High Adventure 2012 - Escalante

Looking down the Hole in the Rock

This year for High Adventure we went down to the Escalante Utah area.  Last year we learned about the Hole in the Rock Pioneers (Click HERE for more info on the pioneers), and were able to hike up the San Juan Hill.  This year we decided to go down to the actual Hole in the Rock carved out by the Pioneers to get down to the Colorado River.  They had walked for miles in search of a place where they could get down the cliffs surrounding the Colorado River to cross it, and had only found a crack, barely wide enough for wagons that dropped over 2,000 feet to the river!  They spent weeks blasting and chiseling out a path down the crack before they started taking their wagons down.  Coming from an Engineer, it was an Engineering Marvel!

Just to get down to the hole in the rock you have to drive 60 miles down a dirt road (4x4 is suggested, you may be able to make it in 2 wheel drive, but you'd have to be careful).  We stopped off at Devils Garden to let the boys (and adults) climb around and explore - it was a blast! Then we stopped at Dance Hall Rock for lunch.  That's where the Pioneers held dances to relieve their stress and relax a little on their journey.

Dance Hall Rock

The actual Hole in the Rock was a challenge because of the heat (it was in the upper 90's the day we did it). We were climbing down the crack, going over and around boulders with Lake Powell in view at the bottom. Our boy with Spina Bifida did this hike as well, and since it wasn't safe to take him in the Scout Carrier that was created to carry him around, he had to hike it on his own feet this time.  It was a challenge for him, but it was awesome to see his fellow scouts helping him all along the way and making sure he could make it.

Once we got to the bottom we of course jumped in Lake Powell, but wished it was a high mountain lake instead.  Lake Powell is very warm water!  We were searching for the cold spots in the lake to cool off.  It was refreshing, but it would have been so much better if the water was 10-20 degrees cooler!

Then we had the hike back up.  Again, it was challenging, and it was hot, but it was a little nicer since we started off wet (though that really only lasted the first 1/3 of the climb).

We also did two non-technical canyons on the trip, Spooky and Peek-a-boo canyons.  They're right next to each other (about 26 miles back down that Hole in the Rock dirt road), so we hiked up Peek-a-boo and back down Spooky.  They were really pretty canyons, with lots of cool formations!  Spooky was really narrow too, so that was fun!

Another day we did Lower and Upper Calf Creek Falls.  Lower Calf Creek Falls requires a 3.5 mile each way hike through sand.  It was a challenge, but it was so worth it when we got to the falls!  The water is so cold you can't stay in it long, but it was so refreshing!

Lower Calf Creek Falls

Upper Calf Creek Falls is more like 1.5 miles each way but involves more elevation change.  Both were so refreshing to jump into and swim around!  On each of these we used our scout carrier and took turns carrying to make sure we all made it.

We camped the whole time up at Posy Lake, which is 17 miles north of Escalante, up at 8,000 feet in elevation.  We didn't want to be stuck trying to sleep in 90 degree weather, so we opted to drive the extra distance in order to get a good nights sleep. It was worth it!