Day 631: The Waterpocket Fold and Wingate Sandstone

Posted on April 30, 2015 by Ben

This morning M and I drove a couple miles to the Escalante Airport where I flew post-training flight #49. At 5,700 above sea level, the paramotor provided quite a bit less thrust than at sea level:

B photographed me flying over the RV:

Cleaning up after the landing:

There were plenty of interesting planes at the airport:

I had spotted this pond under an overhang near the RV from the air, so the kids and I hiked out to find it:

We hitched up the RV and drove north to the village of Boulder, then south and east on the Burr Trail. We dropped off the RV in a dispersed camping area along the road, then drove to the end of the pavement, leaving Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and entering Capitol Reef National Park. We turned north on Upper Muley Twist Canyon Road to drive through a wash towards a trailhead:

Careful aim was necessary in a couple places:

We passed Cheerios Double Arch:

Hiking on the trail, we spotted this interesting lizard:

After a half mile or so we reached the Strike Valley Overlook, where we could see the Waterpocket Fold, the largest monocline in North America

The Waterpocket Fold extends for over 100 miles, and we could see it stretch to the horizon to the left and right:

A panorama of the Waterpocket Fold:

M caught me working my inner park ranger:

On the way back to the RV, we stopped at the trailhead for Little Death Hollow Canyon:

The canyon doesn’t get narrow until four miles from the trailhead, but we figured it would make a nice hike anyway:

The sign at the trailhead warned against scaring grazing cows deep into the canyon:

We found some pictographs along the way:

Deeper into the canyon, we found quite a bit of petrified wood:

B found cow remains:

Little Death Hollow is one of a handful of slot canyons in Wingate Sandstone, which is usually too hard to form slot canyons, as opposed to the softer Navajo Sandstone where slot canyons are common. The stones have interesting patterns up close:

Heading back out:

We saw other interesting formations as we drove back to the RV:

We got back to the RV just a bit after sunset. Even with the cellular booster, we have neither Verizon nor AT&T signal here:

See the trip map for today’s drive and our current location.

Day 630: Riding the Escalante Plateau

Posted on April 29, 2015 by Ben

This morning we decided to have a rest day after the days of hiking we’ve been doing. I had a bit left, so I went out for a short morning ride up and down a couple good climbs north of Escalante. At a scenic pullout, I could look down on the road ahead:

After a while I arrived at the top of the second descent:

After riding along the Escalante River for a while, I turned around at the foot of this climb:

For the rest of the day we did miscellaneous tasks around the RV.

Day 629: Hike to Zebra and Tunnel Canyons

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Ben

This morning we went back into town for more groceries. On the way, we stopped at the Escalante Heritage Center, which has a replica of one of the wagons that plunged through Hole in the Rock:

Portraits of the Hole in the Rock traversal:

In the temporary visitor center, we watched a short film about the San Juan Expedition. The center also had a few items on display, including the original switchboard from the town of Escalante:

We perused the farming implements out back:

Driving south on Hole in the Rock Trail, we arrived at the unmarked trailhead for Zebra and Tunnel Canyons:

Off we go:

This puddle in the creek bed sported a few hundred tadpoles. Hopefully they will become frogs before it dries up:

Along the way we found this dry waterfall structure:

Looking into the bowl:

This plant has its roots behind the rock face, where they pop out below:

The kids imitated the sound made by the ants in Them! as taught to them by Bubbe and Zayde:

The “shell” and interior of Moki Marbles, Iron Oxide concretions that fall out of the canyon walls when the softer surrounding Navajo Sandstone weathers away:

After almost three miles of hiking, we reached the mouth of Zebra Canyon:

Moki Marbles still in the wall (right), and weathered out of the wall (left):

The canyon became a slot canyon:

At the end of this serpentine-floored “hallway”, we had to go up:

After getting up, we reached a water filled pothole that we couldn’t get around:

Down we go:

M is quite the canyoneer:

Heading out of Zebra Canyon:

We hiked towards Tunnel Canyon:

Tunnel Canyon is sealed at the top, creating a tunnel:

More Moki Marbles:

On the other side, we found a bit of water and a huge bee colony coming out of a crack in the rock:

Heading back in:

Shadows lengthened as we made our way back to the truck:

We hiked a little over 7.5 miles. We were pretty tired by the time we returned home:

Day 628: Escalante Slot Canyons and Mormons in Wagons

Posted on April 27, 2015 by Ben

This morning, Trish went into town to buy some groceries. She visited the llama living across the street:

We drove south on Hole in the Rock Trail to the trailhead for Spooky and Peek-A-Boo canyons:

We started hiking towards the canyons:

After a couple miles, we reached the mouth of Spooky Canyon:

The canyon quickly grew narrow:

…And more narrow:

Eventually we came to a rock fall that forced us to go up eight feet or so:

Once out of the hole, the canyon became more shallow:

Once out of the canyon, we hiked west to find the top end of Peek-A-Boo Canyon, which is the next canyon over:

Peek-A-Boo starts out shallow on the top end:

…Then becomes a slot canyon:

After exiting Peek-A-Boo Canyon, we explored a nearby wash, which was not as narrow but had much higher walls:

We then hiked back to the truck:

On the drive out, we said hello to our free-range neighbors:

Our next stop was Dance Hall Rock, where the Mormon pioneers of the San Juan Expedition held dances on the smooth sandstone under the natural alcove in the rock:

Trish spotted a lizard on the rock to the right:

We continued south, and the road became very rough and difficult. At last we reached the Hole in the Rock, where the San Juan Expedition widened this natural crevice in order to get their wagons down the 1200 vertical feet to the Colorado River, where they crossed to the east side:

We started down:

Here’s what it looked like back in the day:

When the “road” was completed in 1880, this canyon was filled in to make a smooth grade down to the river. In other portions, a raised roadway was built on top of poles that extended from wall to wall:

All of that is gone now, so it’s even tougher going:

We went down about halfway. Where we see modern-day Lake Powell, the San Juan Expedition would have seen the Colorado River snaking through the canyon far below:

Heading back up:

We passed a nursing calf on the way home:

We returned to the RV shortly before sunset:

See the trip map for today’s drive.

Day 627: Relocating to Escalante

Posted on April 26, 2015 by Ben

We had a nice Shabbos near Kodachrome Basin State Park. Today we drove north and east towards the town of Escalante. As we crested the pass, we could see snow capped peaks in the distance: