Wednesday, November 13, 2013

If This Is What Hell Looks Like, Sign Us Up

 

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The trailhead for Hellhole is located in the extremely picturesque and upscale community of Kayenta , about 7 miles west of St. George, Utah.

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View from the parking area.

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It was overcast and cool when we started out, but the clouds soon parted .

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We marched across the sagebrush desert, then entered a sandy wash on the way to Hellhole, approximately two miles.

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The sand soon turned to rocks, many bigger than bowling balls. It was very tricky walking.

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Debating whether we should take a trail to give us a break from the rocky wash.

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Bobbie took the lead and up we went. It had finally warmed up to what we Floridians thought was perfect, although the rest of our gang thought it was hot as hell.

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Not much farther to go to before we enter the canyon. It seemed like a long 2 miles.

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At last we were in Hellhole. Full of huge boulders surrounded by spiraling rock walls.

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A nice place to stop and eat a bite.

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From here we decided to see how much farther we could go. This next section involved some pretty fun rock scrambling.

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Boonie and I decided to stop here, but Jim was anxious to see how much farther they could get. I knew if I were even able to climb up this strategically placed tree limb, I might never get down. Mark and Bobbie were game to go.

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Found a few interesting things to photograph while they were gone.

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Mark finally came to the end of the road, much to Jim’s dismay.

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We could hear lots of banter and laughter as they scrambled their way back down.

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They made it back safely and as we were heading down the wash to the cars, I mentioned to Jim that we needed to be careful on these rocks, as it would be so easy to twist an ankle. The words no sooner came out of my mouth when my left ankle landed on a rock the wrong way and turned out from under me. Next thing I knew I was sitting on my butt! I could feel that it was just a mild sprain, but it was an uncomfortable hike back for me as any little twisting movement caused pain.

Bringing up the rear, in my own little hell. Luckily it’s feeling much better today.

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We capped off the hike with lunch at Xetava Gardens Café in the nearby Coyote Gulch Art Village. We were the dirtiest, sweatiest people in the place! What a nice day we had.

I found this video of a flash flood in Hellhole Canyon last year. If you need a good reason to stay out of canyons and washes when rain is predicted, this should do it. Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwsG_EzoNt4&feature=youtu.be

12 comments:

  1. Oh what a beautiful hike. Your pictures are stunning. You had me worried for a second with your ankle. I did the very same thing but mine was broken. So glad your apparently isn't as fragile as mine was.

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  2. Holy Moses! That video answered some of my "what if" questions...
    Nice.
    Box Canyon Mark

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  3. Fingers crossed your ankle is better soon. Otherwise, looks like another awesome day in red rock country!

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  4. Love the title.

    Add our name to the list in Hell...lol

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  5. Love the title.

    Add our names to the list for Hell...lol

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  6. Oh, I love this type hike!!! Nothing better than the challenge of making your way up those huge boulders. I saw this hike on Mark's blog from last year but we didn't make it. Gee, we spent the whole month of March there and hiked 29 of 31 days and still didn't have time for things!!

    Sorry to read about your ankle. Probably the best thing for it was that you kept hiking...keep that swelling down. I can't count the number of hikes I hiked back out in pain from an ankle turn. Guess that's another reason John calls me the "Nimble Hiker!" Good to hear it felt all right the next day:) Don't want to lose a day in that beautiful country!!

    That video was crazy! No wonder the canyon hikes vary from year to year.

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    1. We've been to Zion twice before and have hiked just about all the trails in the park. Had no idea there were so many other places to explore in the surrounding area. It's great having Mark and Bobbie as our travel agents!
      We took the day off yesterday to recuperate. Too many days in a row of hiking and biking. My ankle is a little stiff but feels better than I thought it would. Gotta get out an do something today, though!

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  7. just another cool spot to put on our list for our visit next year to Utah...

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  8. A great hike. Sorry to hear about your ankle. Hope all is OK now.

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  9. Fun to see this exact same adventure from your perspective and from Mark's. I found the vegetation growing out of rocks and sand really interesting when we were in Moab. The contrasting colors just dazzle the eye!

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