Chad and I decided this year we need to spend more time backpacking and taking vacations, the previous years Chad never really wanted to take time off of work to go do things so i was thrilled. We started planning in february, we had backpacking items before but they weren't the greatest so we spent our time picking out all the gear we would need and prepping for the trip. I also spent the month of april doing a lot of hikes to try and get in better shape for the trip.
The trail we had decided on was to enter in by climbing down the ledge at Jacob Hamblin Arch, this included a 2.6 mile hike through sand and on rock to get to the drop in point. We had read online that the drop in point is easy to navigate and wouldn't be a problem at all so we were excited and couldn't wait.
We left first thing friday morning and got to Escalante around 11 picked up our backpacking permit, grabbed a bite to eat and then headed out to forty mile ridge to our parking destination, about 50 miles out of town. We got to the parking lot at about one p.m. and there were so many cars already parked. We were so worried it was going to be hard to find a place to camp once we got in the canyon, we also saw some girl who just got back to the parking lot puking... which made us a little worried about what we were getting ourselves into but we strapped on our packs and started hiking out. The hike to ledge wasn't that bad, it was hot but we were full of energy and excited to get there, the real kicker was when we got to the drop in point. It was pretty much a cliff with a slight slope to it and about 200 feet down. I was kinda freaking out, i knew we could get down but i had no idea how we would get out, we didn't have any ropes with us and i couldn't see any other way but we started our decent into the canyon any way. To climb down we had to tie parachord to our packs and lower them a little at a time and scoot down to them and continue to do that until we got to the bottom. It took some time but we did it, and once we got to the bottom it was beautiful! the canyon walls were all shades of red, and the water was cool and clear and a much needed relief from the heat. There where green tree's all along the river and it was worth the hike in.
By this time it was around four o'clock so we needed to find a place to camp as we walked through the river bottom and we found the perfect camping spot. We set up camp and then the heat stroke set in. Ive never had heat stroke before then but it was awful, i was nauseous and dizzy and freezing. I climbed into my sleeping bag and tried to sleep it off but nothing was really working until i remembered we had some gatorade energy chews, i ate a couple of those and within ten minutes i was feeling better.
That night we cooked up some chicken fajetas on our little propane stoves and then went on a walk.
We walked down towards this little waterfall area, this was the tallest part of the canyon and was in a little alcove, there were so many campers there but i don't blame them it stayed cool and shaded all day.
Saturday we did our day hike, we hike to the black lagoon (my favorite place of the trip) and the natural bridge and attempted to find the pictographs but never found them.
Saturday was hot it was 90 degrees, so we headed back to camp threw on our swim suits and sat in the river and ate lunch and took a nap.
When we woke up dark clouds were rolling in, we had to make a quick decision to pack up before the rain hit (we were in major flash flood area) or stay and wait it out and stay saturday night as originally planed.
We both felt like we needed to leave. We finally got camp tore down around 5 and got to the drop in point at five thirty. We took out the water and put it in a small day pack for me to carry, the plan was to climb up a little bit and id pull on the packs while chad followed behind them to push. This worked for about 30 feet. As i was climbing up the next section it got super steep and there was no where else to go. I was completely stuck. My feet were slipping my hands were starting to sweat from panicking and the little crack i was holding onto began to slip. I freaked out, and panicked i didn't know what to do. Chad dropped the back and climbed up behind me and held me as i turned around and slid down to the closest ledge. We didn't know what to do from there and how we were going to get up the remaining face. Luckily there was a group next to us who had ropes, they were our hero's as they let us use there ropes if we helped them haul there gear up. It was still a rough climb up and by the time we got to the top all our sore muscles from the day before were about to give out, and everything was shaky, but we were out and that was a great feeling. We owe a lot to those guys for helping us out, i have no idea what we would have done with out them.
On the way home i wasn't sure if the trip was worth it, because we had to cut it short and went through a lot of hard trials, but now i am sure it was. I learned a lot about my self, and we grew stronger as a couple helping and pushing each other to accomplish something so difficult. I now know that i can do hard things and i have the best partner to do it with.
-Britney Steele
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