6 Sept – 1 Oct 2020. Canyons and Waves Part 2.

We are continuing our adventure near the Utah/Arizona border.

9 September. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  We started off the day with a hike up the Calf Creek Canyon.  After three miles, you are rewarded with a beautiful waterfall!  Then we loaded up the trucks and headed to Hell’s Backbone Road.   We found some very interesting geology formations – wouldn’t want to drive my covered wagon across them – but other than washboard on the road, and the narrow bridge with great scary views, it wasn’t that bad…  We were the only ones at the tiny (six site) Blue Spruce campground near the top of Hells Backbone – nice and quiet.  It was cold enough to that the rangers came by to turn the water off to keep pipes from freezing, but they came by in the morning and turned it back on!  Our friends Kurt and Anna departed for some different adventures, but we hope to camp with them again soon!

Found some parking at the Calf Creek trailhead (this isn’t always that easy, it is a very popular hike).
Did I mention that Kurt and Anna brought their camping cat? She decided to go on an explore of her own… here is Kurt convincing her to return.
Starting up the Calf Creek Trail, scenery is magnificent.
This waterfall is spring-fed, so it usually has the same flow all year long.
Lunch stop view from our window along Highway 12. You can just see interesting geology for miles and miles.
Sharing a bit of shade along Hells Backbone Road.
View looking out from the bridge at Hells Backbone. Quite Rugged.
The new (1965), improved one lane Hells Backbone bridge
Our camping spot at Blue Spruce was lush and quiet!
And the view out of our back window was a trickling stream!
Kurt and Anna’s Camping Cat.

10-12 September.  Hole in the Rock Road.  Near the town of Escalante there is a dirt road that has a grand history.  A group of Mormons built the road to get to the water (Glen Canyon/Colorado River/ now Lake Powell).  But the only break in the rock cliff mountains was a tiny “hole” 50 miles down the mountain range with a steep descent to the river.  Along the road are several interesting natural and historical sites.  We hiked Zebra Slot Canyon, but found it a bit “icky” – the water was about mid-thigh high and was pretty stagnant and murky. And at our age, we really didn’t have the agility to “catwalk” the narrow passage.  So we didn’t go deep into that canyon.  After driving around on the wash-boardy roads, we found a camping spot along the way to Harris Wash.  Beautiful spot, and it even had Internet!  We spent two nights there, relaxing and reading, our friends who were tracking us with our in-reach GPS device worried that things had gone wrong because we were out in the middle of nowhere and we weren’t moving! We have great friends!

Meandered a bit at Devils Kitchen along Hole in the Rock Road.
Loved this pic of an arch at Devils Kitchen.
Hike to Zebra slot canyon.
Entrance of Zebra slot canyon.
Not too deep into Zebra slot canyon. Yes, the water was that color! And the slot was that narrow!
We found this nice camping spot along Harris Wash Road.
This canyon was right next to our camping spot. Great little hike!
Our peaceful spot along Harris Wash Road.

13 September. Escalante. We spent a day doing laundry and gathering groceries in Escalante. Would you believe the grocery store there was not open on Sunday? Next stop, Kodachrome State Park.

One thought on “6 Sept – 1 Oct 2020. Canyons and Waves Part 2.”

  1. It looks like you 2 are out having fun again. Do as much as you can while you are still able.

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