Escalante 2006 - A Dream and the Realities - Part Eight

Day 5
Wednesday July 26 3:00pm MDT

TClog's up. The plan is to hop in the car and head back onto the Hog's Back (see earlier episode) to go for a hike to Upper Calf Creek Falls, not to be confused with Lower Calf Creek Falls. The car was still without AC but TCLog was a bit refreshed from his nap and subsequent shower. I did catch him red-handed(?) heading in for his shower without clean clothes, and while that shit my go over at home (though I don't know why it would go over given the arrangement) it wasn't going to fly around me. I'll put with an awful lot bitchin' before I'll be forced to look at his balls. It's a simple rule of mine. Being caught elicited one of those chuckles from TClog, the sort of chuckle that lets you know there was pure foresight, and therefore pure mischief/evil in the action he was caught in. We got a similar chuckle when he 'learned' he had slept in the tent alone the second night in Coyote Gulch, as if it had been his dream all along, which of course, it probably was.

Anyway, back in the car and feeling pretty good as we wound our way back over the crazy roller coaster called the Hog's Back, crossing the Escalante River, passing the Coffee Kiva (still closed) and back up onto the ridge where we were to find the parking lot for our hike. We had the mile marker and knew that the rock marking the entrance was unique, being mostly white with a big black splotch or vice-versa. Regardless, it was where they said it was and so at the heat of the day we arrived at a 500 drop down slickrock that would lead us to the 87 foot falls and the cool pool of water below.

We had water, we were rested and though we dreaded the return back up to the car, off we went. Beeline (B-Line) made his triumphal return, this time claiming that it was the extra force of gravity acting on him that made him go faster. Regardless, he was off like a shot with Dan and I hiking down at a reasonable pace but enjoying the trip as we descended. The slickrock was pretty dramatic, the trail only recognizable through the presence of small cairns, erected every so often of local stones to mark the way. With the cairns it would have been a pretty big bitch to find your way as pretty much everything looked alike and we weren't entirely sure where our destination lay. With the cairns there we moved steadily, and almost miraculously the clouds had built up and protected us from the afternoon sun. What could have been a really freaking hot hike turned out to be only a pretty hot hike.

The slickrock ended and the landscape changed to more one of sand and stone with pockets of hardy vegetation. You could see the line of the river that we were heading for, a green crease in an otherwise red and brown landscape. Long since down the worst of the slope, the trail ambled up and down as it grew closer to the river, eventually turning parallel to it and the dropping over into a heavily vegetated gulch where we found both the pool and the waterfall that fed it. Oooooh. If we hadn't drank from the spring in Coyote Gulch and taken showers one could well imagine the experience of a dip in the pool to be nearly orgasmic. As it was it was really freaking great (it was still hot remember) and one of those dream destinations that should be at the end of every summer hike.

That pool was chilly. And the rocks below the water line were mossy. I found myself entering the water a little faster than I might have otherwise unable to get much traction on the bottom. Dan had already been in for a while, (I had stayed out to document and TClog stayed out to.....?) and I was the next in, finding myself in water that would be like swimming in my lake in early October/mid May. Brisk, but not so cold that you can't adapt. Not so cold that sharp pains shoot up your legs. TClog eventually joined us though he took his time. We hung in the pool and sat on the edge below the waterfall until we felt it was time for the trip back up the trail. Such a great spot. One that will live in infamy - the good kind.

Reclothed and packed up we climbed back out of the glade and onto the unforgiving sands. The clouds remained our friends as we made our way back to the main climb on the slickrock. We lost the trail a couple of times finding it harder to follow the cairns on the return trip. Dan found someone's pocket watch, and TClog found the ring that attaches it to the chain. It seemed to be in perfect working order and may become a regular item in Dan's arsenal. We still sort of dreaded the climb pack up the slickrock though when we finally got there it was over remarkably fast. Were these the same men that could only manage half of Coyote Gulch? Indubitably. One should never take the advice of anyone as gospel, particular as it pertains to climb steepness and difficulty. One man's Everest is another man's gentle rise. Neither man should be trusted.

Back in the car (again) and headed back down the Hog's Back to the town of Escalante and a good dinner and an air conditioned night sleep. Not for days had our spirits been this high. Everything was back on track and we were coasting downhill, figuratively and literally. The afternoon rains were threatening but didn't seem bound for much, and when we returned to the Prospector Inn everything seemed about as good as it could be. Oh but the cruel hand of fate was to deal us a bad hand indeed.....

But more on that coming soon....