Llama trip to Scorpion Gulch, Escalante, Utah, October 6-14, 2012

Llama trip to Scorpion Gulch, Escalante, Utah, October 6-14, 2012



We've done many adventures in the canyon country, and they are by and large wonderful.

It's time to plan the next one. Our objective is Scorpion Gulch in the Grand Staircase/

Escalante National Monument. It is reached from the Early Week Bench trailhead, off

the Hole in the Rock Road, south of Harris Wash and north of Coyote Gulch. I'm looking

forward to exploring a piece of the Escalante that we've never seen before, despite

crisscrossing much of this country over the years. Our camp will be near some water pockets at

the upper end of Scorpion Gulch. The country is lower, rockier, drier, and more desert

than the upper Escalante country below Hell's Backbone Road, the site of our recent

Sand Creek trip. Camp will be at about 4800 feet, compared to our Sand Creek camp at

6400 feet. Photos from an unrelated trip to the Scorpion Gulch area can be found here.

This is a good destination for a cool mid-October outing. The moon will be dark, making

for nice star gazing from a high camp, like last fall's 1st and Main, that isn't pinched in by

canyon walls.



The trip dates will take advantage of the Columbus Day Laboratory holiday.  It is

a "B" week, so I'll be trading my Friday for the week before. We will leave Los Alamos

on the morning of Saturday October 6, overnighting in either Torrey or Escalante. Boulder

is booked up that weekend, so I'll decide on a overnight location with the packer, with

a view to our meeting point the next morning, Sunday. On Sunday we will pack our gear

onto the llamas (avoiding heavy lifting, which BJ can provide), hike about 4 1/2 miles

into camp, and set up in comfort - kitchen tables, social circle with chairs, two-burner

stove, and wine cellar. We will have six nights in camp, which allows five full days for

exploring. We will hike out on Saturday the 13th, arriving in Boulder sometime in the

afternoon. Participants should make a room reservation in one of the 3 Boulder lodgings:

Boulder Mountain Lodge, Pole's Place, or Circle Cliffs Motel. On Sunday we will head

for home, driving back over Boulder Mountain and through Capitol Reef National

Park (no ferry that time of year).



Our packer will be BJ Orozoco, same as this spring's trip. He will provide 8 llamas to carry

our gear to the  drop camp, so participation will be limited to 8 people. The packer cost per

person will be approximately $250 plus tip.



The day outings will involve hiking across the desert, scrambling up rock formations, and

descending the Gulch and perhaps the Escalante River. We might be able to reach

Fools Canyon, the next to the south, in a day outing. We should be able to take advantage

of cool weather to enable moderate to strenuous outings, with some amount of low-level

scrambling on the rocks and concomitant rope work.



Since we are limited to 8 slots, there is a possibility that the trip will fill quickly. Participants

will be selected based on the order of their response, their interest in the daytime adventures,

with possible preference to persons who could not make the spring 2012 trip.



I'm looking forward to a semi-epochal trip. This canyon trip will be my 98th lifetime, and I

will be celebrating a significant birthday during the trip, because the actual day falls 3 days

after our return.



Please contact Bill at bill@priedhorsky.net if you would like to join in. To confirm a slot

will require a $150 deposit. I'm looking forward to another great time.