Hole in the Rock, Peek-a-Boo, Spooky, Zebra, Tunnel

[Corey]

Left Lehi at 2:30 pm and drove straight to Escalante. It was a blizzard as we drive past Bryce Canyon. We had planned on camping somewhere along the Hole in the Rock road, but at 6:30 pm it was about 20 degrees and windy, so we ate a Subway sandwich and then spent the night in the Prospector Inn. It was the best $70 we spent. The next morning was still 20 degrees, but warming.

Our plan that day was to hike part of Coyote Gluch, but when we got to the turn off to 40 Mile Ridge we saw that it was only 20 more miles to Hole in the Rock. We thought that we could spend an hour to drive to the top of the hole and look at Lake Powell and then get back on our plans. However, it took us about 4-5 hours for this little side trip. The road was so rough, it took about an hour to drive the 20 miles. When we got to the end of the road, we started taking pictures and then decided to hike down to Lake Powell. Finally after making it out of the Hole, we started to drive back. We were looking for a place to eat lunch and saw some interesting rocks. We found a road over to the rocks and found an old cowboy camp with an box canyon corral. We explored and took pictures. Finally by the time we got to the main road, it was too late to hike to Coyote Gulch. We will save it for a future trip.

We still had a few hours before dark so we headed for the Dry Forks of Coyote Gulch and walked the Main Fork, and then went up Peek-a-Boo and down Spooky. The main fork was a nice walk out of the sun. Peek-a-Boo was a real fun canyon, the entry was the only obstacle and it was very minor. Once inside there were a lot of cool turns and narrows. Once we got out of the narrows, there was a trail over to Spooky. It started our wide and quickly narrowed. The narrows were tight and long. There were sections that you had to shuffle sideways for hundreds of feet. It seemed to me that going up Peek-a-Boo and down Spooky is the best route. That way gravity helped you down the tight spots in Spooky. It was dark by the time we got out so we headed back to the truck.

The next day we went further north to Upper Harris Wash and hit Zebra and Tunnel. There was a defined trail from the unmarked parking area off the main road. The hike in was 2.5 miles. Both Zebra and Tunnel are hard to identify off the main wash. They don

[Jaxx]

Very cool TR. I have been thinking about taking my kids through Peek-a-boo and spooky some day. Sounds like mabey after they are old enough to walk on their own. I don't want to squeeze a kiddie backpack and get stuck in the slot with it. Mabey I will take the scouts down first and scout it out for a family trip.

[CarpeyBiggs]

no water in tunnel or zebra then?

awesome TR by the way, great pics.

[Cirrus2000]

Nice TR and great pics! Looks like you had a good time. One of these days I'll make it all the way down to the Hole in the Rock.

I have been thinking about taking my kids through Peek-a-boo and spooky some day. Sounds like mabey after they are old enough to walk on their own. I don't want to squeeze a kiddie backpack and get stuck in the slot with it.

I think that would be good - waiting til they can walk on their own. There would definitely be awkward spots with them in a pack, especially descending some of the tight spots in Spooky. As soon as they can comfortably walk for a couple of hours, it'll be time. You'll need to pass them up in a couple of potholes in the lower part of Peek-a-boo, and hang on tight in parts of Spooky, but that's what adults are for...

My kids were 11 and 9, and had a great time.

[jwurst]

We hiked Peek-a-boo & Spooky with 6, 4, and 2 year olds. The 6 and 4 did great and had wonderful time. The 2 year old couldn't see anything besides a giant sandbox that his parents weren't letting him stay and play in.

[asdf]

Great TR and photos.

The 2 year old couldn't see anything besides a giant sandbox that his parents weren't letting him stay and play in.

This hits pretty close to home.

[ststephen]

When my family did the up-Peekaboo-down-Spooky loop we passed several groups of people in the transition area between the two slots going the other direction. They all looked like they had just left a war zone and mumbled something about "the horror, the horror". We got them to explain and apparently there was a large family group with a hysterically screaming toddler and a full diaper stuck in Spooky. These people had all given up and turned around

We decided to have our lunch out in the warm spring sun. By the time we got moving again we made an immaculate pass through Spooky with no nasty sights, sounds or smells. Whew.

Nice TR, BTW. We did a similar diversion down Hole-in-the-Rock. I love the scratch marks of the wagon axles on the sides of the walls. My wife had some sore calf muscles from training for an ultra-marathon and complained that the steps cut into the rock were too high. I told her that it was rather inconsiderate of those pioneers to have not thought about the poor sore tourists who would drive here in their SUVs and day hike down the trail.

[Scott P]

Nice TR. When I was at Zebra last year, the whole dang slot was choked with tumbleweeds. Nice to see that it has been flushed out.

[Jaxx]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will wait until they are a little older.

[Iceaxe]

The 2 year old couldn't see anything besides a giant sandbox that his parents weren't letting him stay and play in.

A little trick when hiking with kids.... When hiking with young kids I stop and let them play in the sandbox, climb the rock, or toss rocks in the stream that has their attention. Kids have a short attention span and are usually finished in 5 minutes and you can than proceed. When planning a hike with kids I automatically build these "sandbox" stops into the schedule and I have never had a problem child on a hike. When I want to move along I tell the kids I know where a better sandbox is just up ahead. Works like a charm....

Hey, part of the reason you are doing the hike is for the kids, so let them do what they want part of the time. It will make the trip a lot more enjoyable. YMMV....

[DiscGo]

Nice TR. Those are some really cool pictures you took!