Hole in the Rock - All Around Powell - North Rim

Southern Utah is incredible! Already trying to figure out when I can head back.

Anyways, I met up with @Night Eagle @teamhypoxia and @Wishbone Runner for some exploring 5/5-5/14/17.

Day's one and two were on Hole in the Rock Trail, joined by @Gramps and @NYCO . It was a fun, technical trail, and the history on it is pretty amazing.

Powell & More (1 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Powell & More (2 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

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Tippy on HITR by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Ended day 2 with the Halls Crossing Ferry and camping on the shores of Powell.

Powell & More (10 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

 

Day 3 included the Burr Trail, an unexpected offshoot leading us to Halls Creek Overlook on the southern end of Capitol Reef, a few pavement miles between Boulder and the lovely town of Escalante, and the other side of Hole in the Rock.

Halls Creek Overlook:

Powell & More (11 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Powell & More (12 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Between Boulder and Escalante:

Powell & More (13 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Powell & More (14 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

And our camp near the end of Hole in the Rock road:

Powell & More (16 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

I think we saw Navajo mountain from almost every angle on this trip:

Powell & More (15 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Eric playing around above camp:

Eric (1 of 3) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

HITR camp by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

 

Day four started with some slot canyons off of Hole in the Rock road. A lot of fun was had.

IMAG0292 by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

And naps ensued:

IMAG0293 by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Then back to Escalante for gas, a u-turn to try to find Left Hand Collet, failing at that, another u-turn, Escalante again, and finally Smokey Mountain Road.

Day five was driving down the Smokey Mountain Road, out to the Grand Bench, and ending at Alstrom Point.

Powell & More (17 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Powell & More (18 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Grand Bench by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Grand Bench panorama by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

 

Alstrom Point is probably the coolest place I have ever been.

So I needed a poser shot:

Powell & More (19 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Powell & More (20 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

We lucked out and caught an amazing sunset with a full moon as well.

Alstrom by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Powell & More (21 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

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Alstrom camp spot (1 of 1) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Alstrom moonrise (1 of 1) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

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My strategic parking location allowed me to catch the sunrise without getting out of bed.

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@Wishbone Runner note the peninsula is no longer.

 

After a lazy day on the lake day six, we headed to the North Rim on day seven. Checked out Parissawampitts point and camped at Locust Point (I think).

Sunset there was pretty good too, but hard to compare to what we had just seen.

Powell & More (25 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Powell & More (26 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Day eight we checked out an overlook on the other side, before heading to Jumpup.

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Jumpup by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

Powell & More (30 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

And then took the scenic way home on day nine, with a bunch of road I had never been on:

Powell & More (31 of 31) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

 

More of a picture dump than a trip report, I know the other guys will have a lot to add as well.

 

It was cool.







That is all.

 

Very cool Brett! @teamhypoxia laying on the rock getting a tan

 

I almost fell to my death!
It was horrifying

 

Well said, Eric.

To be fair, I guess I should have posted the picture after he made it to the top.

Eric (3 of 3) by brettbjorgum, on Flickr

 

Just glad to be alive

 

He looks so scared

 

Awesome shots Brett! I wish I could have joined for your entire trip.

You guys had a ton of light to come back down those ledges. @NYCO and I hit them at about sunset. So much fun.

 

This was an awesome trip that we went on. So day one started with Squeaky Penguin leaving steamboat and meeting up with teamhypoxia and Wishbone Runner in Grand junction. Once rendezvou number one was completed we headed to the old hole in the rock trail to meet up with Gramps and NYCO. Day two we proceed to run hole in the rock to the end and part way back.



















Gramps and NYCO had proceed farther then the rest of us on day two because they had to get back home on day 3. Day 3 involved us finishing the last of the hole in the rock so we could get to the other side of lake powell. This part of the trip also involved us taking the ferry across the lake.













Once we reached the other side of the lake we headed to boat repair shop near the lake so Teamhypoxia could get a new battery. Since his decided to shit the bed the day before.We camped next to the lake that night and I tried out a new camp dinner that night, which was pizza rapped in foil and placed on the coals.





Day 4: We head out for Escalante and do the other side of hole in the rock, that your average vehicle can get down. This was just a lot of fast driving and dusty roads. We also came across an old cattle trough.































Day 5: We hit up some slot canyons and head back to Escalante to top off our trucks so that we head up and over left hand Colette. The slot canyons were a blast and the dogs made it even more interesting. We also ran into a small issue when it came to going up Left Hand. The trail head had been moved and we did not know that so we had to head back to Escalante and go around a different way. So we gassed up again and got some ice cream snacks at nemo's snack shack. Oh we also visit all three gas stations again. This third trip to Escalante made us decided it was a favorite town ever. Lol.

 

Day 6: we woke up to a slight rain and mud. So we had to pack up wet gear. Considering our redirect from the day before we were behind on our plan. So we head out to our originally planned camp spot, which I can't remember the name of.














The pups were pretty worn out from the slot canyons the day before.

After we reached this point it was about mid day, so we decide to hang out and throw some boulders of the cliff and see how far they make it down. After an hour or so we head out for alester point which is the planned camp spot for the night and is only about 45 miles away.























We had an awesome full moon that night as well.





Day 7: We head down to the lake to fish a swim for the day. It was a nice relaxing day from driving. I did get any pics from that day but hopefully the others will post pics soon. We only caught one fish that day and it was a cat fish.

Day 8: We head to the dam and Page, Arizona to get gas and dinner for the final two nights. While in page we visit one of the horse shoe bend of the Grand Canyon. At this point it is the human interaction we have had and will have. This is also the most interaction I have ever had with Asians. We had one lady take a picture of us with a giant telephoto lens on her camera. All of these Asian were the most entertaining people watching have ever had. The interesting thing about it all was that they were pretty scared of my dog and Wishbone's dog. We did the 3/4 mile hike and got out of dodge, because we didn't want to see any more people, and headed for the north rim of the grand canyon.








The down side this camp spot was the fact it was windy as hell all night. The gusts that we were strong enough to sound like a jet engine flying over head.

Day 9: We attempt to get into park but find everything closed up tight. Then we proceed to head out to jump up point and then to the sand dunes and our last night away from society.









Day 10: we all take our nice long drives home. @Squeaky Penguin and I decided to take a back way home. So we ditched @teamhypoxia and @Wishbone Runner at the Price, Utah exit and head north toward vernal and then east to steamboat. The first half of that section was awesome but then it just turned flat, windy and boring.

 

Just a couple I have from Hole in the Rock
The evolution of a 2nd gen on the ledge.

 

Thanks! I still don't have a clue what I'm doing behind the camera or editing, but I'm happy with how those came out.

And yeah, that shelf section that was blasted into the slickrock was tight. Bet it was interesting at sunset.

 

I think Bobo has the only pics from our decent. Definitely got the adrenaline going.

 

Leo great shots as well. Those pups were awesome. Glad you you got him.

 

Ya the pups were great. You missed seeing them run and play for a couple hours every night.