Finding Boulder Creek Utah

Good map, relatively narrow canyon, & confidence was what we needed to find Boulder Creek via Escalante Canyon. Not really. Supportive water shoes are essential, especially when quicksand sucks your shoes off.

The first mile & half down from the confluence of Calf Creek & Escalante River ("The Bridge") the path was easy to follow until the turn-off to Phipps Canyon. We carved arrows in the sand to steer our way back. Then the trails became thready and vague. Chutes in the steep banks plunged us over and over into Escalante silty river as we tried to find the "camping" area at mile 5 from the Bridge.

We camped at who-knows-where and still were determined to find Boulder Creek the following day. After more bush-whacking and butt-sliding into the River, we noticed we were in clear, clean water. We wove our way into Boulder Creek! We tanked up with our water filters.

Steep stained walls curled tightly around Boulder Creek, forcing us to walk in the water between black spewed Volcanic rock. We were shocked to encounter two other hikers coming from Haymaker bench wading down Boulder Creek and hiking back up from further down Escalante River. Their 6 hour loop trek was a lot shorter than our 3 day tour to finding Boulder Creek.

We thought we could put-us-on-the-map on the way back to the Bridge but we never found those arrows in the sand. Instead, we found our next trek: a dry wash canyon where Bowington Arch resides. We'll find it.

Sounds of Escalante Canyons Art Festival 2010

It was double-duty volunteering and filming the Escalante Canyons Art Festival this year. During the week of the Plein Air Competition, artists were sprinkled through-out Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument with their easels and brushes, capturing their visions onto canvas.

The last two days of the festival, energetic & lively music was heard in town as the tensions mounted for the outdoor paintings being auctioned off. Pertinent speakers gave food-for-thought as they orated historical views or futuristic probabilities regarding the Colorado Plateau.

Hear for yourself the excitement of the varied sounds during Escalante Canyons Art Festival and see the diverse award winners & sold paintings.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0YqY3Gxxb3c

Inspiration

Even though I did not purchase a Plein Air picture at the Escalante Canyons Art Festival, I was inspired to visit the location of my favorite painting in the exhibit, Barker Reservoir. Jake, my grandson, caught 4 fish as I walked through the golden falling Aspen leaves near the lake with 2 y.o. Luke. It was slow going and this carefree stroll morphed into a glorious warm afternoon. I may not have a physical painting, just the memories of my two grandsons taking in the wonders of Escalante's fall weather and beauty.

You are Welcome

Listening to Don Montoya's archaeological and culture speech at Escalante Canyons Arts Festival last Friday, I finally felt welcomed. We built our first house over eleven years ago as a vacation home here in Escalante, Utah. Now its been over two years of living full-time in our original abode and renting the new La Luz vacation home to tourists. People of all clans throughout history have visited our Colorado Plateau for thousands of years. And then vanished. Like the pioneer families that came to Escalante in the 1800's, second and third generations have to move from Escalante for economic reasons. Its hard to make a living here. Travelers passing through as migrating birds do, are well-received in our community. Surrounded by millions of public lands, we're all visiting temporarily.