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- Aug 9, 2007
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For years I've had this obsession with backpacking the Escalante. It was the first place I ever backpacked and where I spent most of my time for many years. On several occasions I made the drive to Escalante with the intent of completing a loop starting from the Egypt Trailhead, descending into Fence Canyon, following the Escalante past Neon & Ringtail and then up Twentyfive Mile Wash and back out over to the Egypt Trailhead again. The only problem is that every time I went to do it was in the spring and the rangers told us we'd be dealing with neck-deep water on the Escalante.
So this fall, when the opportunity came up to not only complete that loop but also descend Neon Canyon came up, I was all over it. Adding in a technical canyoneering descent made the trip much more of a logistical challenge than it would be otherwise. Many people backpack to the mouth of Neon to do the descent, but very few take the circuitous route that we would be taking.
Instead of the 4-5 mile direct route, we started by exploring a somewhat unknown tributary of Twentyfive Mile Wash called Egypt 6, from there we would follow the length of Twentyfive Mile Wash and then up the Escalante to Neon. An 18-mile approach just to get to the mouth of the canyon with the added weight of ropes, wetsuits, helmets, harnesses and lots of other hardware. Add in some of the nastiest quickmud and bushwhacking I've ever experienced and it sounds like fun!
Here's a map of the route we took. I carried my GPS for all but the Neon descent so that track is not totally accurate.
View larger map.
We started out on the usual route down from the Egypt Bench but were quickly on our own as we headed south towards Egypt 6. We had no information on how or where to get down into the canyon so we just followed the drainage from the top, knowing we would likely encounter some obstacles along the way.
We noticed right away that the heavy rains less than a week earlier had topped off many of the potholes and cleansed the wash bottoms.
After bypassing a few dryfalls and potholes, we reached a big drop into what I would call middle Egypt 6. You can see Tim in the lower right corner for scale.
We scouted the rim of the canyon until finally finding a side canyon that appeared it might go. We followed it for a while, bypassing obstacles and wondering if we would be backtracking all the way back out or getting out the ropes. The idea of rapping into Egypt 6 sounded fun enough but with all of our gear stashed deep in our packs, it would have added a lot of time.
Luckily the side canyon made it to the floor of E6 with just a small down-climb at the end.
Immediately upon entering Egypt 6, we were greated with a tight constriction and abrupt drop in the canyon.
I've never done this stuff with a heavy backpack on! Speaking of which, this was by far the heaviest pack I carried all year. I actually had to break out my Osprey Aether 60 to fit everything which I haven't used in years.
Tim handing down packs at the down-climb. This was a little awkward but not bad with someone spotting you. I probably would have used a handline if I had been the first one down.
Below the dryfall the canyon took on a whole new character. Flowing water, beaver dams and very thick vegetation.
I didn't get out my camera much in Lower E6 because I was busy fighting for every step. There were a few small spots where it opened up enough to snap a pic or two though.
The colors were looking good in E6.
Lindsey smashing through one of the last thick bushwhacks in Egypt 6. This part was actually kind of fun because the plants were much more forgiving than further up the canyon.
Finally in Twentyfive Mile Wash. I don't recall exact numbers but that last mile and a half of Egypt 6 took us way longer than we would have ever expected. It was nice to finally see an open canyon bottom where might be able to get some good mileage under us.
Or not. As I approached the first bend in Twentyfive Mile, I got a taste of what was to come... quicksand/mud. The big rains a few days earlier and sent a massive flood down the drainage and everything was buried in silty slime. It was largely walkable until you came to a bend in the river and then you would sink instantly and become very, very stuck.
To make things more complicated, there isn't much of a social trail through this canyon so getting in and out of the deep 'V' shaped river channel was more than a little challenging.
Twentyfive Mile Mud
While the flood had made travel through the canyon quite difficult it also made it quite beautiful. On this bend, the flood had gone nearly wall to wall, cleansing the surface and giving all of the remaining plant life a sort of boost. I remember walking through here and thinking how can these colors possibly be real? It's like someone cranked up the saturation in my brain!
The carnage from the flood.
Tim and Mandy admiring the scenery in Twentyfive Mile Wash
A freshly scoured alcove
We knocked out a solid 10+ miles that first day and camped in a large open area near a side canyon about half way to the Escalante. All was well except trying to filter the silty water in the river which proved to be quite the challenge. The next day we made our way down the rest of Twentyfive Mile with hopes of getting to Ringtail with enough time to complete the technical descent of that canyon.
Finally at the Escalante! That's the mouth of Twentyfive Mile Wash in the background.
We were happy to learn that the water in the Escalante was much more drinkable than in Twentyfive Mile but not so happy to see that travel upstream was still going to be very difficult. More intense bushwhacking mixed in with some fun river crossings and man-eating quicksand. I had to have people pull my pack off on a few occasions on this trip so that I could wiggle my way out of the quicksand. No pictures though..
Climbing in and out of the river bed wasn't very easy either.
The Escalante River
After struggling our way up the river, we finally found ourselves at Ringtail Canyon.
We just went to scout it out at first. What we found was one of the deepest, darkest slots around. We didn't have time to do the technical descent but some of us decided to go grab wetsuits and try to ascend the canyon until they got turned back.
I didn't feel like digging out my wetsuit so I went down to the river and fetched some water. When I got back the guys were still in the canyon so I went up and explored in until I started getting stuck. I probably made it 100 yards, wading in water from waste to chest deep. It was an incredibly beautiful slot but probably a bit thin for my tastes.
Tim & Mandy at the end of the slot.
After the side-exploration in Ringtail, we all packed back up and moved up canyon towards Neon. Travel in the canyon was much nicer in this stretch with a social trail to follow here and there.
We camped that night near the mouth of Neon Canyon under a beautiful sprawling Cottonwood tree. For the second night in a row, I neglected to take a photo of camp, but it was very nice.
The next morning we hiked up to the rim of the canyon and followed it to where we would descend into the slot.
The approach was very easy and offered great views down into Neon.
We entered via the Sport Route entrance which is the shorter version. We had discussed doing the higher 'Triborough Bridges' entrance but due to the short days and cold water, we opted for the shorter variation. This little crack is where we chimneyed down into the canyon. From above it looks kinda sketchy but it was actually a really fun entrance.
From the entrance crack to the Golden Cathedral, the canyon was wet and wild. I never got out my big camera during that section but I did film quite a bit of footage with my GoPro. If you haven't already seen the video, check it out:
And here's a few shots form the big camera at The Golden Cathedral. The light was a bit challenging.
As we packed up to leave, a solo hiker walked up to me and asked if I was Nick from Backcountrypost. It turned out to be TheDunedain, down there on a solo trip. Awesome meeting you, Alex!
Below the cathedral we found some beautiful scenes on our way back to camp.
We were going to spend another night in Neon, but decided since we were doing the Sport Route that we would have enough time to hike out and maybe slip in a short canyon the following morning. We took the 'B-line' route out of Neon back towards the Egypt Trailhead.
After about 4.5 miles we were back at the trailhead where we witnessed quite a bit of drama. I'll leave the long version of this story to share in person, but in short, it involved some hunters taking their horses down that steep slickrock route and having one of them slide down a 30 foot slab and injure itself. They ended up leaving the horse at the bottom of the hill at a pothole of water, standing on three legs. I don't know what ended up happening to it but the next day we saw them driving back in with no horse trailer in tow. That trail seems like a terrible place to take a horse and the Egypt Bench seems like an even worse place to go deer hunting.
We ended up spending the night at the trailhead and meeting some great folks from Santa Cruz. The next morning we ended up canceling our plans for a short canyon and heading back early. In just a few days, we were off to Zion for three days of canyoneering.
Featured image for home page:
So this fall, when the opportunity came up to not only complete that loop but also descend Neon Canyon came up, I was all over it. Adding in a technical canyoneering descent made the trip much more of a logistical challenge than it would be otherwise. Many people backpack to the mouth of Neon to do the descent, but very few take the circuitous route that we would be taking.
Instead of the 4-5 mile direct route, we started by exploring a somewhat unknown tributary of Twentyfive Mile Wash called Egypt 6, from there we would follow the length of Twentyfive Mile Wash and then up the Escalante to Neon. An 18-mile approach just to get to the mouth of the canyon with the added weight of ropes, wetsuits, helmets, harnesses and lots of other hardware. Add in some of the nastiest quickmud and bushwhacking I've ever experienced and it sounds like fun!
Here's a map of the route we took. I carried my GPS for all but the Neon descent so that track is not totally accurate.
View larger map.
We started out on the usual route down from the Egypt Bench but were quickly on our own as we headed south towards Egypt 6. We had no information on how or where to get down into the canyon so we just followed the drainage from the top, knowing we would likely encounter some obstacles along the way.
We noticed right away that the heavy rains less than a week earlier had topped off many of the potholes and cleansed the wash bottoms.
After bypassing a few dryfalls and potholes, we reached a big drop into what I would call middle Egypt 6. You can see Tim in the lower right corner for scale.
We scouted the rim of the canyon until finally finding a side canyon that appeared it might go. We followed it for a while, bypassing obstacles and wondering if we would be backtracking all the way back out or getting out the ropes. The idea of rapping into Egypt 6 sounded fun enough but with all of our gear stashed deep in our packs, it would have added a lot of time.
Luckily the side canyon made it to the floor of E6 with just a small down-climb at the end.
Immediately upon entering Egypt 6, we were greated with a tight constriction and abrupt drop in the canyon.
I've never done this stuff with a heavy backpack on! Speaking of which, this was by far the heaviest pack I carried all year. I actually had to break out my Osprey Aether 60 to fit everything which I haven't used in years.
Tim handing down packs at the down-climb. This was a little awkward but not bad with someone spotting you. I probably would have used a handline if I had been the first one down.
Below the dryfall the canyon took on a whole new character. Flowing water, beaver dams and very thick vegetation.
I didn't get out my camera much in Lower E6 because I was busy fighting for every step. There were a few small spots where it opened up enough to snap a pic or two though.
The colors were looking good in E6.
Lindsey smashing through one of the last thick bushwhacks in Egypt 6. This part was actually kind of fun because the plants were much more forgiving than further up the canyon.
Finally in Twentyfive Mile Wash. I don't recall exact numbers but that last mile and a half of Egypt 6 took us way longer than we would have ever expected. It was nice to finally see an open canyon bottom where might be able to get some good mileage under us.
Or not. As I approached the first bend in Twentyfive Mile, I got a taste of what was to come... quicksand/mud. The big rains a few days earlier and sent a massive flood down the drainage and everything was buried in silty slime. It was largely walkable until you came to a bend in the river and then you would sink instantly and become very, very stuck.
To make things more complicated, there isn't much of a social trail through this canyon so getting in and out of the deep 'V' shaped river channel was more than a little challenging.
Twentyfive Mile Mud
While the flood had made travel through the canyon quite difficult it also made it quite beautiful. On this bend, the flood had gone nearly wall to wall, cleansing the surface and giving all of the remaining plant life a sort of boost. I remember walking through here and thinking how can these colors possibly be real? It's like someone cranked up the saturation in my brain!
The carnage from the flood.
Tim and Mandy admiring the scenery in Twentyfive Mile Wash
A freshly scoured alcove
We knocked out a solid 10+ miles that first day and camped in a large open area near a side canyon about half way to the Escalante. All was well except trying to filter the silty water in the river which proved to be quite the challenge. The next day we made our way down the rest of Twentyfive Mile with hopes of getting to Ringtail with enough time to complete the technical descent of that canyon.
Finally at the Escalante! That's the mouth of Twentyfive Mile Wash in the background.
We were happy to learn that the water in the Escalante was much more drinkable than in Twentyfive Mile but not so happy to see that travel upstream was still going to be very difficult. More intense bushwhacking mixed in with some fun river crossings and man-eating quicksand. I had to have people pull my pack off on a few occasions on this trip so that I could wiggle my way out of the quicksand. No pictures though..
Climbing in and out of the river bed wasn't very easy either.
The Escalante River
After struggling our way up the river, we finally found ourselves at Ringtail Canyon.
We just went to scout it out at first. What we found was one of the deepest, darkest slots around. We didn't have time to do the technical descent but some of us decided to go grab wetsuits and try to ascend the canyon until they got turned back.
I didn't feel like digging out my wetsuit so I went down to the river and fetched some water. When I got back the guys were still in the canyon so I went up and explored in until I started getting stuck. I probably made it 100 yards, wading in water from waste to chest deep. It was an incredibly beautiful slot but probably a bit thin for my tastes.
Tim & Mandy at the end of the slot.
After the side-exploration in Ringtail, we all packed back up and moved up canyon towards Neon. Travel in the canyon was much nicer in this stretch with a social trail to follow here and there.
We camped that night near the mouth of Neon Canyon under a beautiful sprawling Cottonwood tree. For the second night in a row, I neglected to take a photo of camp, but it was very nice.
The next morning we hiked up to the rim of the canyon and followed it to where we would descend into the slot.
The approach was very easy and offered great views down into Neon.
We entered via the Sport Route entrance which is the shorter version. We had discussed doing the higher 'Triborough Bridges' entrance but due to the short days and cold water, we opted for the shorter variation. This little crack is where we chimneyed down into the canyon. From above it looks kinda sketchy but it was actually a really fun entrance.
From the entrance crack to the Golden Cathedral, the canyon was wet and wild. I never got out my big camera during that section but I did film quite a bit of footage with my GoPro. If you haven't already seen the video, check it out:
And here's a few shots form the big camera at The Golden Cathedral. The light was a bit challenging.
As we packed up to leave, a solo hiker walked up to me and asked if I was Nick from Backcountrypost. It turned out to be TheDunedain, down there on a solo trip. Awesome meeting you, Alex!
Below the cathedral we found some beautiful scenes on our way back to camp.
We were going to spend another night in Neon, but decided since we were doing the Sport Route that we would have enough time to hike out and maybe slip in a short canyon the following morning. We took the 'B-line' route out of Neon back towards the Egypt Trailhead.
After about 4.5 miles we were back at the trailhead where we witnessed quite a bit of drama. I'll leave the long version of this story to share in person, but in short, it involved some hunters taking their horses down that steep slickrock route and having one of them slide down a 30 foot slab and injure itself. They ended up leaving the horse at the bottom of the hill at a pothole of water, standing on three legs. I don't know what ended up happening to it but the next day we saw them driving back in with no horse trailer in tow. That trail seems like a terrible place to take a horse and the Egypt Bench seems like an even worse place to go deer hunting.
We ended up spending the night at the trailhead and meeting some great folks from Santa Cruz. The next morning we ended up canceling our plans for a short canyon and heading back early. In just a few days, we were off to Zion for three days of canyoneering.
Featured image for home page:
