Escalante, UT - Willis Creek Narrows Hike

We have yet to do a Slot Canyon, the ones by us in Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument are either filled with water or too difficult for Gary to navigate with his foot.  Plus they are extremely crowded, I hear thre is sometimes over an hour back up at one of the points where you have to climb up into a hole and back down again.  We had thought about a horseback ride that goes through a Slot Canyon but it is 6 hours long , so we decide to do that slot canyon on foot.

We head back towards Bryce Canyon and turn down Cottonwood Canyon Road towards Kodachrome Basin State Park. 

3 miles down we turn onto Skutumpah Road, BLM 500

About 6 miles on dirt road

and we finally reach the trailhead.

After a picnic lunch in the Truck we head down the trail

Tucson of course is the first one in

Right away we hit the slot canyon

It's Tucson's kind of hike

It's a really beautiful hike and I am glad I read the reviews on

All Trails and wore water sandals.

Slot 2

The hike alternates between Slots and open washes

We come up on top of a slot with a small waterfall going down.

Long way down Mom!

We take a switchback down and I backtrack to the the Water Fall

We continue on

Slot 3

The patterns in the rocks are really cool

Slot 4

You feel so small

Slot 5

We've hiked almost 2 miles and reach another open wash.  The entire hike is supposed to be 2.2 miles.  Gary has had enough, I go ahead a little ways to check it out

It's a dead end to the left

It's getting hot so I head back and pick up Gary

and we turn around and head back

Back to the little falls

Tucson and I take the steeper slope up the right side and Gary goes back up the switchback.  Tucson keeps an eye out - he's a herding dog and likes to keep the pack together.

When we started the hike, the slot seemed to go both ways and we turned left.  I continue on the other way to check it out - turns out it just slopes up into an open wash.

Back to the parking lot - still quite a few cars for such a remote hike. 

Once we get back to Cottonwood Canyon Road, it is about 5 miles down to Kodachrome Basin State Park and then 11 miles past that is Grosvenor Arch.  

I convince Gary that since we are that close and won't be coming back this direction again, that we should go.