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Yes, we will definitely be more prepared next time! I would really love to do this hike again but on purpose. Being unsure of your route can really take the fun out of an otherwise marvelous hike. If we go again someday we'll make sure everything in our panniers is in waterproof bags!
As for our camera, there is definitely a miracle story there. Phil turned it on before bed that night and it still didn't work, but next morning it turned on without making that nasty grinding noise and the viewfinder worked! Phil snapped a photo. Our camera was back in business! The one day I really wanted photos but (unknowingly) had no time to take them was the day our camera was out of commission. If Phil and I had spent time taking all the photos we wanted of Death Hollow, we would never have made it as far as Bill and Adrian and we would never have known how to climb out of Death Hollow. We'd have been faced with the prospect of backtracking and spending yet another night on the trail with no food.
This is the first photo Phil took that morning after our camera miraculously "came to." It's a little fuzzy. The camera took a few tries before it remembered how to adjust to light conditions (and it was pretty dark down in that canyon), but it was working! This is the tree Phil and I commandeered from Bill and Adrian so we could hang up our wet things.
It was cold and dark down in that deep canyon, but we could see sunlight touching the tops high above us. We were camped at the Boulder Mail Trail intersection and several large cairns were placed at our camp and on up the steep canyon wall on our left. It was a very obvious and well-marked intersection and trail, but without someone to tell us what it was, Phil and I would never have dared to leave our water source. Without a map we would not have known where that trail went, how far it went, or whether there was water on it. We were so thankful that we found Bill and Adrian to lead us out! There was no breakfast for Phil and I, but we still had the remains of our bottle of pancake syrup. Phil had the brilliant idea of using it as an energy drink. I divided the syrup into our two water bottles and mixed it with water filtered from the creek. It tasted pretty darn good and it was an excellent energy boost to start us off that morning. After we finished our syrup water, we finished off with some regular water and then filled our water bottles to the top. It was going to be a very dry 8-mile hike over the slickrock to Escalante. I tried to get the goats to drink but they weren't interested.
Our goats were both tired, but Sputnik was also very sore. He's "flatfooted" with very upright pasterns and the long hike over rock had taken its toll. We would be going over even more rock today. Nevertheless, both goats stood willingly to be saddled and followed us up out of the canyon without complaint. There was only one spot near the beginning where Sputnik thought he couldn't make it. It was a two-foot jump on the steepest section of trail. He went looking for a way around, but I knew there was none and had to go fetch him. He was too tired and sore to jump. I grabbed his halter and hauled his front end over the rock and the rest followed. Thank goodness that was the only trouble spot! The nice thing about a very steep climb is that you get to the top very quickly. The sun felt wonderful after the cold darkness of the canyon. And our camera was working!
You can see the Death Hollow canyon winding away behind us. What a hike! It was so beautiful, but I was glad to be out of there.
Nope, we'd have never found this trail on our own, nor dared to traverse it without knowing where it went and how far. There's a lot of trackless wilderness out there!
And here I am with our rescuers, Bill and Adrian. Once we were out of the canyon Bill was able to get service on his cell phone and we immediately made some calls. Phil and I were very concerned that Catherine might have called search and rescue. It would be a big, expensive, embarrassing ordeal and Phil and I would have our names in the paper--Idiot Tourists with Goats Lost in Death Hollow!
I didn't have Catherine's phone number with me, but Bill's wife was waiting for him in Escalante and could relay a message. It turned out she was staying in the hotel right next door to our B & B. She walked over and told Catherine where we were, so that took a big load off our minds.
As for our camera, there is definitely a miracle story there. Phil turned it on before bed that night and it still didn't work, but next morning it turned on without making that nasty grinding noise and the viewfinder worked! Phil snapped a photo. Our camera was back in business! The one day I really wanted photos but (unknowingly) had no time to take them was the day our camera was out of commission. If Phil and I had spent time taking all the photos we wanted of Death Hollow, we would never have made it as far as Bill and Adrian and we would never have known how to climb out of Death Hollow. We'd have been faced with the prospect of backtracking and spending yet another night on the trail with no food.
This is the first photo Phil took that morning after our camera miraculously "came to." It's a little fuzzy. The camera took a few tries before it remembered how to adjust to light conditions (and it was pretty dark down in that canyon), but it was working! This is the tree Phil and I commandeered from Bill and Adrian so we could hang up our wet things.
It was cold and dark down in that deep canyon, but we could see sunlight touching the tops high above us. We were camped at the Boulder Mail Trail intersection and several large cairns were placed at our camp and on up the steep canyon wall on our left. It was a very obvious and well-marked intersection and trail, but without someone to tell us what it was, Phil and I would never have dared to leave our water source. Without a map we would not have known where that trail went, how far it went, or whether there was water on it. We were so thankful that we found Bill and Adrian to lead us out! There was no breakfast for Phil and I, but we still had the remains of our bottle of pancake syrup. Phil had the brilliant idea of using it as an energy drink. I divided the syrup into our two water bottles and mixed it with water filtered from the creek. It tasted pretty darn good and it was an excellent energy boost to start us off that morning. After we finished our syrup water, we finished off with some regular water and then filled our water bottles to the top. It was going to be a very dry 8-mile hike over the slickrock to Escalante. I tried to get the goats to drink but they weren't interested.
Our goats were both tired, but Sputnik was also very sore. He's "flatfooted" with very upright pasterns and the long hike over rock had taken its toll. We would be going over even more rock today. Nevertheless, both goats stood willingly to be saddled and followed us up out of the canyon without complaint. There was only one spot near the beginning where Sputnik thought he couldn't make it. It was a two-foot jump on the steepest section of trail. He went looking for a way around, but I knew there was none and had to go fetch him. He was too tired and sore to jump. I grabbed his halter and hauled his front end over the rock and the rest followed. Thank goodness that was the only trouble spot! The nice thing about a very steep climb is that you get to the top very quickly. The sun felt wonderful after the cold darkness of the canyon. And our camera was working!
You can see the Death Hollow canyon winding away behind us. What a hike! It was so beautiful, but I was glad to be out of there.
Nope, we'd have never found this trail on our own, nor dared to traverse it without knowing where it went and how far. There's a lot of trackless wilderness out there!
And here I am with our rescuers, Bill and Adrian. Once we were out of the canyon Bill was able to get service on his cell phone and we immediately made some calls. Phil and I were very concerned that Catherine might have called search and rescue. It would be a big, expensive, embarrassing ordeal and Phil and I would have our names in the paper--Idiot Tourists with Goats Lost in Death Hollow!
I didn't have Catherine's phone number with me, but Bill's wife was waiting for him in Escalante and could relay a message. It turned out she was staying in the hotel right next door to our B & B. She walked over and told Catherine where we were, so that took a big load off our minds.