Day 7 - Rookie Mistake

Our original plan had been an early wake up so we could get to the tire shop before it opened, but having been lulled into a wonderful slumber with air conditioning, a comfy bed and a flush toilet, we lollygagged for a few minutes too long, and by the time we got to the tire shop at 8:05, we were third in line.  We chatted with another couple from New Hampshire (Chris & Lelah) while they were getting their tire repaired as they, too, had blown it on Hole in the Tire Road yesterday.  We left our tire and went to eat breakfast and when we came back to the shop an hour later, there were four more cars in line with blown out tires – clearly, that road keeps these guys in business.  They couldn’t fix our tire – something had carved a z-shaped gash in the tread and it was DOA.  Luckily, they had a used tire that fit our car and for a mere $57, we were on our way.

The hike we had planned to do, Big Horn Slot Canyon, has two different entry points – one from the bottom from HITRR and one from the top from Old Sheffield Road.  We had heard that the Old Sheffield Road route might be a little shorter, and since we lost 2 hours in tire repairs and the day was heating up quickly, we opted for the Southern Route.  The drive on Old Sheffield’s rocky unpaved road was only 3 miles from the main road, and en route, we saw some amazing potential camp sites for the night.

We pulled into the “parking area”, which was a tiny grassy area the width of two cars.  There was one car already there, so we took the second spot and started on our hike.  The path was easy to follow – it was mostly through a dry riverbed (The Harris Wash) and we were able to follow the footprints of the two people who were ahead of us.  

The hike was about 2.5 miles to the slot canyon and it was mostly deep sand (like on a beach) and rocks.  We tried to stay on the rocks as much as possible, but the vast majority was sand.  We played tracker and got excited every time we saw footsteps since that meant we were going in the right direction.  Truth be told, getting lost while following a riverbed is difficult, but I wouldn’t put it past us.  The sun was in full force and it was hot out, but that did not deter us.  Nor did coming across a 60’ drop in the riverbed.  Yes, it was literally a 60’ drop.  The Google stuff I read said that this was a “moderately easy” hike and I’m thinking – a 60’ cliff is a moderately easy hike?  There was some swearing in there, too.  Google also said that there was an easy way around the drop to the left.  The easy way around was like a 70-degree angle instead of a 90-degree angle of mostly slick rock.

Damon went first and I followed crab walking down on my butt.  I’m too old for this shit.  No, I’m not – it was kind of fun once I got to the bottom.  

Eventually we got to the mouth of the slot canyon with another big drop, but this time it was skinny, and we weren’t sure we could get back up, so we started exploring the top of the slot.  

Hard to tell, but that is about a 12-15' drop to the bottom

Looking down - we didn't think we could get back up without ropes

Side note – the primary reason we had initially chosen the HITRR start point was because as you approached from that direction, you went through the best/easy slots and then they got progressively harder until you had to turn back because it got too technical and required climbing skills and ropes.  Well, that would be where we popped into the slot and we are most definitely not technical climbers.

We investigated around and popped in and out for part of it and eventually we heard voices.  We were so excited to meet “the footprints” that we had been following.  Go figure – it was Chris and Lelah from the tire repair shop!  They said that they had been exploring in and out of the slots farther up like us, but determined it was too technical and didn’t get in very far.  Sadly, that meant the end of this exploratory endeavor and after hunkering in a slot crevasse for a snack, we headed back. 

Now let’s talk about what the Utah dessert feels like around noon when there is no shade and you are walking in ankle deep sand.  It is pure flipping torture.  We were sucking down water like crazy and stopping whenever we could find a bush or scrap of shade.  It was brutal.  There was a point where I was ready to lay down and declare “save yourself, just leave me here to die”, but we soldiered on.  When we came to that 60’ wall and had to climb up, I had some crazy burst of energy and while Damon was still mapping his route up the slick rock, I ran up it and he was like WTF??? 

At one point, we stopped for a water break and I kept telling Damon to open the water flow and in the most amateur hiking move ever, we realized we had run out of water.  In our Kaibab Hike, we had gone through half the amount of water in the same distance.  We got very lucky in that we were only about 5-10 minutes from the car, but it was such a rookie mistake, we were horrified.  We got back to the car and each drank a huge bottle of water, followed by a huge bottle of Gatorade, followed by more water.  My fitbit registered an average heart rate of 124 bpm on the way back – we were walking!  Probably one of the hottest hikes I’ve ever done.  No pictures from the way back, but one bonus scenery shot from the way out while we were still smiling.

Post walk, we drove to our Escalante Oasis, aka, the Escalante Visitor Center, which although closed, does offer a cell signal, clean air-conditioned bathrooms, and some nice shaded benches.  We parked in the lot, opened the car windows, and promptly fell asleep – both of us.  After a quick nap, we put together our picnic and had lunch and sat there for about 2 hours while I worked on the blog 😊

Around 4:30 or so, we went back to Old Sheffield Road to find the campsite we had identified earlier and set up camp.  It was Damon’s dream site – no one anywhere around, the view was spectacular, and we had enough time to just hang out, relax, and stare at nature.  

Around 7 we started dinner and again, we were aggravated by a pesky bee, which, was a yellow jacket (wasp family, mean little buggers, can sting multiple times).  Damon killed it just as we plated dinner and within about 20 seconds, we had about 5-10 more yellow jackets swarming our food.  We tried killing them, got a few, but more just kept coming, so we ran into the car and had a lovely dinner sitting in the front seat of the car.  Once the food was gone, the bees had no further use of us and disappeared.  I had no idea yellow jackets like chicken and peppers as much as they seem to like tacos!

Went to sleep around 10 with a plan to get up early so we could start our next hike before the crazy heat kicked in.

Sunset and our fancy tent lights