Canyonlands to Capitol Reef Archives - Yeti Hikes

Hayduke Trail Day 17

Yeti — Tue, 19 Oct 2021 01:18:04 +0000

Start: Swap Canyon outside Capitol Reef National Park

Finish: Fountain Tanks

Daily Mileage: 25.2

Trip Mileage: 317.8

Elevation gain/loss: 1651/2137ft

Hitting the trail this morning, I found I was very close to the fence that defined the national park boundary. I had definitely camped at the last place I could before hitting the boundary. The remainder of Swap Canyon was pretty easy, a smooth stroll down to Hall’s Creek and Bullfrog Road running up the rift valley of Capitol Reef. There are a couple of options here, and I chose to go up Burr Trail Road, which is the official Hayduke route. I’ve heard some complaints about going up the road versus taking a trail further down, but I decided that I wanted to hit all of Muley Twist Canyon that I could.

I started up Burr Trail Road, which is a switchback road going straight up the Waterpocket Fold, which is a 100-mile long folded rift in the earth which defines the national park. I actually rather enjoyed the road since it gave me progressive views across the valley and up the slanted rock forming the Waterpocket Fold that I was crossing through. It didn’t take too long to get up to the top, and I took a good break up at the top to enjoy the scenery.

I immediately entered Muley Twist Canyon. The canyon is apparently named Muley Twist because it has so many turns that it could twist up a mule passing through it. Or so the guidebook said. The canyon was fantastic for its entire length. The upper part of the canyon was a little bit wider, but the walls were sheer the entire time, almost, and the stone was mostly white sandstone. The canyon did twist around quite a bit, but I’ve definitely been in twistier canyons so far on this trip. The scenery was spectacular in the canyon, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. As the wash went back and forth, it created some huge undercuts and caves in the canyon walls. Some of these undercuts were 100 feet tall and deep. It’s amazing that a stream that only flows periodically can have such a drastic effect on the landscape.

It was generally easy walking down the canyon and in the wash, and there were some footsteps since the canyon can be accessed directly from the road. I felt great going down the canyon; it was truly awe-inspiring and raised my spirits high. I did meet some backpackers in the canyon, and we talked about the trail. A ranger had warned them that Halls Creek Narrows, which I would be passing through tomorrow, involved swimming and a lot of quicksand. I had heard there was water but not more than that, so I’m not sure what to expect of the Narrows.

I saw 2 bighorn sheep in the canyon! A nice treat, they can be hard to spot.

The canyon continued on, with new surprises at every twist. Lower in the canyon, there were many huge alcoves, cut out of the stone with the periodic flow of the wash.

Muley Twist Canyon had been used back in the day to run cattle, and there were periodic signs of the former cowboy presence. One huge alcove had some cowboy graffiti from 100 years ago and some things they had left behind. I initially thought the graffiti was recent since some of the dates were -20 and -21, but I realized that those were actually from 100 years ago, not recently.

The canyon took a turn and passed through the Waterpocket Fold, joining Halls Creek and the valley which I had departed from earlier. From there, I was just following Halls Creek down for the rest of the day, hoping to get close to the Narrows.

I stopped by the Muley Tanks to get water. They’re huge natural stone basins in the Waterpocket Fold that hold rainwater whenever it comes, and they were definitely brimming when I passed them. A great water source. As I progressed down the canyon, some dark clouds started to roll in. A couple of times there were a few sprinkles, but nothing that really stuck.

I bumped into two more backpackers later in the day who had just gone through the Narrows, and they told me it was only up to their waist, and they didn’t have any problems with quicksand. That sounds more realistic, and I assume the ranger was just talking about possible worst-case conditions since they tend to do that to warn people away from the backcountry. I asked them about campsites ahead since they were few clear spots going down the creek. They told me about a couple of places.

I continued down. The dark clouds remained, and at one point, the sprinkles got a little bit harder. I decided to put on my rain gear since that usually wards off rain. I did all that and looked at my GPS and realized I was exactly at one of the campsites that the backpackers had mentioned, the campsite that I had decided I was targeting. It was just on the other side of the creek at some more tanks in the sandstone. Oh well, I guess putting on my rain gear was a fruitless exercise. I went over to the tanks and found a nice protected spot. There was a lot of gusty wind, so I also wanted a spot where my tent wouldn’t be fully exposed to the wind and keep me up with flapping all night. I set up my tent, and it started to sprinkle more, so I decided to just dive into the tent for the night.

The hike down Muley Twist was truly fantastic and awe inspiring today. It is probably my favorite part of the trip so far!

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Hayduke Trail Day 16

Yeti — Mon, 18 Oct 2021 01:18:04 +0000

Start: Tarantula Mesa Road backcountry campsite

Finish: Swap Canyon outside Capitol Reef National Park

Daily Mileage: 20.6

Trip Mileage: 292.6

Elevation gain/loss: 1720/3124ft

It didn’t get as cold as I thought it would overnight. It seems harder to predict how cold it will actually get. Some nights get cold before I go to bed, but then there’s actually no frost. I was up in the dark, as usual, preparing to hit the trail at first light, and I wandered a little too far for my cat hole and almost couldn’t find my tent again! Easier to get turned around in the dark.

I took off across Tarantula Mesa on 4×4 tracks. It was pretty smooth sailing across the mesa, and I could see back to the Henrys that I crossed yesterday. Other than that, it wasn’t terribly scenic.

Towards the end of the Mesa, I had to leave the track to get to the one spot where you can scramble down from the Mesa so I could continue my journey. It was pretty much just taking a bearing and getting to the right point. I tried to follow the tracks of other Hayduke hikers, but it’s difficult given the variable terrain over rock and sand.

I got to the start of the descent and saw a couple of cairns and started down some big ledges. It wasn’t too difficult, but I definitely did not go down the spot that the guidebook described. I must have slightly missed it. However, that’s interesting because the guidebook seemed to state that there was one and only one spot to get down the ledges. Once again, I apparently found an alternate route. After the ledges, I had to cross over a bit and then descend a dirt and scree slope. The descent wasn’t bad, but the dirt was loose, and at one point, I slipped and fell, cutting my hand about an inch and a half long. It wasn’t deep, but I finished up the down climb and took a break to clean and bandage it to protect it from the dirt and everything around here. Wouldn’t want to get an infection in the middle of nowhere.

It’s amazing that these climbs and descents are pretty short, but when you’re at the bottom looking up, they look enormous with the sheer cliffs. In all reality, most of these climbs are only a few hundred feet, if that. It does give a much bigger sense of accomplishment, though, to look at the vertical cliffs and the apparent distance I’m going up or down.

the descent

From the bottom of Tarantula Mesa, the trail wound around quite a bit, basically cutting across the country around a slew of minor canyons. The Waterpocket Fold of Capitol Reef National Park progressively came into view as I continued down my route.

The terrain in this area was pretty much subject to interpretation. I had a GPS track, but it was up to me to find the most efficient way through the area with the minor ridges and canyons. I did find subtle treadway at some points, which I followed as long as it was taking me in the correct direction. I’m not sure if this is an old trail or Hayduke Trail or just game paths. Sometimes the game paths takes you exactly where you want to go because the animals know how to most efficiently travel through the country.

It got hot in the afternoon, and by hot I mean probably 80 or so, but that’s hot to me. It also seems hotter in the wide open exposure of the desert, with the light colored rock reflecting more sunlight onto you. The sky in the desert gets a very vivid blue and rarely has clouds, like I haven’t noticed before in other places. Just one of those things that doesn’t really come across in pictures.

Lots of interesting rocks and minor formations this afternoon before I dropped into Swap Canyon, which I would follow down to the Capitol Reef area. Swap Canyon wasn’t difficult, just a wide wash that was easy to follow. I camped just outside of the National Park boundary since I didn’t have a permit. I was about a third of a mile away, and there weren’t many places to camp, but I found a small sandy spot. I had to clear out some weeds and other pickers to make my spot, so they didn’t puncture my tent and my sleeping pad. Looking forward to my third National Park tomorrow.

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Hayduke Trail Day 15

Yeti — Sun, 17 Oct 2021 01:18:04 +0000

Start: East side of Henry Mountains

Finish: Tarantula Mesa Road backcountry campsite

Daily Mileage: 19.5

Trip Mileage: 272.0

Elevation gain/loss: 4969/4655ft

It was a chilly night, but there is no frost on the tent, thanks to the juniper. Even though I wanted to get going to get over the Henry’s, it took me a few extra minutes to get out of my sleeping bag and get rolling.

I hit the trail and got to see the sunrise behind me as I started climbing. I was walking through a field of grass gone to seed, and the rising sun reflected off the seed pods, causing them to almost glow as the sun was rising.

I started gradually climbing a 4×4 track, and it didn’t take too long before I started seeing frost on the trail. I guess I camped at just the right time before it hit that freezing threshold. I also saw a bunch of Aspen, which were perfectly turned yellow in preparation for fall. Great colors to guide me upwards.

My track followed a stream for a bit but then turned off. I grabbed about a gallon of water before I left the stream since I wasn’t sure if I would see water before the other side of the Henry Range.

I continued down the 4×4 track and gradually wound my way up the mountains. I had 4,000 ft. to go today to get to the pass. On my way up, I saw a big herd of mule deer that seemed curious about me. I snapped some pics and continued on. Snow appeared on the track, but some vehicles had driven down the road since it had snowed, so I was luckily able to walk in their tire tracks and not get my feet wet. As I was getting towards the pass, I started to run out of energy. I’m not sure if that was due to the weight of 8 days of food plus the water I was carrying or the elevation since the pass was at 10,500 ft. A far cry from the elevation that I live at.

I slowly made my way up to the pass. Towards the end, I had to stop every couple of hundred yards or so to take a very brief break before continuing on. I finally made it to the pass at 10,500 ft. and took a good break, sitting down to view the terrain in the east where I came from and the west where I was going. It was interesting to see the terrain in the east was just like child’s toys now, but it definitely did not look that way when I was passing through it! To the west, I could see Capitol Reef National Park where I would be in a couple of days.

The official Hayduke Trail continues up to the southern Mount Ellen summit, but I decided not to go any higher since my energy level was waning and it was pushing through snow to go over the summit. There were obvious tracks from Sloppy Joe and another hiker leading up, but I just didn’t want to deal with going over the summit. So I decided to take an alternate by sticking on the 4×4 track for a bit further to go around the summit and later meet back up with the Hayduke Trail.

As I crossed over to the west side of the Henrys around noon, the snow got softer. Everything turned into a wet sloppy muddy mess. I immediately debated if I made the right decision to stick to the 4×4 track rather than going over the summit, but I made the decision that I did and I stuck to it, periodically ice-skating on the slushy mess. I made my way down a bit and crossed the side of the mountain. This area is famous for having one of 3 remaining natural bison herds in the US, and the only one outside of a national park, but I unfortunately didn’t see any.

I continued slipping and sliding down the track and had to cross over to another 4×4 track with some brief cross-country at Nasty Flats. That is the official name of the area. Fitting. I soon rejoined the Hayduke Trail and followed it out a ridge and down. It’s always comforting to see the footsteps of fellow Hayduke hikers ahead of me. They veered off and headed down to a wash, but I wanted to go a bit further on the ridge before I headed down since it was easy walking. I followed it for a bit longer and then headed down as it started to end. I decided to go straight down instead of cutting across and doing a more gradual downhill since the wash at the bottom was a potential water source but I didn’t know where the water was in the source and it may have just been up high due to snowmelt. I got to the wash and it was dry. I definitely did not have enough water for the night. I started down it and did come across some puddles where I was able to fill out my water for the next day or so.

The wash was Sweetwater Creek, and the upper part of it reminded me of an East Coast creek. I’m not sure what it was, but there is good vegetation and actual dirt and rock, and it just reminded me of another place. The upper part of the wash was pretty easy going and I cruised along it.

Then came the middle part of the wash. The vegetation picked up and it turned into a lot of pushing through bushes to try to make progress. There wasn’t much of an alternative since the sides of the wash were steep loose dirt which didn’t offer a good way to either bail out of the wash or just walk along its side. There were a few places where I had to get up out of the wash to avoid dense brush or a dry fall, and it got pretty sketchy trying to climb up on the loose dirt and then slide right back down. I made progress, but it was just not the most fun thing in the world.

The wash started to open up towards the end and got a bit easier to travel. There were a couple more dry falls that I had to negotiate before I parted ways to hit another 4×4 track.

I was getting pretty tired when I hit the track, but I still wanted to go a little bit further. I had lost most of the elevation I had gained over the past two days, and it was warmer lower down. I took a break to restore my energy and then started down on the track, which was easier going. The track turned and started heading up to Tarantula Mesa, and at this point, I was just looking for a spot where I can set up my tent. There wasn’t anything resembling a tent site, so I just had to keep moving till I saw something that I can make work. In these situations, there are often plenty of flat spots but they’re in washes or below the flood line of washes, and I don’t want to set up my tent where it could be flooded out even if it isn’t supposed to rain.

I eventually came to find a spot where there were actual campsites from 4×4 campers, so I picked the best-looking one and threw down my stuff. There was a fire pit, and I did briefly think about starting a fire, though I didn’t really have any fire starter, and it would have taken energy to start the fire and gather wood and all that stuff. So, I resigned myself to just cooking my dinner, relaxing in the carved camp chair, and doing my chores before I headed into my tent when it got chilly.

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Hayduke Trail Day 14

Yeti — Sat, 16 Oct 2021 01:18:04 +0000

Start: Hotel in Hanksville

Finish: East side of Henry Mountains

Daily Mileage: 8.1

Trip Mileage: 252.5

Elevation gain/loss: 1889/295ft

I finished my town chores in the morning and reorganized my gear. Then I had some time to kill. I didn’t want to get on the trail early because I only wanted to approach to the Henry Mountains and camp to set myself up to cross them tomorrow. Since I’ve seen them covered with snow the past couple days approaching them, I didn’t want to spend a night up high when I didn’t have to.

I had lunch at the grill, completing my tour of all 3 of Hanksville’s restaurants. I got a burger wrapped up to go, and Dan from Outlaws gave me a ride back to the trail. I arranged that last night since there isn’t much traffic on the road back to the trail.

Back on the trail, I could have chosen to just walk to the other side of the highway, but there was a large culvert under the highway, so I obviously walked through that under the road instead. Got to stay classy. On the other side of the highway, I quickly linked up with an old 4×4 track, which I followed for a while, very gradually climbing towards the Henrys.

I eventually turned off the 4×4 track and had to get down into a gully to follow a wash for a while. There might have been an easy way to get into the gully if I went backward a little bit, but who wants to do that? So instead, it looked like I could get in further up, so I followed the rim of the gully to that point. Once I got there, though, it appeared a bit sketchy. I went down anyway, and when going down, one water bottle popped out and flipped all the way down to the wash. I got down to the wash, and it actually took me a few minutes to find the water bottle since it had gone behind a rock and was in shadow, hiding from me. But the bottle is still intact and perfectly fine. I’ve used PowerAde bottles for a long time for my water bottles, and they haven’t failed me yet. I’m not sure a more delicate bottle would have survived that fall.

I headed up the shallow gully for a while before I met up with another 4×4 track. I followed it briefly and it was climbing. I didn’t want to climb too much since that would just mean lower temperatures overnight, so I found a stand of juniper trees and located a spot beneath a tree that was clear and flat to pitch my tent. It looked like this had definitely been an old cowboy camp since there were the coils from an old mattress nearby and some cowboy debris. It seemed like it was going to be a pretty cold night, so I buttoned everything up and went to bed.

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Hayduke Trail Day 13

Yeti — Fri, 15 Oct 2021 01:18:04 +0000

Start: Poison Spring 4×4 Track

Finish: Hotel in Hanksville

Daily Mileage: 20.0

Trip Mileage: 244.4

Elevation gain/loss: 1784/1358ft

I got up as normal and started hiking down the track, enjoying views of the Dirty Devil Canyon below. It was nice, but I definitely think that Hatch Canyon was way more scenic and a very good alternate to take, apart from the sketchy exit climb. I wandered down the track for a while before I came to the Dirty Devil River, which I had to cross. Sloppy Joe was sitting there, apparently waiting for me, and announced that the river was deep, flowing fast, and didn’t look crossable, at least here. He said he could maybe scramble to another area of the river to cross, but he wasn’t sure what to do.

The river was full of silt and impossible to see through the water at all; it was basically liquid flowing mud. We went up and down the river at the crossing, poking around, gauging depth and water speed. It quickly got deep close to the bank, and the water rushing past our trekking poles was enough to make them vibrate in our hands. Eventually, we decided to just get in the water, feel around, and see where we got where the water appeared shallowest due to ripples. The water was immediately thigh-depth and was pulling on our legs and poles. I started edging my way across the river, feeling with my hiking poles where it was shallower or where there was a rock that I might stand on. It was definitely not a straight crossing, and it got to waist depth. With the speed of that water, that was about my limit. However, I was able to continue edging my way across the river, where it seemed shallowest, and when I got near the other side, I was able to make a dash towards the bank. I made it!

Sloppy Joe was still in the middle of the river and expressed his concern about the safety of the crossing as he was standing waist-deep in water. I gave him directions as best I could to follow the path that had worked for me, and he eventually made it out of the river. We were pretty wet and dirty from the river, and our hiking poles were even full of water and mud. We started hiking ourselves dry, continuing down the 4×4 track, now through Poison Spring Canyon.

The canyon was nice but didn’t quite compare to the spectacular canyons of yesterday. It is all relative though since most terrain out here is more dramatic and scenic than most other trails I’ve been on.

Knowing that I was going to be in town today, I can never quite enjoy a hike as much when I have an end in sight. There’s not much to say about Poison Spring Canyon; it was 16 miles of canyon to traverse. There was some water along the way from a pipe spring protected by a brick enclosure to keep the cows away. It was pleasant walking. Sloppy Joe and I continued hiking together for the rest of the way through Poison Spring Canyon and then Arsenic Canyon until we got to Highway 95, which would take me for a town stop and resupply in Hanksville.

Sloppy Joe is continuing on and not stopping in Hanksville since he had heard it was difficult to hitch in and out of town. We exchanged contact info to stay in touch and went our separate ways when a 4×4 drove up the road we had been walking. I stuck out my thumb, even though I wasn’t quite situated to hitch since I figured this could be an easy way to potentially get to Hanksville. It’s always best to hitch when a vehicle is already stopping at an intersection, and especially in remote country like this. The people said they could take me to Hanksville, so I quickly jumped in after they did a little bit of shuffling to make room. Maybe the easiest hitch I’ve ever done!

I got to town, checked into my motel, and did my typical town chores, including laundry for the first time I was able to this hike (Day 13…) and binge-eating. I’ll leave town later tomorrow just to rest up for a little bit.

Laundry time

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Hayduke Trail Day 12

Yeti — Thu, 14 Oct 2021 01:18:04 +0000

Start: Hite Marina

Finish: Poison Spring 4×4 Track

Daily Mileage: 26.8

Trip Mileage: 224.4

Elevation gain/loss: 3932/3215ft

It was not a cold night, but there was tons of condensation inside and outside of my tent, even a touch on my sleeping bag. I got a slow start to the morning, chatting with the others, but no problem with that. I hit the road around 8:00 and reached the bridge over the Colorado River around 9:00. The bridge offered great views, and I gave a Hayduke salute. No traffic on these remote paved roads.

I had a quick scramble up some rocks before reaching a 4×4 track. Instead of staying on the Hayduke, I took an old mining road to get to the top of a plateau that the trail would later climb. This allowed me to avoid a purportedly challenging chimney climb, and getting higher more quickly to see the surrounding landscape.

After the climb, I was mostly going cross-country for most of the day, using my compass around my neck to show me the way. There were plenty of signs of old cowboy activity in the form of rusty cans of food. The going was pretty easy since it was relatively flat. At a point, I noticed that I could see for many miles around, but I couldn’t spot any form of human construction—no roads, power lines, or anything else like that. It’s pretty interesting that there are still areas of the country that can be this remote, even when I started the day on a paved highway.

I made my way up and down washes, going cross-country, following the imaginary line of the trail, subject to my interpretation. I took a break at a giant cairn, which was part of an old trail shepherds used back in the day. While on a break, I heard footsteps, and a hiker named Sloppy Joe appeared climbing up to the cairn. He introduced himself and mentioned he’s also doing the Hayduke. He asked if I wanted to hike with him, and I obviously answered yes. It’s always better hiking with a partner, especially in this cross-country terrain.

We shared our backstories as we traversed the country, heading up and down more washes and occasionally crossing between them to get where we needed to go. We reached Fiddler’s Cove Canyon, which was spectacular to look down upon. The top rocks were a yellow-gold color, and there was bright red and white sandstone deeper in the canyon. The canyon also had many tight twists going back and forth as it very casually wandered downhill. After some exploring, we found the spot where we could drop down into the canyon. Other than that one spot, the walls were mostly sheer. The descent wasn’t bad, and there was even a few cairns and an observable treadway, which made it not much of a challenge.

We walked in Fiddler’s Cove Canyon for a while, enjoying the spectacular sights of the curved stone and colorful rock. We had both planned to take the Hatch Canyon alternate rather than the Hayduke Trail, which joined the Dirty Devil River and crossed it many times. With the wet weather, the river was supposed to be running high and typically is a silty, nasty river. The alternate would allow us to skip many crossings of the Dirty Devil, and cross it only once tomorrow.

Hatch Canyon was pretty similar to Fiddler’s Cove Canyon, and we once again went back and forth as we gradually made forward progress. Both canyons were fantastic and the highlight of the day for sure.

We reached the point in Hatch Canyon where we were supposed to climb out of the canyon to join a 4×4 track that ran above it. The start of our ascent was obvious, with big, easily climbable rocks. However, above the rock, the slope turned to a mix of dirt and rock. It was loose enough to kick steps into but also loose enough to not hold when you took a step. We had to be pretty careful on that, and it was steeper than I would prefer. We went up until we hit a wall, so we had to traverse to the right to continue the ascent. This traverse was also on dirt and was immediately above a sheer cliff about 200 ft. tall. I felt like this terrain was playing for keeps, and it was a very uncomfortable traverse. Carefully, we worked our way across and then climbed up to where we found a way trail that made it easier to finish the traverse. From there, we had to climb up a couple of gullies, which weren’t too hard and were more fun.

Looking back on the scramble up

We came to the 4×4 track and started walking along it. This road was my goal for the day, and I was looking for a flat spot to set up camp. It took about a mile, but I found my spot, and Sloppy Joe continued down because he wanted to go a little bit further. It was about 7:00 p.m., and the sun was getting ready to set, so that was plenty of hiking for me for the day. I don’t think I’ll see Sloppy Joe again since he has a more aggressive schedule than I do, but it was great to hike with another Hayduke hiker for half a day. We exchanged contact info, and he walked off into the night. Thankfully, I finally have stove fuel, so I was able to have a hot dinner before I went to sleep.

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Hayduke Trail Day 11

Yeti — Wed, 13 Oct 2021 01:18:04 +0000

Start: Dark Canyon

Finish: Hite Marina

Daily Mileage: 23.4

Trip Mileage: 197.6

Elevation gain/loss: 2099/3265ft

Last night was a bit rough. As predicted, it did rain, and water came in from both up and down the canyon. A particularly strong gust caused some of my rock tent anchors to slide, releasing the tension on my tent, and causing it to sink inwards. I curled up a little tighter in my sleeping bag to avoid it touching the wet tent. It was good enough; I didn’t want to get out of the tent in the rain to fix it.

As soon as it was light enough, I got out of my tent to check the river. It still sounded about the same, but I was concerned about the water level. It had gone up a little, but not significantly. That was a good sign, but the risk of flash floods remained as it continued to rain slightly. I quickly packed up and hit the trail. Although this lower part of Dark Canyon was beautiful and enjoyable, I wanted to exit the canyon swiftly to avoid any flood dangers.

Hiking in the rain, I broke out my full rain gear as it sprinkled. Shortly after, I even saw a couple of snowflakes. Not surprising, and snow can be better than rain since it doesn’t soak you as much.

Dark Canyon unfolded with its beautiful benches, and I continued crisscrossing the river to navigate downstream. It was a puzzle at times, deciding which side of the river to be on, which layer of rock to follow, whether to push through the brush or climb higher on a ledge. Figuring out where the most people had traveled before was part of the game. I processed all this while making my way down the river. I didn’t always make the correct choice; at one point, I ended up on a lower ledge that ran out. To avoid backtracking, I continued forward and found a spot to climb up to the next level.

Another time, I ended up on the wrong side of the river, high on a ledge about 100 ft. above the river. I could see a well-worn footpath on the other side. My ledge got narrower, and I wasn’t sure if it would continue, potentially forcing me to backtrack about a half mile. I continued forward until I found a spot to descend to the river level and cross to the correct side.

The ledge portion of Dark Canyon eventually ran out, opening up more. Afterward, I reached the bottom of the Sundance Trail, which would lead me out of Dark Canyon. The trail’s start was simple with a well-worn footpath, but it climbed very steeply on bright yellow scree and boulders, likely leading to its name Sundance. Cairns were scattered everywhere on the way up, and they seemed to lead in different directions. I concluded that as long as I reached the top in about the right spot, that’s what mattered; the cairns weren’t much help. You could stop at any point and see multiple carins at the same level marking different parallel “paths”.

Climbing out of the canyon, the view back on Dark Canyon was spectacular. It’s amazing how tall these canyons look, but it doesn’t take long to ascend or descend them if you find the right spot, and the elevation difference isn’t as much as it appears.

After the Sundance Trail, I had some cross-country hiking leading to a 4×4 track. Once on the track, I knew I could make good time on clear road. The weather was cool, which helped. I walked briskly and took my first break at 2:30. During that break, I realized I wasn’t sure what time the store at Hite closed, where my resupply package was and a replacement water filter. I thought it might close as early as 5:00, and at that point, I still had more than 9 miles to go. I used my trekking poles to aggressively propel myself forward and covered seven and a half miles in two hours—flying! Then it was a short hop on the access road to the Hite store.

When I arrived at the store, the door was locked! It was Tuesday, and the sign said they were closed on Tuesdays. I rushed for no reason. They didn’t open until 10:00 Wednesday morning. I was disappointed but walked across the street to the ranger station, wondering if they could help with my package. A guy in a campervan approached, asked if I needed anything, and offered his jet boil to use, to ease my Sterno sorrows. He said to return it to the store the next day, and they’d give it to him. How awesome!

Heading to the campsite, the guy, Steve, asked if I wanted a ride. Of course, I did; I was doing bonus miles now. No need for that. He offered to let me camp at his campsite since it wasn’t being used, and I accepted since I didn’t have any companions out there. He introduced me to his friends, Jenny and Joel, who each had their own vans. The store owner showed up, knowing Steve, and we went back up to the store to get my packages and the all-important beer, fuel, and a sandwich—for a second dinner.

I went back to the campsite, and we all gathered in Jenny’s van for dinner and socializing. It was a great group, and we exchanged contact info. Jenny even lent me some sewing supplies to repair my pack. They all had extensive experience in the area, and Steve was even consulted on the Hayduke Trail book before it was published. He’s extremely knowledgeable about this area, and has published definitive guides on canyoneering around here, so it was great to talk to him and the whole group to learn more about it as I continue my journey. I got situated in my makeshift camp and headed to bed.

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Hayduke Trail Day 10

Yeti — Tue, 12 Oct 2021 01:18:04 +0000

Start: Sweet Alice “Road”

Finish: Dark Canyon

Daily Mileage: 24.1

Trip Mileage: 174.2

Elevation gain/loss: 1183/4925ft

There was a hard frost last night, and both the inside and outside of my tent were coated with it. Fortunately, my new quilt kept me warm, and it was good to see that it performed well. I didn’t have much chance to test it before this trip, but even with a cold, I was able to get up and out as usual. As I started my day, I even noticed a large puddle almost completely frozen over.

The trail went on to wide planes that were slightly above salt Creek and pretty much went from ruin to ruin. There were lots of granaries and pictographs. The trail didn’t indicate where points of interest were, but it was quite obvious when a large side trail went off somewhere that there was probably something to see. The ruins were about half intact. They were sheltered from the weather by rock overhangs so water had probably never touched them. The ruins were a bunch of stacked flat rocks and it looked like they were mortared together with mud or a loose clay. One of the ruins had what looked like squash plants by it but there was no fruit on the plants. I hadn’t seen vines yet like this, and I imagined that they were left over from ancient farmers and had grown back season after season in homage to the ruins.

Once I reached Dark Canyon, I turned and headed downstream, a path I would follow for the rest of the day. The streambed was a dry wash, similar to many others I have travelled, and there was an official trail going down the canyon. The trail mostly stayed out of the wash, going from one side of the stream to the other, though the path wasn’t always obvious for the next segment. It became a bit of a game to find the trail, but it wasn’t a big deal; I could always just follow the wash easy enough.

The canyon started out pretty wide where I entered, with the wash meandering in lazy bends. The rock walls changed as I went, but it wasn’t too exciting. After a couple of hours, I got bored and had to put on an audiobook. The sun also came out, and it got pretty warm, slowing me down until I balanced my electrolytes. The scenery was still good though.

My goal was to rejoin the Hayduke Trail that day, reaching the junction of Youngs Canyon and Dark Canyon. Despite the heat, I made good progress down Dark Canyon. When I got within a few miles of Youngs Canyon, Dark Canyon changed quite a bit. It grew narrower with steeper walls, and eventually, water appeared, flowing down the canyon – good clean water, which is always great to have. The canyon featured a series of ledges or benches that you could traverse for a while until they ran out, and then you had to go up or down a level or switch to the other side of the stream. It was really fun to go through this part of the canyon, facing the challenge of figuring out how to get through while keeping my feet dry. The canyon turned incredibly scenic, being high and narrow with water cascading down it.

Near the end of the day, I came across a cave above the flood line for the canyon and almost stopped there, but I was not yet at my goal of Youngs Canyon. I felt I had a couple more miles in me. It would have been a perfect spot, especially with potential weather coming in tonight, and you could tell that people had camped there previously. But I forged downward.

Right after passing a couple of waterfalls and pools, the canyon got narrow, and there was a way trail up to the left of the stream. Starting on that way trail, I noticed a flat spot overhanging the stream above the flood line and within sight of the small waterfalls. It was solid rock, but I decided to try to pitch my non-freestanding tent there anyways since it was such a perfect, beautiful spot. I staked it out with rocks, which seemed to work well enough until a gust of wind came along and almost blew it over. I replaced the rocks with much bigger rocks and more support. That seemed to hold out right, so we will see how it goes tonight. If there wasn’t the potential for weather tonight, I might have just camped near the stream. But for this reason, it was also important for me to be above the flood line since this canyon often has flash floods, draining a wide area.

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Hayduke Trail Day 9

Yeti — Mon, 11 Oct 2021 01:18:04 +0000

Start: Salt Creek Backcountry Campsite 4

Finish: Sweet Alice “Road”

Daily Mileage: 25.2

Trip Mileage: 150.1

Elevation gain/loss: 4234/1029ft

I slept fitfully last night but got up at the usual time to get into the Anasazi ruins. The trail starts off as it had been so far, overgrown and brushy, but around where the ruins started it really opened up.

I went from ruin to ruin, taking each in. It’s cool to see history as part of a hike and not just the nature and scenery. This valley is very green compared to the terrain I have already passed through. So it’s unsurprising the Anasazi found and farmed it. They didn’t live here year-round though, they stayed in nearby and dry Beef Basin, though it is unknown why they didn’t live in one place year-round. I had an option to go to Beef Basin to see the ruins there as well, but I decided on an alternate route.

Near the end of the valley there was a really big spring gushing water. This was the first flowing good clear water I’ve seen on this trip (besides the Colorado River), so I obviously had to get some of it. I loaded up with 7 liters because I didn’t think I would see any for the rest of the day and early tomorrow. It was definitely noticeable when I put my pack back on with that much water weight. I also have the extra weight of the bear can. I collected the water at about 6,000 ft and ended up camping at 8,500 ft so I had to carry it up quite a ways.

In Salt Creek I did see both mountain lion and bear prints. I have seen a lot of medium-sized cat prints but I’m not sure what those are.

Leaving the Salt Creek area, the official trail goes up to Cathedral Butte where there is trailhead. I followed an alternate route I found on the internet to go the opposite direction and get me back towards where I was heading with less roadwalking. I had several different map sources available and one source showed this as actual trail, another source showed it as a 4×4 track and other sources didn’t show anything there at all. I wasn’t really sure what to expect for this route.

I started up a wash and briefly went away from the wash where I verified there was no supposed track or trail that some of the maps suggested. So, I followed the wash up as far as I could. I saw a couple cairns and a couple very old footprints along the way, but other than that, there wasn’t much sign of human passing this way. So, I was left to my own devices to get up the wash. I stuck to the wash, just judging which way looked easiest when it split a couple times. I ended up going up the final ascent through a steeper area with very big boulders. A couple of these were tough to get around and I had to take my pack off and squeeze under one and have big steps up for the other ones. Difficult with so much water. I made it up, though I’m sure it didn’t look pretty. I was caught up in the scrambling and wanted to get it over with, so I didn’t stop to get any pictures. There is no possible way there was ever a road here, so my maps were incorrect.

On top it was some cross-country, and then I rejoined another wash going down the opposite way. I followed this down and then picked up another wash going up. These weren’t as difficult as the first wash but they did have some challenges and I had to divert around obstacles a couple times. I eventually got to another marked 4×4 track. This was long disused, and at times I had to stare at the ground to trace out where it went. It’s always easier to follow a somewhat established route than just go off by myself through the desert. I followed this track until I joined a forest service road.

At the forest service road, I could go right or left. I’ve actually been debating this decision for about a month, and most of today aside from when I was exploring the ruins. I got input from several people before the trip and then a couple people I talked to at The Needles who had been in the area. I wanted to ultimately take the path which was the most scenic, which I couldn’t get good info on since they are both seldom travelled routes. It came down to either spending a lot more time in Dark Canyon or going the normal Hayduke route through terrain likely only travelled by Haydukers through some challenging but scenic terrain. Both routes had about the same amount of roadwalking to get to the start of them, and I decided on the spot to go to Dark Canyon since one of my friends spoke highly of it as a smaller Grand Canyon. This means that I will be skipping Beef Basin, Fable Valley and that area.

So, then it was down to the grind. I had about 13 miles of forest service roads to get to a trailhead where I could hit the trail down into Dark Valley. Not the most exciting thing in the world, but as I climbed in elevation, trees did start to appear. Also, as I started to climb, the leaves on the deciduous trees were changing color or falling as I gained elevation. The same trees weren’t changing yet at lower elevations.

I climbed and climbed and eventually got to about 8,500 feet. I had thought about going a few miles further today to sleep at a viewpoint over Dark Canyon, but it was going to get me to camp late, and I just didn’t want to push myself that hard so early in the trip. I ended up setting up in a field on top of a plateau. It’s chilly up here, and I’m keeping my sensitive items close to me tonight because I expect to see some frost in the morning.

I had more struggles with the Sterno today. I couldn’t even get it to stay lit, so I had slightly warmed water that I soaked my noodles in for a while, but they were still crunchy when I gave up letting them rehydrate. Far from the best camp dinner I’ve ever had, but it is what it is. All buttoned up in my tent and sleeping bag, ready for the cool of the night.

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Hayduke Trail Day 8

Yeti — Sun, 10 Oct 2021 01:18:04 +0000

Start: Needles Outpost Campground

Finish: Salt Creek Backcountry Campsite 4

Daily Mileage: 19.2

Trip Mileage: 124.9

Elevation gain/loss: 1375/833ft

Up early to maximize my hiking time in the fall daylight. I made my last use of the normal amenities like flowing water and Wi-Fi to check the weather before I quickly headed out. I had mapped out a brief cross-country route to get to where I was going to start the official National Park trail but conveniently found that my route almost directly overlayed an old road. Therefore, it was very easy going. I even found some sort of old electrical substation in the middle of nowhere, apparently destitute for years.

The first two days of this next section I will be hiking down the Salt Creek Trail which is famous for its Anasazi ruins. However, it turned out that on the first day there wasn’t too much since most of the ruins are further south.

The trail started down in wash where it was one with a 4×4 track for a while, though the track was gated. The trail shortly got into Salt Creek Canyon and 4x4s were not allowed to go further. The first thing I found in the canyon was an arch that you could walk through to get to the other side of the ridge. There was a string of Indian pictographs next to the arch which were the first pictographs I’d seen this trip. There’s supposed to be a lot of these out here in general, and I had waypoints for a few of them, but had not been able to find any yet on this hike. Salt Creek is one of the few water sources in the area (though not flowing now), and was used to farm the land in ancient times.

After taking in the arch in the pictographs, I continued down the wash and around a bend and saw another arch. I went up to that one as well and saw a couple more very faded pictographs. I went through that arch and then realized it was the same arch I had just visited! I didn’t realize I had just done a 180 degree turn in the wash, and could have just walked through the arch as a short cut. Oh well, no harm done, I just felt silly.

The rock was pretty varied through Salt Creek Canyon, but there is a lot of deep red with a band of bright white. I really like the combination of the two strikingly different colors side by side, separated by a discrete line. What happened to dramatically change the composition of the rock so quickly? I took lots of pictures of this throughout the day and just generally enjoyed this section of mostly actual trail.

I was doing pretty good on time, so I did a side trail out and back to Angel Arch, 1.7 miles each way. A pretty big detour for a long-distance backpacker! The National Park made me take a bear can to do this trail so I did leave the can at the trail junction trail so I didn’t have to drag the can plus five days of food all the way up and back. Might as well take advantage of having the bear can. It was a well worthwhile detour. Angel Arch was pretty impressive; it was high up and very large, and had a unique right pillar which resembled an angel with wings. There is also a formation there called The Molar which looks strikingly like a tooth.

II was going to stay up there and take a break for a bit longer, but some darker clouds started to roll in so I hiked back to rejoin my trail.

I got back to the main trail in short order and started to think about grabbing some water since it wasn’t too far to my camp. I passed a couple puddles which didn’t look that great, but I had been seeing a lot of water in this section so I figured I would pass those up and get some water closer to camp. I kept looking in the stream and it kept being bone dry and I made it all the way to camp without seeing any water! I pondered what to do now. There was a marked ruin slightly further down the trail and I thought that maybe there was a ruin because there was good water there. So, I went to the ruin and it was dry. I decided that I had no idea how far forward I would have to go to find water and that I should probably just turn around and go back to where I knew I saw water. I had to stay in the designated campsite to meet my permit. So, I headed back past my campsite again and back another two miles before I came to the water that I last saw.

I was filling up with water when dark clouds started to roll in once again. I got the minimum amount of water I needed plus an extra liter of unfiltered water in my reservoir and booked it back to camp. In this whole scramble to find water, I had just left my pack out at camp when I dashed off to find water. If it started raining it wouldn’t be good because it wasn’t waterproofed today. I really didn’t think through getting this water and made a few bad decisions today. I made it to camp without any rain and 2 hours after I first arrived. Perhaps my biggest set of mistakes on this trip so far, but I did manage to recover, thankfully with no real negative impacts.

My next adventure was using the Sterno for the first time to try to boil water. All I had was a can of Sterno and my pot, so I set the pot on top of a couple of rocks to prop it above the fire of the Sterno. The can of Sterno looked about 10 years old and went out several times without there even being any wind. I tried different size rocks in different setups and in about an hour I was left with some lukewarm water. Not ideal at all! I took what I had and just let my noodles soak for longer and they came out good enough in the end.

I was having a pretty good day enjoying the scenery until I got to camp and had my struggles with water and the Sterno. I have learned my lesson on being more conservative with water out here in the desert, and I resolved to think a lot harder when passing up sources in the future. I knew the Sterno wasn’t going to be ideal and it worked well enough. I will just have to hit the reset button with sleep tonight and then hopefully start tomorrow off better.

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