Got everyone up and moving bright and early today since we had a big adventure planned – slot canyon tour in Escalante, UT. We had originally planned to go it alone, but luckily something I read mentioned a dirt road (not covered by our insurance) so I got the name of a private tour guide and we signed up.
Got to the tour place at 8am (a new record for us) and left in what can only be described as the most frightening 1985 Chevy Suburban I’ve ever seen or ridden in. There were holes in the ceiling, seat holes were patched with clear caulk (seriously), there were panels missing, and stuff sort of falling out of the doors. But our guide, Mark, assured us everything was fine and we took off.
About an hour drive on a thankfully recently graded gravel road (now I understand why we drove in the car we did) and then we started our hike. On the hike to the slots, our guide gave us all sorts of interesting tips about flora and fauna – we looked at animal and bug tracks and kept an eye out for snakes, spiders and scorpions. Oh, and apparently a female mountain lion that was recently spotted in the area. We did see a baby tarantula missing half its legs. I’m pretty sure we could outrun that sucker if the situation necessitated it.
We went through three sets of slot canyons – The Narrows, Spooky Canyon and Peek-a-Boo Canyon. There is no way that my descriptions will do justice to these canyons, so definitely look at the pictures. The Narrows was a tall canyon with a nice wide floor – it is amazing to see how the water carves everything out. At this point, I’m thinking – wow – cool canyons – just what I expected. Then we got to spooky canyon.
We had been warned that Spooky Canyon was dark, with tall walls, and had passages that were only 10-12” wide. I was thinking it probably wouldn’t be a problem to squeeze through a tiny section here and there. What I didn’t realize was that 90% of the canyon was only 10-12” wide. Let’s say that as a female, there were parts of my anatomy that caused concern in several areas. We were literally squeezing our way through much of the canyon and I did get a little panicky on a few occasions. I also felt good when Mark would say “wow” – climbing up that used to be much easier. I guess the boulder that used to be here got washed away. This was not a 20’ long canyon – we were in there for probably 20-30 minutes… The kids scrambled through like a bunch of monkeys.
Peek-a-Boo was definitely less traumatic since the walls were only about 10’ tall and it was smooth red sandstone. Still lots of fancy maneuvering with your feet, but it was nice and bright in there. The kids started a game of “hot lava” which the guide joined in – basically you could only let your feet touch the sides of the walls and not the sandy floor. Yes, I lost and was burned to death in hot lava pretty quickly.
Guide was thrilled when the kids wanted to go straight up the side of the canyon to get back to the car rather than take the 20 minutes of switch backs. Everyone was crashed out in the car ride back to haRVey. Anyone who ever goes to Escalante, we highly recommend Mark, our tour guide!
Easiest drive day of the week – 1 hour to Bryce Canyon where we got in at 4:30 and actually got to relax for an evening! Broke out the BBQ, and made some burgers and brats, sat in our luxurious dining facilities (in haRVey) – too cold outside at night. Damon got his first beer – yeah! Then we settled in for a well deserved movie night – looking forward to hiking around Bryce Canyon tomorrow.
p.s. Lauren lost a tooth today! (It was naturally, not from falling on a rock or anything)
Quote of the Day:
Mark (our tour guide): Don’t worry, that’s normal.
More picures will be up as soon as we get a decent internet connection!
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