13.5 miles, 9 hours

My last post came out sounding a little arrogant, I think. And I want to be clear: we planned well but we are also subject to a lot of luck. We have had good weather for our Escalante River days and it makes a huge difference. The weather threatened to blow in another storm today but it didn’t. The difference is felt not only in the warm temperature making the many crossings pleasant, but also the lack of rain keeps the river clear and low for easier crossings. We are very thankful for the good weather!

Some of our crossing were deeper today and we had a lot more rock scrambling, making it a slower day. But it is also refreshing to be hiking along water in this section instead of the many dry washes we’ve seen.

13 miles, 8 hours

I’m sitting by a fire, sipping red tea and listening to the singing river while Dave reads beside me. I’m tired and relaxed. It was a tough day, but a fun and rewarding one.

The book describes the Escalante River portion of the Hayduke Trail as “extreme” in difficulty, and certainly it is in many ways. But we timed this hike to hit the Escalante early, well before peak flow, which is usually near the first of May. With the early start we had some cold days to get through, but we also got to the Escalante when it is flowing clear (not silty with runoff) and only shin- to thigh-deep (some Haydukers bring inflatable rafts). That makes our many crossings a day much easier. And with the current warm weather it’s pretty refreshing. There’s still plenty of bush whacking, climbing up and around boulders and sand slogging, but we’re getting used to that now.

We completed four weeks on the route today. I have to admit I sometimes had doubts I could do this. The book makes it sound completely gnarly–and it is at times. The super steep and loose slides scare me to death and sometimes make me cry. But I get past them because so much awaits and I can’t bear to miss any of it: the shapes, the colors, the vastness.

I blow on my tea and wait for the moon to rise over the high canyon wall. Some may describe the day as extreme, but this evening is going pretty easy on my soul.

We left Muley Tanks refreshed after our rest day. I’m so glad I took time off in Hanksville because my knees are now doing better, and they seem to keep up with recovering from each day’s hiking again.

We headed down Halls Creek for five easy miles, then chugged up the Red Slide on a steep, faint mining trail. The rocks and cliffs were a deep, rich brownish red, perfectly complemented by the pinyon and juniper near the top. We skirted a huge drainage to climb a pass, where we stopped for lunch on this warm and lovely day.

After a steep scramble down, we entered Middle Moody Canyon through an upper arm. As we walked down, the walls grew higher, and the middle of the canyon floor was sometimes blocked with massive sculpted boulders we got to climb around.

Dave pointed out a spectacular shooting star as we sat eating dinner on a ledge above the canyon floor. The moon is nearly full and the night quite still.

TRAIL NOTES:
There was a trickle of water in Halls Canyon from a side canyon before the Red Slide, but there was recent rain. Also found a small pothole of water just before joining Middle Moody, and a tiny intermittent trickle later that looked very alkaline.

We enjoyed: sun, bathing, washing clothes, reading, eating…

14 miles, 7.5 hours

We walked up the switchbacks this morning in beautiful warm sunshine! It didn’t last long but we enjoyed it. Then we dropped down Lower Muley Canyon and for the next 12 Miles we twisted and turned, surprised over and over by the grandeur of the canyon.

We walked along looking up and around at the huge canyon walls of red and tan sandstone, the massive amphitheaters left and right, caves up above tall slopes. The boulders in the wash bottom were smooth and spectacular in burgundy, brick, salmon, purple, turquoise swirled in lavender, adobe, pink and tan. Thick, twisted and broken trees still managed to sprout plenty of spring leaves. Hunks of rocks the size of buses were bored through with Swiss cheese holes from water and wind.

10 miles, 7 hours

It rained last night and the air was sweetened with a touch of juniper. We had another challenging day for navigation. We followed the wash out of the canyon and took a stock trail, eventually finding our way to drop into Swap Canyon while picking through boulders. Much of the dirt and rock was gray, and we could even smell oil in the patches of exposed shale.

Approaching Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef I enjoyed the return of color : waves of red and tan sandstone set out from the lines of dark green pinyon and juniper.

Yet more rain was on our tail so we camped at the bottom of the Burr trail to avoid the wind on top.

TRAIL NOTES:
At mile 41.6 we found what Ryan Choi called “manky but drinkable” water pooled at the spring and it was fine once we filtered it through a bandana and treated it. Clearer water is .2 mile further but looked more alkaline.

13.4 miles, 9 hours

We walked a dirt road up and across Tarantula Mesa, then we had a rocky talus scramble off the mesa, which was challenging in a couple of places. Then we worked our way down a wash, then around the talus base of the mesa along a difficult route to find. We took a lot of time with the map to stay on course.

In the afternoon a new storm blew in with all the cold wind we could stand and covering the Henrys almost completely. Glad we got down when we did.

TRAIL NOTES:
At miles 33.4 and 33.6 the directions in the book are wrong, but the map is right. There is a solar tank with ok water at mile 31. 5 that looks dependable.

11 miles, 6 hours

We woke to a wild turkey gobbling in flight over our heads. Oh, and snow. A storm blew in yesterday and sealed the deal overnight.

The raging winds and continuing snow ruled out summitting Mount Ellen, so we continued up but then took a road skirting the south side to make our way around. We still had to walk up to about 9,500 feet in the storm but the intermittent views were worth it. We got to preview Tarantula Mesa and Capitol Reef. Looks impossible from a distance but we know the route will get us through.

TRAIL NOTES:
To take the south road go left at section 5, mile 10.6, then after a couple of miles turn right at Copper Ridge junction to go up a ridge. After about a mile turn left at a junction and traverse from there. You rejoin the route at the ridge with the radio tower. There was intermittent trickle along Sweetwater Creek. There is a spring at 23.7 but it was very alkaline and gave us intestinal distress.

10 miles, 5 hours

After about three hours of trying, we finally hitched a ride 17 miles down the road back to our route. We walked a series of dirt and gravel roads, gradually climbing about 2,600 feet from the sandy desert floor up to pinyon and juniper and eventually mixed conifer with a few bare aspens. As the soil changed from sand to a rich brown and the aspens came into view the familiar smell brought a smile.

We could see our long approach clearly as we started out and once we were up high we turned to trace our steps of the last three weeks, pointing at where Arches and Canyonlands were distantly hidden, a hint of Dark Canyon, and the clear route Dave and Jeff had just walked from Hite while I rested my knees in Hanksville.

TRAIL NOTES:
Crescent Creek had plenty of water flowing.

Dave has had a rest day here in Hanksville with me and tomorrow morning we will hitchhike back down to where the route crosses the highway and we’ll start the next section.

I’m hoping the rest has been enough to keep my knees going. I don’t want to miss another day of hiking, there is just too much beauty out there.

We may not be able to post again for another three weeks, but in the mean time I’ll be writing and taking pictures.