On Wednesday we hiked in the Box Canyon within the Box – Death Hollows Wilderness Area which is located in the Dixie National Forest. The Spring Creek flows through the canyon and requires numerous crossings of the creek to proceed up the canyon. This area is very different from the nearby Escalante desert with a mix of red rock canyon walls and towering Ponderosa Pines. The creek was running high from late winter snow melt so we eventually had to get our feet wet on several of the creek crossings. Our hike took about 4.5 hours in which time Maria and I had the canyon completely to ourselves.
Thursday proved a most exciting and satisfying day as we spent the day canyoneering  with Escalante based guide Rick Green. Rick took us to Egypt 1 Canyon where we had the opportunity to work with him to better our canyoneering skills and also learn a great deal about the history and geology of the area. Rick showed us a number of friction techniques to allow us to make steep vertical descents where there are no hand or foot holds by wedging our bodies between the rock walls to descend via friction. Don’t where your best clothing for this activity. We also had our first opportunity to rapel down steep canyon walls. By the time we exited the canyon we were quite wet and muddy because several sections required us to rapel or slide down into knee deep water. A great day with a terrific guide. We are looking forward to our next opportunity to take on more challenging canyons.
ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen 