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- Aug 9, 2007
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April 2012
I've had a tough time this week working through the photos from this trip. It was surprisingly photogenic. With my 3 hour time lapse factored in, I took over 1300 photos over this weekend. So with all that said, I'm sure I'll end up posting way too many photos here, but what's new?
My Friday morning started with 2 inches of snow at my house in Salt Lake. Hard to believe that in just hours I'll be on my way to the desert for two nights. The precipitation persisted into the early afternoon and then cleared in time for our departure. We made it out early enough to beat rush hour traffic and actually made all the way to Torrey in time to witness some beautiful golden light along Highway 12.
It was getting dark as we descended down into Boulder.
From there we went due east on the Burr Trail, seeking a place to camp for the night. Huge thanks to intuitive cat for recommending the spot we camped at that night, it was a fine place to spend a night. Moments after we arrived, a huge, yellow full moon appeared on the horizon. I did not have the lens or the know how to take a good picture of it, but I tried anyway. It was an incredible scene to experience.
The full moon was incredibly bright. We sat drinking wine and enjoying a huge fire courtesy of Yellowstone 1 and the sweet stack of firewood he gave me. I let my camera run for several hours. Believe it or not, this was shot at ISO 250!! (30s, f/3.5, stacked)
We found a nice, soft patch of sand to lay out the tarp and slept under the stars that night. It was a bit cold, but very nice.
The next morning was beautiful and clear. We ate a hearty breakfast, packed our bags, and continued east on The Burr Trail. I hadn't driven this road in years so it felt like the first time. If you haven't driven the Burr Trail, go. Now.
Eventually we found ourselves at the Little Death Hollow Trailhead and then heading down the largely uninteresting trail into Little Death Hollow. Along the way, we noticed various patches of petrified wood on the other side of the broad canyon. It's easy to identify there because it is the only thing that is pretty much black. One pile attracted our interest so we left the trail and hiked to the other side of the canyon to find a huge ancient tree. At the time, it was the biggest and most complete that either of us had ever seen. After the next day, this would seem like nothing.
Further down the trail we found a huge boulder with some petroglyphs on it. The panel was partially submerged in sand. I wonder if this is the result of sand building up around the boulder or did the boulder roll from above and happen to land right side up?
Soon the canyon started to narrow. Around one of the bends, we noticed a curious looking alcove.
Naturally, we went to take a look. There were some signs that it had been used by ancient people, but the coolest thing we found was the light!
We spent 20 minutes in there taking photos before hiking back out to head down canyon. We were very surprised to find water when we went back to the wash bottom. It had been bone dry up until this point. But that water quickly dried out. We found a few nice alcoves around the next couple of bends and then eventually found another good supply of water. This time it ran for upwards of a mile. Here are a few shots from this section of the canyon.
On this bend, we actually found ice!
.
This has to be one of the fattest cottonwoods I've ever seen.
Soon the river dried back up. There was a large arch on the wall to the left.
We stopped in the first good section of narrows for lunch. Nikita posed for me.
I love those brown eyes.
After that first narrow section, the canyon opened up just a bit. I explored a couple of short side canyons but found no water, just tight slots. It was after one of those side canyons that we noticed a BLM Law Enforcement officer walking down the canyon towards us. He was there to see the state of some dead cows that were reported to be dead in the slot section of the canyon. We hiked with him for a while and soon, we realized that we had met before. This was the same very friendly ranger that I had met on the Hogsback over a year ago. We had stopped to take photos of some golden eagles eating a deer carcass and he stopped to drag it off the road. That turned into a discussion about cameras and lenses. He was a really cool guy and I actually remembered his name! (I never remember names). So we continued down canyon with our friend, Jeff. Small world I guess. Or small monument as Jeff joked.
Eventually we found our way to the first of the dead cows. There were 3 in the canyon. The first was a calf, tucked under a boulder, located just a few feet from where I took this photo.
The second was just downstream right in the center of a narrow section of the canyon. I'm not going to repost those photos here, but if you want to see them, check out this thread: Graphic Images: Dead Cows in Little Death Hollow
We kept hiking with Jeff for a while but it was getting late and we still hadn't found the third cow. So we exchanged contact info and told Jeff that we would find the third cow and relate photos and coordinates of it's location. From here on out, the canyon stayed narrow, if not completely slotty, for mile after mile. This was truly the longest slot canyon I've ever been in and the light was incredible.
An hour later, we found the third cow. It was in a rather inconvenient spot.
Soon we entered a long stretch of very narrow canyon. I didn't really take any photos in there. And soon after that, we encountered the first significant drop in the slot. This was the first of a handful of obstacles.
The canyon was bone dry. I had read that many of the obstacles can be gone under when dry or over when wet which presents a higher level of difficulty. I think this would be one of the more difficult obstacles when wet. We went through below the boulder on the right.
We walked through slots and narrows for so long. It got to the point where I just didn't even bother taking a photo. I felt somewhat overwhelmed by the beauty of the canyon and how it never seemed to stop.
Through the last section of narrows, we started to realize how lucky we were to have the canyon be totally dry. There were so many potholes that had mossy waterlines that made it look like it almost never dried out. In the very, very last section of slot, we ran into one patch of sloppy mud.
Nikita went right into it and got coated. She still has mud caked on her right now, days later. She looks kinda sad, doesn't she?
Soon we found ourselves in Horse Canyon and at the first flowing water for quite some time. Nikita was stoked.
Looking back up into Little Death Hollow from Horse Canyon. It doesn't look like much from this angle.
We set up camp on the big sandy bend right at the Little Death Hollow confluence. There was decent site up on the bench, complete with fire pit, but we opted to just setup the tarp a little closer to the river. I'm loving my new Thermarest NeoAir XLite.
We had a nice sunset, but then I was unmotivated to setup for stars.
The next morning, we packed up and went up Horse Canyon. The water flowed clean up until a little upstream from the old line shack.
After that, we were following a road which may or may not be technically open. Either way, it was well travelled.
The mouth of Wolverine Canyon. Quite the dramatic entrance.
Amazing tafoni in the wingate walls of Wolverine Canyon.
A petrified log jam in Wolverine Canyon.
We found one good stretch of water in Wolverine.
It was around this point that things went downhill for us. Nikita had clearly been worked a little too hard the previous day. She spent much of the hike in Wolverine struggling to keep up and easily overheating. Keep in mind, she is 10+ years old and had hiked 10 miles scrambling through boulders the day before. Her first good hike of the year.
So there I am, coaxing her along when I look back and see her frantically biting at her right foot. Crap. We're still 4-5 miles away from the truck. I ran back to check on her and found her entire leg twitching uncontrollably. Her paw was curled all the way in and she clearly had little or no control over it. This was bad. I checked her thoroughly and found nothing. Maybe it's a muscle spasm or something... so I tried some massage in her leg. Still not helping. She will not put any weight on it. She'll get up, hop 3-legged for a sec and then just drop to the ground.
For those of you who know Nikita, this is a way bigger deal than it might be for a regular dog. For those that don't know her. Let me just tell you, Nikita is not a dog. She is roughly 1/3 cat, 1/3 wolf and 1/3 human. She has a personality like no other dog I've ever known, and keep in mind, I have three dogs. And she is the most stoic and loyal person or animal I cold ever imagine. I always fear what will kill Nikita, because she will never let us know until it's done. She shows no pain. When she ripped her ACL, even the vets had a hell of a time diagnosing it. And loyalty... that dog would sooner die that not be by my side. I know, I know. Everyone's dog is like that. But they're not.
So with all that out of the way, you kind of know how I'm feeling right now. Panic, fear, sadness. What is happening to my beloved, Nikita. What have I done to her?! We started strategizing as to how we would get her out of the canyon. We were both using pretty small packs but we decided we would unload my pack, stuff her in it, and neiloro wold take on all of my gear, strapping it to the outside as necessary.
But before we did that, I decided I would see if maybe Nikita could just walk it off. I got her up canyon a bit as a 3-leg dog. At that point, the canyon became dry and Nikita started to walk a little better. She was actually putting weight on that right leg!
We continued on, observing her, waiting slowly for her to keep up with us. It started to become clear that her problem was to do with the pads of her feet. When she would hit soft sand, she would pep up and move fast. Gravel and boulders and she would almost stop moving. From time to time, I would pick up all 75 pounds of her and carry her in my arms. I think the reason her leg was spazzing out before was because of salt and minerals on the bed of the river. It was a section that was just completely crusted in white except where the water was. Meanwhile, her paws were starting to wear through. I think she basically just had salt in the wound.
Eventually the canyon opened up and we diverted out of Wolvering to head back up to the Little Death Hollow Trailhead. The hiking was pretty easy aside from a few boulder piles. Nikita kept hiking, but slower, and slower and slower. She was overheating like she never had before. We would stop in the shade, give her water and keep going. But within a few minutes she was lagging so far behind. She would stop and lay in the shade until we were a few hundred feet away, and then continue on to catch up with us.
Near the top of the canyon, we hit petrified wood paradise. By far the largest, longest, fattest pieces of petrified wood I've ever seen or even dreamed of. There were a couple of large pieces that had trunk diameters on par with a compact car.
And on the other side of the pass, we found badlands of tiny pieces of petrified wood.
Meanwhile, Nikita struggled more and more. It was getting to the point that I had to beg her to keep going. I would pick her up and carry her when the ground permitted, but at other times it was too difficult and I was already very tired.
We passed through some amazing bad lands but I was too concerned with Nikita to take photos. She had finally given up. She couldn't go any further. She actually got to the point that I think she was just ready to die under a tree in the desert. I picked her up, put her on my shoulders and carried her for the remainder of the hike. It was not easy but even worse was the sadness of seeing her like that. I've hiked with Nikita more than any human I know. She's been through so much over the years, but she would never show any weakness, even when I hiked her half to death. It just isn't her thing. But on this trip, she finally reached her limit. It's time for her to retire. I'm devastated. If you're not a dog person, you might not think much of this. But if you get it, you get it.
Back at the trailhead, Nikita and I rested in the shade under a big Cottonwood. She drank water while I had a beer. Soon, neiloro arrived and pointed out that I had blood all over me from carrying Nikita. I didn't even realize it. She had been bleeding from her paws.
Overall, this was one of the finest backpacks I've done in the Escalante. When I read Kelsey's description of the route and read that it was one of his favorite canyons that he has ever visited, I knew it was going to be good. But I had no idea it was going to be that good. Highly recommended.
Full set of photos on Flickr.
Featured image for slideshow.
I've had a tough time this week working through the photos from this trip. It was surprisingly photogenic. With my 3 hour time lapse factored in, I took over 1300 photos over this weekend. So with all that said, I'm sure I'll end up posting way too many photos here, but what's new?
My Friday morning started with 2 inches of snow at my house in Salt Lake. Hard to believe that in just hours I'll be on my way to the desert for two nights. The precipitation persisted into the early afternoon and then cleared in time for our departure. We made it out early enough to beat rush hour traffic and actually made all the way to Torrey in time to witness some beautiful golden light along Highway 12.
It was getting dark as we descended down into Boulder.
From there we went due east on the Burr Trail, seeking a place to camp for the night. Huge thanks to intuitive cat for recommending the spot we camped at that night, it was a fine place to spend a night. Moments after we arrived, a huge, yellow full moon appeared on the horizon. I did not have the lens or the know how to take a good picture of it, but I tried anyway. It was an incredible scene to experience.
The full moon was incredibly bright. We sat drinking wine and enjoying a huge fire courtesy of Yellowstone 1 and the sweet stack of firewood he gave me. I let my camera run for several hours. Believe it or not, this was shot at ISO 250!! (30s, f/3.5, stacked)
We found a nice, soft patch of sand to lay out the tarp and slept under the stars that night. It was a bit cold, but very nice.
The next morning was beautiful and clear. We ate a hearty breakfast, packed our bags, and continued east on The Burr Trail. I hadn't driven this road in years so it felt like the first time. If you haven't driven the Burr Trail, go. Now.
Eventually we found ourselves at the Little Death Hollow Trailhead and then heading down the largely uninteresting trail into Little Death Hollow. Along the way, we noticed various patches of petrified wood on the other side of the broad canyon. It's easy to identify there because it is the only thing that is pretty much black. One pile attracted our interest so we left the trail and hiked to the other side of the canyon to find a huge ancient tree. At the time, it was the biggest and most complete that either of us had ever seen. After the next day, this would seem like nothing.
Further down the trail we found a huge boulder with some petroglyphs on it. The panel was partially submerged in sand. I wonder if this is the result of sand building up around the boulder or did the boulder roll from above and happen to land right side up?
Soon the canyon started to narrow. Around one of the bends, we noticed a curious looking alcove.
Naturally, we went to take a look. There were some signs that it had been used by ancient people, but the coolest thing we found was the light!
We spent 20 minutes in there taking photos before hiking back out to head down canyon. We were very surprised to find water when we went back to the wash bottom. It had been bone dry up until this point. But that water quickly dried out. We found a few nice alcoves around the next couple of bends and then eventually found another good supply of water. This time it ran for upwards of a mile. Here are a few shots from this section of the canyon.
On this bend, we actually found ice!
.This has to be one of the fattest cottonwoods I've ever seen.
Soon the river dried back up. There was a large arch on the wall to the left.
We stopped in the first good section of narrows for lunch. Nikita posed for me.
I love those brown eyes.
After that first narrow section, the canyon opened up just a bit. I explored a couple of short side canyons but found no water, just tight slots. It was after one of those side canyons that we noticed a BLM Law Enforcement officer walking down the canyon towards us. He was there to see the state of some dead cows that were reported to be dead in the slot section of the canyon. We hiked with him for a while and soon, we realized that we had met before. This was the same very friendly ranger that I had met on the Hogsback over a year ago. We had stopped to take photos of some golden eagles eating a deer carcass and he stopped to drag it off the road. That turned into a discussion about cameras and lenses. He was a really cool guy and I actually remembered his name! (I never remember names). So we continued down canyon with our friend, Jeff. Small world I guess. Or small monument as Jeff joked.
Eventually we found our way to the first of the dead cows. There were 3 in the canyon. The first was a calf, tucked under a boulder, located just a few feet from where I took this photo.
The second was just downstream right in the center of a narrow section of the canyon. I'm not going to repost those photos here, but if you want to see them, check out this thread: Graphic Images: Dead Cows in Little Death Hollow
We kept hiking with Jeff for a while but it was getting late and we still hadn't found the third cow. So we exchanged contact info and told Jeff that we would find the third cow and relate photos and coordinates of it's location. From here on out, the canyon stayed narrow, if not completely slotty, for mile after mile. This was truly the longest slot canyon I've ever been in and the light was incredible.
An hour later, we found the third cow. It was in a rather inconvenient spot.
Soon we entered a long stretch of very narrow canyon. I didn't really take any photos in there. And soon after that, we encountered the first significant drop in the slot. This was the first of a handful of obstacles.
The canyon was bone dry. I had read that many of the obstacles can be gone under when dry or over when wet which presents a higher level of difficulty. I think this would be one of the more difficult obstacles when wet. We went through below the boulder on the right.
We walked through slots and narrows for so long. It got to the point where I just didn't even bother taking a photo. I felt somewhat overwhelmed by the beauty of the canyon and how it never seemed to stop.
Through the last section of narrows, we started to realize how lucky we were to have the canyon be totally dry. There were so many potholes that had mossy waterlines that made it look like it almost never dried out. In the very, very last section of slot, we ran into one patch of sloppy mud.
Nikita went right into it and got coated. She still has mud caked on her right now, days later. She looks kinda sad, doesn't she?
Soon we found ourselves in Horse Canyon and at the first flowing water for quite some time. Nikita was stoked.
Looking back up into Little Death Hollow from Horse Canyon. It doesn't look like much from this angle.
We set up camp on the big sandy bend right at the Little Death Hollow confluence. There was decent site up on the bench, complete with fire pit, but we opted to just setup the tarp a little closer to the river. I'm loving my new Thermarest NeoAir XLite.
We had a nice sunset, but then I was unmotivated to setup for stars.
The next morning, we packed up and went up Horse Canyon. The water flowed clean up until a little upstream from the old line shack.
After that, we were following a road which may or may not be technically open. Either way, it was well travelled.
The mouth of Wolverine Canyon. Quite the dramatic entrance.
Amazing tafoni in the wingate walls of Wolverine Canyon.
A petrified log jam in Wolverine Canyon.
We found one good stretch of water in Wolverine.
It was around this point that things went downhill for us. Nikita had clearly been worked a little too hard the previous day. She spent much of the hike in Wolverine struggling to keep up and easily overheating. Keep in mind, she is 10+ years old and had hiked 10 miles scrambling through boulders the day before. Her first good hike of the year.
So there I am, coaxing her along when I look back and see her frantically biting at her right foot. Crap. We're still 4-5 miles away from the truck. I ran back to check on her and found her entire leg twitching uncontrollably. Her paw was curled all the way in and she clearly had little or no control over it. This was bad. I checked her thoroughly and found nothing. Maybe it's a muscle spasm or something... so I tried some massage in her leg. Still not helping. She will not put any weight on it. She'll get up, hop 3-legged for a sec and then just drop to the ground.
For those of you who know Nikita, this is a way bigger deal than it might be for a regular dog. For those that don't know her. Let me just tell you, Nikita is not a dog. She is roughly 1/3 cat, 1/3 wolf and 1/3 human. She has a personality like no other dog I've ever known, and keep in mind, I have three dogs. And she is the most stoic and loyal person or animal I cold ever imagine. I always fear what will kill Nikita, because she will never let us know until it's done. She shows no pain. When she ripped her ACL, even the vets had a hell of a time diagnosing it. And loyalty... that dog would sooner die that not be by my side. I know, I know. Everyone's dog is like that. But they're not.
So with all that out of the way, you kind of know how I'm feeling right now. Panic, fear, sadness. What is happening to my beloved, Nikita. What have I done to her?! We started strategizing as to how we would get her out of the canyon. We were both using pretty small packs but we decided we would unload my pack, stuff her in it, and neiloro wold take on all of my gear, strapping it to the outside as necessary.
But before we did that, I decided I would see if maybe Nikita could just walk it off. I got her up canyon a bit as a 3-leg dog. At that point, the canyon became dry and Nikita started to walk a little better. She was actually putting weight on that right leg!
We continued on, observing her, waiting slowly for her to keep up with us. It started to become clear that her problem was to do with the pads of her feet. When she would hit soft sand, she would pep up and move fast. Gravel and boulders and she would almost stop moving. From time to time, I would pick up all 75 pounds of her and carry her in my arms. I think the reason her leg was spazzing out before was because of salt and minerals on the bed of the river. It was a section that was just completely crusted in white except where the water was. Meanwhile, her paws were starting to wear through. I think she basically just had salt in the wound.
Eventually the canyon opened up and we diverted out of Wolvering to head back up to the Little Death Hollow Trailhead. The hiking was pretty easy aside from a few boulder piles. Nikita kept hiking, but slower, and slower and slower. She was overheating like she never had before. We would stop in the shade, give her water and keep going. But within a few minutes she was lagging so far behind. She would stop and lay in the shade until we were a few hundred feet away, and then continue on to catch up with us.
Near the top of the canyon, we hit petrified wood paradise. By far the largest, longest, fattest pieces of petrified wood I've ever seen or even dreamed of. There were a couple of large pieces that had trunk diameters on par with a compact car.
And on the other side of the pass, we found badlands of tiny pieces of petrified wood.
Meanwhile, Nikita struggled more and more. It was getting to the point that I had to beg her to keep going. I would pick her up and carry her when the ground permitted, but at other times it was too difficult and I was already very tired.
We passed through some amazing bad lands but I was too concerned with Nikita to take photos. She had finally given up. She couldn't go any further. She actually got to the point that I think she was just ready to die under a tree in the desert. I picked her up, put her on my shoulders and carried her for the remainder of the hike. It was not easy but even worse was the sadness of seeing her like that. I've hiked with Nikita more than any human I know. She's been through so much over the years, but she would never show any weakness, even when I hiked her half to death. It just isn't her thing. But on this trip, she finally reached her limit. It's time for her to retire. I'm devastated. If you're not a dog person, you might not think much of this. But if you get it, you get it.
Back at the trailhead, Nikita and I rested in the shade under a big Cottonwood. She drank water while I had a beer. Soon, neiloro arrived and pointed out that I had blood all over me from carrying Nikita. I didn't even realize it. She had been bleeding from her paws.
Overall, this was one of the finest backpacks I've done in the Escalante. When I read Kelsey's description of the route and read that it was one of his favorite canyons that he has ever visited, I knew it was going to be good. But I had no idea it was going to be that good. Highly recommended.
Full set of photos on Flickr.
Featured image for slideshow.
