Day 40 Escalante Hole-in-the-Rock Road

I woke up late following a lovely slumber in a REAL bed-- such a luxury. I stayed in bed reading my maps and guidebooks, trying to put a plan together for the next months travels. I decided I would spend two more weeks in Utah and add on two weeks in western Colorado instead of spending all four weeks in Utah-- I was starting to tire of the desert and Colorado seemed like a good mix of backcountry beauty and civilization proper.

The last must do in Escalante was Coyote Gulch, so I read and reread the route description in my guidebook and went to the visitor center to get my permit. I was going to do a loop down Hurricane Wash to Coyote Gulch to the Escalante River and then up Crack-in-the-Wall overland back to my car. Permit in hand, I lingered by the Outfitters wifi emailing and blogging and then drove out Hole-in-the-rock road forty miles to my trailhead. The road was dirt but well graded in most parts. A high-clearance vehicle was recommended for the last five miles but my Dodge Grand Caravan made it easily, helped by my lowering the tire pressure to 25 from 36.

I could've started the hike in that night but decided to wait and car camp at the trailhead and start fresh in the morning. I enjoyed the remoteness and purity of this far point. Here are pics.

Comments

Day 168 - JMT Pinchot Pass

The mountains appeared like sand dunes in the soft early light. We drank our coffee, packed up our gear and set off up the hill toward Pinchot Pass. Not a mile up the trail, we encountered another sensational High Sierra lake, Lake Marjorie, and the peaceful reflections off the lake's surface. Mountains of white and red and grey and black surrounded us-- all surfaces seemingly from another planet, but welcoming us this morning on Earth. Jeff and Steve and a lady named Tara joined us at the picturesque summit of Pinchot Pass. We remained there for a complete hour, enjoying stories of hiking triumph and Jeff's difficult but rewarding experiences as a search and rescue captain. Reluctant to leave the 12,000 foot pass, but begged forward by the slowly descending trail, we hiked on. The wonderful landscape in the background, with layers of blues, and browns and whites, appeared like an Ansel Adams masterpiece, and the trail a magical doorway to its frame. The sce

Day 171 - JMT Guitar Lake

Wow, was it cold this morning. After waking up and eating breakfast, we packed up quickly and found this scenic sunspot to warm our bones. We had a short eight mile hike to Guitar Lake today, the last viable campsite before the five mile hike to the 14,505 foot-high Mount Whitney summit. We stopped at this lovely meadow and looked for bears. We only saw deer but were able to enjoy the incredible peace of the far mountain range. Steady hiker traffic, the most of the entire trip, including one group of twelve elder hikers, passed us as we rested, and jumped! Views of Mount Whitney finally came into view at Timberline Lake, a quaint lake where camping was unfortunately forbidden. We passed a group of twenty Taiwanese hikers. The summit of Mount Whitney looked heavily defended when viewed from below. We were going to wake up tomorrow at 230am and hike up to the summit for sunrise-on-the-top-of-the-world*. The thought of this dark task was a bit foreboding. We made it to Guitar Lake by

Day 150 - Big Sur Hearst Castle

Big Sur coastline continues in its beauty. Elephant seals practice sparring. They make a snore-like belly belch sound while sparring and then after ten seconds later lie back down to snooze on the sand. The Hearst Castle is an incredibly luxurious complex on top of a high hill overlooking the ocean and coastal mountains. The feel was Mediterranean, royal and magical. The outdoor pool had a Roman feel-- on a hill, in California. Strangely awesome. But the indoor pool was the tops-- like a Turkish kings dream moment come to life. I found a beautiful campground close to the castle and stopped for the night.

Road Trip Daily

Search This Blog