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September 30 - October 7, 2024
Our goal is to backpack in the backcountry of the Grand Canyon every spring and fall. While we didn't score in the October lottery, we were able to put together a great, 10-day trip. Sowats, Tapeats Creek, Deer Creek, Kanab Creek, Sowats. Sadly, about a week before, we learned that the canyon was going to experience a very unusual (or maybe not so unusual anymore) heat wave. Temps would be over 100 degrees nearly every day. And, this route on the North Rim side, affords no shade. It would not only be not fun, but dangerous as well. We quickly came up with plan B, forgoing the $200+ we paid for the Grand Canyon permit.
We looked into a trip in the Escalante-Grand Staircase national monument. There was a particular area that had been on Lenny's wish list for quite some time.
Although he had done Lower Death Hollow a couple of times, he had never done Upper Death Hollow. Looking over maps, he created a 10-day loop that included Upper Death Hollow, Lower Death Hollow, Antone Flat (actually a high mesa), and Pine Creek Box trail.
What I learned was that two of the four days in the upper canyon involved some deep potholes that would require swimming or floating in cold, dark, sometimes buggy water. We packed float rings to hopefully help us get through.
Monday, September 30, 2024
We made the 9 hour drive to the trailhead at Upper Death Hollow at about 9,000 ft. The road was easy enough for any car but the name was a little daunting - Hell's Backbone. Fall colors were near their peak. Today, we just wanted to get a couple hours and/or a couple miles done and get to the bottom of the canyon.
When we arrived, there was a kiosk and a pullout for a couple vehicles. But, there was no visible trail. Research on reports mentioned a couple different "social" trails but, we never found them. Lenny used slope angle shading on his phone app to try to find the least steep way down. No matter which way you started, it was severe bushwhacking through downed trees, shrubs, and thorny desert rose bushes, hanging on to branches to keep from sliding.
Tuesday, October 1, 2024
The next morning, we packed up, scrambled back down the bank and into the dry wash. We had carried all the water we would need for the night before and all this next day. Plus, our packs were full of 10 days' worth of food. They were heavy!
We rock-hopped and scrambled down the wash. Early on, we came upon fresh bear tracks in the sand that we followed for about 30 minutes. Not sure where the bear went! Thankfully, we never saw him. Our goal for the day was to get to the "brown stain" on the wall. This would be a spring we could get water from and promised to be a nice place to setup camp.
After a long, hot day, we arrived at the spring with the brown stain. The brown stain was due to iron leaching out into the water and the pool it created was dark and not appealing. Fortunately, there was a pothole of water in the wash right near the sandstone where we made camp.
Wednesday, October 2, 2024
This will be yet another hot day of boulder scrambling, bypasses, and some serious route finding questions as we continue down the dry portion of Upper Death Hollow on our way to the confluence of the right fork, which is also dry but promises to have more pothole water.
Then we reached a very long bypass. We found the way up to the sandstone bench easily enough but then where? No trail. No cairns. Just a horrible description to scramble down when you reach a cliff. We hiked along the bench probably about a half mile.
Well, there's a cliff along the whole side. So which cliff? Plus, although the sandstone walking was great and easy, it was mid-day and the sun was super hot. We tried to go from shade to shade. A couple times, we put our packs down and Lenny went in search of this "cliff" that we could scramble back down into the wash. Eventually, we found it.
Off we went, continuing down the wash again. Just before the right fork confluence, there are a couple very large chockstones blocking the path with very large pools of water preceding them. Someone had found a bypass that involved a very steep climb up and then a gradual down that dropped us into right fork and a beautiful area of swirling sandstone and cool potholes.
We arrived in the late afternoon and had time to really enjoy the place. We only wished we had an extra day to explore the canyon. With the exception of the ants, the sandstone swirls and potholes made for a pretty camp and water was plentiful in those potholes.
Thursday, October 3, 2024
OK, today is when things are going to get real! The canyon quickly narrowed and boulders often blocked the path. We met our first water obstacle. Fortunately, we could wade through it.
But then, there it was. DEEP water! Ok then, let's go. We blew up our float rings and thought about how to lower ourselves into them. Then lower our packs onto our laps without tipping over! We had lined our packs with garbage bags so, we felt fairly confident the contents inside our packs would be safe.
After a bit of a learning experience, it went ok. Lenny was carrying an extremely heavy and large pack. On his first try, he lost his balance and, he and the pack went into the water! It was a little scary at first. Thankfully, his pack was still above water and, he was able to get it and himself back on to the float ring. But, now his pack weighed even more since the pack itself was soaked.
The rest of the day saw us in and out of the water. We climbed down boulders, lowering ourselves and packs into the water. Often climbing out into sloppy mud at the end of the pool of water. This was also a bit tricky, trying to stand up holding our packs with mud sucking at your shoes.
We spent so much time in and out of the water. Deflating and inflating our float rings. Carefully getting in and out. Taking packs off and putting them back on. It was around 6pm and the sun was getting low. We hadn't even covered two miles and, we hadn't made it to our goal for camp. We knew we had to find a place to camp for the night but, there wasn't anything. Until we found the smallest sand patch on the side of the hill. We stomped it flat and it barely fit our tent. But, it worked!
Friday, October 4, 2024
Stepping 10 feet down from our tent, we were immediately back in the water. We continued to walk down the creek. For the most part, the canyon was a little wider, so we didn't have to get out our float rings. But, we did have to step carefully. The sandstone bottom was often covered in algae and very slippery.
Of course, there was one more float. Once again we pulled out the float rings, blew them up, carefully sat into the center, pulled our packs onto our laps, and paddled to the other end.
That was our last "swim" of the trip as the canyon widened out even more. It meant walking down through the water for long stretches, interrupted by occasional scrambles up and down the banks to avoid deep areas.
And, this afternoon, we reached our goal camp--just past the intersection with the Boulder Mail Trail. This meant we were done with the Upper Death Hollow section. The Lower Death Hollow section is very popular and would likely have trails. As we sat at camp, we saw our first humans in four days as a family hiked by.
Saturday, October 6, 2024
Off we go, following a lovely trail. Almost immediately, we pushed through dying poison ivy. It was everywhere. We used our poles to whack at it, trying to keep it at bay. A week later (it takes that long), Lenny got the itchy rash on his arm. It lasted a couple weeks.
The trail crossed the creek many many times. And, when it did, it usually meant grabbing branches and sliding down into the creek, then climbing back out.
We also noticed that the canyon must have flash flooded very recently. A lot of the vegetation along the banks was bent over and the banks were much steeper than usual. Given where we saw the water line, I wouldn't have wanted to be there when that happened!
As we moved down the creek that day, the poison ivy was less prevalent and the views got nicer and nicer. We found the prettiest campsite of the whole trip and stopped there in the early afternoon to fully enjoy it!
Sunday, October 7, 2024
This next day was supposed to be the most beautiful of all. And it was. Green water running over red sandstone with deep, swirling pools. It was also the fourth day of sloshing through the creek. Not a bad thing, but slow.
You finally get to the highlight of it all -- the narrows. This is super short but very interesting and beautiful. In fact, there is one place you must crawl under a slippery ledge to keep from falling in. Lenny, once again, was kind enough to take my pack here. It was over all too soon and we were back to sloshing down the creek towards the confluence with the Escalante river.
At one point, we came upon three men (a dad and his grown sons). They were staring and pointing at the water. Turns out there was a large, bottom-feeder fish just hanging out! Pretty cool.
Suddenly, our journey down Death Hollow was done. We reached the confluence. Now, we head west up the Escalante river. Only it wasn't much more than a trickle of a creek.
As we made our way up the 6 mile stretch of the Escalante river, we talked about how we were feeling. Death Hollow had taken a physical toll on me. All that scrambling up and down banks and boulders with a heavy pack made my knees just scream, especially at night. Although I could have, the thought of continuing the last three nights and four days into very unknown territory, carrying a load of water again, sounded painful. And, knowing we could get to the town of Escalante, before heading up into the unknown, was very appealing.
Fortunately, it wasn't hard to convince Lenny and we made the decision to get to the Escalante river trailhead and head into town, which would put an end to our journey. But first, we had to make the six mile trek, on top of what we had already done that day. We decided to make one last camp as soon as we found a good spot, making seven miles for the day and leaving only four to get to the trailhead.
The trail along the river become more and more defined even though the river itself disappeared sometimes. It was a relatively easy walk, giving us each time to reflect. In the late afternoon, we came upon a beautiful alcove with an obvious Native American presence. There were large pictographs and leftover stone blocks. We decided to make camp nearby. I soaked my feet in the river while Lenny checked out the ruins.
Monday, October 8, 2024
In the morning, we packed up our things for the last time and headed out on the trail. For the most part, the trail wandered along above the banks of the river. Occasionally, we scrambled down and back up where it crossed. We each were quiet, lost in our own thoughts, recalling everything we'd seen and done.
We stopped for breakfast and sat on rocks at what seemed to be a campsite. Looking across, we watched the sun light up the wall and the shadows disappear. We each noticed what looked like part of a sun with radiating rays inscribed on the wall. We weren't sure if it was man-made or just natural stress patterns. Do you see it?
Wandering along once again, we began seeing more and more people. The trail coming down the river is popular with day hikers, many who want to see the Native American ruins in the alcove we had been near.
Around 11 am, we emerged out of the canyon and walked the final mile to the parking lot. The town of Escalante was still three miles away so, we hoped we could catch a ride with some day hikers returning to their car. But, no one was around.
Looking back down the trail, I could see three backpackers returning to the parking lot. I hoped maybe they would be kind enough (and have enough room) to take us to town. As luck would have it, it was the same three men we had seen the day before when they showed us the big fish in Death Hollow. And, they offered us a ride in their more than spacious pickup truck!
They dropped us off at the Escalante Outfitters gear store and cafe. An excellent stop if you're ever in town. They make the best pizza! But, we had no wallet, no credit card, just our phones. With some thought, I wondered about using Apple Pay. They took it! And, we had a wonderful lunch, gobbling up the whole pizza. We also asked them if they knew anyone who might want to make some extra money taking us the 20 miles back to our car.
After being there for about an hour, the owner approached with a handwritten note. The note contained the name and number of a woman who guides and does shuttles. Lenny called her. She could do it but -- $125 cash. Ok, so now what? We don't have cash on us. We went down to the only bank in town and the women were so nice and helpful. They were able to use Lenny's digital copy of his debit card. We got the cash and called the woman back.
20 minutes later, she picked us up and drove us the one hour ride back up to our car. Her name was Shawna and she chatted the whole time about her life in Escalante. She waited to make sure our car started (it did) and, with that, our trip was done.
I have a feeling we'll be back sometime. Lenny has unfinished business, not having completed the loop. I think I'm done with Death Hollow but may join him for the rest of the loop.
THE END
#goplayoutside
#dosomethingepic