Freshly showered, we left Bryce Canyon and headed to Hole-in-the-Rock road near the town of Escalante.
Here is a history lesson from the National Park Service…
Leaving their homes east of the Mississippi River because of religious persecution, members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (Mormons) began arriving in the valley of the Great Salt Lake in 1847.
By the 1870s, they had expanded settlements into the southern portions of what is today the state of Utah. Few Mormon families, however, were living in the region east of the Colorado River, and the area was void of any major settlement. In order to establish a stronger foothold, the Mormon Church organized the San Juan mission to select a site for settlement in the region.
A call to fill the mission was issued by the Mormon Church in 1878-1879. A scouting party under the direction of Silas S. Smith left Paragonah, Utah, in April 1879 to determine a route and search for a suitable place to establish the new colony. A site at the mouth of Montezuma Creek on the San Juan River was selected (Bluff, AZ), but a viable route was still uncertain. If the expedition chose either route used by the scouts, it would mean a trip of nearly 500 miles (800 km).
A short-cut, thought to be simpler, was chosen with a rendezvous at Forty-Mile Spring, south of the town of Escalante. The expedition, consisting of 250 men, women, and children, 83 wagons, and over 1000 head of livestock, gathered at the appointed place in November 1879.
The “short-cut” proved to be deceptive, and the pioneers spent the winter at Forty-Mile Spring (Dance Hall Rock). A portion of the group camped at the top of the Hole-in-the-Rock, a narrow crack in the canyon rim 2.5 miles (4 km) downstream from the mouth of the Escalante River. It was through this notch that the party intended to make its way. Throughout the winter, they worked on the crack, enlarging the opening.
Work was slow and tedious with only pick axes, shovels, and limited quantities of blasting powder available. The precipitous drop to the river below was nearly 2000 feet (610 m) with an average grade of 25 degrees, although some places were as steep as 45 degrees. At last, on January 26, 1880, the expedition made its way slowly down the precarious road. A ferry built at the river by Charles Hall and others was used to cross the river.
Back to our trip…
Driving the Hole-in-the-Rock road is not a piece of cake. It is 62 miles of rough dirt road. The first 45 miles are extreme washboard but passable for our 2-wheel drive Escape campervan. Our speed ranged from 7 to 15 miles an hour even after we let a bunch of air out of our tires. For the last 17 miles, we piled in Deb and Steve’s 4-wheel drive truck.
After over an hour of driving our shaking van, we arrived at Devil’s Garden for a lunch stop. Jim and I were elated to get out and walk around. It was crazy to think we had only driven 12 miles. Oh Well! we had the entire day to get to Sooner Rocks. Our boondocking site for the night.
Devil’s Garden is only a square mile of hoodoos in the middle of a vast, flat mesa. It felt so out of place but we thoroughly enjoyed our time running around the rocks.
Our next stop was Dance Hall Rock. It took us less than an hour to drive the 14 miles. Thank goodness for dry clay.
Dance Hall Rock was where the pioneers held up from December 1879 to January 1880, about 6 weeks. The men and oxen camped at the end of the plateau and worked on creating a Hole-in-the-Rock so they could reach the river.
We followed the wagon wheel signs until we came to the amphitheater. It was huge.
I sat and rested a foot injury while the rest of our group went looking for the water holes. Deep sandstone pits which acted as a fabulous water source. The below water hole is so deep that a tree is growing out of it.
After another 3 miles, we came to Carcass Wash. It was here that the road really took a turn for the worse. Thankfully, it was only another 1/2 mile to Sooner Rocks and our boondocking site for the next 2 nights. Tomorrow our van would stay in camp while we ventured on in Deb and Steve’s truck.
The next morning, Steve let even more air out of his tires and piled a bunch of their stuff into our resting van. We all got in and prepared for a rough ride. To our surprise, the road wasn’t as bad as we thought it was going to be. We did see a stranded Subaru at the end of the road. Definitely needed high-clearance, 4-wheel drive.
As we headed to the hole in the rock, we passed a plaque deticated to the Mormon pioneers.
Before descending the slot, we scrambled around on the cliffs above the Colorado River.
As we scrambled around, we were struck by how difficult it must have been to create a slot through the rock. And how steep the slot must have been.
After we had completely explored the cliffs, we headed down the Hole-in-the-Rock. It was easy at first.
Then it got incredibly steep and narrow. How the heck did they get wagons down this thing? It was amazing to think that everyone and all the stock made the descent. No wagons were damaged.
Eventually, we came to the end of the slot and descended to the shoreline. It took us nearly an hour to descend the slot. I wonder how long it took them?
What was really amazing was when we read that the most trouble the pioneers ran into was on the other side of the Colorado River. Can you imagine getting down this cliff and thinking the worse was behind you and then a few days later realize that it wasn’t. No wonder they only used this route for a year.
Our plan for the next day was to hike Peekaboo and Spooky Slot Canyons, located on the Hole-in-the-Rock road near Devil’s Garden.
We started by hiking through Dry Narrows Canyon. We found it interesting but it was just a warm up for the main event: Peekaboo Slot Canyon.
After the Dry Narrows Canyon, we found ourselves walking through a sandy wash. Good thing I had downloaded a GPS track or I would have never located the entrance to Peekaboo Canyon. It was several feet off the ground.
Jim was able to scramble up to the opening but the rest of us needed a rope. Good thing we brought one or Jim would have been doing the slot canyon by himself.
We learned very quickly to stay away from the mud.
We all tried to stay out of the water to avoid the mud but it was totally unavoidable in the first 10 minutes. We all had some good laughs as we attempted to work our way through the slot canyon.
We had to get creative to get up some of the sandstone slopes. The canyon would be much easier when it is dry but not as funny.
Peekaboo Canyon was one of my favorite slot canyons ever. There was so much variety including slopes, holes, …
… and tight slots.
We almost didn’t get through the final move.
After a break to relive our adventure, we headed off to find the opening to Spooky Canyon. We heard that the first step was big. Dropping into the dark is never easy but this was very interesting. In the end, we decide to create a very stable handline.
Spooky Canyon immediately got tight.
Then it got even tighter.
This went on the entire length of the slot canyon. We all thought Jim might get stuck as he attempted to exit the canyon.
Luckily, he just fit. We then headed back to the parking lot. We had travelled a lot farther than I thought. We got back to the vehicles about an hour before dark. We all decided to drive up to Devil’s Garden and boondock for the night. Good thing because it took Jim and I over an hour to drive back to the pavement the next day.
On our way out of Escalante, we stopped for a few supplies. As small as this town was, it would be our last chance for supplies for the next week. We were headed into Escalante-Grand Staircase National Park. Truly, the middle of nowhere.
—— CalTopo Map of Entire Trip —-
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