Another Memorial Day Weekend, another visit to the Saddle in Boulder Utah for a social weekend. But, we were SUPPOSED to actually go out and do canyons too, AND get back in time for Pim’s hour, which might strike as early as 4 pm…
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I think it is a little over two years since the three of us met for part of a wonderful trip down to Escalante. If I recall, part of the purpose was for Todd to try out his legs and head on harder canyons, in a safe (sorta) incremental way.
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For me the approach really sucked... my full 5mm wetsuit weighs 6 pounds dry and it was still damp from the day before. On top of that, I was carrying a 100 foot, 8mm rope and 3 liters of water…
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We'd seen some really good stuff, but it was weekend menu that really had me salivating. With a few hours to kill before making the approach hike down into Fence Canyon in the cool hours of the afternoon, we decided to make a half-day out of Egypt 2.
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Head south again? Sure, why not. Escalante in the middle of July - uh, well.... Many people think because I am a "desert rat", that I do well in the heat. Not true!
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Let's jump right in... The Escalante River was up, so Ram and Hank had rigged a rope the night before. Now, early in the morning, most stripped naked to hand traverse the rope across the river, body hanging downstream in the current. It was cold. Better than coffee.
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Went down Escalante-way for Memorail Day. Crew was Alicia, Tom and Sharon Talboys, Tom Wetherill up from Tucson for the occasion, and Tom Jones (me) (a 3-Tom trip!).
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The man with the white hands denies responsibility for all that occurs on our last day in the Escalante, when fate had ordained our encounter with the dreaded canyon, Nasty Ass.
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Another morning, another early start, another day humping the pack through some wonderful terrain. Today’s objective was the mysterious Moe Slot, an unusual find I had not heard of before. It promised cold swims, strenuous climbing and beautiful sandstone slots.
A bit of that fall nip in the air, we headed down to the Escalante to try our hand at Neon. Oft targeted, not so oft succeeded on, Neon requires some good weather to do the moderately long approach and exit, and have enough prime time to enjoy the canyon.
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These guys, Michelle and Charly, invited me to enjoy some of the warm spring weather down in Excalante. The best laid plans… But I figured, even with a crappy weather forecast, since their drive was twice mine, I really needed to show.
Davis is notorious as the last known location of Everett Ruess. The lower part is now awash under Floyd Elgin Dominy Reservoir, but the rest is open for adventure. The middle is often visited by backpackers, but the upper is a very interesting slot.
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Studying the map, we spied a likely looking wash headed directly from the road to the correct place in Harris wash, so we took it. A convenient parking place next to a fence and cattleguard was in the right place, so...
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(Peekaboo, Spooky and Brimstone) are one of the most visited spots in the area, the upper sections of these same canyons have escaped common noteriety. So we pulled out our Steve Allen #3 book and drove out the Cat's Pasture / Early Weed Bench road and set up to drop into upper Brimstone.
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