Neon Canyon & Golden Cathedral

7-5-16 through 7-6-16

DAY 17-18

Neon Canyon and Golden Cathedral in Grand Staircase-Escalante ended up being quite an epic adventure.The first hurdle was to get up at 5am, pack up camp so we could get on the trail before the heat of the day because just getting to the trail head was going to take a while since we had to go out Hole-in-the-Rock and Egypt again. We were on the trail before 8:30am, but the sun was already baking. We had to hike 4 miles to get to the Escalante Rive and from there we had to hike several more miles up Neon Canyon in order to canyoneer down it.

The trail was tough to follow, there was lots of sand, and it was HOT. Our spirits got down as the day got hotter. Mama and Papa weren't sure if we were going to be able to make it since we had to take into account that monsoon rains could abort or plans and the heat was really tough. There was almost mutiny before we dropped down to the river because no one wanted to carry all of our gear back up. However, Mama managed to convince us that the river was a cool oasis, so we continued on.

We found a place to camp near the river and while Mama and Papa sorted out gear and set up camp a bit, we played in the river. It felt sooooo good! We were able to head up Neon Canyon by 12:30 pm after trying to choke down some disgusting sandwiches we bought at the gas station - yuck. Plus, there were ants and I can't stand ants. The thought off camping here wasn't appealing, but such is life with this family.

Hiking up the canyon was beautiful, but we were a little worried about trying to figure out where to drop in (we only wanted to do the last three rappels). James was also dragging - he really doesn't like hiking. We were lucky enough to see a collared lizard which picked up the mood. After a while, we found the place to drop into the canyon. We checked the skies first to make sure it looked clear of rain and decided to go for it. The first rappel into the canyon was easy and then we had a little time to play in the potholes which were filled with tadpoles!

Now came the fun (and sometimes pretty scary) part of the adventure. The next rappel dropped us into a really tight narrows that was filled with water. You couldn't see where the swimming would stop, so I was picked to go first since I am the strongest swimmer. So, I had to conquer my fears of spooky water and just keep swimming around every corner until I eventually found an end (which was a ways). James didn't like the swim and we all started to get a little cold. Mama and Papa put on skin shirts and Maya put on a wet suit. We found a little sun and warmed up.

The next rappel was also into some narrows filled with water where we had to swim until we could find a place to stand - it wasn't quite as long, but still creepy. It wasn't until after we were through that we realized that this was the possible keeper hole - luckily Mama and Papa had found out before at the visitor's center that there was enough water so that it wouldn't be a problem.

And now was that BIG EVENT - Golden Cathedral - a rappel through an incredible hole in the ceiling into a pool. And it kind of just sneaks up on you. If fact, if we hadn't seen pictures ahead of time, we wouldn't have known that we were rappelling through a hole in the ceiling. Words can't do this justice. It was simply awesome - possible one of the coolest things I will ever do in my life.



The final hike out of the canyon was muddy, but fun. The colors on the canyon walls were spectacular. We ended at the river and played for a long time while Mama cooked some dinner and Papa (our hero) hiked the climbing gear back up the steep part to above the river. Mac n' cheese never tasted so good and sleep came easy.

We were all dreading the hike back up, but committed to getting up at 5am to hike the trail before the heat (James was reluctant though). We all put on our super hero shirts (we thought we would need them ), oatmeal was consumed and we hike the trail again for the long slog up. James wasn't a very happy hiker. He explained to Mama that our days consist of "hike, hike, eat, hike, sleep, eat, hike, eat, hike, sleep, hike, etc," when what he really wanted was "rest, eat, eat, sleep, rest, eat, sleep, rest, etc." Mama said that he would be fat then and he replied "I'd rather be fat than hike." On the way back, James also had a prairie rattlesnake hiss and rattle at him. He was pretty close, so it was good the snake gave him a warning. It was pretty scary for the rest of us to see our 10 year old running away from a close encounter with a rattler.

Motivated by the thought of swimming, a hotel, and mostly ice cream, we made it back to the car by 9:30 am and beat the worst of the heat. We survived and now we could tell our families what we did (we didn't want to tell them beforehand because we didn't want them to worry).

Back at the campground, we took a swim while the car threw up camping and climbing gear. We reorganized everything and hit the road for Tropic, UT where a hotel room awaited us. Turns out, even super heroes have to sleep sometimes...