Davis Gulch

Day 1, 2/22/07

We left home late on Thursday night, hoping to get past some of the snow and get an early start at the trail head. We made it as far as Panguich before deciding to stop for the night at 1 am. We slept in the car in a church parking lot.

Day 2, 2/23/07

We left Panguich at 6 AM because I could not stand to try and sleep in the car anymore. It had snowed a little during the night and the barometer was still predicting showers.

We slid off the road between Bryce Canyon and Escalante around 8:30 AM. I guess we should have slept a little longer and tried to find somewhere to eat breakfast so the snowplows could clear off the roads.

The tow truck pulled us back onto the road around 10:30 am and we were back on our way. It cost $188. The alignment was damaged on my car and something under the car was knocked loose – we had to listed to it rattle the rest of the trip in the car.

We finally made it to the top of Davis Gulch at 1:30 pm.

The Actual Trip

We walked along the top of the gulch for about 2 miles. If you’ve read any accounts of people doing this, they recommend against it. I now totally agree. The up-and-down was extremely tiring and we couldn’t really see into the gulch anyway. With full packs on we didn’t dare get too close to the edge.

We turned west to get out of the up-and-down. By this time, the weather was starting to catch up to us and we decided against trying to camp in the gulch. We had pushed our luck pretty far already and did not want to chance a flash flood. We walked through extreme winds and some light snow. Finally, from the South, we could see a major storm coming and decided to set up camp. We found a relatively sheltered spot on the North side of a large rock and set up the tent in an alcove walled by rock on 3 sides (12 S 0501858, 4125456). We were only exposed to the North. Just as the tent went up, it started to snow and the wind really picked up.

We climbed the rock next to which we had setup camp. It was about 100 feet above camp, and the winds were unbelievably strong. They were gusting at least 30 mph. We scouted around the campsite, walking about 1 more mile in a circle and found some sink holes with water just to the east of camp about 1/3 of a mile away. Circling north and west we found an alcove into which many people had carved their names in the sand stone, dating back to 1944.

K.C and I debated the worth of those scrawls, as it seemed that the older ones were almost historic. I am of the opinion that, although I will never do such a thing, in 50 years it might be interesting to see those names in the middle of the desert.

Dinner was a cold affair because of the gusting and swirling wind. As soon as we were done eating we dove into the tent and sleeping bags to read and snooze away the rest of the day. We were both exhausted from the walk, cold, and the excitement from the morning’s slide off. I could not help worrying about my car and how close we had possibly come to injury or death. I think I was affected mentally more than I had considered until that moment.

Day 3, 2/24/07

I got up around 6:30, climbed our rock, and watched the sun rise. The exhaustion and fatigue from the previous day seemed to melt with the rising of the sun and some communion with deity. I contemplated naming our rock “Prayer Rock” but decided on “Sunrise Rock.”

I went down to retrieve my food to eat breakfast and decided to find a spot about ¾ of the way down the rock to eat. After calling to K.C, he came up too and we ate breakfast watching the desert wake up. Thereafter, we called the rock “Breakfast Rock.”

We left camp at 9 AM, angling west. We wandered in a North/west direction and found a heart shaped igneous rock sitting in the middle of a sandy spot. We also found the millstone.

We ended up walking too far north without turning back to the east and had to back track a little in order to find the descent point into the gulch. We built up some rock cairns so that future hikers might find the descent point a little easier than we did. It gets a little hairy in that area and previous rock cairns were gone.

We explored the gulch past Bement arch. The desert is tricky this time of year. When we were in the sun we would start to sweat, but as soon as we entered a shaded spot we’d be chilled to the bone. It was often cold enough that water was frozen in the shaded areas. We located some Anasazi ruins and rock paintings.

Once past Bement arch, the only Anasazi remains are some steps climbing out of the gulch near the narrows. We didn’t make it that far this time though, as we started running out of time. Progress up the gulch is more difficult this year than in previous years. A lot of reeds have grown in the bottom of the gulch and then knocked down by floods, making progress in some areas extremely difficult.

You can see a lot more pictures of the paintings and ruins we found on my flickr page.

As we hiked back, our pace was relaxed and we mis-judged the time it would take to return to camp. We ended up hiking for over an hour in the dark. Luckily, I had a head lamp and we had a half moon lighting the way. In those conditions, we wouldn’t have made it back to camp without the GPS. The desert offers so few landmarks; I can see how easy it would be for someone to become lost.

Dinner that night was pleasant as there was only a slight breeze and the stars were close.

Day 4, 2/25/07

Despite the best of intentions, we slept in a little and missed sunrise. We ate breakfast listening to howling coyotes and then broke camp. We walked east to the sink holes for drinking water for the trip out. All we could find was a small pool that had a thin sheet of ice covering the top. Thank heavens for water purifiers.

The portion of the trip out was relatively uneventful, but we mis-judged the route and ended up walking ¾ of a mile east on the road. We climbed more than we needed to also.

All in all, this was another great trip with some important lessons learned:

1. Wait for the snow-plows to clear the road when you’re in a Civic with bald tires
2. Don’t try to walk along the edge of Davis Gulch
3. Walk almost straight South to the car, avoiding all the up and down
4. Park west of the top of the gulch, at least ¾ of mile, to avoid extra climbing on the way out
   

Coordinates of interest:
Milstone:
Campsite:
Descent:

Southwest Desert, Zions Park, Utah

Location: Southwest corner of Zion’s National Park
USGS Quad(s):
Trip Dates: January 2005
Why go?: Spectacular desert scenery, petrified forest, solitude (if you go during the right season). Actually, if you have to ask, then you shouldn't go. Stay home so the rest of us can enjoy it
Water: Plentiful during winter and spring.
Human Traffic: we went during January and didn’t see anyone else
Difficulty: Moderately difficult navigation

Introduction

We wanted to make a winter trip and decided to try this area of Zion’s national park. Again, our bad luck held out and it was extremely wet while we were there – we probably saw 6 inches of snow fall. It was extremely muddy as well.

Inbound

The hike into the southwest desert follows a stream bed north and east in a deep cut valley. A few miles into the gorge it splits, one part heading west and the other continuing north east. It is important to have someone in your group who can read a map and make correct decision. Unfortunately, our skills failed us and we continued in the east fork, different from our trip plan. Luckily, being stupid but happy, we eventually found some high and relatively dry ground on which to camp.

Water was an issue as it was chocked with fine silt. After a few dozen pumps, my purified was totally clogged with the silt. We tried to fill a container to let the silt settle to the bottom. We let it sit all night but the silt was so fine, it was still floating in the water. NOTE: when someone backpacks and complains about silt in the water, please do not immediately say “didn’t you let it sit for while, duh?” That really bugs.

Fortunately we found a clear running stream a little to the west of camp. The water was a little green, but tasted fine (once we grew used to the funny taste).

Day 2

In that area, there is really not a big attraction. No ruins, unique rock formations, lakes, or anything. On the quad though, there was a mine marked. We decided after breakfast to make for that landmark which was a good 5 miles away, most of it off trail.

We struck out west, moving up a ridge through an area littered with petrified wood – whole logs were petrified. After a couple of miles we had to strike north, leaving the trail. The going was slow, but beautiful. To the North we could see gathering clouds, and as we circled a small peak to our right, we caught glimpses of the tree sisters to the east. To the west and south was a wide open view of a valley sloping down towards St. George and I-15 (too far away to be seen during the day).

We descended to a stream formed gorge running east and west and followed that to the mine. It was interesting – a shaft running straight into the ground with old mining equipment lying around. We ate lunch there, looking around at the surroundings and soaking in the solitude before setting back off to camp.

Our trip back to camp provided more excitement than the trip to the mine. It started to snow, a lot, so we decided to deviate from the path earlier, and almost immediately struck south. We had to cross the peak we kept on our right earlier in the day. It was steep and snow was accumulating, but it ended up being easier than we initially thought it would. Once on the other side (south/east side), we were up against the huge rock formations towering above us. The soft sand along the base had become so soft it was impossible to cross or walk on and reminded me of some fantasy novel waste land. We were able to find our small clear running stream and followed it back to camp.

That evening I struck out on my own for a little walk, looking for human and animal tracks, following our initial path further east. By this time the snow had stopped, and it was all silent around me. That land is full of peace and contentment. Ryan was worried about me and I found him pacing around camp when I returned. It is never a good idea to wander alone in the wilderness – especially when it is getting dark and visibility is low due to snow and clouds.

So, that night, after eating and wandering a bit more, we decided to call it a night. The sky started clearing and the temperature started dropping. I struck out north to dig a cat whole. It was amazing that we could see a glow in the sky to the south west (just over my left shoulder) from the city of St. George.

For whatever reason, I was very disoriented after I finished my cat hole. I started walking the same direction I started, away from camp. Luckily, I had been walking slightly downhill from camp and noticed that I was still going downhill not long after I started walking. It is easy to get lost in the wilderness.

That night, the clouds rolled back in and it snowed a little more. The temperature climbed, and the snow turned to rain some time in the night. I got hot in my bag and a little closterphobic. Ryan woke up, trying to unzip the door where there was no door, moaning, “I’m gonna barf, I’m gonna barf!” That would have been awful as he was right next to my head, zipping and unzipping a small window in the tent. I told him the door was at our feet. All he did was stuck his head out and the fresh air seemed to calm down his stomach. We have been very fortunate as a small case of the turkey trots is the worst sickness any of us have had yet in the wilderness.

Outbound

The trip out was tricky. We decided to bypass the gorge we followed up and instead struck almost directly west. We went too far though, and had to backtrack a few miles before descending back into the gorge. Ryan found a trail into the gorge, luckily. It probably saved us hours of walking. We ate lunch under some outcropped rocks as it had started raining again.

When we finally made it back to the van, there was a not stuck to the windshield from the park rangers. They wanted us to call them when we made it out. Apparently, when we filled out the back country permit, there was a mistake and it said we were going to leave the day before. I guess they had called my wife (the emergency contact) and told her that we were lost. Jamie told them we probably were, but that we were not planning to leave until the following day. I guess they were about to mount a search party to come and find us.

We stopped in Cedar City for pizza on the way home. What a great trip.