Fall Vacation, Sept 2010 - Part One: Escalante
My fall vacation in Utah, September 2010
Part One: Escalante
I arrived in Las Vegas on Saturday afternoon. A shuttle to the rental car center, then another shuttle 2 miles further down the strip, and I picked up my Jeep Wrangler. (Screamin' good deal @ Fox Rent A Car.) Another stop at Wally World for supplies, and I was on my way.
There were a couple more stops on the way (picking up some used 5.10 Canyoneers - thanks Matthew - picking up a new Canyon Keg, getting gas, etc.) and a very long drive - out to Escalante, down the Hole in the Rock Road, then finally out the Egypt Road. I was planning to meet Ram at the Fence Canyon trailhead for a very early start Sunday morning. I parked a mile back from the trailhead around 2:30 AM, and pulled out a sleeping bag, pad and pillow. Two and a half hours later, I packed it all up, and headed toward the trailhead.
There I was met by Ram and Angus. I had a bit of a migraine lurking in the background, and I hoped it wouldn't blossom into a full blown episode. That made me consider bailing on the day - but I'm glad I didn't. We started down the trail at about 6:30, a short while before the sun crested the horizon.
Down to Fence Canyon, up the Escalante a bit, then up to the east, heading for Choprock. Dropped into the canyon around 10:30. Riparian was pretty. Happy was positively giddy. Grim wasn't so bad. Just a very small amount of log soup and floaty bits. I really don't know where the time went - I have no real recollection of its passage. I couldn't really tell you what time we finished the technical portion of the canyon, and started the hike out. I do recall getting back to Fence Canyon, and hiking up and out. By then, the previous long day and very short night were starting to catch up with me. The hike up and out was rough on me, and though I tried to convince Ram and Angus to go on without me (Ram had a long way to go, still, that night) they refused to abandon me (though I certainly was lagging!) I reached the top around 7:30, and they hung around long enough to confirm my car would start, so I'd not be stranded.
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More photos from the day here: http://picasaweb.google.ca/cirrus200...CanyonSept1220
That night, I met up with Nick (Ibenick) at a campsite between Egypt and Devil's Garden. Nick hadn't done any technical canyons yet, but lots of canyon hiking plus some mountaineering and climbing. He was familiar with rope work, but not in combination with canyons, nor was he familiar with the skinny stuff... In the morning, Mike (mmac) and Aram (Aethyrial) joined us. We had a quality breakfast, then headed off down the Egypt Road to descent Egypt 1 and Egypt 1.5 ("Bobo").
Egypt 1 is a straightforward beginner canyon, with a few easy rappels, and an interesting downclimb or two - depending on what one decides to downclimb or rap. I'd done the canyon solo previously, so was pretty comfortable with the downclimbs, but it was interesting to see how much had changed - been washed out - in the previous 4 months.
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We spent about 2 hours in the canyon, then climbed back up and out. As we approached our vehicles, about a half dozen trucks drove by eastbound along the road. We had a cold drink or two, then headed the same way, for Egypt 1.5. We got to the head of the canyon, and all the trucks were parked there. They had government plates, and there looked to be about 15 or so people gathering equipment and milling about. We pulled over, and got out. One fellow came up and asked us whether we were with Rick, or worked for him. Nope. We asked what their plan was. They were a National Guard group, and were going to descend the canyon in two groups. They were going to take a little bit to get going, however, so we were welcome to start out ahead and gain some ground. So off we went...
Egypt 1.5 is a fun little canyon. It starts with some easy downclimbing, then a long, 25-30 foot steep downclimbable groove. A couple folks rapped off of me, then Mike and I downclimbed. Further into the narrows, there are a number of pouroffs of about 10 to 15 feet or so, which can be descended a variety of ways. Mike had brought along a couple of potshots ("2"s) so we practiced using those, starting with a meat backup for the heavier members, and Mike (as lightest) went last, with an aggressive spot. We had a great time playing with these things! Looks like I need about 3 of 'em... Right at the bottom, just before the exit, there is a very skinny spot, about 10 or 15 meters long. I just barely managed to stay low the whole way (just to see if I could.) The others went high. This was Nick's first experience doing any stemming, and, as a pretty big guy, he found it pretty exhausting! Up and out, and back to the vehicles lickety split - a very quick trip back.
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Unfortunately, I didn't have my camera for this day - had lost it in the Jeep! I posted some of Nick's and Mike's photos here: http://picasaweb.google.ca/cirrus200...BoboSept132010
Mike, Aram and I headed into Escalante for a shower, propane for Mike's camper's stove, and ice, then back to the campsite for a big dinner.
In the morning, Nick had decided he didn't feel up to a trip through Neon. Aram didn't want a particularly difficult day, so Mike, Aram and I ended up doing a sport Neon, and Nick headed back north. We got a late, leisurely start, leaving the trailhead for Fence at around 10 AM (no, I'm not kidding!!)
We went in the "upper sport route", dropping into a very skinny tributary, and following it for a hundred yards or so into the main canyon. Then the fun began! Tons of water, lots of long swims and very deep wades. When I'd been down here 4 months earlier, we were dying for some water, having suited up as soon as we hit the main canyon. We resorted to kneeling down in the shallow wades we found, in order to cool off. This time, the water was definitely adequate to keep us from overheating.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RK3EFNtoTLs
It was one long frolic down canyon, with just a few short sandy walks in open wash. Before we knew it, we were at the final "keeper", where the keeper itself was flooded to the point that we could barely imagine it below the depths of the water. A gorgeous rap into the Golden Cathedral, where we met a couple of retired fellows from Georgia who had hiked in from the bottom. Chatted a while, and had some quality snacks before de-suiting and heading down canyon.
A leisurely trip back to Fence, then we killed a little time before heading back up toward the trailhead as the sun set, to avoid the heat. We arrived in full darkness, having had to use our headlamps for the last 20 minutes or so of the trip.
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More Neon photos: http://picasaweb.google.ca/cirrus200...onSept13142010
Wednesday, Aram hung around camp, while Mike and I wandered off to do Egypt 3. It's a fantastic little slot, and we had a great time descending it. Unfortunately, I'd forgotten just how long the trip back up is, with lots of up and down, and some route finding. Wish I'd remembered to take my GPS along... It was a bit arduous coming back out, but we survived it.
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More Egypt 3 photos: http://picasaweb.google.ca/cirrus2000/Egypt3Sept152010
Back to meet Aram at camp, then we all headed out to Escalante Outfitters, for some calzones and cold beer! We said goodbye, and hit the highway. Next stop for them, Flagstaff. For me, Zion!
