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WHAT: a 4 day backpacking trip through the Death Hollow and Escalante River areas in Southern Utah. Death Hollow is one of the Escalante River's longest tributaries. It has a permanent stream that flows through deep sandstone canyons, enclosed by cliffs up to 500 feet tall.
While beautiful, this area does have a few challenges, so I'll note some things upfront:

  • There are no official trails along this entire trip. There are use trails throughout (usually), but everything is really more of a "route"
  • While the first day travels across sun-exposed terrain of slick rock and sand, the rest of the trip involves lots of hiking in water (typically only ankle to shin deep, but there's at least one crossing that's near waist deep). You need to have appropriate footwear and make sure everything will stay dry in case you slip and fall into the water.
  • My plan for day 2 is a day-hike up Death Hollow. This particular section of the canyon involves swimming/floating. I would recommend some kind of small packraft or pool donut, as the water might be cold for swimming
  • There is some mild exposure during the descent of the Boulder Mail Trail into Death Hollow (Day 1); and then a tricky part in Death Hollow (Day 3) that involves squatting or kneeling in the water while moving beneath a shallow overhang.
  • Death Hollow does tend to have a lot of poison ivy that is unavoidable to brush against. I'd recommend having long-pants/long-sleeves at least for an option to wear.
  • We are in a desert canyon close to a water source, I recommend to bring Wag Bags. LNT!

DISTANCE: approx 32 miles total, spread fairly evenly across the 4 days.
ELEVATION: low - approx 2000' AEG total
WEATHER: I'd expect lows around 50 and highs in the mid 80s. This trip will be modified or rescheduled/cancelled if heavy rain is likely or if temperatures will be unseasonably cold.
WATER: once we reach Death Hollow, there will be lots of water. Death Hollow has good and typically clear water for filtering.
DOGS: No dogs.
COST: $4/person for Meetup fees.
DRIVING: it's about 8 hours to the trailhead. The route is paved the whole way, except for the last mile or two to the trailhead. It should be suitable for most vehicles.
JOIN/DROP POLICY: No +1s unless advanced notice is given.
THE PLAN:
• THURSDAY 5/21: meet at the Happy Valley Park and Ride to combine into cars, then begin the drive to the Escalante area. We'll stop in Flagstaff for dinner, and then disperse car-camp between Kanab and Escalante.

• FRIDAY 5/22: set up the car shuttle. The starting/ending trailheads are 10 miles/16 minutes apart. We'll start hiking from an old airstrip that marks the beginning of the Boulder Mail Trail. While called a "trail", the BMT is really more of a route. After 5.5/6 miles, we'll reach Death Hollow. From there, we'll quickly get our feet wet and hike up-canyon 2 miles to Moonshadow Canyon where there is a large camp site.

• SATURDAY 5/23: I have this planned as an out-and-back day hike up Death Hollow, so we can go as far as we want before turning around. The first real swim/float occurs at 1.5-2 miles, and from there, there should be pretty constant swims/floats. Bring some sort of flotation device, I'll be bringing a donut pool toy. I think the water might be a little cold for long swims. The water sections should only have weak currents, but some kind of small paddle may be helpful. If you don't want to hike this section, you could choose to relax in camp and explore up Moonshadow Canyon.

• SUNDAY 5/24: pack up camp and hike down-canyon in Death Hollow. We'll pass a side canyon we can explore (Maime Creek), a couple swimming holes, a couple small waterfalls, and then the fun tricky part. There is a large alcove campsite we can stay at if it's available, otherwise we will keep hiking another 1-2 miles to the confluence with the Escalante River.

• MONDAY 5/25: finish hiking through Death Hollow, and then hike down the Escalante River to the ending trailhead. About 1.5 miles before the end, we will pass Escalante Natural Bridge. After that, it's a long 8-hour drive back to Phoenix.

MORE INFORMATION:
• Link to map for the trip: https://caltopo.com/m/1UFRJ
• It depends on how far we go on Day 2, but this video shows some of the area we'd be hiking through (from about 18:30 to 50:00):
https://youtu.be/zsS_LPcZe6I?t=1119
• This covers the whole Boulder Mail Trail, we'd only be hiking the Eastern portion: https://www.roadtripryan.com/go/t/utah/escalante/boulder-mail-trail

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