Hole in a Blue Utah Zebra

[ColoRam]

On June 15th 2012, I put into motion a plan of pure genius…
1) Pack up Tacoma in Park City, UT
2) Load up canine copilots for navigation and fuzzy camaraderie
3) Drive south with Lauren until our cell phones lost signal

The beauty is in its simplicity, and the escape was from the cold chill of Realville. Backcountry 4x4 adventures in 2012 were a thing of dreams before this weekend, as a hectic work schedule kept me in the confines of civilized, populated life. I am happy to report the plan a massive success!
Two more components developed within the itinerary – to hike to and photograph Zebra Slot Canyon, and sleep on the shore of Lake Powell. Zebra Slot Canyon is accessed off of the Hole-In-The-Rock road, which starts right outside Escalante, UT and dead-ends 53 miles of corrugation later at the HITR landmark.
The trip started with a large quantity of highway miles, with some including the gorgeous views along highway 12 before and after Boulder, UT. We kick started the photos at the overlook of the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument from Boulder Mountain.


After passing through Boulder, we were presented with Calf Creek Canyon.



This is where the famous Calf Creek Falls is located. Lauren and I cracked jokes about a previous experience hiking from a backcountry campsite on a bluff opposite the canyon to upper calf creek falls and having a hell of a time getting back to our tent in the dark. We got some great photos in the 'golden hour' for our trouble!
Escalante came into view about 30 min after passing Calf Creek Canyon, and we made a quick stop for fuel before hitting the HITR road. There are two paths to HITR, one is a challenging 4x4 trail that takes you to the opposite side of the lake (see my report from last year), and the path we were on this time was an improved dirt road that takes you right to the landmark itself.



We had to push hard on this road to be able to set up camp at a decent hour, and at the end of 53 miles of harsh washboarding and shock fade we were enthusiastic to exit the vehicle.

The morning brought on a walk to the top of the rock to enjoy breakfast and some great photo opportunities!


 





This is the Hole-In-The-Rock, a channel in the sandstone that a group of Mormon pioneers were forced to create to be able to progress through this area when they were settling in southern Utah. The scope of this project is staggering, even for today’s standards and equipment.


After breakfast and briefly exploring the HITR, we drove back out to the trailhead for the Zebra Slot. This was a fairly easy (but hot) 3-mile hike in to a terrain feature that encouraged some of the best photos we have ever captured!

[ColoRam]

Our trip then took us to another area of Lake Powell via the Burr Trail, which is another drive of surreal beauty. I snapped a quick shot at the top of the switchbacks…


We went south down the Waterpocket Fold, and then through Eggnog, UT (which we could not find… don’t know the story of Eggnog) and passed through the Henry Mountains.


We made a quick pavement connection that took us by Hite marina on the lake, and then to the path leading to our final destination. We were committed to sleeping on the shore of the lake this night, and Blue Notch Canyon fit our goals like a finely tailored suit.






An epic dinner was had, camp was set, and before crashing that night we went looking for neighbors. We were successful in finding a couple:



I am 90% sure the above neighbor crawled into our tent that night, as I woke up with two puncture marks in my ankle fairly far apart. A few days later a portion of my foot turned purple and became swollen… I was stoked that it didn’t fall off.

Our last day brought us by the Comb Ridge, where we pulled off and had lunch. We started up the Arch Canyon 4x4 trail, but had to turn back after only a couple of miles due to a lack of fuel. We were able to see a collared lizard on the trail, and get a SUPER ACTION PHOTO!!!!



Many hours of music and episodes of Radiolab later, we pulled in the driveway and hung our hats on another great adventure in Utah.
Thanks for reading!

[GREENI]

Great write up, simple.
Pictures say a thousand words and those are fab...I'm not sure I'd be as cool as you with those spiders.

It is so apt for me.....I'm literally lay on the bed, reading about your adventures, waiting for Mrs Greeni to get out of the bath, the D90 is loaded with kayaks and mountain bikes and as soon as she's ready we are off on a trip to The English Lakes... Nowhere near as anything like the scale of UT, but beautiful all the same
Thanks for sharing.

[p nut]

One of my favorite places to visit. Cool pics.

By the way, I think you meant June 15.

[CCFD170]

Awesome trip and photos!! I was wondering about the date as well. I want to see your Delorean lol!!

[Moody]

Excellent. A great loop.

[HenryJ]

Thanks so much for sharing! I wanna go back there again soon....

[Larry]

One of my favorite places to visit. Cool pics.

By the way, I think you meant June 15.

Hehe, on top of great pictures I thought he might be a time traveler too!

[ColoRam]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, unfortunately the center locking time manipulator that runs off of the ARB compressor is still in the prototype stage... Therefore post is edited

[Imnosaint]

Can't wait to do the same. Thanks for the inspiration and the great pics.