HDT 2022 Day 18, April 18, Monday
Start top of Fifty Mile Bench S7 mile 6.9
End start of Navajo Canyon S7 mile 22.7
Miles walked: 15.8
With Fifty Mile Bench we leave the brilliant red rocks of yesterday, and move to more muted colors, tans and grays, like my own state. Continuing to follow the pack trail, we get to Mudhole Springs, a line shack with fenced off springs, and the next sure cattle-free water is many miles away, so it is time to fill all water containers and drink as much as possible, as hikers would say,¨camel up¨.
Continuing on faint pack trail in juniper and pinon, and eventually cross-country, the route enters a drainage to Monday Canyon, and follows it down. We had not had such a brushy wash since Sweetwater just after Mount Ellen.
The brush here matches juniper and pinon forest, not the riparian zone willows and tamarisk as in the Escalante River. Finally the channel widens, and brush becomes less of a problem.
The sides of the canyon are very different from what we have seen lately, muted rock colors with juniper and pinon.
After a while, the canyon becomes an obstacle course, climbing around huge boulders, and routing around a series of pour-offs.
The canyon kept fooling me on pour-offs. Looking ahead, it seemed the route was about to stop descending so sharply, and then we get another several pour-offs or dry-falls, that seem to become even steeper. Mondays, am I right?
Finding water in pools at one of the pour-offs, I refill my bottle and myself. Finally, after several challenging miles, Monday Canyon runs into Rogers Canyon, and water runs in the drainage, with plenty of signs of cattle. We have descended enough that Rogers Canyon is out of the forest ecozone, and into the arid zone.
Rogers provides some obstacles, with boulders and mud bogs from cattle use, and tamarisk, but eventually the route settles to a more sedate hike. Then a short transition to Croton Canyon and finally I get to Navajo Canyon and cowboy camp. The route spends several miles in Navajo Canyon, so expect photos tomorrow.