A dry year in the desert ?

[fossana]

Did the Kelsey route go?

Yes, as did my on the fly approach route from a side canyon off of 25M Wash.

 

[TrailScot]

Well, perhaps not quite the driest year for several decades, but it's definitely looking like one of the driest.

The graphs below are for the Southeastern Utah, Southwestern Utah, and Escalante-Paria regions, for April 2nd, with Maximum, Minimum, and Median data over the past 40 years shown, in addition to the current 2025 measurements.
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[Magnus]

Just did a quick loop from Early Weed Bench to scout a Kelsey-described cattle route onto Baker Bench (not mentioned by Allen). Almost no potholes anywhere had water, including the giant one at the top of the chimney/slab climb onto Scorpion Bench and the shaded ones in the Baker canyons maze. On the upside, there was very little silt in the Escalante River.

Due to a lack of better judgment, I am wanting to float the Escalante river. Any chance you got a photo of the river or have an idea of how much water is there?

 

[Janice]

Radar shows lots of rain and snow in some parts of that region (although when I've been able to look I haven't seen any over Grand Gulch, which is what I've been looking for). Hopefully this will help at least those areas where the precip makes it all the way to the ground...

 

[fossana]

Due to a lack of better judgment, I am wanting to float the Escalante river. Any chance you got a photo of the river or have an idea of how much water is there?

Did not take a photo, but it was low, at most shin deep during my crossings. Here's the current gauge data. The rule of thumb is to double the flow since the gauge is upstream from the Boulder Creek junction.

 

[Jorey]

Link

Photo from two weeks ago where Silver Falls/Harris Wash enters the Escalante, and some water discussion.