We took the Geo to Escalante

One of the best attributes of the Escalanate Grand Staircase is its remoteness. Once past the small town of Escalante, there is still a long drive on the historic Hole-in-the- Rock road to get into the good stuff. The original Mormon trail follows the same tracks for almost 60 miles. I have never actually made it to the end to see what the “Hole in the Rock” really is. The way can often be dusty, with washboards, and full of sand-traps to glide through if the car is light enough.

Although the “Warning, sand-traps, four wheel drive recommended” signs worried Danielle, our Geo happened to be light enough to glide through. We never made it the 50 miles to our trailhead our first night. Instead, around midnight we found a clear spot in the brush next to a cattle trough, and camped. In the morning we hit the trailhead and headed across the plateau towards Hurricane Wash and then into Coyote Gulch.

Hurricane Wash joins the larger Coyote Creek, which then joins the larger Escalante River. The grand staircase, consisting of the six geological layers of the Pink, Gray, White, Vermilion, and Chocolate cliffs, are all gradually shown as the hike eventually declines in elevation from (I think) the gray to the chocolate cliffs of the Escalante.

As the hike progresses and gets deeper, the canyon also widens and allows for spectacular arches, a natural land bridge, and other formations. Jacob Hamlin Arch is the first, then hikers pass under the land bridge, Cliff’s Arch soon after, and eventually Steven’s Arch is visible from the Escalante River and the last of the hike.

Danielle had gotten new Five-Finger shoes for her birthday. The shoes allow for separate inserts for each toe, and Danielle was excited to wear them in the canyon. The new pressures on her toes, however, caused her pinky toe nail to turn black. She was not quite as excited to wear the shoes anymore after that

We camped close to Cliff’s Arch in an alcove along the creek. Trees provided for a place to string up our hammock, and a spring allowed for water pumping and bathing. Unfortunately, the bathing spot was not hidden from the river and passing hikers. Ironically the only hiking party that we saw all night passed while I was bathing.

It rained the night we spent in the canyon not enough, luckily, to wash us away in a flash flood, but enough to keep us awake worrying about the possibility. We hiked out the next day, stopping next to some water for lunch, and making it to the car in one piece, except for Danielle’s black toe.