We headed down to Escalante to do Neon and Choprock canyons. The hike down to the mouth of Neon was was around 3.5 miles and took about 2 hours in the 85F heat. We set up camp and headed up canyon to do Neon. Definitely bring a good water filter since the water is pretty silty! Most of the group headed back out to the truck the next morning while 3 of us stayed and did Choprock Canyon and then hiked out the next day. The hike out was brutal and took the 3 of us 5 hours to hike out with all of our camping and canyoneering gear. David’s pack weighed 50 lbs! It was around 90F but luckily there was lots of shady spots to take many breaks from the hot sun. We did take a small nap under a huge shady tree when the sun was directly overhead. I suggest to take a good dunk in the Escalante River right before hiking up and have your Camelbak tip-top full of water. All in all it was a good time and worth the experience. Trekking poles were definitely a good idea.
Trip Report
Jeff Guest
The Neon Canyon video is up and is in a new Trip Report thread!
Ram
Neon Canyon is quite long. It also has many side canyons. I have personally found that doing the top or the bottom half is a very FULL day, AFTER a “hike in” day. The 3 sport entries see less than 10% of the canyon. Extending your trip down to the river one more day, will allow you the time to enter Neon way higher up and discover more of its treasures. One could spend a week in this canyon, if wanted to see it all
Jeff Guest
Haha! Sorry guys! I had to split the videos up so they wouldn’t be so long. I wanted the approach to be its own video to give those who haven’t been there an idea of what to expect so they can prepare accordingly if they decide to go. I will post the Neon video tomorrow and I still have to edit the Choprock video.
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Mountaineer
Doing Neon in one day was LONG, as the approach/return was most of it.
So unless you split it up with some camping, the footage captures most of the experience!
Jman
Ha…indeed!
It was a great time down there in Neon with Jeff and gang. The Neon vid looks great. Hopefully you guys like it.
The choprock vid should be entertaining though. A LOT of deep swimming! And in the dark.
Mountaineer
Looking forward to it, haven’t done Choprock yet.
I love your videos Jeff, especially the markers on where the canyon is, the maps, etc. I’ve used them on more than one occasion. Fun stuff. Thanks for all the work and posting them up.
Blake Merrell
ROFL
Bootboy
Yeah, that hike out is brutal. It’s a LONG 3 miles.
Don’t get water out of the river. Walk 5 minutes up neon to a seep where the water is crystal clear. Or get it out of one of the trickles at the bottom of fence. Trust me, it’s worth the walk if you’re camped within a 10 minutes of either.
ratagonia
I’ve changed to actually going up to the Cathedral to pump water. We carry a bunch of Platypus bags. It’s a nice walk, and the water up there doesn’t clog the filter as fast as even the pretty-good seep 5 minutes up (which varies a lot in quality).
Tom
Blake Merrell
But… uh…. ummmm… where are the shots of you actually in the canyons! I mean the shots of the approach are nice, but I wanna see the slots
Ram
Patience. Jeff always delivers the goods. You know it takes time. Looking forward to it Jeff and thanks.
R
ratagonia
People IN canyons – it’s been done to death! I like the new approach approach…