Escalante
After a fun, but short 1-day West Water trip, Leif and I checked out Escalante Creek. We arrived late at night (I was asleep of course so I couldn't tell you how to get there) and when we woke in the morning we found ourselves in a beautiful desert canyon.
Morning photo of camp with historic buildings in foreground- Photo by Leif
Leif and I suited up to check out what this creek had to offer. The first big rapid called Leap of Faith proved to be much less of a leap than I imagined. This leap of faith pales in comparison next to the leap of faith on the north fork of the south fork of the trinity in northern Califonia. That leap of faith was bordered by vertical walls with no option of portaging or even scouting. Not only that, but the 7ft drop is backed up by a hole you are bound to party in, and then immediately downstream is a must portage class VI rapid that may have only been run by Charlie Center (not sure my facts are straight, but I think I remember Dan Menton telling me this...) Anyway, below is a picture of me running the 'benign' Leap of Faith on Escalante Creek.
Natalie boofing Leap of Faith. Photo by Leif
After Leap of Faith, the next biggy is called waterslide. Neither Leif or I had run this creek before so we weren't aware of all of the hype associated with this rapid when we came upon it. After scouting, we chose the simple line of just boofing over the center flat rock. We found out later that many people have swum out of this rapid when they ran the right chute. Anyway, we thought the line we picked out was pretty straightforward.
Natalie boofing the flat rock. Photo by Leif
Corkscrew came next. Despite the fact that the picture makes it look like Leif is styling his line, he in fact almost flipped (maybe he did but I can't remember). This rapid is harder than it looks. The best idea is just to run it straight and lean into the pile at the bottom of the drop. It is a weird one.
Leif running corkscrew. Photo by Natalie
After running the upper section, we got to the infamous Escalante narrows. By this time another group had caught up to us and we had some seasoned Escalante guides. Unfortunatly my day ended at 57 chevy where I got stuck in the curtain and despite holding on for probably close to 3 minutes I finally decided that I wasn't going to be released. I swam and I lived.
Leif continued on and styled Escalante Falls.
Leif styling Escalante Falls, photo by some dude
Fortunately I had company for the bootie beer.
Morning photo of camp with historic buildings in foreground- Photo by LeifLeif and I suited up to check out what this creek had to offer. The first big rapid called Leap of Faith proved to be much less of a leap than I imagined. This leap of faith pales in comparison next to the leap of faith on the north fork of the south fork of the trinity in northern Califonia. That leap of faith was bordered by vertical walls with no option of portaging or even scouting. Not only that, but the 7ft drop is backed up by a hole you are bound to party in, and then immediately downstream is a must portage class VI rapid that may have only been run by Charlie Center (not sure my facts are straight, but I think I remember Dan Menton telling me this...) Anyway, below is a picture of me running the 'benign' Leap of Faith on Escalante Creek.
Natalie boofing Leap of Faith. Photo by LeifAfter Leap of Faith, the next biggy is called waterslide. Neither Leif or I had run this creek before so we weren't aware of all of the hype associated with this rapid when we came upon it. After scouting, we chose the simple line of just boofing over the center flat rock. We found out later that many people have swum out of this rapid when they ran the right chute. Anyway, we thought the line we picked out was pretty straightforward.
Natalie boofing the flat rock. Photo by LeifCorkscrew came next. Despite the fact that the picture makes it look like Leif is styling his line, he in fact almost flipped (maybe he did but I can't remember). This rapid is harder than it looks. The best idea is just to run it straight and lean into the pile at the bottom of the drop. It is a weird one.
Leif running corkscrew. Photo by NatalieAfter running the upper section, we got to the infamous Escalante narrows. By this time another group had caught up to us and we had some seasoned Escalante guides. Unfortunatly my day ended at 57 chevy where I got stuck in the curtain and despite holding on for probably close to 3 minutes I finally decided that I wasn't going to be released. I swam and I lived.
Leif continued on and styled Escalante Falls.
Leif styling Escalante Falls, photo by some dudeFortunately I had company for the bootie beer.
bootie photos by Leif
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