Escalante Feb 2-4

[Slot Machine]

I'm thinking about taking my son John down to Escalante next week to do some kid friendly canyons. He is 3.8 years old. I'm wondering if anyone would like to join us?

This is what I'm thinking:

Monday: Dry Fork Slot then Brimstone (from the bottom)

Tuesday: Red Breaks - West Fork (from the top)

Wednesday: Peekaboo and Spooky

We will be staying at the Circle D and eating lots of pizza.

Send me a PM if interested.

[wild avocado]

Hi Slot Machine,

My family and I are headed down there from late March to early April. My kids have done some mellow canyons before (Leprechaun canyon south of Hanksville). Did your trip go well? Would you go anything differently? Where are people camping down Hole in the Rock road and where are they finding H20? Thanks for any assistance.

[Slot Machine]

My family and I are headed down there from late March to early April. My kids have done some mellow canyons before (Leprechaun canyon south of Hanksville). Did your trip go well?

It went OK. I learned a lot. We did not do spooky/peekaboo because John would have need assistance from above and below. My help alone was not safe enough. So we hiked up Brimstone as far as we could, then back to the car. I learned that small kids have a very hard time on sandstone slopes. (My son has no interest in being carried.) I do not recommend heading into the Dry Fork complex with small children. It is simply too much work.

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John would have never made it to Red Breaks, because I learned that he can't hike very well in deep sand. The tiny surface area of his feet allow him to sink into the sand, disproportionate to how adults sink. When he is 5 or 6, I'm sure he will be able.
Then my son developed an unreasonable fear of cactus, because I accidentally kicked one. :facepalm1: He got over that in a day or two.

So we went to Devils Garden and hiked about 3 miles. He ran all over the sandstone, getting stuck high on slopes a couple of times and scaring the crap out of himself. This was good, because he learned about his own limitations.

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Then we went to Bryce (because I was tired of dealing with sand and cactus), hiked down the ice covered switchbacks (very scary), then up the ice covered Queen's garden trail (less scary). He found this hugely rewarding and empowering. He won't let mom or dad do anything for him now.


John's hammer. Formerly known as Thor's Hammer.
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Would you do anything differently?

Not really. I'm still learning what my son is capable of. Having a long list of backup hikes was helpful. Spending some quality time with him while teaching him to love the outdoors was my objective.

Where are people camping down Hole in the Rock road and where are they finding H20?

HITRR is quite long, so there are many places to camp. You can find perhaps 100 camping spots just looking on Google Earth. I think most people transport water in. I got my water at the Circle D Motel. :mrgreen:

[Scott P]

I do not recommend heading into the Dry Fork complex with small children.

I kind of disagree, but it does depend on the kids and how use to hiking though slot canyons and on sandstone. My small children loved Peekaboo-Spooky and to me, it is an ideal place for small kids. It would be better to have more than one adult along though.


I learned that small kids have a very hard time on sandstone slopes.

This is a generalization and is not true of all kids. Our kids loved to hike on sandstone slopes and that age. Your mileage may vary.

(PS, I don't mean to knock your kid. It's great that you two are getting out. I just mean to point out that all kids are different and that we never had problems with our kids hiking on sandstone. All kids are different).

[Slot Machine]

I kind of disagree, but it does depend on the kids and how use to hiking though slot canyons and on sandstone. My small children loved Peekaboo-Spooky and to me, it is an ideal place for small kids. It would be better to have more than one adult along though.

This is a generalization and is not true of all kids. Our kids loved to hike on sandstone slopes and that age. Your mileage may vary.

(PS, I don't mean to knock your kid. It's great that you two are getting out. I just mean to point out that all kids are different and that we never had problems with our kids hiking on sandstone. All kids are different).

The somewhat steep approach to those canyons was difficult for John, mostly because his head is about 25% of his body weight, so tipping over became a serious problem. :haha:

As for the canyons alone, with two adults, I totally agree that they would be quite fun. John has done more difficult canyons and had a blast. We did carry him in/out for those canyons, something to consider for the Dry Fork complex. Perhaps I'd change my previous statement to: "I don't recommend small children hiking to the bottom of the complex under their own power."

And I don't take anything as a knock, I'm amazed at how different small kids can be. :mrgreen:

[Scott P]

"I don't recommend small children hiking to the bottom of the complex under their own power."

I would still think it's perfectly OK, as long as the kids are conditioned. I only say that for encouragement.

Our kids did fine at that age in things like Peekaboo and Spooky, but perhaps on difference might be (?) that we were taking our kids into those kind of places since they could walk.

Here's one trip, for example, at age 4 which I would say was much more difficult than the Peekaboo Spooky loop:

http://www.summitpost.org/a-grand-and-challenging-trip-in-the-canyon/253033

Here's a description of the route:

http://www.bobspixels.com/kaibab.org/bc/gc_tr_rc.htm

Our son could do 14 miles a day at age four (and up to 12 at age 3), and our daughter 11 miles.

Here are a few photos taken at ages three and four of various different routes that we have done:

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/289456.jpg

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/215130.jpg

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/198327.jpg

The sippy cup on Windom Peak, one of the more challenging 14ers in Colorado adds a nice touch:

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/205011.jpg

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/272291.jpg


http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/205203.jpg

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/329650.jpg

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/389858.JPG

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/500767.JPG

http://www.summitpost.org/images/medium/509341.JPG

By ages five and six they were doing a lot more, but the above are only ages three and four.

The only secret is getting them out often. Other than that, we didn't do anything special.

[Slot Machine]

I would still think it's perfectly OK, as long as the kids are conditioned. I only say that for encouragement.

Our kids did fine at that age in things like Peekaboo and Spooky, but perhaps on difference might be (?) that we were taking our kids into those kind of places since they could walk.

Our son could do 14 miles a day at age four (and up to 12 at age 3), and our daughter 11.

The sippy cup on Windom Peak, one of the more challenging 14ers in Colorado adds a nice touch:

By ages five and six they were doing a lot more, but the above are only ages three and four.

The only secret is getting them out often. Other than that, we didn't do anything special.

WOW. :hail2thechief:

This is really eye opening. We've been taking John out hiking 2-3 times a week, about 3 miles per hike. And I thought we were at the far end of the bell curve.. Guess not! :haha:

My parents never took me hiking, so I don't have a good reference to what childhood conditioning is. The first time I hiked 14 miles in a day I was 26 years old.

Thanks for the inspiration and advice Scott. We've got some work to do. :nod:

[Sandstone Addiction]

I have been taking my boys hiking since they were infants and now I can hardly get them to go any more. :ne_nau:

I can still get them to go when we are outside the valley, but to just head up the local canyons in the evenings is getting pretty tough to get them to go. Although bribing them works once in a while. Usually involves Culvers. :nod:

[TommyBoy]

Unfortunately everyone's different, hopefully you have instilled in them somewhere a love of the outdoors that will bloom when they get older. I remember many such trips with my parents all over the country when I was younger and back then I liked it when I was little, but grew more and more impatient with them as I aged. Once I got old enough to plan my own trips though I got back out and am grateful for the skills that I learned as a child even if it took a while to truly appreciate them.