Tuesday, October 15, 2013 -- Jackass Canyon Hike

Soon after breakfast we departed in the vans for today’s hike.  Mike’s enthusiasm and obvious love of this landscape soon had all of us eagerly awaiting the day’s adventures.  Our hike began by following a dry wash, but we soon found ourselves between the towering rock walls of a narrow slot canyon.  We climbed and scrambled over rocks and ledges until arriving at the top of a 30 foot “dry fall.” The hikes on this program are not always about covering long distances but rather are about improving our hiking techniques as we maneuver and negotiate around obstacles, under Mike’s and Charles’ careful instruction.  

At the top of the dropoff, there was a rope anchored into the rocks.  Mike tied on two additional ropes and instructed us how to navigate down the rocks – finding foot holds, grasping onto rocks, and holding onto the rope.  As we individually descended to the floor below, Mike repeated – many, many times – “stand straight, lean back.”  It all sounded simple enough and Mike was very patient as we slowly made our way down.  We all felt a sense of victory as we gathered for the next part of the hike.

That's a long way down!

Some time to rest before turning around.

Unfortunately Mike soon realized that our way to the river was blocked by even larger boulders, as the landscape of the canyon had been altered by recent floods.  After having a few minutes of quiet time, we retraced our steps, which of course included climbing back up the 30 foot wall.  

Walking on a narrow ledge, trying not to
step into the mud.

What went down must come up!

The slot canyon seemed even more beautiful on our return hike than it had coming in.

Of course Mike felt that we hadn’t been able to experience the full hike that he had planned.  So we had one more adventure – scrambling up the crumbly rock of Cathedral Rock, on the road to Lee’s Ferry.  The views on the way up and from the top were amazing.