Trip Report

Saturday 4/17/2021.   Drive Silverthorne to Page, about 10 hours. No problems. Joined by Janet Jacks, Dave Blakeslee, and Elke Dratch in the evening.
4/18.  Sidestep Canyon, Blue Wonder Slot, Twisted Hoodoo in the White Rocks, return via Chimney Rock. Martha Fulford arrives in evening.
4/19.  Edmaier’s Secret, Buckskin Gulch, Wire Pass for short distance, then climb out to Narnia Slot and Arch. Then to Wire Pass TH where Joan had left a car. She and Martha hiked Wire Pass.
4/20   Elke and I spent a day at the White Pocket with guide Paul Gagner of Dreamland Safari. We explored the White Pocket and then climbed to top of White Pocket Butte. Joan and Martha went to the Hanging Gardens near the dam.
4/21   We climbed to near Yellow Rock, then headed S to Red Top by a direct line. Then retraced a little and climbed to the rim towards Cottonwood Rd. and back to Yellow Rock, to the top. Joan and Martha went to the Toadstools.
4/22   We walked 4.3 miles up Wahweap Creek to the famous Wahweap Hoodoos. Joan and Martha did the Radio Tower loop, not far from the dam.
4/23   Big day: We started at the Goulding Trail TH and took, roughly, that trail to Point 5770, and then down to the steep canyon containing Moki House, and then down to the Watson Cabin in Hackberry Canyon. Then up-canyon and left to Sam Pollock Arch. Return to the Hackberry TH and walk a mile on the road to the car. 15+ miles. 9+ hours.
4/24  Joan and I drive to Moab, with a lunch break at an overlook near the top of the Moki Dugway with a great view of the Goosenecks of the San Juan.
4/25  We go to Upheaval Dome. Joan hiked to the standard overlook. I went a little less than a mile around the rim in the counter-clockwise direction, and then headed to the rim for a view of the dome.


Highlights

4/18:  Great fun to go through Blue Wonder for the third time. We used a rope to haul packs and the crew had no trouble with the steep crux. We then exited and easily got to the spectacular Twisted Hoodoo, and other hoodoos in the area. We then continued in that direction to Chimney Rock and the easy walk back to the car. We saw a huge plume of smoke to the southwest that was a little depressing, but it turns out it was a controlled burn.

4/19:  We quickly got to the tower SW of the summit of Edmaier’s Knoll, and then climbed the knoll and continued S to descend on the beautiful sandstone. That put us into Buckskin Gulch. Three women on horseback passed us. The climb out of Wire Pass was steep but straightforward and we easily got to beautiful Narnia Slot. The team climbed well through the difficult entrance, but the light in the canyon was not suitable for good photography. One needs to be there early, around 10 am.

At the end of this day Janet and Dave learned that Janet’s newish Ford Escape (18000 miles) needed a new engine. The Ford dealer in Page could do it in several weeks, but now they were carless. So their plans changed and they stayed the entire week, driving back with Martha on Saturday. They are great hiking partners, so this news was welcome for me.

4/20:  Elke and I met guide Paul Gagner (Dreamland Safari tours) and did the very long drive to the White Pocket. This has become a popular place and deservedly so as there are so many interesting features.  After seeing the usual sights near the parking lot we headed up White Pocket Butte and climbed it by a devious class-3 route.

4/21: Nothing too exciting, but we made a nice loop in the valley and rim east of the trail in Yellow Rock Valley. Some ponderosa pines were nice to see, and the colored sandstone is spectacular.

4/22: We climbed to the rim above the Tower of Silence which gave us a view of the next canyon east. So on return we went in there and found some interesting hoodoos.

4/23:  Great views of Castle Rock and that is surely worth a day trip to climb to its top.

4/25:  I had spotted a potential way into the crater from the rim not too far from parking and it was satisfying to see that this would likely work. I went only halfway down.