{"id":1030,"date":"2009-05-10T22:33:17","date_gmt":"2009-05-10T22:33:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.acrossutah.com\/wordpress\/?p=1030"},"modified":"2018-01-24T21:30:13","modified_gmt":"2018-01-24T21:30:13","slug":"day-15-mothers-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.acrossutah.com\/wordpress\/day-15-mothers-day\/","title":{"rendered":"Nevada to Colorado: Part 3"},"content":{"rendered":"

From the Across Utah 2009 Trip Report<\/a><\/p>\n

Day 15 \u2013 Mother\u2019s Day<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Got up and had a nice breakfast at camp with my parents. It was nice to be with Mom on Mother\u2019s Day. They showed me some of the comments from the Blog. I can\u2019t see these as I hike, but I appreciate them all and will read every one as soon as I finish my journey.<\/p>\n

In the mid-afternoon, I said \u201cSo long\u201d to my parents and got back to hiking. I reached cache #2 and all was good.<\/p>\n

After that it was several tough miles through red sand to reach Red Canyon- my camp for the night.<\/p>\n

9.8 miles<\/p>\n

Day 16 \u2013 Kanab Creek<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Started the day with a climb down into Red Canyon. Had to lower the pack and carefully climb down. It was more effort than it was worth as the best part of the canyon was farther up and I didn\u2019t have time to explore.
\nHeaded NE through the sand hills. I was dripping with sweat as it was so much work. But, I knew I would soon reach the oasis of Kanab Creek, so I trudged on.<\/p>\n

I finally arrived at the creek and it was dry! Bone dry; not a even a pothole to be found anywhere. This made no sense to me as I had hiked this very route the same time of year 3 yrs ago and there was a nice flow even with some holes deep enough to wade into. This definitely shows how things change from season to season, year to year.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

A dry Kanab changed the gameplan. What I had hoped to be a pleasant day, turned into a slow, hot day of rationing what little water I had left.<\/p>\n

At the fork of Fourmile Hollow I decided to deviate from my route to go to a spring. It took me about 4 miles out of my way, but IT delivered water- relief!<\/p>\n

I made it up to the dirt road and walked to the Grand Staircase-Escalante Monument boundary and camped.<\/p>\n

17.0 miles<\/p>\n

Day 17 \u2013 Skut Scoot<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"Spent almost the entire day walking along the Skutumpah Road. Only a two-mile shortcut through sage broke up the monotony of gravel and dirt. I could see several steps of the Grand Staircase as I walked: The Gray Cliffs and Pink Cliffs to the north, and the White Cliffs to the south. I had to seek out a windmill-driven well to fill up on water. My feet are sore after the long day.<\/p>\n

20.8 miles<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Day 18 \u2013 Rattle and Hmm\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last several nights I\u2019ve heard coyotes howling during the night. Got up this morning and quickly made it to cache #3 and re-loaded supplies. Then it was into the narrow canyon called Lick Wash. It\u2019s a nice canyon, but not as impressive as Bull Valley or Willis canyons nearby.<\/p>\n

By mid-day I was at No Mans Mesa so named because it is nearly impossible to get on top of. I was checking out the old Lyle Cabin when soon came along a group on ATVs- a nice couple from Miami and a local guide.<\/p>\n

From here I went N and around the mesa. Miles through deep sand. It\u2019s so tough walking through sand\u2014a killer.<\/p>\n

Then, all of a sudden, a noise. Someone shaking a box of Tic-Tacs? Someone playing maracas? Nope- it was a rattlesnake. He was coiled up in a bush about 5 feet away. Funny thing is I would have never seen him if he hadn\u2019t started making the ruckus. I went over and took some pics, which made him really mad, so I backed away and watched him slither away as I did.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Then it was back to trudging through more sand as I made my way through a trail-less valley. I saw another snake- a yellow\/brown guy sans rattles.
\nHeaded up out of North Swag the view of Mollies Nipple was striking. The ground was littered which cool pieces of lava. It was ropey and smooth similar to that found in Hawaii. Some seemed to even have formed as tree molds.<\/p>\n

Got to the top of the ridge and got a great campsite overlooking the entire Paria Basin and Deer Range Point. Chili Mac for dinner.<\/p>\n

15.0 miles<\/p>\n

Original Comments<\/strong><\/p>\n