could be bad.
One other question- would the lower section only (BMT to Escalante) necessitate a wet suit this time of year?

[RedRoxx]

I'll second the poison ivy part, I did the BMT last year, thought about going down lower Death Hollow to the Escalante but it was raining (snowing up at the upper TH) and decided I wanted to be drier. I put on my rain gear to go thru the poison ivy then turned it inside out and bagged it and washed it separately later. I don't think I am super sensitive but you can't avoid it and some of it is higher than your head and crowds right into the trail and overhangs in places into the little stream.
I think depends on flow in Death Hollow from snow melt too, if it's at reasonable levels depending on your scrambling skills I don't think you need to get all that wet going downcanyon, from what I have read.

[Scott P]

One other question- would the lower section only (BMT to Escalante) necessitate a wet suit this time of year?

No. While the water in the lower end is not say bathtub warm, I can't imagine it being cold enough for a wetsuit in June.

The upper end has colder water.

[nieder]

Answers to my previous questions in case anyone needs to know.


Wondering if I can get some opinions on the best way to do Death Hollow in Escalante two weeks from now (6/5/08). From what I have read and researched, it seems that there are three basic options:

1- Top to bottom, Upper and Lower, from Hell's backbone road to the Escalante, 4 days and 20 or so miles.

2- Lower canyon only, McGath Bench Road and Boulder Mail Trail to the Escalante, 1 long day or 2 short days and 7 miles.

3- Lower only, Up and back. Start at the Escalante and go up as far as you want and go back.

If anyone has a suggested route or experience of a good 2 day trip there, I would love to hear it. I am also wondering if it would be worth doing the upper canyon up and back from the Boulder Mail Trail. Any ideas on that?
Also, if you had to pick the best part of the canyon to see and hike this time of year, which would it be? Upper or lower?
thanks!

We ended up going from the Boulder Mail Trail down to the Escalante, and up the sketchy 4th class slabs to the top of Micro Death Hollow as described on the Utah.com site (http://www.utah.com/thingtodo26597.htm). We were in a hurry to beat the sun, so we didnt go up to the upper canyon. If I had it to do over again, (and I plan on doing it) I would start from Hells backbone and hike all the way out to where the road crosses the Escalante. This is said to be 22 miles, I bet you could easily do it in 2 days.

No one in our party of 8 was affected by the Poison Ivy, many of us touched it as you CANNOT avoid it in some places. We had long sleeves and pants on the most dense area, where you drop in from the BMT. The lower canyon is definitely the most impressive part, about 3 miles up from the Escalante is the narrows, which is somewhat Subway-esque.

The exit route we took I would not recommend to people who dont have climbing/scrambling experience. It is as follows:

As you leave Death Hollow and start down the Escalante, you will see a break in the wall about 1/2 mile down. Not exactly a trail as the link above describes. Maybe 2 cairns to mark the way. This daunting 600 foot slab route is the only way out if you have parked at Micro Death Hollow. Follow the dirt trail up until you get to the slick rock. Then look for a break in the wall which is sort of a sidewalk that you can take heading east across the wall. A few sketchy moves will lead you to easier ground, but still 4th class exposed slabs. You wouldnt want to take a tumble here, but continue up another 400 feet or so to the canyon rim, and back around Micro until you get to the parking area.

[nat]

We ended up going from the Boulder Mail Trail down to the Escalante, and up the sketchy 4th class slabs to the top of Micro Death Hollow as described on the Utah.com site (http://www.utah.com/thingtodo26597.htm). We were in a hurry to beat the sun, so we didnt go up to the upper canyon. If I had it to do over again, (and I plan on doing it) I would start from Hells backbone and hike all the way out to where the road crosses the Escalante. This is said to be 22 miles, I bet you could easily do it in 2 days.

No one in our party of 8 was affected by the Poison Ivy, many of us touched it as you CANNOT avoid it in some places. We had long sleeves and pants on the most dense area, where you drop in from the BMT. The lower canyon is definitely the most impressive part, about 3 miles up from the Escalante is the narrows, which is somewhat Subway-esque.

The exit route we took I would not recommend to people who dont have climbing/scrambling experience. It is as follows:


You could probably do it in two days (Hells Backbone to the bottom) but not easily. The section from the first pothole (a couple miles above the Right Fork) until the Boulder Mail Trail is a LOT slower than the section below the BMT. No trails, slippery walking in the creek, swims up to 150ft, and numerous downclimbs. In my opinion, the best part of Death Hollow is from the Right Fk to the BMT. It starts off with some cool deep slots, followed by an incredibly lush deep canyon with lots of ferns, moss, and flowers. I've done Death Hollow 6 times and have never seen anyone above the Boulder Mail Trail. We usually take 5 days, though a couple of these are pretty short (half day or so). Probably a total of 24-28 hours of hiking time. We spend time just hanging out and swimming in the pools, and exploring side canyons.

The first 4 times thru, I didn't get poison ivy. the 5th time (three years ago) I had a bad case of it. The last time, about three weeks ago, I was pretty careful, and found that you can avoid the poison ivy. If it appears on the trail (or on your route) simply backtrack until you can drop into the creek, and walk down the creek. None of us got it this time, and I really beleive that I never touched the stuff. We also exited by way of the Micro DH trailhead. This saves a couple of hours, and a thrashing from the deer flys. It's a great hike; our favorite backpack trip in Southern Utah.
:rockon:

Nat

[ratagonia]

Answers to my previous questions in case anyone needs to know.


Wondering if I can get some opinions on the best way to do Death Hollow in Escalante two weeks from now (6/5/08). From what I have read and researched, it seems that there are three basic options:

1- Top to bottom, Upper and Lower, from Hell's backbone road to the Escalante, 4 days and 20 or so miles.

2- Lower canyon only, McGath Bench Road and Boulder Mail Trail to the Escalante, 1 long day or 2 short days and 7 miles.

3- Lower only, Up and back. Start at the Escalante and go up as far as you want and go back.

If anyone has a suggested route or experience of a good 2 day trip there, I would love to hear it. I am also wondering if it would be worth doing the upper canyon up and back from the Boulder Mail Trail. Any ideas on that?
Also, if you had to pick the best part of the canyon to see and hike this time of year, which would it be? Upper or lower?
thanks!

We ended up going from the Boulder Mail Trail down to the Escalante, and up the sketchy 4th class slabs to the top of Micro Death Hollow as described on the Utah.com site (http://www.utah.com/thingtodo26597.htm). We were in a hurry to beat the sun, so we didnt go up to the upper canyon. If I had it to do over again, (and I plan on doing it) I would start from Hells backbone and hike all the way out to where the road crosses the Escalante. This is said to be 22 miles, I bet you could easily do it in 2 days.

No one in our party of 8 was affected by the Poison Ivy, many of us touched it as you CANNOT avoid it in some places. We had long sleeves and pants on the most dense area, where you drop in from the BMT. The lower canyon is definitely the most impressive part, about 3 miles up from the Escalante is the narrows, which is somewhat Subway-esque.

The exit route we took I would not recommend to people who dont have climbing/scrambling experience. It is as follows:

As you leave Death Hollow and start down the Escalante, you will see a break in the wall about 1/2 mile down. Not exactly a trail as the link above describes. Maybe 2 cairns to mark the way. This daunting 600 foot slab route is the only way out if you have parked at Micro Death Hollow. Follow the dirt trail up until you get to the slick rock. Then look for a break in the wall which is sort of a sidewalk that you can take heading east across the wall. A few sketchy moves will lead you to easier ground, but still 4th class exposed slabs. You wouldnt want to take a tumble here, but continue up another 400 feet or so to the canyon rim, and back around Micro until you get to the parking area.

The description of the route on that sight is particularly misleading. I hope that was not your only source of information about the route.

Tom