Slots - and I'm not talkin' bout Vegas

Slot canyons are some of the coolest things around.  There aren't many in the world and a good portion of them are right here in my home state of Utah.  I went on a long weekend excursion hiking several slot canyons with my friend Kay and her family.

Peek-A-Boo & Spooky Gulch Slot Canyon

Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Gulch are located right next to each other just outside of Escalante, Utah.  Going east outside of the city you take the Hole-In-The-Rock dirt (washboard) road for about 26 miles to the trailhead off of Dry Fork Road.  The road is not the greatest and the car definitely has some additional squeaks and loose screws after taking the road so be aware. 

From the trailhead you head down following the cairns along a slick rock slope to a sandy bottomed ravine.  It isn't a very long hike down and you turn right and follow the Dry Fork Wash.  Immediately to your left is Peek-A-Boo.  Our first look at it said, "Oh, that ends too quickly and looks tough to get into so the entrance must be farther down the wash."  Nope...you go UP!  Thankfully Kay's husband is 6'-7" and strong (this will be even more useful later in the day!).  He climbed on up and then helped pull the rest of us up the two 10' ledges to the start of the canyon.  The kids are all strong gazelles (meaning long and lean!) so they made it just fine. 

Entrance into Peek-A-Boo

Peek-A-Boo is only 1/3 of a mile long but it is spectacular.  There is a fair amount of climbing required even once you are inside but it is definitely worth it.  Wear long pants for this one and clothes that you don't care about as you are sliding on your backside and crawling over red rock.  Every obstacle we would climb over was a new view of slots and arches.  With three cameras going (ok, I actually think we had 5 in the group!) we didn't move very fast and thankfully we started early enough that we had no competition or people pushing from the backside.  The lighting was pretty decent for us and we thoroughly enjoyed it.  It ended too quickly and the slot opened up.  Stay in the wash until it is obvious and easy to get out on your right side. 

Peek-A-Boo view of what you climb through and what you get to see as a reward!

Once out you turn right and head for Spooky Gulch.  Kay and her family had done Spooky a few years prior but hadn't figured out how to make the loop.  We were bound and determined to make the loop this time. 

Initially you walk again into a wash and after a few 3' drops you are in the canyon.  No big deal right?  Well, a short while later you hit the real obstacle. There is a huge boulder jam which has to be navigated to get down the final 10-15' into Spooky Gulch.  Hmmm...no wonder they say a rope might be good!  We had seen the previous group shimmy on their bellies through a small hole and twist and turn to get down to the bottom.  It didn't look fun.  We sat and ate lunch in the shade while we contemplated our options. 

Kay's husband to the rescue again!  He was able to shimmy through a rabbit hole (large rabbit mind you) and found a larger opening where we could do a "chimney" maneuver down to his shoulders and he could then lift us down the final 6'.  I'll admit it wasn't the most comfortable thing I had ever done but I was glad I had a lot of trust in Kay's husband. 

Ya...this was the feat and how we got into Spooky Gulch!

From there the fun started.  First off it was closer to mid-day so there were actually people that you had to navigate by.  My friends and I are all big people - not fat mind you; but no one thinks petite when they see us.  I'm the shortest adult at 5'-11".  The kids just started walking down the slot canyon and would have to twist and turn at various points.  Us big folks on the other hand had to contemplate our moves.  Spooky Gulch has long sections that are so narrow I had to take the pack off and turn my feet sideways to even to get through.  And, once you start in a direction sideways, since it is so narrow, you can't turn or rotate.  That can make it difficult on some of the turns!  I'm not claustrophobic or anything so it was just fun to do.  And again, your shirt is going to rub on both sides so beware.  Luckily the floor is just a packed sand bottom so the fact that you can't really look down isn't a problem.

We all had a good time squishing, contorting and turning.  Kay's husband had the worst trouble but even he survived without too much emotional scarring - I hope.

Kay's husband - surviving squishing through the slots of Spooky Gulch.

Willis Creek

The last night in Escalante we were looking at galleries when we saw beautiful pictures of another slot canyon.  After some inquiry we realized it was on our way down to Kanab (our next stop) so we decided to take a short detour to hike this pretty slot canyon in the morning.

Willis Creek is located off Skutumpah Road by about 5 miles.  The trailhead is across the road and it is just a short 5 minute walk to the creek.  This is a great family friendly hike where you have to be okay with getting the bottom of your shoes a little wet. 

The slot is about 3'-6' wide and has Willis Creek running through it (supposedly year round) and a few hundreds yard long. It was great for my friend's 70 year old parents to hike with us.  The kids loved playing and it was still spectacular to see. 

Willis Creek Slot Canyon entrance

It is also worth hiking up towards the road where there is a quaint little waterfall.  This was a great hike and little slot canyon.

 

Buckskin Gulch

Buckskin Gulch is the big daddy of them all.  It is one of the deepest and longest slot canyons in the world (if you believe everything the internet says).  We went not knowing much about the conditions as it says sometimes there are deep pools of water or even worse - mud!  Plus there are several boulder jams to deal with possibly.  We figured we would go as far as we could and turn around.  Adventures make good stories right?!

Upon looking at the whole situation we ended up not starting at the trailhead but instead went to Wire Pass and took this spur trail which connected with Buckskin Gulch.  This is totally the way to go! 

The first mile+ is along a wash with few trees for shade (it gets pretty hot in the afternoon!).  You then come to the Wire Pass slot canyon which is really, really, really neat.  Did I say really neat enough?  It is only a few feet wide and up to 100' high.  It was great!  There is one pretty significant drop down which you have to shimmy onto this slick log (thankfully that was there - those not balance challenged will not think twice about this obstacle.  I'm balance challenged) but otherwise it is an easy walk.  We really enjoyed this area. 

This is the log you shimmy down the drop - don't let those slits fool you as they did me absolutely no good <g>.

At the confluence of Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch there are some ancient Indian petrylgyphs on the right hand side right up close at ground level allowing for easy viewing of any age.

Petroglyphs on the wall - not as ancient as Petra but still pretty cool.

We then decided to head back towards the main trailhead rather than going deeper into Buckskin Gulch.  Next time I think I would go further into Buckskin Gulch because to the trailhead (left) the slot does open up a bit and you can only walk maybe 1.5 miles until you are out of the slot canyon.  We turned around at this point, retracing our steps back through Wire Pass and to the car.  The hike is flat, cool (when you are inside the slot) and has some amazing views.  The final part of the hike back in the wash area is not the most pleasant; only in that its hot and dusty.  But we all survived after a healthy dose of ice cream back in town.

The crew in Buckskin Gulch

All in all it was a great weekend filled with lots of slot canyons around southern Utah.  I'd definitely recommend doing any of these hikes and hope to hike them again someday! Thanks Kay et al!

To check out all the pictures check them out under my photo galleries - section New.