Suggestions for hikes in Escalante in late April

[audrey]

I just can't decide from the available riches! Who can recommend their favorite non-technical day hikes? Phipps, Hackberry, and Little Death Hollow/Wolverine sound grand, but what are the chances of high cold water? I may invest in neoprene socks just in case.

Last April at Zion we had hoped to do some wading around in the Virgin River, but it was fast, very high and mighty cold. The Narrows will have to wait.

Oops - wrong forum...

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

We did Peekaboo, Spooky, and Brimstone Gulches and Coyote Gulch. All were fantastic and I would highly recommend them. We also spent some time in Devil's Garden -- I would recommend at least stopping by there. It's a fun place to explore. Our pictures and notes from Escalante are here if you want to take a look.

 

[sli74]

http://www.americansouthwest.net/slot_canyons/paria_river/canyon.html

Check out Paria River Canyon while you are out there . . . at least the Narrows, they are SPECTACULAR !!!! The link above gives you lots of info and here are my pictures in case you need convincing.

http://community.webshots.com/album/136620830iaslRy

sli74

 

[Snowflea]

I'll second Devil's Garden. It's but a short walk to some really cool hoodoos & other rocks you can scramble around on. We also did Spooky Gulch & Calf Creek Falls -- I would revisit both in a heartbeat. On the trail to Calf Creek Falls (~6 miles RT), you pass by some HUGE petroglyphs, the largest I've ever seen. The falls themselves are just spectacular. (We were there in March.)

Kodachrome State Park is neat, too.

If you want a "zero day," the (paved) road to Boulder is pretty durn cool!

A final recommendation is that you rent a vehicle with AWD. The dirt road surfaces, i.e. Hole-in-the-Rock Road, turn into Crisco after it rains! We had a Dodge Airbag and couldn't make it all the way to the river...

Looking forward to your report & photographs in April.

 

[pudgy_groundhog]

We visited Kodachrome as well, which was a nice stop along the way to Bryce. We hiked the Panorama Trail and the Big Bear Geysers loop. The colors and formations were neat and there were hardly any people. We saw Grosvenor Arch just outside the park too.

I would also second the 4WD recommendation. We were too cheap to spring for it and ended up with a PT Cruiser for our trip. The road was severely washboarded and we could only go 10 miles an hour on most of it. We kept laughing whenever we were passed by a 4wd vehicle (which was everybody else but us) and here we were put putting along in our Cruiser. We were able to make it everywhere we wanted to go though, so it worked out okay. And the plus side was having to drive that slowly we saw some badgers that we probably would've missed otherwise.

I don't know how much time you have, but a hike in Wire Pass/Buckskin Gulch would be a nice dayhike as well.

 

[audrey]

Thanks, all, for the suggestions and the photos, I am salivating!