Surviving a not-as-bad-as-forecasted rainy night, our Southwest Adventures backpacking group at breakfast and set out to walk down river in search of a climbable path up the 1000 foot canyon wall. We followed the instructions from a Canyoneering guidebook down The Gulch creek to the Escalante River and then up a ways to the climbable Gulley (fallen in canyon wall with boulders you can climb). Our guide Andrew had to read the directions three times but we did find it... And climb it up. Halfway up the gulley we came to a steeper section and as Andrew was helping Ursala up by extending a hand the rocks underneath her foot gave way just as Indiana Jones Andrew pulled Ursala to safety! Here was the Indiana Jones section. Ursala was a beginning hiker on the trip with her very experienced boyfriend Vic. You could tell Vic loved seeing Ursala fight through her fears and overcome difficult physical and mental challenges out in the wild. I was impressed by Ursala's perseverance as well.
After the rest the eight in our group were broken up into an aggressive group and a non-aggressive group. Having quit my job to hike full time out west, I joined the aggressive group with guide Alan and hikers Blake and Joel. Alan is a 55 year-old going on 35 canyoneering expert who works as an engineer full time while also being one of the top ranked triathletes in the US in his age bracket. Alan's enthusiasm for Escalante shined through the whole trip and made me love this place (perhaps the vistas and climbing helped too).
I loved the climbing sections of our trip and was lucky as many many more were to come. Arriving to the peak as an entire healthy group, we ate a snack and proceeded to navigate the canyon ridge north to a pothole, a marked depression in slick rock where we would find water to drink. The anticipation built nicely as we hiked the few miles and found out pothole. We took a lunch break and rest and laid out our tarps and sleeping bags to dry after the past rainy night. See the pothole site and view up a narrow canyon above. The sky was beautiful as a down pillow after a hard day but it never rained.
Blake was the most experience hiker of the group, having hiked the Appalachian Trail and Colorado Trail and many others. He was on the trip to learn about off trail navigation so he could take his backcountry experience to the next level-- and his infectious optimism and happiness made us all happier.
Joel was the younger brother of Joshua, who was also on the trip but relaxing at the pothole with Vic and Ursala after the mornings climb. Joshua had been on two previous trips with Andrew and had convinced brother Joel, a beginer hiker, to come along. Joshua and Joel seemed like the kind of brothers you also wish you could have-- kind, supportive best friends enjoying a great new experience together. Joel, while a beginner, was a quick learner with great stamina and interest.
The non-aggressive group had 55ish year old experienced hikers Leslie and Russell joining guide Andrew. Andrew is likely the most well known hiker in the world having hiked ultra long, self planned hikes including a 7000 mile trek from northeast of Maine west all the way across the U.S. to the northwest tip of Washington. Not done, he then hiked 6000+ miles from Grand Canyon up the Sierra mountains in California to the Cascades in Oregon and Washington, then east through to Glacier in Montana and the south down the continental divide down to Colorado and west again to Grand Canyon. This Great Western Loop was part of the impetus for my Great Western Road trip loop. Wanting to take his adventurer status to the highest level, Andrew then set out to hike 5000ish miles in a loop around Alaska along Eskimo trails, over the Alaska range and mount McKinley, the highest peak in North Ameica, then east and north through Canada and then west through the extreme remoteness of the Brooks range. Andrew was charged six times by grizzly bears and lived to tell about it. This Alaska adventurer seemed to rocket his career and he wrote a book about backpacking affiliated with National Geographic and started a successful blog. A Duke-grad, east coast native now permanently translanted to the West, Andrew methodical but pragmatic style mixed with his all-star adventurer record make you trust his recommendations and counsel. A picture of Andrew and me.
Joining Andrew on the non aggressive group were Leslie, a lover of backpacking and nature with a gracious heart, and Russell, a father with a scout master-like enjoyment of backpacking and a humorous outlook. They hiked to tour a narrow canyon seen here:
The aggressive group set out up the hill in search of an entrance to a secret, beautiful canyon closeby. Andrew had seen people in the canyon last year but didn't know of a doable route down. So we set out at a fast pace following Alan up the hill, choosing the best path through a saddle between peaks to cut off a corner and laying down cairns (piles of rocks) to mark the path. The red and white striped saddle was a real beaut.
We found the secret canyon but we're bummed when the only entrance looked four miles around on the other side of the canyon-- too far for our group this afternoon. I then spotted a gulley on the near side of the canyon in a bit from the edge that looked passable. Alan and group went over to that section and down a bit and then Alan declared "this might go" (go meaning we could go all the way down) and we climbed down. The canyons large pothole and camp was left but we followed the path right down one sketchy loose rock section and then around to a flatter down section with a narrow passage the ended at a steep dropoff. No go. But looking left, Alan climbed a small crest and an easy path dropped down like magic straight to the perfection sand and pothole of the secret canyon. In the pic below you can see the pothole camp in the left and our path right and over the ridge in the center. A beautiful route.
We then ascended the canyon again and raced back to inform the larger group of our discovery and lead them back to the secret canyon and down to a wonderful campsite and a pretty view before diner and a well-earned nights rest under all the stars in the sky.
Everything here is accurate except your description of Alan. He is not 55 going on 35. He is 55 going on 21.
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