Water source information - Escalante/CRNP area

LarryBoy

LarryBoy

Hiker Trash
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Jan 4, 2015
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Hey folks,

Headed out shortly for a trip across the Fold/Escalante area. I've got plenty of water source beta but no recent reports for the following sources... wondering if anybody has been in the area recently and can provide a report?

Lower Muley - in main wash near Cowboy Cave
Potholes up @Jammer's sneak route of lower-end LMT
Colt Mesa waterworks
Upper Choprock (idk what the fork is called, but the non-technical one)

Thanks in advance!
 
Yeah things were grim there for a while. Maybe still are. Daggone drought.
 
Not the exact same location...
At least on the western Escalante side the there was water in a lot of places last week, including some where there was not water last year at the same time. So the outlook may actually be good with all the rain the past few weeks.
 
Almost everything capable of holding water along our Beehive Traverse hike last week in CRNP had water from recent rains. I think you'll find as much water as you could expect to at any point of the year down there now, especially with the sun getting lower in the sky now and temperatures cooling. I don't imagine much of it will dry up any time soon.
 
Bryce was the closest precip data I could find. We had a similar amount of precip near Zion Sun/Mon, and things haven't yet dried out.

Screen Shot 2018-10-25 at 3.22.47 PM.png
 
Yeah it rained hard in Zion this weekend. Had to bail on some hiking plans but I'm not going to complain about actually getting a little moisture!
 
Anxious to hear what you find this time of year as nearly all my data is from past spring seasons. With that caveat -- I really bet there will be water in the potholes exiting LMT and near the middle of Choprock (go up "Poison Ivy Fork" a ways to check it out and increase the odds of finding water.) In the GSENM Fb Group, somebody recently posted a pic of the Colt Mesa tanks and they looked nearly empty. Also of possible use -- several medium potholes in the area of 37°43'44.32"N, 111° 1'56.41"W are likely to hold water quite a while after a storm.
 
Also not quite in the same location, but every pothole I came across west of the Escalante around Spencer Canyon last Fri 10/19 was holding at least some water, and many of the deeper ones were quite full. The day prior I had picked up a backpacker along the Burr Trail Rd who was doing the Hayduke Trail, and he mentioned that he hadn't had any problems finding water since it had been raining for much of the week and half prior, but he hadn't made it to the areas in question.

For more precip data, NOAA's rainfall estimates from radar are here. Scroll down below the map to change the time-frame of interest.

IMG_2353.JPG
 
Thanks all. I'll definitely provide some updates on the springs, in particular... the potholes should be fine but I'm a little warier of the springs. Out of curiosity, Piper, who was the Hayduker you picked up?
 
LarryBoy said:
Thanks all. I'll definitely provide some updates on the springs, in particular... the potholes should be fine but I'm a little warier of the springs. Out of curiosity, Piper, who was the Hayduker you picked up?
Click to expand...

First name Samson, didn't get his last name.
 
Finished the Stephens/Fold loop yesterday. There is a still a ton of water in the canyons and on the mesas, including Les George Point/King Mesa.
 
I found plenty of water (and quicksand!) as well.

@Jammer there were a couple of good pools at the GPS coords you cited. Looked fairly reliable as they were a couple feet deep and in sheltered locations.

Colt Mesa waterworks have about 2 inches of clear water in the lower tank. Upper tank is full of radioactive-green water. Probably falls in the "only for the truly desperate" category unless your standards are exceptionally low.
 
Oh and there are several useable pools in Lower Muley near Cowboy Cave (or is it Cowboy Cove? Heard it both ways...) as well.
 
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