Phipps Arch, Collet Top Arch, Bighorn Canyons, Red Breaks Canyon, Moody Canyons (March 2005)
My wife, Joan, and friends Phil Hage and Kathy Franzen spent a week doing day hikes out of Escalante; then Tom Whitesides joined us and Tom, Phil, and I did a 5-day backpack in the Moody Creek drainages. The weather was very cold, but hiking was always pleasant. A highlight was the trip, mostly four-wheel driving, to Collet Top Arch on the Kaiparowitz Plateau. The day trips to Burro Wash (Capitol Reed), Phipps Arch and Bighorn Washes (off the Sheffield Road), and Red Breaks Canyon (near Harris Wash) were all very rewarding. We had lots of interesting slots and superb Navajo sandstone to walk across. But the best is always the Wingate, and we camped on a spectacular Wingate plateau at the head of East Moody Canyon.