Surprise Canyon
Friday 17 September, 2021
Surprise Canyon
Eager to see another slot canyon, we headed out along Burr Trail Road. At the entrance to Capitol Reef National Park, it becomes a dirt road. We traveled straight down the steep eastern side of the Waterpocket Fold in a dramatic series of switchbacks.
Dramatic views of the Waterpocket Fold we had just crossed, from the trailhead.
Along the trail, before entering the canyon, we found this attractive caterpillar.
I also enjoyed these prickly pears.
I was excited by all of the cryptobiotic soil at the edges of the sandy trail.
The light inside the canyon was beautiful and dramatic.
Steep walls of the canyon.
We were endlessly fascinated by the rock formations.
Beautiful shapes and lines in rock.
We came to this section of the canyon. There was no room around to the right; the only way forward was over on the steep left side.
Eric's GPS indicated that the end of the canyon was still another 300 m/almost 1,000 feet ahead. So, I tried to climb the rock.
This is where things got stupid. I went about two-thirds of the way up. I was just telling Eric that I thought I could make it, but that I was not sure he, with no climbing experience, could do it, when a couple of other hikers arrived at our position. They took one look at the slope ahead and sensibly turned around.
I decided that we should not try to continue, either. But I had gone one step too far, and I couldn't see, with the slope, where the last foothold for my left foot had been. I had my right hand in a very good handhold, but there were no other good handholds around me. I started to panic. First, I let go of my tripod, letting it fall to the bottom. Then, I took off my backpack and let that go.
"Does it have anything fragile in it?" Eric asked.
"I don't know," I said, "but certainly nothing as fragile as I am." I later found that it had had my 15 mm lens in it, but it was in a good case and survived the steep fall.
Eric told me that there was a good place for my left foot just a little bit below, but I couldn't get my foot to it without letting go of my remaining good handhold. I had to execute a terrifying slide down the edge of the rock about a foot or so before securing my position once again. It all turned out fine, and I was able to make it the rest of the way down, with my camera bag, easily. But I had clearly stupidly exceeded my abilities. Make sure not to go up anything unless you are absolutely sure of how you're going to get back down!
I recovered from the scare, and took pictures of the dramatic canyon walls on the way out.
We had had the thought of making the loop from Burr Trail Road up Notom-Bullfrog Road and into the central part of the park, but it was late enough in the day that we decided it was better to go back the way we had come.
Distance hiked: 3 km/2 mi
Distance driven: 293 km/182 mi, cumulatively 1,852 km/1,151 mi
Caches found: 1, cumulatively 12
On to Hickman Bridge.