Halls Creek and Muley Twist

Ross

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May 18, 2012
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Halls Creek Narrows: Another place I’d got all planned to visit until storms stopped the plan a few years back.
But this time good weather was forecast and I had good company in the shape of Jack, Paul and Steve.

After much debate over whether to use the shortcut route, we opted for the longer one. The plus was that we got to find this spot near camp & we met nice people both nights at camp.

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An early start - Paul was very proud of his filter coffee and we were grateful for it - and we headed for the far southern end of the Narrows to work our way back. I had hoped we’d have time to head up the slickrock to walk the rim and see some viewpoints looking down in. But we decided as it was going to be a long hike up to the tents later so we could run short on time as we were uncertain if there was a particularly good route to the rim that may take a while to complete. As it turned out we enjoyed the Narrows so much and went to slowly to take it in and get these photos that in hindsight the trade off for the rim would have been more rushed Narrows and less of these memories.

However, if anyone has shots from the rim please do post them as I’ve heard there are some great viewpoints and I’ve only seen a few great photos of the view from one spot on the rim posted from Nick's old trip on here. Would love to see more if anyone has spent more time up there.

Colourful walls straight off

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Steve loved rocks so took a close-up of this beauty

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The photos say it all really.
but let’s say that after seeing the huge colourful walls of Paria years ago, Coyote Gulch and many nice canyons since, I knew I’d enjoy Halls, but wondered if afterwards I would regard it as not that special or different to warrant the effort and it’s place on my must-do list. Would it be more of a ticking-off exercise? More of the same-ish or not quite as good?
Well, the answer is I was still blown away from start to finish - hence well over 100 photos.

Water, immense walls, often vertical, deep undercuts. Luckily my two “models” - sometimes small specks you have to look carefully in the distance for to realise they are there - showed the scale.

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A distant hiker showing the vertical height again


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One of the best undercuts I've been to


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Not the prettiest photo, but hikers again show the scale

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and again as Steve eats lunch

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The view on the way back to the trailhead

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But what it did mean was that when I did Lower Muley Twist in full a few days later it DID appear like a nice hike but not so special. Perhaps it didn’t help that at one wash junction I took the wrong option which, with some late hunting around before finding the tiny hamburger rocks, I would complete 25 miles after 10 near non- stop hours and only beating darkness by 15 minutes.

But Muley Twist still had some colourful walls, and its own great alcoves near the end.

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Two of the only four people I passed

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Back at the trailhead, just beating dark was the most amazing pink twilight sky I've ever seen rising over the slickrock. I don't think this picture did it justice. It wasn't just pink clouds - the whole sky seemed to taken on a pink glow.

Shame the foreground for the shot was a restroom!


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Upper or lower Muley Twist?


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Thanks for taking the time to make sure this got put up here. Those canyons were gorgeous.
 
Legitimately awesome TR and photos. I'm with @Jackson on this one. Perhaps we should team up and go @Jackson as my dad isn't feeling like he wants to hike this long of a hike and my wife and kids... yeah that's a no at this point in time as well.
And that's in reference to Halls Narrows.
 
This is definitely on my list for one day. Looks like such an amazing place. This is where Jamal ran into the flash flood as well right? *asking nobody in particular
 
This is definitely on my list for one day. Looks like such an amazing place. This is where Jamal ran into the flash flood as well right? *asking nobody in particular

Yes. It is. After his video I was glad the forecast was not a cloud in the sky. There’s a lot of escape spots but also a few you wouldn’t want to be in


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Great TR and photos! I have to do Hall's Creek now! How many days did it take to do it?
 
Great TR and photos! I have to do Hall's Creek now! How many days did it take to do it?

If you're happy doing the steep shortish cut route and you really rush through and are fit you could just about do it in a day. But I'd say leave at least two for either route. We got back to camp late on day 2 so decided to stay a second night, and then just hike out the last couple of miles and up the switchbacks first thing the 3rd morning. It's a bit of a toss-up - the easier you make the first day, the second day becomes much longer. But the further you go the first day before making camp, the more of the distance both ways you will be carrying a heavy overnight pack and less you will be with a light day pack.
 
Word of warning for those saying they want to do it. Make sure you get your overnight permit from the visitor centre. There was a ruthless ranger out there, ticketing everyone who didn't have one and it was something like $250. I'm sure she checks vehicles left at the trailhead. And there's a no hitching rule in the park which is bad news on hikes like Lower Muley Twist where the exit is different to the entry if you don't have a shuttle. One couple of Hayduke trailers had run into a problem or got lost and had little water and so wanted to hitch out the park to Boulder and she got them too. They were expected to walk about 50 miles!
 
Word of warning for those saying they want to do it. Make sure you get your overnight permit from the visitor centre. There was a ruthless ranger out there, ticketing everyone who didn't have one and it was something like $250. I'm sure she checks vehicles left at the trailhead. And there's a no hitching rule in the park which is bad news on hikes like Lower Muley Twist where the exit is different to the entry if you don't have a shuttle. One couple of Hayduke trailers had run into a problem or got lost and had little water and so wanted to hitch out the park to Boulder and she got them too. They were expected to walk about 50 miles!
WHAT???? Wow!
 
Word of warning for those saying they want to do it. Make sure you get your overnight permit from the visitor centre. There was a ruthless ranger out there, ticketing everyone who didn't have one and it was something like $250. I'm sure she checks vehicles left at the trailhead. And there's a no hitching rule in the park which is bad news on hikes like Lower Muley Twist where the exit is different to the entry if you don't have a shuttle. One couple of Hayduke trailers had run into a problem or got lost and had little water and so wanted to hitch out the park to Boulder and she got them too. They were expected to walk about 50 miles!

Wow! That seems harsh!
 
Nice job! I think I remember seeing your thread recently in doing my own research on here with this place where you were trying to get some company and/or help with transportation a few years back when you first wanted to do this. Or maybe that was someone else? Either way, awesome TR and I'm glad you finally got it all to work out for you. I'm curious, when about did you make it down there? I'm itching to get down there real bad myself, and have been trying to work things out with my wife to let me go down in early April...even if it means getting up at 4 am, making the 5 hour drive down (with a permit stop on the way), and making camp by afternoon and going partway up the narrows, before powering through the whole loop the next morning and and shooting back up to the trailhead that afternoon for the long ride back home that evening. Ideally though, I'd be able to spend 2 nights down there, with a night before and/or after at my in-laws in Torrey.

What you say about Lower Muley being less dramatic being so close on the heels of Halls Creek makes me think though. I had been planning to tackle the middle sections of the park first with each visit down there, and work my way south through UMT and LMT, saving the best for last at the southern tip down there, but I don't think I'm going to be able to resist holding off that long. Hopefully with time, exploring "less dramatic" sections of the park like LMT thereafter will still be very charming and beautiful in its own right.

EDIT: I forgot to also ask in connection with when you did it, how many people did you encounter while doing the narrows hike? Sounds like for most people that do it, they're usually alone the whole way or only bumping into another party or two at most. I wonder if it hasn't gotten more popular in recent years.
 
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Nice job! I think I remember seeing your thread recently in doing my own research on here with this place where you were trying to get some company and/or help with transportation a few years back when you first wanted to do this. Or maybe that was someone else? Either way, awesome TR and I'm glad you finally got it all to work out for you. I'm curious, when about did you make it down there? I'm itching to get down there real bad myself, and have been trying to work things out with my wife to let me go down in early April...even if it means getting up at 4 am, making the 5 hour drive down (with a permit stop on the way), and making camp by afternoon and going partway up the narrows, before powering through the whole loop the next morning and and shooting back up to the trailhead that afternoon for the long ride back home that evening. Ideally though, I'd be able to spend 2 nights down there, with a night before and/or after at my in-laws in Torrey.

What you say about Lower Muley being less dramatic being so close on the heels of Halls Creek makes me think though. I had been planning to tackle the middle sections of the park first with each visit down there, and work my way south through UMT and LMT, saving the best for last at the southern tip down there, but I don't think I'm going to be able to resist holding off that long. Hopefully with time, exploring "less dramatic" sections of the park like LMT thereafter will still be very charming and beautiful in its own right.

EDIT: I forgot to also ask in connection with when you did it, how many people did you encounter while doing the narrows hike? Sounds like for most people that do it, they're usually alone the whole way or only bumping into another party or two at most. I wonder if it hasn't gotten more popular in recent years.

Yeah, that's Ross. I picked him up a few years ago to do it but there were too many storms. He was able to do a lot of other things that weren't prone to flooding. This year was the first week of October. I waited at the trailhead and there were always several cars. Not sure how crowded below.

I camped at the trailhead one year in July. I saw nobody else.
 
Nice job! I think I remember seeing your thread recently in doing my own research on here with this place where you were trying to get some company and/or help with transportation a few years back when you first wanted to do this. Or maybe that was someone else? Either way, awesome TR and I'm glad you finally got it all to work out for you. I'm curious, when about did you make it down there? I'm itching to get down there real bad myself, and have been trying to work things out with my wife to let me go down in early April...even if it means getting up at 4 am, making the 5 hour drive down (with a permit stop on the way), and making camp by afternoon and going partway up the narrows, before powering through the whole loop the next morning and and shooting back up to the trailhead that afternoon for the long ride back home that evening. Ideally though, I'd be able to spend 2 nights down there, with a night before and/or after at my in-laws in Torrey.

What you say about Lower Muley being less dramatic being so close on the heels of Halls Creek makes me think though. I had been planning to tackle the middle sections of the park first with each visit down there, and work my way south through UMT and LMT, saving the best for last at the southern tip down there, but I don't think I'm going to be able to resist holding off that long. Hopefully with time, exploring "less dramatic" sections of the park like LMT thereafter will still be very charming and beautiful in its own right.

EDIT: I forgot to also ask in connection with when you did it, how many people did you encounter while doing the narrows hike? Sounds like for most people that do it, they're usually alone the whole way or only bumping into another party or two at most. I wonder if it hasn't gotten more popular in recent years.

Yes. That was me a few years ago. It’s how I got to know @Glasterpiece as he offered to do the 4WD bit with me to save some extra miles hiking. I did it October. Spring and fall must be best to avoid the heat and lessen the chances of storms. We only saw a handful of people. I’m sure lmt and umt aare great and worthwhile. I’m just fussy as I’ve seen quite a bit of nice stuff and because I don’t live in the US I’m very choosy what to do as I can’t visit for a weekend. But the whole area is beautiful and enjoyable.


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Yes. That was me a few years ago. It’s how I got to know @Glasterpiece as he offered to do the 4WD bit with me to save some extra miles hiking. I did it October. Spring and fall must be best to avoid the heat and lessen the chances of storms. We only saw a handful of people. I’m sure lmt and umt aare great and worthwhile. I’m just fussy as I’ve seen quite a bit of nice stuff and because I don’t live in the US I’m very choosy what to do as I can’t visit for a weekend. But the whole area is beautiful and enjoyable.


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What's on tap for this year?
 
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