Saturday 6/24 we drove 4.5 hours to Ecalante to do our first major canyon outside of Zion.
Once you get a vehicle out into the area you notice that almost the entire surface is covered with a fine sand/dust that gets into everything. This isn't like Zion with some moisture, some dirt, trees etc. This is like the moon. In Zion, once you get in a canyon, it is tough to get lost. In Escalante you start off being lost, and then try to find your way around and back to the vehicle.
Egypt 3 is one of the premier slot canyons. When we dropped into the beginning, it immediately got narrow. The slot goes almost uninterrupted for 4 miles, and is about 4 feet to 6 inches in width at times. People over 200 lbs cannot get through some parts. You hike for miles in slow motion, leaning against the walls for support. After a few hours you realize your hands/gloves have been sliding against the walls for hours and are very dried and chaffed.
The feel is totally different than Zion. In Egypt 3 you can still see towering walls hundreds and thousands of feet above, but these are shear walls - no plants trying to grow out of them, no streaks of water colors. These are funnel walls seemingly just waiting to channel any drop of water into our drainage. The intense heat from the June Sun scorches the ground all around Escalante and while hiking you have the feel of hiking in a tunnel just under a raging fire; and when you have to hike an open spot it definitely felt like we were being burned.
We were extremely fortunate that there was no water in this canyon. There hadn't been any rain for weeks, which is rare. Normally you'd need a wet/dry suit, but not this time. We found about 10 small 'keeper' potholes where you needed a partner to help get out. If they had been full of water, we could have waded across at waist/shoulder height, but climbing out would have been a challenge.
The walls were sometimes smooth and pleasant to the touch, and then for miles wold have little tiny rock mixed into the wall composite that could rake and cut you skin and pack as you go through. The pack take a lot of abuse and wear in Egypt 3 - much of the time you can't wear your gear but have to carry it sideways or even on top of your head!
The last stretch of slot canyon we hit a 100 yard stretch of dark stinky water (3 dead crows floating) and that water, the only water, was about chest/shoulder deep. This was one of the few pools I've been in where the oder stayed in my clothes for a long time. We did use our 150' rope for the one rappel near the swim.
Having made it out of the canyon, and it being our third canyon in 6 days, we just found a shady spot and napped for about 2 hours. When it was time to hike out 2 hours in the direct sun, a series of light clouds formed overhead and gave us a friendly and welcome shade for almost our entire hike out to the car. Things could not have been better or easier for us.
The drive home is long, even after stopping in Escalante for a smoothy. After a canyon like this, you feel sort of numb from the work, the thrills, the heat, the cold water, the wonder, the accomplishment ...... it is almost too much to take in right away. But the next few days are filled with memory and adreneline flashes of yet another great canyon, and another great day of life!
Blue Skies!
