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Three twisted cottonwood trees in Escalante Canyon. This is just one of the cool
discoveries that remain on a trip through Death Hollow. |
Day 3 in Death Hollow was all about getting moving. We had 8 miles from the confluence to our car and a little extra just to reach the confluence. After a nice breakfast of oatmeal I put on a clean pair of socks. For a whole 5 minutes I walked without sand, water and grit between my toes. It was a brief but divine luxury. We broke camp and started walking.
The stream here is much more flat and shallow . . . so the temptation is to walk faster in the stream . . . which leads to falling down. I had walked no more than 10 minutes before I slipped and fell hard on my left elbow. Dang it hurt. No sense stopping because that would do no good whatsoever.
We kept walking and quickly reached the confluence. Here the clearer waters of Death Hollow mix with the Escalante River. The Escalante water looks so thick with sand and sediment that it should support my full weight when walking. The Escalante Canyon is also vastly wider than Death Hollow. I'd say it was 10 times wider in most places. We still had many crossings.
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| Sisters hiking at the confluence of Death Hollow and Escalante River |
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| Climbing out of the river and onto the banks of Escalante River |
Traveling east in an east-west wide canyon, I expected the sun to shine in my face all morning. Happily those canyon cliff walls remained high enough to keep us in shade about 50% of the way. This canyon is beautiful yet different from what we'd experienced in Death Hollow. Much longer trails led away from the river and were faster foot travel.
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| Trail through Escalante Canyon. The trails often separate from the river. |
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| Escalante Arch |
The landmarks on this section of the hike were Escalante Arch and some Anasazi granaries. Our sore feet kept us from exploring these in close detail. Both are on the south side of the canyon. I know the arch could be more photogenic than what I captured but this was a lesser jewel after what we'd experienced the day before.
Here are some photos from the canyon itself and our journey through it.
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| Tall cliffs and wider canyon floor are typical of Escalante Canyon |
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A red monolith towards the end of our journey, where the canyon grows
even more wide and exposed to the sun. |
We made it! We celebrated by eating lunch at the Kiva Koffee House near the trailhead. I drank water that wasn't from the river for the first time in days. The lime-mint smoothie tasted better than anything drink I can remember in my whole life. Yummy food and lots of hydration were a great way to end this amazing trip.
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