Laura and I are off without much of a plan for the next 9 days. Each year she has the week of Thanksgiving off work so we decided that we would head back to the southwest and play in in the desert. Leaving Colorado, we headed out with a plan to arrive in Kanab, Utah the following day.
Making stops along the way, we visited Shiprock, Mexican Hat and several other destinations including the spectacular Monument Valley. Stopping in at Goosenecks State Park was a great way to spend a few minutes while our last stop was at the overly popular Horseshoe Bend. Crowds of tourists, busses and even a drone flying about made for somewhat of a disappointing experience at this otherwise spectacular viewpoint.
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| Blue Pool Canyon |
We were both a bit restless after having driven for 2 days so we decided to stop at a short slot canyon between Page, AZ and Kanab named Blue Pool Canyon. It was short at about 1 mile long, but included 4 rappels, including one off of an anchor attached to a car engine from a crash many years back when a car went off the road and into the canyon. Ending the day, we relaxed in the hot tub and planned our next days adventure.
I was excited that we were staying at the same hotel chain we had visited while in Zion just a few months back because I knew they served hot breakfast. Filling up on bacon, eggs and waffles, we jumped in the truck and headed out for the days adventure. Driving along the dirt roads just 15 minutes out of town, I had heard of a special arch that not many know of. We had some idea of where we would need to go, so along the sand washes and narrow paths we drove for about 10 miles. We never found the arch but later learned that we were not only on the correct road but within a mile from where we had turned around. We will go back later in the week!
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| Lick Wash |
From here we went up to Lick Wash and went for a short hike, meeting a new friend, Hartley, along the way. Hartley has been exploring the desert southwest for the last 20 years and gave us many ideas of what to do with our time here in Utah. We completed most of Lick Wash before turning around and heading on to the next canyon.
Bull Valley Gorge is a 100' deep slot canyon that is normally full of pools and mud, but our new friend had informed us that it is mostly dry. Technical in some regard, we chose to bring the rope along just in case we ran into any area that was too difficult to downclimb.
A few miles in, we reached our first real obstacle, a 15' long pool of muddy water with a layer of ice covering the surface. I'd surely break thru the ice so I decided to toss rocks to find out how deep the cold water really was. About knee height, I figured what the heck and plunged in with in my bare feet.
We were mostly dry by now and still feeling great even though we had walked about 13 miles today. We chose to add on one final canyon called Willis Creek. Only about 2 miles round trip, we hopped back and forth across the narrow stream and through four areas of narrow walls reaching 30 feet high or so in most spots. We were down and back within an hour and headed back to Kanab to relax for the night feeling satisfied with our adventurous day in the desert and wondering who of our adventurous friends would think this was a reasonable day!
We were within an hour of the beautiful Zion National Park so we decided to head over for a day of climbing. I had chosen a route on checkerboard mesa, 10 pitches in length but relatively easy climbing. As we started up the route, I instantly realized that this rock was not only poor but that all the cracks were filled with sand. Part way through the first section of rock, I decided to back off the route as it would not have made for a good climb that day. We continued down to the main canyon area and went to a 2 pitch climb that was used for filming in the movie The Eiger Sanction. A route called The Cave was a good choice and a fun route originally established by a Colorado Springs climber, Jimmy Dunn. The first pitch leads to a large cave where I belayed Laura up to join me. The second pitch worked through a 10 foot 5.8 roof and to a large belay ledge. I was able to work through the roof cleanly as it provided good protection from falling, but Laura struggled following; as she pulled the cams from the rock, if she fell, the swing would have been a bit scary. She eventually climbed through and made it over the roof and to me. We rappelled back down and headed back to the main canyon road and hiked a few miles down enjoying the scenery rather than taking the bus.
One of the highlights of the Kanab, Utah area is an area called The Wave. There is a permit and lottery system to visit this area and only 20 lucky people get the opportunity to visit each day. We applied for the lottery for the second day in a row but with over 100 other groups applying, we were unsuccessful. As luck would have it though, Hartley won and was thrilled to get to visit this special place!
We chose to spend the day at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon after leaving the wave lottery that morning. Exploring for just a few hours, we snapped some pictures and took in the great vastness of the canyon we had visited earlier in the year when we went to Havasu Falls and the Colorado River. Laura chose to take the scenic route back through the forest and farm land following 4 wheel drive roads to a slot canyon called Wire Pass.
We explored and went down to where it joins up with one of the longest and deepest slot canyons in the world, Buckskin Gulch. Walking along, it wasn't long before we encountered water and turned around making our way back to the truck and moving on to the incredible red and white toadstools. A short walk from the highway leads to unique sandstone features called toadstools. Many have fallen throughout geologic time, however a few still remain. We explored the area for a bit and watched the sun set from a perch above the toadstools looking toward Zion in the distance.
The following morning we once again went over to the visitor's center to apply for the wave lottery. I was surprised to see Hartley there, who had won a permit slot just the day before. Turns out this man selflessly gave up his slot to visit the wave to a family who had 4 people but were one short on lottery day. Not many folks would do this, but it was awesome to hear that our new friend was more interested in helping others than in taking it for himself - karma would surely repay him very soon. As the lottery began, there were over 400 applicants for only 10 spaces and the numbers drew quickly. The final number was pulled and not by luck this time but rather because he was more deserving than any other person in the room that day, Hartley's number came up once again! I cannot explain the excitement I had for this man who had passed along the chance to visit just a day ago and chosen to give the experience to a family. He gleamed in excitement, although he didn't want anyone to know how happy he was, it was clear he knew that his good deed had been repaid. We congratulated Hartley and look forward to experiencing The Wave through his pictures.
After the wave lottery in the morning Laura and I went off exploring. We had heard of a canyon called The Huntress or Diana's Throne or Elkhart Canyon, all of which we now think are the same but simply have different entrances. We went through the slot canyon, rappelling many times that morning. We decided to head back to the hotel and grab harnesses for a more technical portion of the same canyon and after driving in circles for a bit, we agreed on a starting spot for the next canyon. 
Walking along the trail for a few miles, we came to the canyon entrance where Laura stopped and began looking around. I questioned what she was doing and she exclaimed "this is the same place we were just a few hours ago!" She was correct as always so we decided to explore the upper portions of the canyon before blitzing the technical lower reaches for a second time that day. We finished off the day with a terrible vegan pizza and then crashed, ready for some real food on Thanksgiving tomorrow. 
We awoke to cloudy skies Thanksgiving morning and headed north to look for Grosvenor Arch. It is a spectacular double arch formed high in a sandstone wall. We also took the opportunity to explore Round Valley Draw, a short but very fun slot canyon not far from the arch. The afternoon saw snow start to fly so we went to Bryce Canyon National Park and stopped by the overlooks to the canyon before heading to a Thanksgiving buffet. We drove back in the dark and snow and did our best to avoid the deer in the heavily populated area.
For our last day in the area, we once again found ourselves in Zion park. We did the tourist thing for a bit and then climbed a great 5.9 climb called Ashtar Command, a two pitch climb that begins with a great crack for 100' then traverses to a vertical wall with good climbing on a bolted face to the top of a rock formation overlooking Mt. Carmel Tunnel and the amazing Zion valley to the west.
Overall, we had a fun trip and agreed that there is much to see and explore in our country. We are lucky to have as many great places to discover as we do and will look forward to finding more as time permits.
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