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The
Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument
The area is located about two hours east
of Bryce Canyon National Park between the remote towns of
Escalante and Boulder. This was once the most remote area
in the lower 48 states. The Grand Staircase-Escalante National
Monument's vast and austere landscape embraces a spectacular
array of scientific and historic resources. This high, rugged,
and remote region, where bold plateaus and multi-hued cliffs
run for distances that defy human perspective, was the last
place in the continental United States to be mapped. The
Escalante River and its tributaries, including Calf Creek,
drain a wilderness of sandstone. Most of the area is protected
as the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Magnificent
vista points are available along the main road.
Devil's Garden is a wonderful area in the heart of Escalante,
Utah's newest National Monument. Get there by driving south
on the "Hole-in-the-Rock Road" about 16.5 miles
from Escalante Rte 12. The garden is small, covering only
about 200 acres, but it is a miniature wonderland of Navajo
Sandstone hoodoos, domes, narrow passages, and small arches,
hidden from the view of drivers along the Hole-in-the-Rock
Road. Devils Garden provides a brief introduction to the
kind of slickrock walking and routefinding over a trailless
landscape typical of most backcountry routes in the Escalante
region.
Hole-in-the-Rock
is the name given by Mormon settlers in 1879 (the San Juan
Mission) to a short, steep valley leading towards the Colorado
River, the only breach for many miles in the otherwise vertical
cliffs of Glen Canyon that constituted an almost impassable
barrier between the then unsettled lands in southeast Utah.
Even here there was a sheer 45 foot cliff to overcome, and
6 weeks of labour was needed to construct a route down which
the wagons of the party could pass. The lower 300 feet are
now submerged below the cold waters of Lake Powell but the
route to this point survives as the Hole-in-the-Rock road
and today this provides easy access to the Escalante River
and its western tributaries.
The
unpaved road starts 4.5 miles east of Escalante on UT 12
and reaches the edge of Glen Canyon after 55.5 miles. The
first 15 miles, as far as the Garfield/Kane county line,
are almost as good as a regular highway, then the surface
deteriorates somewhat and is often severely graded but is
fine for normal cars until at least mile 38. After here
are 6 steep dry wash crossings, tributaries of Fortymile
and Fiftymile Creeks, that may be a problem but still the
surface should usually be passable until 5 miles from the
southern end; the last section after the Davis Gulch crossing
is very rough and for high clearance, 4WD vehicles only.
The scenery along most of the journey is little changing
and not too spectacular as to the west stretch the high,
layered 50 mile long Straight Cliffs while the land on the
other side is mostly a flat, grassy plain - the many fantastic
canyons are hidden from view, reached only by various side
roads that lead east towards the Escalante River. Towards
the end though, the terrain is more undulating and dramatic
as the cliffs become closer to the Escalante River - the
side canyons are more numerous and extend further west,
and the grassy plateau is gradually replaced by vast areas
of slickrock domes, which are best viewed from an overlook
just before Davis Gulch. At mile 46, the road enters the
Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Escalante
photo gallery |
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Spooky
Gulch
Spooky
Gulch is indeed a dark and mysterious place, with about
half a mile of serpentine, narrow passages where it is often
only possible to see a few feet ahead, as the canyon twists
and turns with many 180 degree bends. The colours and forms
of the cross-bedded Navajo sandstone are very beautiful,
and the walls have an unusual knobbly texture which adds
to the eerie nature of the canyon. Spooky is quite popular,
and in summer there will usually be one or two other groups
in the canyon. Fit hikers can explore all the narrows in
about 20 minutes but much longer could be spent taking photographs
and enjoying the haunting ambience.
Two
places require more exertion; a 5 foot squeeze up a near
vertical crevice then around a narrow corner at the top,
and a climb over a pile of large boulders near the upper
end of the canyon. The difficulty of this may change following
new flooding, but when I visited it was easy to overcome
by scrambling under one large rock and over another just
beyond. As with most slot canyons, the gulch becomes shallow
after a while and ends in a wide, open streamway which continues
for several miles over the plateau beyond; an alternative
way to reach the narrows is by hiking downstream from the
north end of the wash, beginning from the Early Weed Bench
trailhead which is reached from a side track that starts
at mile 24 of the Hole-in-the-Rock road.
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