pigburner
05-06-2014, 01:00 AM
Friday, April 18 North Wash Slots
Somehow it seems I always try to spend a little time in North Wash when I come to Utah. Even though I don't do technical canyons, after wandering into the bottom of Leprechaun on a previous trip a number of years ago, I fell in love with the narrow slots and beautiful lines and curves found here, along with the wide expanses of red slickrock towering above the slots. All so easily accessible; just stop alongside the road and start exploring.
We had intentions to wander up the slickrock above Sandthrax to the pass overlooking Butler Canyon, but never made it out of the canyons. We started the morning in Blarney, exploring up through the narrows and side canyons until we couldn't go further or felt like we'd gone far enough. A little bit of minor climbing over obstacles kept it interesting, and the morning light was beautiful in the narrow sections.
73690
73689
73688
The upper end of our Blarney explorations
73687
Smiles are a given in this playground; it is hard not to have one on your face.
73686
We dropped down to Hog Springs Canyon to hike up to the waterfall and pool, which was part trail, part bushwhack through dead reads all poking straight at you, pointed downstream by past floods. The effort was rewarded by the beautiful pool, which appears grossly oversized compared to the trickle of water dropping into it.
Any rumors of monsters in this pool? My daughters said some kind of creature came up and rippled the surface several times while they were sitting nearby...
73685
Returning to the highway, we made a final stop at Lucky Charms for one last little exploration and were rewarded with more beautiful curves and lines; then it was time to head for home and start planning my next trip...
73684
73683
73682
Somehow it seems I always try to spend a little time in North Wash when I come to Utah. Even though I don't do technical canyons, after wandering into the bottom of Leprechaun on a previous trip a number of years ago, I fell in love with the narrow slots and beautiful lines and curves found here, along with the wide expanses of red slickrock towering above the slots. All so easily accessible; just stop alongside the road and start exploring.
We had intentions to wander up the slickrock above Sandthrax to the pass overlooking Butler Canyon, but never made it out of the canyons. We started the morning in Blarney, exploring up through the narrows and side canyons until we couldn't go further or felt like we'd gone far enough. A little bit of minor climbing over obstacles kept it interesting, and the morning light was beautiful in the narrow sections.
73690
73689
73688
The upper end of our Blarney explorations
73687
Smiles are a given in this playground; it is hard not to have one on your face.
73686
We dropped down to Hog Springs Canyon to hike up to the waterfall and pool, which was part trail, part bushwhack through dead reads all poking straight at you, pointed downstream by past floods. The effort was rewarded by the beautiful pool, which appears grossly oversized compared to the trickle of water dropping into it.
Any rumors of monsters in this pool? My daughters said some kind of creature came up and rippled the surface several times while they were sitting nearby...
73685
Returning to the highway, we made a final stop at Lucky Charms for one last little exploration and were rewarded with more beautiful curves and lines; then it was time to head for home and start planning my next trip...
73684
73683
73682