There aren't many deeply held traditions in my family. But one that we have remained committed to is the annual camping trip in Kodachrome Basin State Park in southern Utah. This actually began as a shared Memorial Day weekend tradition among several families in my neighborhood when I was an adolescent. Now, about 25 years later, my family is the only one keeping that fire burning.
There have been years when we have tried Yellowstone or other places instead, but we always come back to Kodachrome. It really is a gorgeous little park, and it seems relatively unknown even to many Utahns. It has good campgrounds with hot showers, including one particular large group site that we usually reserve as far in advance as possible. Plus, being within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and adjacent to Bryce Canyon National Park, there are more great trails to explore nearby than you can shake a hiking stick at.
This year I drove up from Phoenix by myself (Becky was unfortunately not able to join me) to meet my family there on the first Friday in June. It is a scenic 8 hour drive through Flagstaff, Page, and several small towns in Utah. I arrived at dusk and greeted my family. They all went to bed before I did and so I unwound by crawling up on the nearby slickrock and gazing at the stars for a while. You quickly forget how many there are when you have been living in a big city. This was enhanced by the absence of the moon, and Mars was so distinctly different than the other 'stars' because of its visible red hue. Later that night, after I finally crawled into my tent to sleep, some other members of my family arrived and slept in their cars, or under those bright stars.
I had planned a more difficult hike Saturday morning with some of my family members that were able to do it. That included me and my brother Bill, his oldest son Sebastian, my nephews Braden and Jaron, and Jaron's girlfriend Ana. So after breakfast, we assembled and headed toward Escalante. The hike is called 'The Golden Cathedral' or 'Neon Canyon'. You can get there by driving along 26 miles of the rugged Hole in the Rock road outside of Escalante. And then you hike in 5 miles while dropping 1000 ft. into the canyon, which means you must do it again in reverse in order to exit.
It was a scorcher that day to be sure. But the hike offered interesting changes in scenery along the way, including sun relief from the shaded canyon and the river you have to wade through at the bottom of it. The destination (Fig. 1) was uniquely gorgeous, and we shared it with just one other lone hiker and his dog. We planned to hike out around sunset time so that it would be cooler and we could be shaded somewhat by the long shadows of the canyon and slickrock. That worked out well for us, except that Escalante and its few restaurants all shut down at 9 pm. It's always nice to go find a local grub spot after an exhausting hike and replenish your burned calories with a juicy burger. But since we didn't make it to Escalante before 9 pm, we had to settle for microwave burritos at a gas station in Cannonville. While we were gone hiking, other family members arrived, but they were mostly asleep by the time we got back to camp. A few years ago, I thought that I about killed my older brother Bill on an overnight backpacking trip that I planned, after we had to hike out through brutal heat in the middle of the day. This time, I think he endured it better than I did. I went straight to bed, while he stayed up playing guitar with some of the kids by the campfire.
Kodachrome was a bit hotter than usual that weekend, and also the flies near the campground were beyond tenacious. So Sunday I was eager to get out of the campground and do another hike, something more leisurely in the shade perhaps. After some deliberation, I convinced a group of us to do Peekaboo and/or Spooky gulch, which are some slot canyons in the same general area as the previous day's hike. As it turned out, it wasn't as leisurely as I thought it would be - you really need some arms to grab onto in order to get up, over, or through some parts of it (Fig. 2). But we did it - the whole thing. Bill sprained his ankle pretty bad though (Fig. 3). There was consolation in the fact that we had enough time after the hike to stop in Escalante and get milkshakes at Nemo's.
Sunday night we wrapped up the trip by singing along to Bill and his son Isaak playing guitar by the campfire. Isaak is only 16, but he has quickly compiled a nice catalog of songs he can play very well on the guitar. As it turns out, several of my nieces and nephews listen to a lot of the same indie music as I do. Adalia even introduced me to some really cool older stuff by Andrew Bird that I hadn't heard before.
Monday morning we all packed up our stuff and left Kodachrome. For me, that meant driving back to Phoenix. For Bill and his kids, that meant driving to Vegas then flying to Costa Rica for a summer vacation. For everyone else, that meant driving up to Salt Lake. Parents, siblings, nieces, nephews - it was great to see them all in the same place (its the most efficient way to have family time when your family is as big as mine).
As you drive out of Kodachrome, you come to a T in the road. If you turn right, you exit the conventional way through Cannonville to get back down to Page, Arizona. If you turn left, you can take the 40 mile dirt Road 400 that goes almost directly to Page. I normally turn right onto the paved road through Cannonville, but this time I turned my Ford Escort left and onto the road less traveled and more graveled (Fig. 4). I did not regret it - the views were great along the way and I had them all to myself.
Click here for more photos from the weekend.
There have been years when we have tried Yellowstone or other places instead, but we always come back to Kodachrome. It really is a gorgeous little park, and it seems relatively unknown even to many Utahns. It has good campgrounds with hot showers, including one particular large group site that we usually reserve as far in advance as possible. Plus, being within the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and adjacent to Bryce Canyon National Park, there are more great trails to explore nearby than you can shake a hiking stick at.
This year I drove up from Phoenix by myself (Becky was unfortunately not able to join me) to meet my family there on the first Friday in June. It is a scenic 8 hour drive through Flagstaff, Page, and several small towns in Utah. I arrived at dusk and greeted my family. They all went to bed before I did and so I unwound by crawling up on the nearby slickrock and gazing at the stars for a while. You quickly forget how many there are when you have been living in a big city. This was enhanced by the absence of the moon, and Mars was so distinctly different than the other 'stars' because of its visible red hue. Later that night, after I finally crawled into my tent to sleep, some other members of my family arrived and slept in their cars, or under those bright stars.
I had planned a more difficult hike Saturday morning with some of my family members that were able to do it. That included me and my brother Bill, his oldest son Sebastian, my nephews Braden and Jaron, and Jaron's girlfriend Ana. So after breakfast, we assembled and headed toward Escalante. The hike is called 'The Golden Cathedral' or 'Neon Canyon'. You can get there by driving along 26 miles of the rugged Hole in the Rock road outside of Escalante. And then you hike in 5 miles while dropping 1000 ft. into the canyon, which means you must do it again in reverse in order to exit.
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| Fig. 1. Jaron at the foot of 'The Golden Cathedral'. |
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| Fig. 2. Pushing our way through the meandering Spooky Gulch, one at a time. |
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| Fig. 3. A nice golf ball-sized souvenir from Spooky Gulch on Bill's foot. |
Monday morning we all packed up our stuff and left Kodachrome. For me, that meant driving back to Phoenix. For Bill and his kids, that meant driving to Vegas then flying to Costa Rica for a summer vacation. For everyone else, that meant driving up to Salt Lake. Parents, siblings, nieces, nephews - it was great to see them all in the same place (its the most efficient way to have family time when your family is as big as mine).
As you drive out of Kodachrome, you come to a T in the road. If you turn right, you exit the conventional way through Cannonville to get back down to Page, Arizona. If you turn left, you can take the 40 mile dirt Road 400 that goes almost directly to Page. I normally turn right onto the paved road through Cannonville, but this time I turned my Ford Escort left and onto the road less traveled and more graveled (Fig. 4). I did not regret it - the views were great along the way and I had them all to myself.
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| Fig. 4. Taking the alternative route home along Cottonwood Canyon Road (Rd. 400). |
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