May 12-13, 2017 Escalante, Utah

We drove up the Hell’s Backbone road in the Box-Death Hollow wilderness today to check out the trail heads for the Box.

This area is up to 9,000 feet and up in the mountains. Posey Lake and aspen just leafing out over a field of new grass and dandelions. 

Deep Creek.  Death Hollow is a 22 mile long canyon. The warnings are at the Death Hollow trailhead. It says among other things that there is no trail, extremely rough routes including sections where swimming is required, may be no water for the first 11 miles, flash floods can occur and poison ivy is common. I love this at the bottom- Choose wisely: Hiking here is NOT a walk in the park.  We were not going to hike Death Hollow even before we saw this sign. We also saw deer and strawberry blooms. 

  Looking east at the sand creek drainage. Hell’s Backbone Bridge joins two points on a knife edge ridge with thousands of feet drops on either side. It was originally built of wood by the CCC in 1933. It was replaced with a steel and concrete reinforced bridge in the 1960’s when it’s decaying wood would groan and squeak ominously when vehicles crossed it. That bridge was replaced in 2005 by the present bridge that is wider and stronger. Still only one lane wide.

Looking west into Death Hollow.  Back on the highway we stopped in Boulder ,Utah. It was isolated until the CCC built that bridge so they could get easily into Escalante. But the road would close in the winter because of snow. Even the present highway 12, also built by the CCC would close in the winter until it was paved in 1985. 

Highway 12 also has a section along another knife edge ridge over looking Calf Creek where we hiked yesterday.

This basket has been one problem after another, but it is starting to come together ok. Sunset tonight.

Today we hiked the Box in the Box-Death Hollow Wilderness. The Box is an 8 mile canyon that drops from a red rock canyon filled with aspens to a red rock canyon full of ponderosa, following Pine creek the whole way.  Golden Banner and ‘When’s Recess?’That was on a sign at the beginning of the trail. You can pay a shuttle $42 each to drop you off and shuttle the car, or we parked at the bottom and walked 4 miles up and back-8 miles total.  

John walking through lupines, ponderosa with spring green.

Geranium, white flowers, yellow flower growing through a feather and asters. The rocks in the cliffs are the same pink,orange,yellow of Bryce canyon.

Pine drops, red bud and wild clematis. Pink cliffs and spring green.

Pine Creek. Penstamens, yellow and orange rock and a swallow tail butterfly.

The whole trail there are 50 creek crossings. We only crossed it 14 times, each way in our 4 mile stretch.  It never got much over knee deep. John liked to soak his knees in it. I didn’t want to wear my new boots and get them wet, or take them off and on 28 times so I wore my keens shoes that Martha gave me that are designed for river wear. They worked great.

Yellow cliffs. Bumpy dead tree, yellow flowers, scarlet pentastamen. I lost my wedding ring (turquoise, opal and silver) in the car a few weeks ago and can’t find it. Today John got me two new rings, both vintage, hand made silver and turquoise. I couldn’t decide between them, so he got me both. What a sweetheart. 

Sage and yellow flowers. Some of the ponderosa were huge old growth trees. We hugged them.