Distance:
14.3 miles (plus 14.4 miles by car or bicycle)
Walking
time:
day 1: 4 hours
day 2: 3 3/4 hours
Elevations:
530 ft. loss
Escalante Town Trailhead
(start): 5,730 ft.
Death Hollow: 5,380 ft.
Highway 12 Trailhead:
5,200 ft.
Trail:
The route follows along the shore of the Escalante River.
There is a sandy trail most of the way, but often it
is easier to walk in the gravel filled streambed; the
water is seldom more than ankle deep. Be sure to wear
wettable shoes.
Season:
Spring, summer, fall, winter. The best seasons for this
hike are spring and fall. Escalante Canyon is very hot
in the summertime, but you can always count on the availability
of water. For current conditions call the Escalante
Interagency Visitor Center at (801) 826-5499.
Vicinity:
Near the town of Escalante
Among
Utah’s serious hikers, the 85-mile-long Escalante
River is well known. The small desert river and its
dozens of side canyons contain some of the wildest,
most scenic desert wilderness in the United States.
It is a region of redrock canyons, sandstone arches,
and Anasazi Indian ruins. The Escalante badlands contain
hidden natural treasures guaranteed to give pause to
even the most unenthusiastic of hikers. Sadly, none
of the BLM managed Escalante drainage has yet been give
the protection of a designated wilderness area, but
in 1996 it was included in President Clinton's new Grand
Staircase-Escalante National Monument.
Although
the Escalante drains over 200 square miles of the Colorado
Plateau, it is so remote that its existence wasn’t
even known until the middle of the last century. In
1866 it became the last major river to be discovered
in the American West. It was named six years later in
honor of the early Spanish explorer Silvestre Valez
de Escalante who visited Utah in 1776.
There are a number of
hikes in the area that touch upon parts of the Escalante
River, but the 14-mile section of the river described
here is the most accessible. It is also a particularly
interesting section, with fine examples of the sorts
of things that make the Escalante drainage so interesting:
petroglyphs, Anasazi ruins, natural arches, and slickrock
pools.
Day
1
From the trailhead near
Escalante Town the trail winds down a small sandy hill
for about 0.2 mile before intersecting the Escalante
River. The trail reaches the river very close to its
source, and at this point the Escalante is little more
than a muddy wash, lined with unsightly tamarisk trees
and old tires that have washed down from the city dump.
But don’t despair. Within a mile the canyon becomes
more pristine.
Soon after the river enters
Escalante Canyon, near the junction with Pine Creek,
you will pass a gauging station used for measuring the
water flow. From that point the trail often splits,
giving you a choice of either side of the river to walk
on. Just pick the easiest side, and don’t bother
trying to keep your feet dry. It is futile.
If you are interested
in Indian artifacts try to stay on the north side of
the river as much as possible, because that is the side
the prehistoric Indians along the Escalante preferred.
The winter sun shines more directly on the north side
of the canyon; hence it has less snow during the winter
months. There are at least three small panels of prehistoric
rock art within 2.2 miles of the gauging station. They
are all situated on the north side of the canyon at
the base of the cliffs in areas where the canyon runs
due east and west. The first two sites are petroglyphs,
and the third is a badly damaged panel of pictographs
in the back of a large alcove just above the water line.
The scenery gets better
and better the farther downstream you walk. There are
many good camp sites along the way, but if you plan
to spend only one night in the canyon you should try
to camp near the junction of Death Hollow. This side
canyon is exceptionally pretty and, if time permits,
you should try to spend at least a few hours exploring
it before continuing down the Escalante.
Death Hollow is a 23-mile-long
drainage that begins near the Hells Backbone Road between
Escalante Town and Boulder. The dry upper reaches of
the Hollow lie within the boundaries of Dixie National
Forest and are part of the Box-Death Hollow Wilderness
Area. The oasis-like Lower part of Death Hollow, however,
lies within the jurisdiction of the Bureau of Land Management,
and is not part of the designated wilderness area. Hopefully
this situation will change in the future, but for now
the most exquisite part of Death Hollow, along with
the rest of the Escalante Basin, remains relatively
unprotected.
Lower Death Hollow is
best explored without a backpack. For the first mile
the fast flowing stream rushes down the scenic canyon
between patches of wild flowers and, unfortunately,
poison ivy. It is best to wear long pants when walking
through the foliage, or wade in the center of the streambed.
After about a mile and a half the canyon begins to narrow
noticeably, and you will encounter a series of pools
and water slides. The best pools for swimming are about
two miles upstream. The setting is idyllic: crystal-clear
slickrock swimming holes, surrounded by red sandstone
cliffs decorated with green foliage and yellow wildflowers.
You might want to extend your hike by a day just to
enjoy the attributes of the ill-named canyon.
Day
2
From the mouth of Death
Hollow, the Escalante River flows eastward for another
4.0 miles before coming to the junction of Sand Creek,
another possible side trip though not quite of the same
caliber as Death Hollow. Beyond that, another 0.4 miles
will bring you to the first of two natural arches along
this stretch of the Escalante. It is situated high on
the top of the canyon wall, on the right side of the
canyon. Impressive as this arch is, however, an even
more thrilling sight is an Anasazi Indian ruin that
lies just below and east of it. The cliff dwelling is
in the back of a large alcove about 150 feet above the
canyon floor.
This ruin is extremely
unusual because it lies on the south wall of the canyon
and faces almost directly north. No winter sun ever
shines into this alcove, yet 700 years ago it was home
to a large family of Anasazis. It is quite obvious that
they chose this site specifically because of its proximity
to the stone arch above it. The arch must have had powerful
magic for these Indians, and I can imagine that living
below it must have filled them with an immense sense
of well being. The location was important enough for
them to forego all of the conventional wisdom of the
day by living on the coldest side of the canyon.
While you are looking
at the ruin notice the long jagged line that was painted
on the cliff just above the largest dwelling in the
alcove. One can only guess what the line represented
or what its purpose was, but to me it appears to be
some kind of spiritual shield separating the Indian
home from the arch above. As if the arch’s magic
was so strong it was necessary to partially deflect
it from the nearby house.
The next natural arch
is located on the same side of the canyon, only 0.4
mile downstream from the first one. There are no Indian
ruins near this arch and, though impressive, it is in
near perpetual shade and difficult to photograph. It
does have one feature, however, that makes it quite
interesting. The 200-foot-high span stands directly
in front of a 100-foot-deep alcove in the cliff, like
the grand entrance to a giant ballroom. An small trail
leads through the portal and circles around the ballroom,
providing an opportunity to view the sandstone arch
from a different perspective. There are also a few old
cowboyglyphs carved into the walls of the room, one
of which is dated 1917.
Beyond the last natural
arch Escalante Canyon widens considerably as the trail
winds over the last 1.8 miles to the trailhead at Highway
12. This part of the canyon is known as Phipps Death
Hollow after a tragedy that occurred here in 1878. According
to local folklore two cowboys named John Boynton and
Washington Phipps were partners in a ranching operation
along this stretch of the Escalante when Boynton shot
and killed Phipps during an argument over a woman. So
distraught was Boynton over what he had done that he
saddled up and rode his horse to Escalante to give himself
up. The authorities in Escalante gave him ten dollars
and told him to report to the county sheriff in Parowan,
but he must have had second thoughts along the way because
he was never seen again.
|
