Tag: Phipps

Testing the feet around Escalante

by aweewalk, posted in Backpacking

Between 17 April and 25 April we based ourselves in and around the small town of Escalante. We looked after the car of a fellow hiker Nathan who has joined Hayduke hikers Heather, Mike and Ryan for a 6 day section and by generously leaving the car with us, we were able to pick them all up from their destination trailhead when they had finished.

Meantime we were able to treat blisters and go for day hikes of increasing length to test progress. We started with a visit to Phipps Arch, a day in upper Pine Creek and then two days on the Boulder Mail Trail. Here are some shots of our “test hikes”.

Phipps Wash day hike (see also the banner of this page)
Dropping into Phipps Wash from the north west
Phipps Wash
Although with car, we preferred to camp on the beautiful slickrock, a short walk from the road.

After a couple of day hikes we walked the Boulder Mail Trail as an overnight backpack between the towns of Boulder and Escalante. This follows the route once taken by the mailman and his horse from the town of Boulder to Escalante before there was a road. It goes through spectacular canyon and rock slab terrain!

Spring is slowly starting to add colour to the desert
After about 40 miles of test-hiking the feet had sufficiently recovered and allowed us to head onwards on our intended route through the desert on the Hayduke (and alternates).