Slot Canyons

The night we got out of Coyote Gulch, we attempted to make the drive up to Egypt trailhead for Neon and Ringtail Canyons.  It's 10 miles up a "high-clearance vehicles only" road, but I was hoping the Camry would qualify with enough driving skill.  Despite Bill getting out of the car in spots and me moving about 1.5 mph around the landmines of rocks, ruts, and high crowns, we only made it 8 of the 10 miles before having to turn around out of fear for the car.

Instead, we drove up to Escalante State Park and did a bit of hiking, so Bill got to see his first petrified forest.  Being a rock nut, he enjoyed it immensely.

Unfortunately, ESP is at 6700 feet elevation (compared to around 4500 for Coyote Gulch), and a cold front was moving in at the same time.  My 3-season tent was not made for the mid-20s, and the morning sights confirmed that the cold was not our imagination:

Even the jackrabbits were frozen:

In order to warm up we drove back to the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and explored the slot canyons of the Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch.  They. Were. Awesome.

Dry Fork was beautiful

Peakboo Canyon was fun

 


Spooky Canyon was tight

But Brimstone Canyon was just plain creepy.

At first it got so narrow we had to go sideways and suck in.

Then it got so narrow that we had to walk on tiptoes to fit our bodies through the right way.  Then it got so narrow that we had to climb up higher against the walls until we were high enough that the canyon was wide enough to cross.

Then it got so narrow that we were worried that one little slip would pin us into a suffocating death chamber.  It's the only place I've been where you can get acrophobia and claustrophobia at the same time.  (One climber got stuck there for 8 days before he was rescued.)  Since my wedding was only 8 days away, we decided that we'd had enough fun and turned back.

When the canyons had been hiked and the desert of the area sufficiently explored, we drove out to the Dixie Forest to camp.  It was a beautiful area with pronghorn and prarie dogs

and we found a nice place to camp

but, stupidly, were now at 7600 feet.  It was a very long, very cold night.  After waking up with ice on the rain fly and Bill's sleeping pad, we were ready to head out for Zion Canyon and warmer weather.