Escalante, Peek-A-Boo & Spooky

Escalante is a vast area of BLM lands that has also been declared a National Monument. So, it's a public, protected park, but being BLM lands, you are free to boondock on any part of it. We took advantage of this by driving a couple of miles in on the "Hole-in-the-Rock" Road and found this serene isolated spot!

Here's a late shot taken of our view while sitting in front of the trailer that first evening ....

The next morning, we took off down the Hole in the Rock, soon to discover what sharp rocks on a loosely maintained road will do for you. Oh well, I can't complain, we've had great luck so far with only a couple flats in over 30,000 miles of fulltiming. These tires have gone almost 60,000, so it's time for a new set.

Today we "monkied-up" & "monkied-down", and monkied round n' round! in a really neat place, very very tight squeezes though...These are the two best known of the many narrow slot canyons that are scattered throughout Escalante. The hike in through a large canyon area was easy & fun...

Above I'm making the intial climb into the mouth of the first slot canyon we come to, which is quite wide at this point...

We get in a ways and all of a sudden.... Kim says "Peek-A-Boo!"

Up,Up, hang on girl! don't fall! and, watch out Sam, it's a ways down here too!

and round n' round we go! the vertical height the top of the narrow slot was about 50 feet in most places....

I kept thinking about my Grandson, Jonathan. He would have had a blast in here, as evidenced by some youngsters we met along the way! (oh yes, us big kids sure did!).

Now on to Spooky, where it was extremely tight squeeze even for Sam ....
Kim took this one before I vanished into the narrow sliver...note the comment someone left on the wall....Kim said it looked too clostraphobic to enter this final section, which continued on for about a quarter mile...

Here, I'm straining to hold the camera because my shoulder is being pinched by the rock!

another self portrait, taken from above as I start to descend this twisted very narrow shaft. I dropped the pack first to the floor of the slot, about 15 feet down....then it required "presses" off the sidewalls as there are no hand of feet holes. The final day in this area was spent exploring some of the other, varied terrain. Out of several other areas, we really enjoyed the "Devil's Gardens", another great spot for us kids to hop around in & on!

So, everyone out there, this is a great fun experience, and if you have kids, well you simply must do this! The Visitor Center in Escalante can tell you how to find them, and advise you on weather conditions (you don't want to enter these slots if there is any probability of rain in the area...it could be fatal!).

So, plan a trip, maybe we'll meet you out here next Spring. And, you could put those climbing skills to work out here!