Escalante water temp.

[uintafly]

I'm planning an Escalante trip for the end of March and am wondering what the water temp would be down there. I'm thinking about following Ibenick's TR for Fortymile and Willow Gulch, but I worry about the water temp this early in the year. I was in Cedar Mesa last year in early March and the water temperature actually wasn't bad, but I'm not sure about Escalante. What do you guys think?

 

[Nick]

Welcome to BackcountryPost, uintafly! That was you that emailed me this morning about Escalante, right? Sorry I hadn't gotten back to you yet. Started a brand new job this week so I've been super busy.

So I guess you found the Fortymile-Willow TR?

I think the water will be cold, but depending on what the air temp and sun is like, it could be just fine in late March. Most of the hiking in water is very shallow so mostly just wet feet. There are only a few sections where you're actually swimming or getting your shorts wet. So as long as it's warm and sunny out, it could be awesome. Keep in mind that you'll be very near the elevation of Lake Powell down in those canyons so they will be significantly warmer than the town of Escalante. Average temps and forecast would probably be more accurate if you look up Bullfrog.

 

[uintafly]

Yes it was me. I have fairly limited internet access at work so I wasn't able to access a lot of the site (nice site btw). But I got it now.

I'm just glad spring is finally coming around again, and I'm getting antsy to get out.