Escalante Canyons, Utah

Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

In the heart of Southern Utah’s Canyon Country, the Escalante River and its tributaries have eroded a nearly impenetrable web of sandstone canyons. Remote, inaccessible, and therefore the most appealing of these canyons are located between the ephemeral Escalante River, the remains of Glen Canyon, and a fantastic wrinkled mass of upheaved sandstone known as the Waterpocket Fold.

Escalante Canyons

Exploring them provides an extraordinary adventure into the heart of the Colorado Plateau and a Red Rock Wilderness.

Burr Trail, Capitol Reef National Park

The east side of the Escalante River is normally accessed from the Burr Trail. The trail is the creation of John Atlantic Burr, established around 1880 as a stock route. Beginning in the 1940s a uranium boom drove a wave of mechanized exploration that forever changed the wilderness character of Southern Utah and in 1967 the Burr Trail was widened to haul uranium ore. In 1993 Garfield County paved the section of the "Trail" west of Capitol Reef National Park.

4WD Custom Colorado Camper Van

Located in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument the Moody Canyon Road is a spur of the Burr Trail. While graded and fairly well maintained we are thankful for the 4" lift on our 4WD Chevy Astro.

Moody Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

From the Moody Canyon Trailhead in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument we enjoy a late afternoon hike down the dry wash to the Escalante River.

Sego Lily (Calochortus nuttallii) & Scorpionweed  (Phacelia crenulata)

One of the greatest delights of being in canyon country in May is the colorful array of wildflowers in bloom. 

Escalante River

Our original plan was to connect Moody and Stevens Canyon by packrafting the lower section of the Escalante River. Unfortunately, a below average snowpack in Aquarius Plateau monkey-wrenched our plans.

Wingate Sandstone, Escalante River

Alternatively, we left our packrafts in our van and opted for walkabout in several seldom visited and little explored side canyons. Our main route-finding challenge; negotiating 200-million year old sand dunes. Deposited by wind during the early Jurassic epic the Wingate Sandstone forms a vertical and nearly impenetrable wall.

Amy and Fryxell, East Moody Canyon

Well-known to rock climbers, the blocky Wingate Sandstone is characterized by long vertical cracks. A wide enough crack coupled with a big talus pile creates reasonably safe passage.   

Kayenta Formation, Camp George Canyon

Above the Wingate is the Kayenta Formation. Unlike the wind deposited or eolian Wingate, the fluvial Kayenta Formation was deposited by rivers and often fractures horizontally. The resulting low cliffs and ledges create a fantastic walking surface.

    

Camp 2, Camp George Canyon

The Kayenta Formation also provides a smooth, flat and sand-free place to spend the night.

Camp George Canyon, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

In 1971, after flooding one of the most spectacular canyons of the Colorado, the United States Congress created the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (GCNRA). While primarily known for its controversial man-made reservoir, GCNRA also contains many remote and wild canyons.  

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area

In 1936, the Colorado River Region of Southern Utah comprised a 8,890,000 acre roadless area--the largest in the lower 48 states. By 1992, however, the region's biggest roadless area was a mere 875,000 acres. Regardless, today Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, and Capitol Reef National Park form a contiguous 3-million acre redrock wonderland with varying levels of landscape protections.

South Fork of Camp George Canyon

A good portion of our time was spent exploring the upper reaches of Camp George Canyon. Framed by nearly impenetrable walls of Wingate Sandstone the two forks of the box canyon stretch for eight wondrous miles from the Water Pocket Fold to the Escalante River.

Fryxell, Ruffwear Ambassador

Traveling with our faithful canine companion in the desert requires special considerations. To ensure Fryxell stays hydrated we carry a Ruffwear Bivy Bowl and several extra liters of water. In addition to food his Palisades Pack contains a K-9 Overcoat that serves as his sleeping bag during the cool nights.

Pothole

Along our route are waterpockets or potholes filled by desert rain. Over millennia these sandstone depressions have been eroded and enlarged by geomicrobiologic processes in which bacteria consume silicon and other elements in the rock. As a result the potholes provide an important source of water for local wildlife and human visitors.

Approaching the Waterpocket Fold

Above the Kayenta Formation is another layer of fossilized sand dunes also dating to the Jurassic epic. Known as Navajo Sandstone, the sedimentary eolian rock differs from Wingate in its whitish color and the large scale cross-bedding of strata. As ancient winds sculpted the dunes, avalanches of sand slumped down the leeward faces leaving an asymmetric architecture of steep faces on the windward side and lower angle slopes on the leeward side.

Afternoon Siesta

Before navigating through the Navajo's complex maze of ramps and cliffs we stop for a mid-day siesta in the shade of a steep windward face and a Utah Juniper (Juniperus osteosperma).

Navajo Sandstone

Ascending the leeward side of the ancient dunes on the crest of the Waterpocket Fold involves good route-finding and friction climbing.

Fryxell and Forrest

Descending the Navajo's steeper antediluvian windward faces is made easier and safer with 50' of Dyneema Rope.

View of the Henry Mountains

To the east of the Waterpocket Fold are the Henry Mountains. "Discovered" by John Wesley Powell in 1869, the Henry Mountains didn’t appear on any maps until 1872. Surrounded by the redrock desert, the mountains rise above timberline and are home to a herd of free roaming bison.

Projectile Point

From 500 to 1200 AD both Fremont and Anasazi Cultures utilized the canyons of the Escalante. Artifacts include Moqui Steps, Rock Art, and lithic scatter. On top of the Waterpocket Fold chips and flakes of chert and jasper are abundant. 

Kayenta Formation, Middle Moody Canyon

On our return to Middle Moody Canyon we descend back into the pleasant walking surface of the Kayenta Formation.

Amy and her HMG Windrider Pack

For backpacks we used the 28.2 oz Hyperlite Mountain Gear Windrider Packs.

 Route-finding through the Circle Cliffs

At the head of Middle Moody Canyon the Wingate Sandstone forms a nearly impenetrable 10-mile long wall known as the Circle Cliffs.

Crack in the Wingate Sandstone

Fortunately, we again find safe passage where a wide crack leads to a large talus field.

Moody Creek Drainage, Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument

Below the Wingate is the Chinle Formation. Deposited in a wet climate around 225 million years ago during the Late Triassic epic, the fluvial Chinle Formation is characterized by gentle multi-colored slopes of mudstone, siltstone, limestone and sandstone.

Hoodoo

In addition to iron and organic matter, uranium can also be found in the Chinle Formation. During its deposition, abundant groundwater leached uranium from wind transported volcanic ash.

White Rim Sandstone

During the final miles of our journey a thin layer of White Rim Sandstone garnished by Utah Juniper provides pleasant walking.

Escalante Canyons May 2014

"I have not tired of the wilderness; rather I enjoy its beauty and the vagrant life I lead, more keenly all the time. I prefer the saddle to the streetcar and star-sprinkled sky to a roof, the obscure and difficult trail, leading into the unknown to any paved highway, and the deep peace of the wild to the discontent bred by cities." - Everett Ruess