TR~Little Death Hollow/Horse Canyon/Wolverine Canyon

[Scott P]

The original plan was for all of us (Kim, Kessler, Shaylee and me) to go and do the Little Death Hollow Loop, but Kim had to stay home since one of our guinea pigs needed some medicine. I had been through much of Little Death Hollow several years ago, but it was full of water and we stopped short of much of the best parts, so it was time to complete the loop.

Rather than doing the entire loop in one day, which is what most people do, we were to take two days in order to explore all the side canyons and to hike all the way down to the Escalante River.

This is a beautiful area and the photographs will tell most of the story.

Little Death Hollow.

April 13

From the trailhead, we hiked down Little Death Hollow. In the Hollow, we met SP member gjagiels who was running the canyon. He recognized my name in the summit register. We chatted for a bit until we reached a side canyon, but the kids and I set off to explore the side canyon.

Petroglyphs in the upper end of Little Death Hollow.

The upper end of Little Death Hollow is quite wide and gives no hints to the narrow canyon below.

A section of upper Little Death Hollow.

A big arch in the upper end of Little Death Hollow.

This is where Little Death Hollow begins to narrow and get more impressive.

Some of the pretty walls in Little Death Hollow.

An easy, but pretty section of Little Death Hollow.

We explored another technical side canyon farther down Little Death Hollow as well. This one had some technical scrambling up the slot and around potholes.

One of the side slots of Little Death Hollow that required a bit of technical work to reach the upper end.

In order to avoid getting wet in this side slot of Little Death Hollow, a bit of stemming was required.

Once the side canyons were explored, we continued down Little Death Hollow. Little Death Hollow certainly lived up to its name as there were many bones scattered throughout the canyon, one dead cow and a fresh dead deer.

Little Death Hollow certainly lived up to its name. There were many bones scattered throughout the canyon and one dead cow and one deer as well.

The rumored obstacles in the canyon have either changed or have been highly exaggerated because it was more or less a stroll through. There were several chockstones to scramble over and under, but it was easy as slot canyons go. We could keep our feet dry as well. We found ourselves out of the canyon faster than expected and we kept expecting it to get more difficult.

One of the obstacles in Little Death Hollow. We actually found the canyon to be quite easy.

An easy section of Little Death Hollow.

Some of the narrows in Little Death Hollow.

One of the slot sections.

Narrows.

Little Death Hollow.

A chockstone obstacle in Little Death Hollow. The rumored difficulties of the canyon have been exaggerated by some sources, at least when the canyon is fairly dry.

A pretty section of Little Death Hollow.

Some obstacles were easier to go under rather than over, at least if you are small enough.

Little Death Hollow.

The logs in Little Death Hollow were deposited by flash floods.

One of the ledge bypasses.

One of the scrambling obstacles in Little Death Hollow.

We made it through Little Death Hollow in four hours, even with exploring all the side canyons. From there we dropped our packs and headed down Horse Canyon to the Escalante River. It was a pretty walk and the kids like to play in the cold river, which was running clear (rather unusual for this time of year).

After enjoying the river, we headed back up to the confluence of Little Death Hollow/Horse Canyon, but there was a group camped there with six big dogs. We decided to hike farther up Horse Canyon to camp and camped near the line camp.

After camp was set up we hiked up to the spring high on the canyon wall for good water. We thought about sleeping in the Line Cabin (it was windy), but some ranchers came down and were going to sleep in the cabin. They were looking for a lost cow and we told them we only saw a herd of cows farther down canyon. When we described the herd, they quickly went down canyon with their horses because it was a cow herd that was lost for quite a while now.

The evening was quite windy, but later that night the stars came out and it became calmer. We had hiked 12.5 miles (~20 kms) today.


April 14

Today we hiked up Horse Canyon and out Wolverine. It was a pretty walk, but quite easy although there were some boulders to pass. At the upper end of Wolverine, there are some huge petrified logs and we spent some time observing and exploring them. After that it was a walk across the colorful hills to the vehicle. It was a good trip, but since it was a long drive, I wished that we could have stayed longer.

Lower Wolverine Canyon.

A little mini-arch in Wolverine Canyon.

Wolverine Canyon.

Can you spot the kid? Kessler in Wolverine Canyon.

A section of Wolverine Canyon.

The middle section of Wolverine Canyon.

One of the big petrified logs in upper Wolverine Canyon.

In April, the flowers in Wolverine Canyon were already blooming.

This rock formation is between Wolverine Canyon and Little Death Hollow and meant that we were almost back to the trailhead.

[nat]

Nice TR! Great photos. I did this back around '95, and had forgotten how pretty it was. It seems like it is not done that often; at least I don't hear people talking about it.

Nat

[MPH]

Wow! Awesome photos! Great timing...thinking of heading there next week. Btw...was the road up and down horse canyon open? I'm assuming the ranchers u mentioned drove down???? Thanks

[Scott P]

Yes, there is a road in upper Horse Canyon, but they can only drive to the Line Camp below Wolverine.

[MPH]

Thanks scott...

[Scott P]

It seems like it is not done that often; at least I don't hear people talking about it.

Not sure, but maybe because it's on the east side of the Escalante? It seems to me that the canyons on the east side of the Escalante don't seem to get as much traffic as the canyons on the west side get.

[Kuya]

Beautiful! I love seeing the little kids in the canyons

[peakbaggers]

Nice report, Scott. Looks like a great time with the kids & they knocked off a lot of miles. That petrified log was HUGE! We were in there maybe 10 years ago & I remember seeing some petrified wood. I'll have to keep this one on the list for when we need a non-technical adventure.

[powderglut]

Another great trip! I hope your kids realize they may be the most journeyed young canyoneers anywhere.
Nice job dad!!!

[Sandstone Addiction]

Loved the TR Scott. My boys and I need to do this loop soon.

Beautiful pics, thanks for sharing.