The last blog ended in Escalante, Utah, which is near the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Two of the best hikes in the area are the Peek-a-boo and Spooky Slot Canyons hikes. Greg and Helen had these on their bucket list of hikes to do. My oh my. I watched several recent You Tube videos on them and was a bit worried about being able to climb up (or down) some of the areas, but I wanted to try. As you can see by the feature photo (thanks Greg!), the canyons are gorgeous inside.
Before you even start on the trail, there is a structure to make sure your body size can make it through the narrow canyon walls. We all fit and yes, I was even hoping I didn’t have to turn sideways while in the slot canyons. Not a chance – they are narrow. Yikes!
After first hiking down 1 ½ miles to the canyon, which included a bit of moderate scrambling down some short cliffs and hiking along a creek wash, we arrived at the entrance to Peek-a-boo Slot Canyon. Below is a picture of Greg at an overlook on our hike down and Greg and Helen at the entrance to the slot canyon.
The first hurdle is to climb up the 15 foot sandstone wall Greg and Helen were standing in front of in the photo above. Greg made it up great and then Helen suggested I go next. With Helen giving my bum a bit of a push, I climbed up halfway. When I started up the second half, Greg grabbed my arm and I tried to scoot up with my bum against the side, but my foot slipped on the sandstone. There I was, hanging with both arms above my head, back to the wall. I tried to turn on my side and get my footing again, but I could not, so Greg pulled me up. Yay Greg! Helen then climbed up all by herself. They both have rock scrambling and climbing experience, which clearly showed and my lack of skills in this department was very apparent, plus my fear of heights had kicked in. Here are pictures of Greg standing at the top, Helen sitting at the top when she made it up like a pro and me also sitting at the top. Phew!
We then navigated a few more walls (not as high) where, once again, Greg and Helen helped me get up and over. And then we started the fun part, walking through the slot canyon. It was just gorgeous! The natural waves and contours were stunning. We were all sad when we got to the end. But ahead, the next slot canyon, Spooky Gulch awaited.
By reading reviews and watching the You Tube videos, we knew Spooky Gulch had 1) even tighter passageways and 2) a long drop to get into one part of the canyon. I wasn’t a fan of tackling the longer drop and Greg wasn’t sure his body type would make it through the tighter areas. As we were discussing our options, a lovely couple, Ian & Kate and their pup Peggy, originally from the UK and now living in Colorado, emerged from Peek-a-boo and invited Helen to join them. Greg and I hiked along the top of the canyon and could see/hear them traverse the narrow slot canyon. Greg, with his awesome backcountry hiking skills, found a way for us to go up and over and then down to the valley to the exit of Spooky Gulch. We arrived just as Helen and her new friends exited. Perfect timing! Greg and I went in Spooky Gulch through the exit to see how far he could get and he did run into some tight spaces. We were both glad we chose to skip Spooky and so excited Helen was able to experience the canyon.
We then made our way back (uphill) the 1 ½ miles to Greg’s truck; ending with 6 miles for the day. What an awesome adventure. I could have never done it without Greg and Helen’s support (literally) and am extremely grateful.
I neglected to mention the road to the trailhead includes 25 jarring miles on a gravel, washboard road. As we were headed back into town, just a mere 6 miles left, Greg noticed his tire pressure was low. He pulled over and wouldn’t you know it, a flat! There was quite a large slit in the right rear tire. Greg & Helen worked as a team (I just stayed out of their way), getting out the tire patch and expertly applying a patch and filling the tire with air using a portable air compressor. Success! We were off. And then we weren’t. The right front tire also had a hole and was flat. Bummer! We must have run over something in the road that got both tires. So the pit crew was at it again, even faster this time, and then we were off for good this time. Phew!
After all that, we met Dave & Murphy at a Mexican food truck in Escalante which was rated 4.9. The food was muy deliciosa!
Thanks so much for following along. We have arrived at our 3rd Utah National Park, Capital Reef and look forward to sharing about it in the next blog.
Peek-a-boo was so fun thanks to my push me, pull me up friends Brenda, Tight spaces aren’t for me Dave, and I just stayed and slept Murphy.