Slot Canyons

July 6th Addition - The night we arrived at Petrified Forest State Park the kids, Jeff, and I took a short hike up into the petrified forest right from our campground.

The kids sitting on petrified logs.

July 7th - Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons

We set our alarms for 6 am, to be heading out for a 7 am start.  A 6 am start was not hard for people, since our neighbor had a screaming child who was up 3 times in the middle of the night.  The last time was at 5 am.

The Pilot departed for Hole in the Rock Road (after returning for Brian's sunglasses - none of us wanting him to be uncomfortable!) at 7:15 am.  Not bad for motivating and getting 8 people ready!  We hit the road by 7:30 am but didn't arrive at the trailhead until 8:30 am.  The 26 mile stretch of Hole in the Rock Road was slow going!  Along the road we had many jackrabbits criss-crossing the road in front of us, and we spotted a coyote! We pulled over  when the coyote passed and I got out. Within seconds 6 other people followed. Jeff called us the clown car. Thanks to the four wheel drive Pilot we were able to drive right to the trailhead.  Non-four-wheel drive vehicles need to park 1 mile from the trailhead.

At 8:45 am we headed into the canyon for our first real adventure in Escalante.

Hiking down into the canyon

We accidentally went down Dry Creek Gulch first, adding an extra 2 miles to our hike.  It was a great warm-up hike for Lisa and me though!  We were thinking it was Peek-a-Boo slot canyon, however, it wasn't very narrow at all!  "We can totally do this!" we thought.  Lynn was our point hiker and luckily spotted the tail of a rattlesnake under a rock.  We all kept our eye on it while we walked around.  However, when we realized we were in the wrong slot canyon we had to walk back past the rattlesnake.  Lynn spotted the snake before we got to it again and kept an eye on it while we on- by-one safely passed through.

We found Peek-a-Boo slot with a little navigating and stood at the base contemplating the entrance.  The kids quickly hopped (by hopped we mean climbed 20 feet) into the canyon while the adults watched.  A couple quickly passed us and entered in.  We figured we might as well bite the bullet and enter.  We did!  The slot was more than we could have ever imagined!  To Lisa's and my delight there were no totally enclosed places.  We could always see the bright blue sky! There was no shortage of humility.  We flopped, plopped, crawled, and shimmied - anything we needed to do to get through the canyon. We were continually amazed by the texture of the smooth rock walls.

At the entrance to Peek-a-Boo

Lynn and Brooke in Peek-a-Boo

Spooky was a totally different experience.  Shortly after entering the canyon we needed to drop down about 15 feet.  Brooke and I dropped onto Jeff's shoulders while he stood below us.  A young couple sat and enjoyed their lunch while our party and another party dropped down the canyon.  I'm sure we were their entertainment during lunch.  While still amazing, the rock seemed to have razor blades along it.  It was so narrow in places that both sides of our hats touched the walls while we passed through sideways.  The narrow part continued for at least a quarter mile.  It was a good thing returning the way we came was not an option.  NO ONE was interested in exiting Spooky the way we came, walking along the top of the sun-filled plateau, and dropping down into Peek-a-Boo to return.
The least favorite part of the hike was the return up out of the canyon to the car.  With the added distance of Dry Creek Gulch, what was supposed to be a 3 mile hike turned into at least a 5 mile hike.  It was now after noon and we were supposed to be done by noon.  We had left our lunch in the car.  Luckily we had enough water and Devin had brought Sour Patch Kids and M&M's.  We also had another 5 gallon water jug in the car waiting for us!

Lynn and Devin going in Spooky

Brooke and Brian in Spooky

We stopped briefly at Devil's Garden and snapped some photos.  However, about four miles from the end of Hole in the Rock Road Jeff noticed that the tire pressure light had come on for our rear driver's side tire.  He got out to inspect the tire and said it seemed a little lower but not bad.  He wanted to get to the end of the road and then would check again.  At the end of the road he pulled over to check the tire and unfortunately we all got out to hear a hissing noise coming from the tire while watching the tire lose all of its air.  We changed the tire, and were amazed how several cars (from California, Canada, Louisiana, Utah) passed us by without hesitating to ask if we needed help at all.  We got the spare on and headed into town.

(Brooke) Following our exhausting adventure and our tragic tire incident, we got a refreshing beverage, a delightful snack of Smartfood, and the Russells got their fishing liscenses. All we asked for after this was a few moments of wifi to reconnect with friends and family back home and post on this blog. People at the Visitor's Center informed us that City Hall had wifi that we could use. As my mother went inside to get the password, the rest of us (minus my father - who stayed with the Pilot) sat down in the grass and relaxed. Unfortunately, City Hall was closed. On her rampage, my mother went across the street and checked the Community Center, Senior Center, and a private business. Much to our delight, a lovely woman, seemingly inspired by our story (which my mother most likely explained in great detail), gave us the wifi password. With the thumbs up from my mom, all of us took out our electronics, excited to reconnect with the outside world. After many attempts of putting in the wifi password that she had given us, we started questioning if the woman gave us the correct password. We tried various versions, capitals vs. lowercase, etc.. A couple of angry minutes went by and then we left, one by one, glaring into the window space which we imagined encompassed the "lovely" woman. Dad picked us up, laughing how the mechanic had asked if we had just returned from "Hole in the Tire" Road.

We returned to the campground for a refreshing swim, followed by delicious burritos for dinner. But... the night tragically ended with Brian impaling himself with a thorn as he exited his tent! It bled, and bled, and bled, and bled profusely.  He, unfortunately, was not allowed to use a survival kit.

Tomorrow we head to a natural bridge and natural arch by following the Escalante River.  Will post again tomorrow!