Escalante Packrafting

[JeffG]

Last spring a couple friends and I packrafted a 50 mile section of the Escalante River from Harris Wash to Coyote Gulch. The first day we started with a 10 mile hike down Harris Wash to the Escalante River. From there we floated down the river and camped the first night just before Neon Canyon. The next morning we hiked up to the Golden Cathedral in Neon Canyon before continuing down the river. The second day we put in around 20 miles on the river which was a lot of work. The flow was not ideal so we did a lot of paddling trying to position ourselves to avoid to much butt dragging. The third day we did around 20 miles again down to Coyote Gulch. We hiked a short distance up Coyote Gulch and camped the third night under an alcove. The fourth and final day was a short hike out Crack in the Wall. Total distance was around 14 miles hiking and 50 in the packrafts.

Hiking down Harris Wash.

Blowing up the rafts at the end of Harris Wash.

Golden Cathedral in Neon Canyon.

We did a bit of this, flow was not ideal.

Scenery got better and better the further down the canyon we traveled.

Stevens Arch

Climbing out Crack in the Wall

View from Crack in the Wall

 

[LarryBoy]

Neat! What were your dates? Did you catch it ar peak flow?

 

[JeffG]

Larry, we did it the first week of May. We did not get it during peak flow. The gauge said 8-10 ft during the time our trip. It was floatable and fun but I would not do it that low again.

 

[Dave]

One of my dream trips, thanks for sharing.

 

[Laura]

Wow, I think I may need to try this. So many adventures to do in this life! Thanks for posting, I am totally inspired.