#11 - Escalante with Megan and Friends

​Megan is in her senior year, and has developed an amazing group of girlfriends.  We had originally planned a family trip to Escalante to hike the Dry Fork Slot Canyons of Peekaboo and Spooky Gulch.  Then we saw some open beds in the Airbnb, and asked Megan to invite her friends.  She did so, and ended up in central Utah with 8 high school senior girls to hike and play and have a fantastic time.

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Itinerary:

Thursday Day #1 – We departed Orem and drove down (about 3 1/2 hours) and checked in to the Airbnb.

Friday Day #2 – We drove 20 miles down the hole-in-the-rock road to Dry Fork and hiked in Spooky Gulch and Peekaboo slot canyons.  We parked at the first lot, and hiked down through Dry Slot Canyon. It was nice and dry, and we did the route backwards this time, coming up the far canyon and back down the nearer canyon. On the way back, we stopped at the Devil's Garden and played and climbed on the rock structures. We returned to the Airbnb for lunch, and then a few of us went back out in the late afternoon to do the circle hike in the Petrified Forest.  We had a dinner and mock-tails, then a campfire that evening, with smores and smokiness.

Saturday Day #3 – We started our drive home, and on the way stopped to hike Upper Calf Creek Falls.  It was our first time hiking Upper Calf creek, with a super steep beginning, and then a more gradual hike to the Falls.  It was a hot day, and there were cool pools to jump into at the end of the hike.  Everyone took their turn rock-jumping into the and we had a great time cooling off in the falls.  Then we continued home.
 
Highlights: 

1. Kid-led Meals - We assigned the girls all the meals, and they did a fine job preparing food for all 10 of us.  Merary even brought the ingredients to make mock cocktails, complete with honey-sugar dipped glasses.  They were all responsible and capable.

2. Facials for the wary – Jacob came along, he and I were the only guys there, and for Jacob’s school assigned “out of my comfort zone” project he agreed to be the subject of the make-over session, receiving facial/manicure/pedicure/styling treatment from all of the girls.  It was fun to see him participating in the sister and friend activities.

3. Escalante Hiking – Both hikes were highs, and the pool-rock jumping was a highlight.  Peekaboo still ranks as one of my all-time favorite hikes, even after having done it 5 times.  All the girls loved the canyoning adventure.  We did some fear-inducing jumping and climbing and everyone joined in the fun.  I literally love squeezing through the tight spots of the slot canyons (even though I scratched my watch face), and rock jumping in verdant hidden canyon pools next to waterfalls can't be beat in a Utah summer.

Lowlights: 
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1. Hole-in-the-rock Road – This road never gets any better.  It is a long 50 minute drive on a dusty rutted washboard dirt road that is always long and awful and teeth-chattering.