April 2022 – Page 6 – Sagebrush Trails

Escalante?

HDT 2022 Day 15, April 15, Friday
Start Escalante River S6 mile 34.2
End Escalante River, S6 mile 49.0, more than halfway on 25.5 mile river section
Miles walked:14.8

Beginning hiking along the Escalante, the water is clear so one can see the bottom to judge depth for wet-foot river crossings.

One might need to cross when the outside bend of the river gets too close to the canyon wall.

Moody?

HDT 2022 Day 14, April 14, Thursday
Start base of Red Slide, S6 mile 17.9  
End Escalante River 34.2
Miles walked: 16.3

The Red Slide appears to be a huge pile of red rocks right up against the Capitol Reef fold, and, just guessing, is part of the same geological uplift event.

Following an old mining track on Red Slide, the next task is to climb up to the Rim of Moody Canyon cross-country, dodging pinon+juniper and washes and ridges and huge boulders.

Twist?

HDT 2022 Day 13, April 13, Wednesday
Start S5 mile 42.6, past Swap Canyon Spring 
End base of Red Slide, S6 mile 17.9 
Miles walked: 24.2

This morning on a short road walk, my water bottles froze while I was hiking. The same thing happened yesterday.

The route entered the Capitol Reef National Park, with its own unique rock formations, due to a geology feature named the Waterpocket Fold, a 100-mile north-south fold in the earth’s crust. We enter at Oyster Shell Reef, and these rocks do have a shell shape.

Next we climb the Burr Trail Switchbacks. A road with 6 hairpin turns is built in such a way that you cannot even tell there is a road there from this vantage point looking at the slope.

If you zoom in, you might just barely spot the roof of a white car going up. Here is looking down on some of the turns.