Escalante...a grand adventure

Packed up the tent, grabbed the hiking shoes, did a load of laundry and drove along scenic highway 12 to our next destination: Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. You may ask yourself, "why would Meghan and Cameron be so excited about a monument?" because I also asked myself this, before I understood. Escalante is not the kind of monument you think of...which for me, is a statue. Instead, it is a huge swath of land that has been designated by the President as a protected park area but it doesn't yet have National Park status. This basically means that there isn't quite as much development in the area, it is slightly fewer visitors, no printed park maps, and huge amounts of backcountry.

We grabbed our topo map, spoke to a few locals and were off into the dessert for a bit of very beginner canyoning and a 3 day/2 night backpacking trip. Canyoning is a big thing in Utah, and there are people who get into doing some pretty serious slot canyon adventures. This requires a combination of hiking and rock climbing. Of course, our experience was limited to hiking, and a bit of fanangling through crazy corners and high ledges.

Tight squeeze! And this isn't as narrow as it got...

Meghan-Indiana Jones-Muhle works her way through the narrowing rock walls

Lovin' the slots!

All in all, we were in the two slot canyons for about an hour...can't imagine huge-o trips that the hardcores do! I have to admit, I was a bit nervous starting out at the idea of being in such a small, cramped space but what you can't see in our pictures on the twenty boy scouts that are also there..if they could do it, so could I!

We drove from the slots further into the monument (thanks DJ, you did a great job on all the dirt roads) to our trailhead for Coyote Gulch. This multiday hike is well known in the area, and a favorite because of the great scenery. We walked in along a dry river bed until we met water, and spent the remaining time hiking through the river.

First night camping. We drove to the trailhead late afternoon, ate dinner at the car, and hiked in only a kilometre or two before setting up camp.

Cam is loaded down and enjoying being in the river instead of the dry river bed we'd previously been following--we left behind the deer flies when we reached the water.

Our base camp for two nights. From here, we day hiked to the end of Coyote Gulch.

The sweeping rock was honestly awe inspiring.

Hats off to mega-fun. Nothing beats hiking in Coyote Gulch.

Coyote Gulch was a big highlight of not only our time in Utah, but also the trip overall. We had such a peaceful time being in the backcountry and neither of us had done so much hiking in a river before. Plus, we celebrated Cam's big 3-0 in the backwoods and had a big pizza dinner (at a restaurant with a reputation for having the best pizza in Utah) and a beer when we got out of the dessert.

Next plan was the head east towards Arches National Park.

The sky was gorgeous as we left Escalante. Big storm rolling in, but the lighting was terrific