DESERT DAWN
We
were up early the next day out of necessity.
The final hikes I’d planned in Grand Staircase Escalante National
Monument would be in slot canyons. The
latest forecast called for a 30% chance of scattered afternoon
thunderstorms. Even though a 30% chance
of rain in southern Utah means it almost certainly WON’T rain, I didn’t want to
risk getting caught in a flooded canyon.
We needed to do our hikes in the morning before storms had a chance to
form.
It
was nice getting up before the sun - and the heat - but it didn’t last
long. It was already in the 90’s when we
left Escalante State Park, bound for Cannonville,
Kanab, and ultimately the Grand Canyon.
My
plan was to do short hikes in three slot canyons southwest of Cannonville – Willis Creek, Bull Creek, and Lick Wash. We would only do short hikes in each, which
meant that we could easily bail out if the weather turned threatening. My biggest concern in that area though was
the road conditions. We’d be driving the
Skumupth Road all the way from Cannonville
to Kanab. Most of the road is dirt, and
the ranger we spoke with a few days earlier had warned that most of the dirt
roads in the area were deteriorating due to the dry weather.
We
stopped at the Visitor’s Center in Cannonville for up
to date information. The ranger there confirmed that Skumupth Road
had developed some bad spots. A couple
of people had gotten stuck there in recent days. In particular, there was a short stretch on a
steep uphill that had gotten very sandy.
It’s easy to get stuck in deep sand, particularly on a steep grade where
it is difficult to maintain momentum. On
the other hand, the ranger thought we could probably get through if we were
cautious. He gave us a detailed
description of the area, so we’d be ready for it.
The
first few miles of Skumupth Road were pretty rough
with some sandy spots. They didn’t pose
any problems, but the spot that the ranger had warned us about gave me
pause. It was on a steep uphill just
after a sharp curve. I had almost no momentum
coming around the curve, so I stopped to scout it out.
Getting
through was going to be interesting. The
middle of the road was a deep sandpit, but the far sides were a little
better. The only hope would be to gun
the engine and power through it. Christy
was less than thrilled with this plan. Skumupth Road gets some traffic, so somebody would
eventually pass by if we got stuck. It
wouldn’t be much fun waiting for help in the middle of the desert on a sunny
day though.
I
backed up as far as I could go so I could get a running start. I hit the sandy patch hard and our vehicle
lurched forward. Just when I was getting
concerned we reached solid ground at the top of the hill. I stopped there briefly to allow myself to
catch my breath and to wait for Christy to stop screaming.
The
last mile to the Willis Creek ford was uneventful. We parked at the official trailhead and
grabbed our packs. Surprisingly, another
vehicle (with 4wd) pulled in a minute later.
I guess our wait might not have been that bad if we’d gotten stuck,
after all.
We
crossed the road and followed a trail above the open wash of Willis Creek. There was a little water flowing through the
wash, which is typical for this drainage.
Before long the path took us down to the wash and the beginning of the
canyon. We hiked downstream, hopping
from one side of the creek to the other as needed. Occasionally we just walked in the stream,
which wasn’t deep enough to soak our boots.
Before
long we reached the brink of a small waterfall.
We worked our way around it before continuing downstream. The canyon got deeper and narrower along
here, and this stretch was quite pretty.
After a few minutes the canyon opened up, but another narrow section
followed. We turned around at the end of
the second narrow section, as my guidebooks all suggested that the best part of
the canyon was in the first mile.
Back
at the trailhead we found several other vehicles. Willis Creek is a fairly popular hike for
being in such a remote area. Apparently
the road conditions hadn’t scared too many people off.
We
continued down the road a couple more miles to the bridge over Bull Creek
Gorge. The gorge is probably a 100’ deep
below the bridge, but only a few feet wide.
Bull Creek Gorge is mildly famous for being the scene of a violent car
crash many years ago. A pickup truck had
missed the bridge and launched itself into the canyon, but got wedged between
the walls high above the canyon floor.
The driver and passengers were killed, but the truck remained stuck
between the canyon walls for many years.
I was looking forward to seeing it, but there was no sign of the
truck. My guess is that the truck
finally fell into the abyss in the years since my guidebook was written.
From
the bridge we followed a path along the rim of the gorge. We hiked up-canyon, looking for a way down
into its depths. The walls of the gorge
are nearly sheer though, and we walked 10 minutes or so before the canyon grew
shallow. Eventually I found a place
where it was easy to scramble down to the canyon floor. Christy decided to pass on this one, as the
canyon looked quite rugged from above.
She was right, too – it wasn’t long before I reached a pouroff. I could’ve
climbed down it with assistance from a tree limb that had been placed there by
hikers that had preceded me. However, it
looked like it would be more difficult to climb back up, and I expected the
terrain ahead to get more challenging. I
wasn’t too enthusiastic about making Christy wait for me in the mid-day heat,
either, so I turned back. I reached the
car just after she did, and we had lunch there before resuming the drive
towards Kanab.
The
road was in better condition between Bull Creek Gorge and Lick Wash. There was one other vehicle at the Lick Wash
Trailhead when we arrived. Christy
decided to skip this hike, so I promised to make it a quick one. It was now early afternoon, and there were some
clouds building in the area, which added to my urgency.
I
hiked through a dry wash initially, short cutting the numerous sweeping bends of
the streambed. Eventually the canyon
walls closed in, and a bit of scrambling was necessary at one point. I ran into two other hikers (from
California), and we chatted briefly before I hustled on.
Lick
Wash was much deeper than Willis Creek Canyon, but it wasn’t nearly as
narrow. It provided a nice walk, but I
didn’t find the scenery as exciting as many other slot canyons. After a mile or so I turned back, eager to
get on the road to the Grand Canyon.
I VOTED FOR PEDRO
Skumupth Road was in good shape the rest of
the way. When we reached the paved road
in Johnson Canyon I breathed a sigh of relief.
Taking the shortcut through the Utah backcountry had been adventurous,
but the Grand Canyon beckoned.
We
drove down through Johnson Canyon and joined highway 89, which we followed to
Kanab. Kanab was the largest town we’d
seen since the drive into Zion National Park a week earlier. That still isn’t saying much though. Kanab’s greatest claim to fame is probably
being the location where the movie “Napoleon Dynamite” was filmed.
We
stopped in Kanab for gas and groceries.
Mostly we were interested in buying ice and Gatorade. I’ve never been a big Gatorade fan, but it
was ideal after hiking in the heat. I
probably purchased more Gatorade during this 2 week trip than I had through my
entire life up until that point.
In
Kanab, we actually saw a car with Utah plates that had an Appalachian State
University bumper sticker. In fact, it
was the second one of the trip – the first had been in Springdale, outside of
Zion. It’s always fun seeing App State
gear so far from home. Later in the trip
we saw someone wearing a James Madison t-shirt, which was less enthralling.
From
Kanab, we headed south into Arizona, bound for the north rim of the Grand
Canyon.
Back to Utah
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