Collard's Adventures: Wednesday May 6th 2009, Calf Creek and Grand Staircase

Wednesday morning...we are half way thru our vacation and it has been a blast so far. Today we are going to go to some slot canyons in the Grand Staircase-Escalante area. We were up early and had breakfast. We talked to the Campground host and explained our failure to reach the Upper Calf Creek Falls the day before. She asked if we say the sign-in log at the trailhead...we said no. She told us we were not in the correct spot. She told us to drive up the road and once we reach mile marker 80 to watch for a big rock that has a line of white paint on it--that is the trail head. We had seen this road the day before but the parking area is off the road so we didn't think it was it. We pulled in and sure enough, there was the sign-in log. So we did get to hike to the Upper Falls. We did not see one person on the trail but there were a few other cars at the trailhead. The above picture is from the trail...Here are some cactus flowers that were blooming.

We were not hiking that long at all when this came into view...

Here is a picture of a cave that is off to the side of the falls...we didn't venture over there.

Here is a side view of the falls...

The Upper Calf Creek Falls are about 90 feet tall...not only is it not as tall as the lower falls, there is less water flowing over the upper falls. It still was an impressive site, especially since we were the only ones there!

After the seeing the upper falls we ventured further up the trail to a little area above the upper falls. This is a little pool area above the Upper Falls.

We took a self-portrait on the way up the trail...

This is the 500 feet of slickrock we had to climb to reach the trail...I am in the lower section of the picture

We then decided to drive down Hole in the Rock Road to go to Peek-a-boo and Spooky Gulch slot canyons. The road to the trail head is 26 miles down the road but it took us over an hour to get there. There are warnings that the entire route is an extremely rugged washboard road. Passengar cars and vans can make it but 4 wheel drive with a good suspension is recommended. We thought we were prepared especially after yesterday's drive where the washboard road wasn't all that bad. Boy were we wrong...the road was horrible. We made it without too many issues and even saw an Audi sedan down the road--why they were driving that kind of car down this road was beyond us.

There was one section where it appeared a fine white sand was all over the road...you could even see where the tires from the previous car had gone thru. Jason decides that he needs to keep his speed up so that we don't get stuck in the fine sand. WRONG DECISION...it was fine sand all right but the tire ruts we saw were the actual rock/ground. We went thru this about 35mph and bam...we bottomed out and bottomed out big time. The tote that had all our kitchen dishes flew up and hit the top of the element and then came down open so all of our plates, silverware, etc. went everywhere. We were engulfed in a cloud of white sand almost like talcum powder. The kicker of the story--Jason had his window down and could not get it up before the whole interior of the car (and therefore our plates and silverware) were covered in a fine white powder. We laughed it off and continued to the trailhead. We did get the car washed the next day.

We read all the guides that we had about these slot canyons and then headed onto the trail. We went down the steep area, came to the bottom of a wash and continued down to our right. We were walking for about 10 minutes down the wash when we came to a trail with a bunch of logs covering the beginning of the trail. That usually indicates that you do not go that way...I remembered reading something about a wash in between Peek-a-boo and Spooky. We then got the paperwork out and realized we missed Peek-a-boo. Peek-a-boo is the first slot canyon on the left once you reach the wash--there is an oval shaped opening topped by an arch that is located 12 feet up on the wall. It is easy to walk right past it if you aren't paying attention.

The plan had been to head up Peek-a-boo, cross at the top and then come down Spooky Gulch. We decided to change our plan and go up Spooky and come down Peek-a-boo since we weren't paying attention once we got to the wash.

Spooky Gulch got it's name because it can be so dark in the slot canyon and for the panic-inspiring quality of the extremely narrow walls. It starts out wide but the walls quickly start to narrow.

These pictures are really dark but gives you an idea of the narrow slot canyon walls.

From here, it was so narrow that I had to take my backpack off in order to fit thru the slot canyons.

If you look on the top of the picture, you can see a log that is jammed. There are warnings all over the place telling you not to go in these canyons if there is potentially bad weather approaching...rain and storms are not your friends in here.

Here are the narrow walls...

Here I am leaving Spooky Gulch.

We then hiked cross-country to get into Peek-a-boo slot canyon. The trail at the top was very easy to follow...just follow the cairns! Peek-a-boo wasn't as narrow as Spooky but was more climbing/jumping to get thru the twists and chutes.

Here is Jason coming down the same area I was going thru in the above picture. The section of sand where my left foot is...is the same area where Jason is squatting in the picture on the left.

This gives you a good idea of how beautiful the area was...

These are two natural arches that have formed in the slot canyon.

This is what we missed when we first reached the wash--the oval shaped opening topped by an arch that is located 12 feet up on the wall. Jason is standing in the wash taking a picture of me at the end of the slot canyon.