Romantic Kanab Canyon

"...this is a place to bring someone you love"

                Over Memorial Day weekend 1998 I went backpacking with Will Carpenter, Hugo, and Scott.  We went down Jumpup Canyon to Kanab Creek and on towards the Colorado River.  It was another wacky trip.We headed out from home on Thursday night.  Hugo and I ended up driving a second car to get a permit at Pipe Spring NM near Fredonia.  Hugo and I found our way down the rough dirt road and started on the trail at Jumpup Cabin at about 10 AM Friday morning.  It was a beautiful hike down.  Hugo (from Chile) and I had a fun time trying to communicate with each other.  We followed the dry stream bed to Lower Jumpup Spring, then followed a stream down a narrow canyon to a big waterfall which we made our way around with help from a ladder.  Scary!  The next section was classic, with beautiful red rock formations, shallow and not-so-shallow waterfalls, frogs, trees, and gorgeous vistas reminding me of the Esplande region from the Thunder River hike nearby.  I had to restrain myself from taking too many pictures for fear of running out of film.  Then from Sowats Canyon to Kwagunt Canyon was another beautiful tree-lined creek section that I enjoyed even more on the way back Monday.  After Kwagunt the canyon narrows, getting very narrow (10-20 feet?) in some places, all the way past Indian Hollow (where we met up with Scott) to the confluence with Kanab Creek.  A little past the confluence, we ran into Will and continued the rest of the way to camp.  It felt good to rest after 15 miles or so with heavy packs.

                Saturday morning Will and I embarked on the voyage for which our trip was planned: going on to the Colorado.  From our campsite the rest of the way to the Colorado water was flowing.  We figured we would go 12 miles down and 12 back that day.  Most of the way we ended up going in river shoes without socks.  This made things easier but also led to lots of blisters later on.  But this was an absolutly incredible day, with vista after vista along the way.  It was twelve hours of hard work which was worth every minute.  I tried to store in my head my favorite places.  Many come to mind.  One was the spring alley with Shower Bath Spring perpetually raining from an overhang.  Another was the huge towering Scotty’s Castle above the meandering creek.  My favorite was just south of false Scotty’s Castle where the creek becomes a series of waterfalls and pools amidst major boulders.  It wasn’t just the creek itself, it was the entire canyon, so sparkly clean, and colorful, below such towering cliff walls.  I hope I get to go back again.  Two other favorites along the way were the amusement-park-size natural water slide and the football-field-long low overhanging amphitheatre.

                A small group of springs at one point along the way was a welcome sight where we replenished our water supply.  As we hurried along we began to become alarmed by our dwindling food supply and our rate of travel.  Finally at one point where we thought we still had two miles to go we suddenly could hear the dull roar of the Colorado.  It was a pleasant surprise for us.  Unfortunately Will got Mom’s camera wet as he crossed the deepening creek one last time.  It looks like we have ruined yet another camera.  I sure have a great history of doing that!  At the Colorado we met a group of researchers that visit the side canyons in search of the spotted owl.  We learned that they were planning to make it up all the way to our own Fishtail Canyon in search of owls that night.  Sure enough, that night one of their party came and gave both the male and female calls for a while in search of owls, but with no luck.  What a fun job.

                After a brief lunch and the obligatory plunge into the ice-cold water we headed back up the creek.  On the return trip I enjoyed hearing more stories from Will’s life.  We really got to talk a lot about our ideas about life.  I was glad for the chance to get to know him better.  Our pace on the return trip was a bit slower but still impressive considering that we had been going all day.  We learned of several interesting side canyons from people we met on the way.  It was a wonderful sight to see our camp again after the 6-hour return trip.  I absolutely fell in love with the canyon, and felt that this is a place to bring someone you love.  Will and I discussed the idea of taking a leisurely week to enjoy the canyon, then hitching a ride from a raft down the Colorado to some waiting vehicles.  Wouldn’t that be the most wonderful trip?

                Sunday morning I sure felt sore but was satisfied that it was all worth it.  After breakfast we headed up Fishtail Canyon to a beautiful, crystal-clear pool, where we had our sacrament meeting.  Afterwards I read some more from the Book of Mormon while Will and Hugo headed on up the canyon to explore some more.  That afternoon we broke camp and headed up the canyon.  We decided to hike part of the way out on Sunday to make Monday’s hike out easier.  I felt bad that we were doing so much work on Sunday -- I don’t think I would want to do another trip quite the same way.  It was hot going in some places, then going up Jumpup Canyon seemed to take forever.  Finally we came to running water and set up camp at dusk.  I successfully ate most of the rest of my food.  Where on previous trips I had always been quite leery of stoves, on this trip I learned to really enjoy my new backpacking stove.

                Monday morning we woke up to yet another spectacular view.  The creek, hardly running the night before, was running much more this morning. After Will did some serious foot doctoring for Hugo and I, we headed back up the canyon.  As we made our way back we made odes to some of the most prevalent subjects of our trip: frogs, ladders, and catclaws.  At long last we reached Jumpup Cabin in early afternoon.  Much as we enjoyed the wilderness we were all looking forward to returning to the conveniences of home.