Escalante/Non-Technical

Mr. Happyfeet,

Your route is not a diffcult one, but please don’t be offended if I suggest that your timetable is perhaps a bit ambitious. You could end up having to march “head down” for hours at a time if you try to bite off that entire journey in five days. I also would like to suggest a slight alternative that you might find more fun, romantic and memorable.

Here are my thoughts on your route (which are probably not worth much):

1) the exit hike out of main fork Choprock is rather mundane after you leave the narrows, and the traverse over and into to upper Silver Falls is less than desirable (dirt roadish). So from the end of the Choprock Narrows to the beginning of the good stuff in Silver Falls is one full day of dry and rather tedious hiking. Moreover, while Silver Falls is certainly a fine canyon, it has a character that is replicated in other Escalante canyons that you are visiting. There are some good 2nd class routes that go up West (North) Fork Choprock, but the poison ivy in that canyon is very, very bad (far worse than anything I have encountered anywhere else in Utah) and the entries into Silver Fork might be a bit thought provoking for someone not familiar with pioneering over slickrock. I guess I am suggesting that you might enjoy using a different loop on your trip.

2) The section of the Escalante that you are visiting is extremely friendly country for poking around. From Harris down to 25 Mile Wash is the Windgate heart and every tributary is very colorful and easy to explore. The Choprock system is delightful hiking and you should consider base camping near the mouth (moki steps on the west/north wall near the mouth take you to some awesome benchtop campsites — great exploring there as well (hint, hint)) and there is a good camp site in the grass and trees across the River from Chop if Grant isn’t using it for one of his commercial trips.

Neon is very scenic and worth some time. The hike that everyone does from River to the GC is very nice, albeit busy, and the hike above is extremely pretty and provides you with hours of begginer slot/narrow exploring opportunities. There are some good photos of lower Neon in the current Nat’l Geo Adventure Magazine from a trip that I guided in the spring of ’99. There is one photo of us descending the Kayenta bench into Neon that will give some idea of how friendly the country is for exploring. It is very easy terrain.

Ringtail is also very easy and the benches above Ringtail and Baker can provide days of solitude. This is great hiking.

In general, there are moki steps everywhere in this section of Escalante Canyons and artifacts as well — some of the most spectacular items that I know of on the Plateau are stashed in this section of the Escalante canyons — and a short trip out of the River Canyon and up onto the Windgate or Kayenta benches will give you all the solitude you need.

At the risk of sounding presumptuous, I would like to offer this suggestion: Use the Egypt Road as your entry. You can either drop into Harris from there or descend Fence to the Escalante. Make base camp in Chop and check out that system. Then head down the Escalante and explore the tribs along the way. Turn upcanyon at 25 Mile Wash and use Steve’s exit path out of 25 and across Egypt back to your car. 25 Mile Wash is very nice and the hike across Egypt is so much better than the hike between upper Chop and upper Silver. There is a lot going on in 25 Mile Wash so don’t be afraid to poke around (more hinting here). I submit that your time frame (5-6 days) is perfect for this trip and you will have time to fill your days with serendipitous discoveries instead of “head down” marching.

3) You can rely on the descriptions in Steve’s books. You can also trust Steve’s difficulty ratings to be deliberately overstated in order to prevent people from sandbagging themselves. The slickrock exit you refer to as 3+ is probably closer to solid 2nd class. Basically, if Steve is willing to describe a route in his book, it is not harder than 3rd class. Anything harder will merely get hinted at by Steve.

4) It seems like Escalanate hikers get sucked into the River Bottom and canyon bottoms and then stay there. Everybody is going to lower Neon now, banging in bolts everywhere, and doing the sport rappel Yet, most of the spectacular hiking/camping in the region is up on the benches. Try to fight the mindset of following the canyon bottoms and open your mind to the bench hiking above as much as possible. Steve’s “Overland Route” description is very useful in this part of the Escalante Canyons.

I apologize for being so wordy in my missive, and I hope that there is at least a kernel of something useful in this.

— Happyfeet00@Hotmail.com wrote: > I am new to this sport and this group so I apologize > if I sound > novive or have incorrect info. My girlfriend and I > are both > experienced backpackers, but lack true climbing > skills. We are > planning to hike down Harris Wash and exit about 4 > miles from the > River(the exit route is described by Steve Allen, > but in reverse.) > We then hope to hike down Fence canyon and explore > neon for a day or > so. My hope is that we can then hike up river to > Choprock and do a > loop from there to Silver Falls back out Harris. > Anybody familiar > with the area. Steve and Kelsey describe the areas > failry well but > any first experience or info would help. I am > thinking 5-6 days to > explore; too much, too little? Is the climb out of > Harris rated 3+ > by Allen that obtainable or is it harder? Is Neon > worth exploring > without doing any technical canyoneering? Any info > would help. > Thanks.

Phillip Rhoades

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