escalante 2013

we went down to escalante a couple weeks ago and had a great time--as everyone would expect. we drove down early on a Friday morning and got down to the calf creek campground by 9am. we got things set up at the campground and then set off.

we used our new gps to hike to some pictographs. b was so adept at using the gps that he took us straight to the pictographs. the pictographs were cool, but, honestly, not as neat as the ones we found in the san Rafael swell in april. but neat nonetheless. later on Friday, we hiked down to boulder creek and did some fishing. the water level was lower than the last time we went down there, and, unfortunately, the fishing was very poor. but it's still a cool, shady spot nestled down in the rocks, and we had a good time. we walked back through the creek, which was really nice. w found a few snakes in the water. we also saw plenty of tadpoles in the bathtubs along the short hike back up to the road.

on Saturday, we went out on to hole in the rock road and did the spooky and peek-a-boo slot canyons. this year, we also did coyote gulch (coyote something) canyon, which was an accident and not nearly as cool as the other too. we all four made it through those narrows. they have actually made it easier to climb the rock wall up into the first canyon. it was easier this time than when we did it a couple years ago. this was s's first time to go through those narrows, and she really liked it. it is pretty magical. after we made it out of hole in the rock road, we went into escalante town to go to a thrift store and eat an ice cream cone. we had hoped to make it out to upper calf creek falls and go swimming up there, but we ran out of time to go on that long of a hike--so we went to the escalante river instead. we walked through the river and found a great little swimming hole that we all swam in. we had some goggles and looked under the water. w found a snake that he played with. s and I spotted a western wood peewee. it was great fun.

on sunday, we woke up and went into town to attend church. we always love going to church in escalante. we saw several people we knew or recognized from previous years. it was father's day, which made the talks pretty interesting. and, the good folks of escalante even gave brian a plate of father's day goodies that b was good enough to share with his wife and kids. after we changed in to our play clothes at the local park, we headed into the car and made our way to capitol reef--or, rather, just outside of capitol reef. we got out of the car and just walked into the great desert landscape looking for rocks! we had a great time looking for petrified wood, crystals, and other cool-looking rocks. I found a snake skin that a snake had recently shedded that w got to keep. then I found a squirrel tail that s wanted to keep. as you might expect, those were treasures for the kids.

 I love these knotty, wild-looking trees. can you find the kiddos amongst all of those branches?

 on our way to the pictographs.

 we were in a pretty isolated place. well, all of escalante is pretty isolated, but we didn't run into anyone on our way out to the pictographs.

 walking along the rock mountain.

 our first view of the pictographs.

 most of the pictographs were handprints.

 one of the bathtubs with a whole bunch of tadpoles.

 another bathtub.

 the boulder creek we fished in. beautiful.

 w with one of his garter snakes.

 s hanging out by the creek. notice her wet jeans. it is so much fun to walk through creeks and rivers--especially in the desert.

 me and w with our poles and wet jeans.

 s practicing her casting in calf creek. notice me and w off to the sides.

eating s'mores!

 walking through coyote gulch.

 a look down the rock wall we climbed up to get into the narrows.

 hanging out in spooky.

 look at these narrows. so much fun.

 a view from our campsite. we were right by the creek.

 our tent. we saw lots of lizards in the campground and by our tent.

 s looking for rocks outside capitol reef.

 s really enjoyed finding crystals.

 gorgeous, eh?

 s and myself admiring the cactus blossoms. these were the first good-looking blossoms we'd seen on the trip.

 we actually found some water coming up out of a spring in our wanderings. it's always amazing to find water in the desert.

 isn't that amazing? and, honestly, this picture doesn't even do the landscape justice. as b put it as we were leaving, there's this real tension when you're in a cool place like this. you see the amazing landscape and are in awe of it's beauty so you want to jump into it and enjoy it. but, once you're in the middle of it and having a good time, you can't see it from the outside and enjoy the gorgeous, sweeping views. so you want to be outside looking in while you're in the middle of it playing around. if only you could enjoy both perspectives at the same time.

 

another great trip to escalante. i'm hopeful that we'll be able to make it back down there in the fall. I've always wanted to go there in the autumn. keep your fingers crossed!