What better way to blow out the end of the season than backpacking with the man himself? I recently returned from a guided trip just outside the town of Escalante in southern Utah led by Andrew Skurka and Christy Rosander. Over the course of five days we explored the high desert, slickrock passes (slickrock being the sandstone equivalent of granite and not the least bit slick), and the massive slot canyon Death Hollow (quite possibly my favorite day of hiking ever). We also saw natural arches and bridges, native cave art and pottery shards, an assortment of waterfalls, incredible sunsets, and a whole lot of sand and cacti.
Day 1: Escalante River Trailhead to Willow Patch Creek
Starting from the Escalante River Trailhead on Highway 12, we headed west along (and sometimes in) the Escalante River. Almost immediately we were rewarded with a natural bridge and arch as well as our first glimpse of native art:
After reaching the intersection with Sand Creek we wound our way up the slickrock to the northeast, ascending out of the canyon and onto the high desert plateau. Unfortunately this meant trading relatively comfortable canyon hiking for miles of shadeless trudging across lousy sand, something which would become the group’s most-loathed element of the trip.
After crossing the wash northeast of Sand Hollow we descended back into Sand Creek at the intersection with the aptly-named Willow Patch Creek. Our campsite for the night was atop the wedge of slickrock that separates the two creeks to the north.
Day 2: McGath Point and Upper Calf Creek
Andrew runs a tight ship: a wake-up call at 6AM followed by hiking as soon as it’s light enough to see (just a couple minutes after 7AM this time of year). Our goal today was to head north towards, and then find a way around, McGath Point, a giant promontory of slickrock to the north. Unfortunately we had quite the water carry since we weren’t sure whether our halfway point of Upper Calf Creek, on the backside of McGath, would be dry or not.
Of course, “finding a way around” on slickrock is trivial because, steep cliff bands aside, you can really go just about anywhere. From our lunch spot under a giant tree we ascended up a pair of benches before circling counter-clockwise around the mountain. This whole day was like being on a giant rock playground: my favorite kind of hiking. A smattering of clouds even helped keep the temperatures manageable.
After cresting the eastern ridge of McGath we saw that water was indeed flowing through Upper Calf Creek, so we made a slight detour down the side of the mountain for lunch:
We followed Calf Creek north via some grade-A bushwhacking before stumbling upon a cave with some more native art:
Our campsite for the night was just north of the junction between the Boulder Mail Trail and Sand Creek. That night we were treated to some of the most incredible sunsets I’ve ever seen.
Day 3: Sand Creek to Mamie Creek
Day 3 was not a very photogenic day. We spent most of it headed west across the plateau, stopping briefly to attempt to locate (unsuccessfully) some native pottery sites. Upon reaching the eastern rim of Death Hollow we picked up a sometimes-hairy descent route (previously scouted by Andrew) which took us in a zig-zagging path straight down the side of the canyon.
Upon reaching the bottom we followed the creek north around the bend before hopping out of the far side and regaining some of our lost elevation. Crossing more rock to the southwest we eventually dropped down into Mamie Creek and followed it back towards Death Hollow. We ended up camping near a series of sludge-filled potholes a short distance to the west of the Boulder Mail Trail.
Day 4: Death Hollow
The best and most beautiful day of hiking I’ve ever done. I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves.
Along the way we ran into a group of literature professors that we’d also seen earlier at Upper Calf Creek Falls. They told us about a nearby plant called Mormon Tea which could be used to make, well, Mormon Tea. I took some pieces of the plant and boiled them in water during our lunch stop. We’d been told it was supposed to be a bit sweet but it didn’t come across that way to me, although I’m wondering if I prepared it properly. While the group was chatting I spotted this little gem in the sand nearby:
Andrew was using an app called Seek which could identify plants visually just by pointing your phone’s camera at them. This is way better than the method I’d been using previously which was to take a picture and then attempt to match it up with online photo galleries at various universities or flower websites.
At this point we approached a section known as The Narrows, where, unsurprisingly, the walls closed in on either side. Although not visible in the picture, the center of the creek is actually laced with giant pools and the only way to proceed (without taking a bath) was to hug (and sometimes crawl along on hands on knees) the walls as tightly as possible. Two of our group slipped and fell in but luckily I was able to keep myself (and the camera) dry.
Eventually we rejoined the Escalante River and started to wind our way eastward towards the starting point of the trip.
Our campsite for the night was a slickrock shelf above the northern side of the Escalante River, a little less than halfway between Death Hollow and Sand Creek.
That night was our first completely clear night so I set up the tripod and managed to snag some star trails:
Day 5: Escalante River
Short and uneventful, this day found us following the river back to the trailhead.
Route
Out of respect for Andrew’s business, as well as the effort he put into assembling this loop (he actually ran the entire thing in under 3 hours to scout it), I’m omitting the specific route details. Of course, given that it was entirely off-trail and that the terrain is incredibly navigable there’s really no reason to want to follow in our exact footsteps, you can wander wherever you’d like. The Escalante is pretty magical in that regard.
Gear
Packing list:
https://lighterpack.com/r/n1prve
What Worked
The Therm-A-Rest ProLite Apex, my two-inch-thick four-season self-inflating sleeping pad, is overkill in almost any situation. And yet, its unmatched comfort was a huge boon on this trip since it meant I could toss it down on almost any patch of rock – even with a crack or dip or whatnot beneath me – and be perfectly comfortable. Since not having to fuss with gear is one of my backpacking tenets I’m giving myself a gold star for bringing this along despite the weight. I’m still in the market for either a similar but lighter pad or maybe even going back to an inflatable, annoying as they are. During a brief pad discussion Andrew and I chatted about the merits of 25-inch-wide pads “because we have elbows.”
I had originally packed an Exped Air Pillow UL, fearing that I wouldn’t have enough space in my beloved Exped Deepsleep. After packing up all the food and seeing that there was still room left the air pillow got left behind and I enjoyed four nights of amazing sleep on my memory foam monstrosity. Can’t beat the Deepsleep!
Although I rarely if ever use a trekking pole on hikes, it was prudent on our descents and for balance in the river, and it also allowed me to use my arms to help keep up with the group since photographers are always falling behind. And so, after five days of heavy use, I’m excited to say that my spindly Element Equipment Carbon 3000 is not the toothpick I’d thought it to be: I’m no longer worried about durability in the field.
A five-day full-comfort setup is pushing the limits of the Osprey Levity 60 backpack, at least as I currently have it packed. Downsizing my quilt and sleeping pad would give some more headroom but realistically I don’t see myself doing many (if any) 6+ day trips in the next few years.
Much of our route would be over sand: previous clients on this trip had reported issues with build-up and we were shown a short video of a someone pouring a ridiculous amount of sand out of their shoes, something that had to be dealt with multiple times per day. As a result, we were encouraged to bring either shoes with a mesh woven so tight that it was sand-proof (such as that found on the Altra Lone Peaks) or shoes with a waterproof membrane (Gore-Tex etc.) since that would perform double-duty as a sand-blocking barrier. Initially I had picked up a pair of RaidLight desert gaiters for this purpose, testing them out in the sand dunes of central Washington. The attachment proved to be somewhat annoying: first you had to take a long strip of adhesive-backed velcro and stick it to the perimeter of your shoe. After it had set you could then use the corresponding velcro on the inside of the gaiters to stick them on. Although the gaiters were very effective at keeping out sand, it just seemed like one more thing to fuss with. In the end I decided that, rather than risk the success of the trip on a relatively new and unfamiliar piece of gear, I’d just bite the bullet and purchase the waterproof version of my beloved Oboz Sawtooh II Lows. This proved to be an excellent choice as they not only kept my feet completely sand-free but also served as a sort of poor man’s wetsuit for our forays through rivers and streams, trapping water inside the shoe and allowing it to warm up somewhat. I recognized this effect because of previous experience with water crossings using waterproof vs. regular socks: the waterproof version is a night-and-day difference in warmth and comfort.
The Columbia PFG Zero Rules continues its reign as my favorite hiking shirt. Having almost no sources of shade, we spent entire days in the sun with highs around 90F yet not once did I feel too hot. I did earn a remark from Andrew that I was “by far the dirtiest” of all the people in the group, but I’m attributing to the shirt’s white color as well the time I spent squeezing through slot canyons the day before the trip. I’d also like to note that even after five days of sunlight the skin under the shirt (which is rated UPF 50) wasn’t the least bit red, tans be damned.
The Sunday Afternoons Charter Escape wide-brim hat kept the sun off my face, ears, and neck (mostly), earning me not a single sunburn. Love it.
The Saxx Quest Loose Cannon underwear were perfect in every regard: I forgot I even had them on.
Despite the full sun and high reflectivity (albedo) of the slickrock, sand, and water (basically, every surface we came across), the Tifosi Crit Smoke Polarized Photochromic sunglasses were adequately dark.
I brought two pairs of Drymax Max Pro Trail Running socks, they were incredible as always. Still my favorite sock of the past few years.
For a puffy jacket I brought along my tried-and-true Ghost Whisperer. Our quick-start mornings meant we didn’t have a lot of standing around time other than in the evening, and even then I was so tired I’d usually pass out right after dinner. Still, it was handy for stops in shady canyon bottoms.
The hood on the Ghost Whisperer restricts vision a bit and since temps were warm to mild I opted to just wear my windproof beanie to keep my head warm, leaving the hood down. The beanie also served its usual role of keeping my head warm and comfy at night.
Nitecore’s NU25 headlamp was a champ. The mid-level brightness setting offered adequate illumination for middle-of-the-night strolls and the red light was handy for assembling gear in the morning and doing photography.
I got stuck with cactus needles twice, once when I kneeled down to take a photo and once when I was wandering barefoot to take a leak in the dark. The former encounter left me with lots of small soft needles embedded in my pants and the skin of my knee, the latter had a half-dozen massive spines sticking out of my big toe. Both times my Silver Gripper tweezers came to the rescue. There are two important lessons here: first, never walk around barefoot in the desert at night. Second, always bring your tweezers, especially if you’re somewhere pokey.
As always the CNOC Vecto was a total champ at gathering water. I was really surprised to see so many people not using it (including Andrew), but there were a couple that did. I think we netted a few converts after this trip.
This was my first trip in a couple years where I actually cooked in a pot, specifically the 900mL Evernew bundle that I’d picked up just for this trip. I’ll talk about it more in the food section below but it was an incredible experience. My only complaint is that, due to the larger pot size, the inner components (stove etc.) no longer sit snug and will rattle around.
What Didn’t
For food/odor protection I used Loksak’s Opsak. This one was at least a year old (perhaps two), and halfway through the trip the seal part delaminated and came off of the body of the bag. This might be an item that needs to be replenished after a certain amount of time in storage, I certainly don’t feel like it saw a ton of use in the field.
Given the perfect weather and temps that were around 50F at night, only a couple people set up their tents and even then just once or twice. And so, the Lunar Solo was completely useless! Of course, shelter isn’t something you can just not bring if you’re being responsible but the thought of pointlessly lugging it around annoyed me.
I tried putting on my sleep socks one night and was dismayed to find that, having bought them properly-sized, they were too snug to comfortably slip onto my swollen feet at the end of the day.
I never touched my Montbell Versalite because it never rained. In fact, I was told it hadn’t rained in southern Utah in nine months.
I also didn’t use my Columbia Omni-Heat Touch liner gloves since it never got cold enough to need them.
I brought the Aquamira Frontier Series pre-filters which are thread-compatible with Sawyer filters. I was expecting the water to be more nasty but it really wasn’t, we were able to use Aquamira drops on their own since the amount of silt or other debris was minimal. And so, neither the pre-filters nor the filter got touched.
My carbon felt ground insulator felt totally unnecessary given that there was nothing to burn (or even scorch). I wonder if I could save two-thirds of an ounce by leaving it home for three-season trips.
Toilet gear was good. The Deuce of Spades was great for digging, the opaque and scent-proof mylar bag held used toilet paper in the least gross way possible (I’m still not on the bidet wagon yet, especially on trips like this where water is in short supply), and my supply of toilet paper and wet wipes was adequate.
Moving on to photography, the Manfrotto Pixi Evo tripod saw its second trip with successful star trails and in my mind has proved its worth for amateur-level astrophotography. The Tiffen circular polarizer was key for getting deep blues out of the daytime skies and cutting glare from the ground and water. In fact, I feel like my camera setup is about as dialed in as it can get for the APS-C sensor size.
What’s Next
I think I could easily save some weight by going with a regular-sized quilt and also actually using the pad straps like a normal person. I always had plenty of excess material and was never the least bit cold (in fact, I was a bit too warm at times).
I sometimes wonder whether the brim of my hat causes my glasses not to darken as much as they could since it blocks all of the sun’s direct rays. I think I may try switching to a non-photochromic pair either this winter.
I’m reluctant to move to a hoodless puffy but I feel like the hood might be redundant with the windproof beanie, Buff, and rain jacket hood – at least for three season use. Not as insulating for sure but probably still adequate.
The Fuji 18mm wide-angle lens yielded one amazing photo after another on this trip despite my being rushed almost the entire time (the photographer is always last). However, I often feel like wide-angle shots push the subject details so far away that it’s hard to really capture the focal point of many scenes. For next year I think I might switch over to Fuji’s 27mm pancake lens. At a 40mm equivalent it’s going to be a lot more zoomed-in, offering more detail and forcing (hopefully) more reliance on composition vs. pure content. Also, the damned thing is so tiny it doesn’t even have room for an aperture ring – talk about ultralight!
Photography
Photo gallery:
https://turigrinos.smugmug.com/Adventures/2020/Escalante
I’ve been slacking enough on getting this post out the door so I’ll just leave you with the link above. Suffice to say southern Utah is a goldmine for incredible photography opportunities.
Food
Scenery aside, this was the highlight of the trip. Andrew is famous for his backpacking meal recipes and, having sampled most of them on this trip, I think this may be his greatest contribution to the world of backpacking. I have never eaten so well on any backpacking trip, and it’s made me completely reconsider my stance on freeze-dried food. With a little prep time at home, as well as packing a few extra ingredients like tortillas, cheese, and butter (yum!), you can eat like a king in the outdoors while also saving money and weight.
In my head, I’d somehow latched onto the idea that backpacking was recreation aka “fun” and doing dishes was “work”, and you’re not supposed to be working when you’re having fun. This meant that I was adamantly opposed to having to scrub pots or whatnot after eating. In hindsight I was being an idiot and I’d like to admit that I was wrong: scrubbing out a pot only takes a few seconds and a squirt or two of water (and maybe a dash of sand or grit for abrasion) and is a small price to pay for admission to the world of heavenly backpacking meals.
I didn’t keep a perfect record but I do believe we had:
- Egg burrito
- Chili
- Beans and rice (and Fritos, which I was the dedicated keeper of)
- Cereal
- Chia oatmeal
- Peanut noodles
- Polenta and peppers
- Cheesy potatoes
Although all of them were excellent, I do think I enjoyed the polenta and peppers the most.
Aside from the above meals (which were pre-packaged by the guides) we were each responsible for our own lunches and snacks. I ended up packing 7,300 calories of food and ate through my entire supply at lunch on the fourth day. I definitely could have used a snack with dinner and by the time we got back to the cars on day 5 I was famished. I ended up eating a gigantic burger and ice cream cone at Nemo’s followed by an (apparently forgettable) second lunch somewhere else.
Here are my notes on some of the specific foods that I brought:
- Oberto pepperoni sticks were a great alternative to jerky as a protein source, if only because they’re much less like to leave bits of meat stuck in your gums.
- I bought some Safeway-brand peanut butter cookies to bring along. While they started out semi-soft they quickly dried out and became crumbly, dissolving into a mess. As much as I like cookies they’re just not super compatible with backpacking.
- Sport beans (jelly beans with caffeine and electrolytes) were a great fruity snack, they helped to break up the monotony of other snacks.
- Chili crunch spicy trail mix is a really great alternative to traditional trail mix (which I also brought) and helps keep things interesting.
- While chocolate-filled caramel balls are among my favorite treats, they get runny in 90F heat.
- I brought a lot of Fig Newtons. They’re a new favorite as they combine fruit and grains in an easy-to-eat package. However, this was my first long trip with them and after a couple days they had all compressed into one giant ball. Still tasty despite having to peel them off, but after another day or two they had also started to crumble. Still great for shorter trips!
- Finally, dehydrated mango slices from Costco were a much-needed source of fruit during the trip. Can’t get enough of them even though the weight-to-calorie ratio is lousy. Man cannot survive on peanut butter alone.
Skurka Adventures
This was my first trip with Skurka Adventures, I doubt it’ll be my last. In the months leading up to the trip we used an online classroom to do both readiness checks (gear, food, travel and lodging, etc.) as well as some actual learning regarding expected conditions and backcountry navigation. The morning of the trip consisted of a gear check and food distribution (I was honored to be the keeper of the Fritos for my group) but during the trip itself the focus was very much on routefinding and navigation. We were given multiple opportunities per day to decide on our route (and sometimes even destination) and clients were continually rotated through the leader position throughout the day. Christy was cheery and upbeat, Andrew was no-nonsense and to the point while also being very personable. He definitely takes his backpacking seriously (also: those calves!). All in all it was, by far, the best backpacking trip I’ve ever been on and a fitting end to another incredible season.
I’d like to thank Andrew and Christy as well as my wife, Person B, who despite being eight months pregnant was more than supportive in getting my butt out there one last time before the snow hits.