Dude, You're Screwed Utah Episode

[Jammer]

We should have a thread focused on screwed up geography references! Just today there's a Yahoo article on the drought and how it's affecting Lake Mead -- with a SAT view of Lake Powell. And... did anyone else cringe with NG's Plant Earth had a flipped SAT view of the Grand Canyon?!

Also... I just saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty where I'm pretty sure Iceland plays the roles of Greenland, Iceland and Afghanistan!

Most of my other friends get no pleasure of me bringing up such topics -- but I'm guessing many of you might.

- JG

 

[Aldaron]

I've been calling myself a map nerd since I was 18...my friends don't appreciate it, either.

 

[Dave]

We should pitch a new reality show: Survival Debunkers. We'll travel the world revealing the idiocy of survival shows.

 

[Aldaron]

Oh, and the 'live video feed' and biometrics from the middle of the slot to the guys in the tent. Hahahaha!

Yeah, this seemed a bit crazy. Maybe they had someone trailing them from the top of the canyon...

It looks to me like the part where he met the 'locals' was near or at the Harris Wash trailhead, so obviously far, far away from where he was on the Escalante.

I thought it was Harris Wash, too, before I noticed where you thought it was. It looks like there is a road that crosses Harris and heads north-east between Red Breaks and the Escalante. And it looked like he crossed Harris as he was approaching the locals, so I'm guessing that's where he came from. I think it's possible he could have done that from where he started. I'm not sure where he exited the river, but I think he could have done it. But some kind of dumb, stupid luck to cut the corner there from Horse Canyon over to the Harris Wash trailhead by walking across the desert for what was probably over 8 miles. That's the part that I call shenanigans on the most, I think. That was the only road for miles and miles, and it almost exactly cut the corner between Horse and the Harris trailhead. How did he find that?

Oh, and the thunder? I'm pretty sure that was edited in.

 

[intuitive cat]

the road would have been super easy to find. he came up the dunes that come onto the v just ne of red breaks where the old sheffield cabin is ( I think). the old road which was the harris wash/V road heads very near where he came up. he then walked the road all of the way around red breaks to the harris wash trailhead. same road people return by when doing a red breaks slots/cosmic navel/cosmic volcano loop.
and those were really locals but they were acting. all super kind folk. the geography was purposefully off in order to 'protect the area' and purposefully not share exact location due to matt graham's concerns of local impact.

 

[DrNed]

Also... I just saw The Secret Life of Walter Mitty where I'm pretty sure Iceland plays the roles of Greenland, Iceland and Afghanistan!

My wife is kinda fanatic about watching the credits at the end of a movie - so from that, I know you're correct.

 

[hikedthat]

Bwahahaa! I watched the episode. What an enormous pile of crap that show is. Aside from all the not-so-obvious stuff, I can't believe they actually try to make people believe they picked up the dude in Europe and put a hood over his head all the way to Utah and that he had no idea where he was. Hahaha!

So the first canyon is absolutely Little Death Hollow. They start off the show midway down where the good narrows begin. I could match up a lot of photos from my trip there. His first camp was in the lower section where it starts to open up. Thanks for building a fire in there, jackass. From there he went down Horse Canyon to the Escalante.

It looks to me like the part where he met the 'locals' was near or at the Harris Wash trailhead, so obviously far, far away from where he was on the Escalante. Too bad he didn't keep going to the 'river town' in the middle of Lake Powell.

You are correct in your mapping. As a native of this area I felt the overall portrayal of difficulty was generally accurate...our Search and Rescue is called out non-stop! I've spent considerable amounts of time in these canyons and other than Spooky or Peek-a-boo they're not for the average day-tripper...don't you agree that a guide is the best route for those who are inexperienced in canyoneering? And those of us who live in or have experience with the Monument would suggest avoiding the slots in Spring due to flash floods and snakes...Other that the locals are friendly, the sites are breathtaking and it's well worth the trip.

 

[hikedthat]

the road would have been super easy to find. he came up the dunes that come onto the v just ne of red breaks where the old sheffield cabin is ( I think). the old road which was the harris wash/V road heads very near where he came up. he then walked the road all of the way around red breaks to the harris wash trailhead. same road people return by when doing a red breaks slots/cosmic navel/cosmic volcano loop.
and those were really locals but they were acting. all super kind folk. the geography was purposefully off in order to 'protect the area' and purposefully not share exact location due to matt graham's concerns of local impact.

I thought the same thing about local impact worries. When it became a national monument tourism skyrocketed. Its been a concern for people in Escalate and Boulder for years. It's a double edged sword...need tourism for the town to stay thriving but then people claim too much tourism destroys the lands...hard to say what should be done to manage it...Kudos to Matt for drawing national attention to the very thing he claims he'd like to protect and then acting like a poorly scaled map with a fake town would be sufficient to throw people off...plenty of people figured out the location within seconds.