Arches and Cliff Dwellings

It got down to 17 degrees last night. The water we left on the table was frozen solid and I think all the tent campers were too. Most of the camps around us got up real early and broke camp. They must have wanted to get into the warm sun that was drenching the upper flats.

We packed our lunch, had breakfast and got our gear ready for our hike. The Escalante River Hike starts less then a mile and a half south on highway 12. We drove down to the parking lot in less then eight minutes. As we got our gear on for the hike a cute little dog ran up to us. He was wearing a life jacket and was very excited to see us. Within a minute a lady emerged from the trail head. She explained that the stream was pretty muddy and swift and that because she was alone and had to handle her dog, Kona, she didn’t want to risk a crossing. We said we would be glad to let her cross with us if we decided that it was safe to attempt.

We got to the stream and it wasn’t really that bad. Fly fishing has put me in much worse wadding positions then we see here, so I picked up a walking stick and sloshed on in. The water was cold, but by cold standards up north, it was not that bad. We all crossed successfully and decided that if the streams were worse then this we would wait for each other and cross together. We exchanged names, hers was Nieva, and she was from Missoula Montana. She has been solo hiking over the break with only Kona as her companion. Once we had our introductions we split up and continued our hike.

Yesterday we thought the hike into Upper Calf Creek Falls was spectacular, and of course this one matched that hike. The trail works its way up the draw crossing the Escalante five times total. Each crossing was very easily made and once across we found yet another wonderful panorama. Hiking through tamarisk, Russian olive trees and sage brush we came to a split in the trail and the left one directed us to the Escalante Natural Bridge, one of our destinations for the day. I hiked up and under the bridge as Linda sat in the sun, change out of her warm close and enjoyed the area. This area is about 1.6 miles up from the trail head, well worth the short hike.

We continued up the river for another half mile to a rock climb next to a cliff. It was a short scramble and I stopped on at the mid point to take a picture of the valley. When I turned back, up to my left, on the cliff fact was an Anasazi granary. It looked to be impossible to get to, a great fortification.

I climbed a bit higher and on the cliff face were petroglyphs! I called to Linda and she climbed up next to me. It was amazing! The people who climbed up and created the granary must have been something else. It made me nervous just thinking about getting up there. We took a bunch of pictures and the climbed down for our final stream crossing.

From the area across the water we could view the final skyline arch on a huge cliff face. We ate our lunch looking at the granary, the arch and the designs on the wall.
Our hike back down was quick and easy. The four stream crossings kept our boots full of water but that didn’t slow us down. We got to our Jeep and both agreed that this was our best hike yet of this springs adventure.