I give you: the narrows of Happy Canyon. This canyon is absolutely gorgeous, and is a photographer's dream. But, it's charms aren't relinquished easily. BE WARNED: this canyon is in an extremely rugged and remote location. We left Monticello at 7:30 am, and arrived in Happy Canyon at around 3:30 pm. Making a day hike out of Happy Canyon requires a monumental effort. Consult the map below:
1 - We arrive at a fork in the road after 90 minutes of driving on dirt roads from Hwy 24.
2 - The going is so slow in a 4wd truck, that we decide to ditch the truck, and bust out the ATV for the remainder of the road. A 4wd vehicle will not make it far beyond here. The road is impassible in many spots to regular vehicular travel.
3 - We encounter two very large boulders that block the road. We are persistent, and roll some large rocks out of the way, and continue cautiously on a very rugged ATV track.
4 - Here we ditch the ATV (after more than 90 minutes since ditching the truck). We descend on foot down some steep slopes to the Dirty Devil river. Happy Canyon is just around the corner.
5 - We reach the mouth of Happy Canyon after 8 solid hours of traveling on paved and dirt roads, in a truck, on an ATV, and on foot. We had to wade the Dirty Devil river three times.
6 - This is where we turned around in Happy Canyon.
I would say if you plan on doing happy Canyon, bring an ATV (or at least a mountain bike), because if you plan to hike to Happy Canyon on foot, it will take you all day. This is probably the most remote slot canyon I have ever hiked to.
And now to the pictures....