Day Eleven: May 30th 2013

We woke up to a brightly lite Indian Creek. What a crazy canyon valley. The climbing here is mostly cracks and trad. There is an abundance of it as well. We decided to pack up camp and scope out areas to climb next time we are back down here. There is just too much to do and we don’t have enough time on this trip to do it all! We had no idea what to expect when we headed down this way, and to be honest, Indian Creek wasn’t even on our radar. This area is a whole other trip in itself.

We decided to drive to Canyonlands and pay the $10 Park Fee to check it out. Using the washroom, I was able to feel a bit more fresh by splashing water all over me. Thank god for Park Visitor centres!!

We scoped out a 4x4 road and took it. The end destination was a Colorado River Outlook. The road was bumpy in parts and I had a fun time driving up shit I didn’t think I could. Another feature of the drive was driving in sand, if you haven’t ever done it, give it a go. It’s a crazy feeling. Super smooth. We didn’t even end up getting to the end of the road, as it seemed to go on forever. We pulled over around 11am and had breakfast in the sunshine.

I needed to shave. I figured this area was as good as any, as there was no one around. Now, when I say ‘shave’ I meant… SHAVE! I waxed my legs and armpits… so… if you catch my drift, shaving was important and it was about time to get ‘er done. It was hilarious, to say the least. Ben helped. I won’t go into detail with this story. Lets just say that it was a liberating feeling walking around with no pants on in the desert airing out my lady bits. ;)

After touring around the 6mile drive in Canyonlands, we left the Indian Creek area and started the drive towards Bryce Canyon. We drove through some incredible landscapes. In and out of canyons, along river sides, up into alpine forests, through birch and popular tree clusters, and across barren plateaus. Natural Bridges National Momument was awesome, up White Canyon to Hite – which is where Powel Lake and Green River connect (Green River and the Colorado River meet up as well). We really wanted to jump into Powell Lake, but couldn’t find a place to do so. It was hot and we were both feeling the urge to cool off.

We continued up the 89 to Hanksville, and fueled up. The wind was strong  and the sun was unbearable here. We finally climbed out of the canyons and into Dixie National Forests, which was a relief. The temperature dropped as we climbed to 9, 450 ft.

We continued along the 12 as the sun began to set. We spotted a sweet little campsite called Calf Creek, and pulled in. Unfortunately it was completely full. We were disappointed, because it was perfect. Onwards we drove.

The road got a little gnarly, and we ended up on a high ridge, it was stunning. I spotted a forest fire in the distance, and it seems as though we were headed straight for it.

We arrived in a cool little town called Escalante. The people were friendly. We asked where the nearest campsite was, as it was around 8pm at this point. The women at the bar told us we could tent up on her property if we didn’t find anything. Very kind.

We didn’t find anything, and decided to continue driving to Bryce.

We arrived in Bryce Canyon around 10pm. It was touristy, busy, bright with neon lights and well, we said fuck it. The last thing we wanted to do was put up with people. So, onwards we drove and bypassed Bryce Canyon.

I felt like I had been there before, in my youth. I probably had. It was a familiar area.

We drove past the forest fire, as I ate the worst dinner ever. Chocolate, an apple, 2 carrots and a cliff bar. I need real food. Ugh.

It was dark, so we really couldn’t see anything we were drive passed. I noticed a couple neat underpasses we went through, red rocks. I looked a the map and we were going through Red Canyon. Eyes were peeled for the first campsite we could spot. Red Canyon Campsite was finally on our left. It was 11pm at this time, and we were pooped. We pulled in, took the first plot we saw, which was campsite #2, and setup our home. Not bothering with the fly, we crawled in and got comfy. Star gazed for a while before we passed out, both of us slept soundly. Long day of driving deserves a good night sleep.

R&B