Spring Break Mini Adventure--Day Five--Wednesday

This is a big day for us.  We will do no more backpacking down the canyon; today we will conceal our camp, don daypacks, and strike out for the Escalante River.  We're not entirely sure where it is.  I didn't plan for us to hike Harris Wash, so I didn't bring a map.  One of the dependable things about a slot canyon, however, is that is almost impossible to get lost.  You are either going up-canyon or down-canyon.

Two passing up-canyon hikers estimate that it will take us two hours to get to the  Escalante.  We load up and take off.  Without the heavy backpacks and with two days of canyon experience under our belts, we fly down Harris Wash.

We come to a particularly thick set of willows and push through, and there it is--the Escalante River in all its muddy glory.  Said to be the last river discovered in the lower 48 states, it tumbles along carrying a mixture of silt and sand.  I am reminded that this is the kind of water our Paria crews are drinking every day--no water pumps for them.

We've done it--we've reached our goal on day three and it's not even lunchtime.  I delivered a lecture on the history of the Mormons, then someone spots a nearby sandstone tower.  "Let's climb that," someone suggests, and off we go.

One of the things I like about this crew is that everyone is ready to do something new and no one wants to hang back.  So up we go.  It's not all that cold, but the wind is gusting.

From the top we have a long view than we have had for days.  We climb back down and head back to camp.  We find our packs, still concealed, and since the day is young, we decide to head up-canyon for a while.  We find another relatively sandy campsite, though not as bad as the night before.

Sand has gotten into everything--sleeping bags, packs, you name it.  We are still working on operating as  crew--trying to get Scouts to volunteer for jobs instead of being nagged to do them.  The adults let our two crew chiefs handle most of this.  They are learning leadership, sometimes the hard way.

Two nearby campers tell us that a front is coming in the next day, and with it will come snow or rain.  We find that two of our Scouts left their tent in the car--no one knew this--so decide that we need to hike back to our sheltered campsite the next day.  We bed down that night, all of us sleeping out once more.