Tuesday, June 21, 2022
Dry Fork, Peek-A-Boo, and Spooky Slot Canyons
Five miles east of Escalante, we took Hole-in-the-Rock Road (aka Road 200) south into the backcountry of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The first six miles of this unpaved road are regularly maintained and not too rough. After that, it becomes a bone-jarring washboard of gravel and dirt interspersed with sections of deep, slippery sand. Not fun.
Big-eared jackrabbit
Driving through a sandy cat pasture
It took forever, but eventually we made it 24.5 miles down the rough road to the Upper Dry Fork Trailhead, with access to three amazing and remote slot canyons: Dry Fork Narrows, Peek-A-Boo Gulch, and Spooky Gulch. This was going to be a long hike through unfamiliar terrain, probably just at the edge of our abilities, but Tom was determined to push his limits, and we definitely did!
If you can't fit through, you'll get stuck in the slots!
It was 82 degrees when we started our hike, and it would be 92 by the time we finished. Within the slots, we were mostly in the shade, but we had to hike a mile to and from the first canyon, and that part was BRUTAL.
Hot hike to the slot canyons
Warning: The trail is well-cairned, but there are intersecting trails that are also cairned, and it can become confusing. When not in one of the canyons, it's possible to lose the route. If you're paying attention, it won't take long to realize, hey, I'm here and the canyon is over there, and then you can regain the trail. That happened to us twice.
Dry Fork Narrows is described as a beginner's slot canyon. The bottom is mostly flat and sandy, and the passage is around five feet wide at its narrowest point. There's no bouldering or scrambling involved. Even though it's not extreme, the canyon is interesting and pretty.
Dry Fork Narrows
Still comfortably wide
Pleasantly shady
The exit of Dry Fork Narrows is near the entrance to Peek-A-Boo Gulch. Entering Peek-A-Boo requires a rock climb of about 15 feet, but it isn't technical and has good handholds. We saw very few people throughout the day, but here we caught up to some folks and were able to watch them climb up first, which was very helpful. The young couple ahead of us turned around to offer their assistance, and I handed up my bag but managed to scramble up on my own. Once Tom made it up as well, the others forged ahead, and we never saw them again.
Entrance of Peek-A-Boo Gulch
Jana scrambles into Peek-A-Boo
Made it!
After the climb into Peek-A-Boo, you quickly come to two more tricky spots that require an awkward belly-flop maneuver - at least that's how we managed it. After that, Peek-A-Boo isn't difficult anymore, just an interesting and somewhat narrow hike.
Interesting archways
Tom ascends
Getting narrower...
...and narrower!
When I say narrow, I'm not kidding, but people traverse these canyons all the time, so I was never afraid of getting stuck. I was a little surprised, though, at the amount of slithering required in Peek-A-Boo, when Spooky was supposed to be the skinniest slot!
I'd already made it through...
...so we assumed Tom could too...
...probably
The trail between the exit of Peek-A-Boo and the entrance to Spooky Gulch leads through a lot of loose sand. Very annoying. This is one of the areas with the confusing cairns, and we got off course for a bit before straightening ourselves out. A little extra hiking - just what we didn't need.
Spooky Gulch is narrower and darker than Peek-A-Boo. After watching some YouTube videos, I was pretty spooked about Spooky, in a claustrophobic kind of way. In some areas, the passage is only 10 inches wide. But the alternative was a long, hot hike in the full sun on the canyon rim, so we decided to give it a go.
Ducking into Spooky Gulch
Deep in the shadows
Once we entered Spooky, we soon reached a confusing clog of boulders that had to be down-climbed, and this time there was no one around to show us the best way through. If we continued on, it was truly the point of no return, because there was no way we'd be able to make our way back up again. After much hemming and hawing and false starts, I grabbed onto a big rock, dangled my body over the edge, and finally found my footing. Now we were truly committed.
Jana slithers through Spooky
This is crazy!
The rest of the hike through Spooky wasn't technically difficult, but it did require some contortions. It was EXACTLY like it looked on YouTube - super narrow - and it went on and on and on. I would hand Tom my daypack, slither a few yards forward, and then Tom would hand both our bags to me and follow - wash, rinse, repeat. Rather than seeming claustrophobic, it was actually quite fun. One might even say spooktacular!
Pausing in a wide spot
And here we go again
Claustrophobic video
Finally, we emerged from Spooky and started toward the trailhead. We were stopped in the shade near the entrance to Peek-A-Boo when a French couple appeared. It was getting late in the afternoon, and they were heading back as well. The shadiest route to the parking area was back through Dry Fork Narrows, where they were kind enough to take our photo.
Jana and Tom in the Dry Fork Narrows
In all, we hiked and scrambled 6.1 miles on our slot canyon adventure, taking over five hours to do so. The hardest by far part was the very long final mile back to the trailhead in the broiling sun, after emerging from our second trip through Dry Fork Narrows. But I'm proud to report we never ran out of water. Success!
It was three hours till sunset, and we had that same 24.5 miles of hellacious Hole-in-the-Rock Road to retrace. Supposedly, if you go fast enough on a washboard road, you can minimize the vibration inside the vehicle because at higher speeds, your tires are in less contact with the road as they bounce from ridge to ridge. I tested the theory but unfortunately never found this phantom speed. If the road was good, the canyons would have been packed. As it was, we were alone most of the day. That's the tradeoff.
Halfway back along the rattling road, we took a breather at Devil's Garden. This is an area of cool slickrock formations and funky hoodoos. Our energy was spent by this time, though, so we didn't take more than a few minutes to explore.
Devil's Garden Outstanding Natural Area
Hoodoos of Navajo sandstone
Part of Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Nice break in the rough drive
Back at the hotel, we were exhausted and covered in sand. I don't know which was harder on our bodies, the hike or the 49-mile round-trip violent drive. Instead of going out to dinner, we took well-earned showers, heated up cans of chili in the room, and collapsed with a couple of beers. It was a good day!
Lodging: Prospector Inn, Escalante, Utah, night two.
