Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

I'm nearing the end of my photos from the April trip to Utah, but I still have a couple more posts' worth. After spending the early morning at the Devil's Garden , we headed into the town of Escalante for  snacks and  showers (about $9 with tax at the Escalante Outfitters, so one of my pricier showers but much overdue--as some will remember from my May IWSG post ). We promptly undid much of the effect of the showers by launching on a late-morning hike up the Escalante River to Escalante Arch and Cliff Ruins Arch. I usually avoid hiking in the desert at mid-day, but the trail was flat and promised at least some shade, so we went for it. Spoiler alert: it was hot. Overlooking the Escalante River. The line of trees following the curve of the cliff shows where the river runs. Cottonwoods and red cliffs. The Escalante River. The word "river" is an elastic term; in the desert things are "rivers" that in Western Washington would barely qualify as "streams...

Last week I shared photos from Day 1 of a 2-night, 3-day backpack into Coyote Gulch. This was part of my larger trip with 2 friends to explore the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument back in April.  Today, we'll cover Day 2, with an 8-mile dayhike to Cliff Arch, and Day 3, the hike out. Despite the rain, hail and even snow the night before we started our trip, we were in early-rising mode to dodge the heat of the day. That country can change at the drop of a hat from cold to hot and back again. Moonset at sunrise. For a while, it's all about the reflected light. We were on the trail before 8 a.m. and soon hiking past lots of places that might have been nicer camps (but wouldn't have divided our days so neatly). I do recommend taking advantage of the wider parts of the canyon to camp away from the trail. About 35 minutes of walking took us to Swiss Cheese Falls, named for the ways the water has eroded holes into the rock. Coyote Natural Bridge was the next special f...

Welcome back for another episode of "Rebecca Rocks Out." After 2 years, I returned to Dry Fork Coyote Wash and to Peekaboo Gulch, where I broke my foot in April 2023. No injuries this time! Well, except to my camera, which finally succumbed to all the desert sand and grit halfway through the hike. I'm glad that cell phones these days have great cameras, so the trip wasn't a photographic loss. We went on from Peekaboo to Spooky Gulch, an even narrower slot canyon, though not in my opinion as pretty a one.   The hike starts with a short walk to the edge of the canyon, then a long walk along the shelf atop the sandstone. Starting the hike. Two years ago we climbed into Peekaboo from the bottom of the wash, a climb that I don't like and can't do without help. This time we hiked up alongside the slot and dropped in from the top. A bit of a search located the place we climbed out after I broke my foot. It was a less obvious route than I remembered! From there we hea...