UTAZ Day 7: Escalante - Peek-a-Boo & Spooky Gulches, Devil's Garden

On Day 7 I woke up in our bed to see Landon’s disembodied head peering down at me from his spot in the loft, so that was a special Yurt experience.

We’d all gotten nearly 10 hours of sleep and my legs were almost no longer mad at me after our killer days at Zion. The kids ran around the property, gobbling up the delicious breakfast burritos the owners left in our fridge and discovering a new secret swing behind some trees. The sky was super hazy and when we asked the owner about it she said it was from the Northern California wildfires and they had never seen such a heavy haze in their area before. It lasted for two days and made me glad for the Yurt mix-up that had us hiking in Zion with its soaring views during a time of clear skies. It's scary how far the smoke can travel.

I’d read a lot about the slot canyons, or gulches, of Escalante and decided that Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Gulches were calling to us. 26 miles down a *very* bumpy dirt road, unable to go more than 20 mph, and the family was mildly skeptical of my plans, but maintained their faith in my pre-trip google skills. We parked at the isolated trailhead (Lower Fork Wash Trail; NOT Upper, if you want to do the most efficient loop) and hiked about 2 miles through high desert and down smooth rock into a dried-out riverbed and canyon.

We never saw another person, but suddenly there it was, the entrance to Peek-a-Boo gulch, with just a small 12 foot boulder climb to begin.

We managed it, with help from James, who had to get himself up at the end, and then we were off, squeezing and exclaiming through the narrow canyon and fun arches and crawl spaces that filled it.

It was a BLAST and totally worth the likely damage to our car’s suspension from the access road.

Peek-a-Boo was probably my favorite, with its crazy wavy walls and tight (but not too tight!) slots.

I think the Gulch itself was only about a half mile, if that, but it was an adventure the whole way - over, under, and through.

Once we climbed out of Peek-a-Boo Gulch we hiked a mile over to Spooky- so named because of the EXTREMELY tight squeezes and dark spaces. But first we ate lunch right outside the entrance, fueling back up with our PBJs, chips, and the last of our apples from the Capitol Reef orchards.

Refreshed and refueled, we climbed down into Spooky Gulch and it was AWESOME.

You have to climb down into the slot and then you are pretty well stuck down there until you get to the end. It would not be great if your claustrophobic, but all three kids declared it their favorite hike so far.

James and I lost a few layers of skin in some of the twists and turns.

At one point you had to tunnel under a boulder and use a fixed rope to climb up the smooth side wall to continue.

Our packs made us too wide for most of the gulch so James and I hiked while holding them overhead or out in front.

There were a few REALLY tight spots and all in all it was just SO fun.

When we finally emerged back to full daylight we hiked the 2 miles back to the car, sweaty and covered in orange dirt, and almost wished we could do it again.

On the way home, back up the 26 miles of “Hole in the Rock Road,” we pulled off to play in Devil’s Garden, a super fun collection of hoodoos and rock formations our never-ever-tired kids were thrilled to scramble over.

And by "kids" I also mean James who needed to jump from one smooth tall thing to another multiple times.

Like father, like son.

And daughter.

Cora and I found a semi-shady spot and waited them out.

After a while we forced the kids back in the car, stopped in town for a few groceries in a very (VERY!) tiny market, and headed to our home sweet yurt.

We grilled out dinner (hot dogs and steak), made a fire and roasted marshmallows for s'mores, watched the stars, and slept like the dead until Cora's floating head woke up me up the next morning.

On the last day of our trip I asked each kid which hike was their favorite and all three said the Gulches (as did James). It was pretty incredible to get to walk and wind our way through those fissures in the earth.

Sometimes I look back at the pictures and just can't believe we got to experience such wonders, but we definitely soaked them up as best we could!

UTAZ Day 6: Bryce Canyon NP

On Day 6 we woke up late, got in one last swim at the Cable Mountain Lodge pool (and by "we" I mean, James and the kids; I sat on the balcony of our room, sipping my tea and admiring the red cliffs around me), packed up, and headed back towards Escalante to reclaim our Yurt that had been accidentally denied to us three days prior. But first, we had a stop at Bryce Canyon National Park along the way!

A friend of mine posted a picture of him and his wife at Bryce Canyon 7ish years ago and that picture is what kicked off the whole idea of a southern Utah National Park roadtrip for me, so this stop was much anticipated and it did not disappoint!

We stopped at the Visitors Center (always!) and then drove to Sunset point to start our 3.5 hike from Sunset Point to the Rim Trail to Sunrise Point to Queen's Garden to Navajo Loop to Wallstreet, which takes you right back to Sunset Point where you started.

Bryce Canyon (which is not actually a canyon, but rather a collection of more than a dozen amphitheaters) is famous for its hoodoo formations and gorgeous orange colors.

The hoodoos reminded me of the sand drip castles you make at the beach and they were so large and varied.

The loop we took cut all the way through the canyon-that's-not-a-canyon, through stone doorways, and alongside giant stone wonders of all shapes and sizes.

We were pretty wiped out from our Zion hikes, but the 3.5 mile loop was the perfect distance to get into the hoodoos and admire what Bryce Canyon is famous for without sending my family into a revolt against my travel plans.

The colors were so beautiful and the formations so bizarre, we really enjoyed it.

Towards the end you can pick between the Two Bridges trail or Wallstreet trail to get back to Sunset Point. We opted for Wallstreet which is more strenuous but takes you right between some giant hoodoo formations and offers really great views.

My hamstrings were mad, but my heart was happy with the choice.

We stopped in the little town of Bryce (which is still bigger than the even smaller town of Escalante) for some pizza and then pressed on to our much-anticipated yurt home for the next 3 nights.

And it was worth the wait!

We booked the Cottonwood Yurt with Escalante Yurts and it had 2 bedrooms with queen beds (one of which went untouched because when given the option, my children will ALWAYS sleep together) plus a loft with three twin beds, a full kitchen, bathroom, living room, deck, fire pit, swings, and lots of room for the kids to climb and explore at their leisure.

It was glamping at its finest and we were here for it.

The kids immediately declared the loft an adult-free space and instituted a password system James and I could never quite crack.

The deck and land around the yurt was so great to let them run and play and explore.

The yurt also included a daily homemade breakfast that the owners deliver to your fridge/kitchen the day before to eat at your leisure and the excitement of opening the door each day to discover the next morning's breakfast was HUGE and we had to take turns opening the door after our hikes.

We went to sleep in my comfiest bed of the trip, so excited to have now seen all 5 of the famous Utah Mighty 5 Parks and ready for more adventures (and breakfast!) in the morning!