Zebra Slot Canyon Dogs

Zebra Slot Canyon in Grand Staircase Escalante

After hiking Antelope Canyon, I assumed I’d seen the pinnacle of slot canyons… That was until I learned about Zebra Spooky, and Peek-a-Boo slots (I wrote about Spooky and Peek-a-Boo in another post). All three are located on Hole in the Rock Road within Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. Hole in the Rock is a long, dirt road, but it’s well taken care of so you shouldn’t need 4 wheel-drive, barring inclement weather conditions.

Unlike many of the Escalante-area slot canyons, Peek-a-Boo and Spooky Gulch require zero technical gear or know-how—although it requires some navigational and rock-scrambling skill. Peek-A-Boo is a slot and corkscrew, and Spooky Gulch is a narrow slot canyon. Zebra slot canyon is one of many hikes to be found along southern Utah’s Hole-in-the-Rock Road, where many sandstone canyons feed the west side of the Escalante River. As always when exploring slot canyons, it’s important to be mindful of local rainfall. Grand Staircase-Escalante’s summer heat is no joke, either.

1. Scenery: ★★★★★ Difficulty: ★★★ map: It was an easy hike. I started early morning and finished it before launch. I had lunch in Devils g.
2. Hiked Zebra Slot Canyon just south of Escalante Utah. A great and easy slot canyon to hike. If you don't mind getting a little wet. It was April so the wat.

Zebra slot is the first slot canyon you come to, not far down Hole in the Rock Road. The hike is short and relatively easy, but it’s one of the coolest hikes I’ve been on. You spend a few miles walking through formations that look a good deal like the elusive Wave formation… The hike through the actual slot canyon, however, is relatively challenging. Not because it requires endurance, but because it requires scrambling, some climbing, and long hikes through deep, icy water in very narrow (10 inches wide or less) passages. I wouldn’t recommend trying this canyon if you’re claustrophobic, afraid of scrambling, or unwilling to walk through extremely cold water. If you’re willing to risk those things, it’s 100% worth it and really, really fun. Here are my tips on getting the most out of your hike:

• You’ll encounter water immediately upon entering the canyon. Regardless of what you read or hear, expect to walk through some amount of water in this canyon. And expect this water to have ice in it, so your legs will go numb.
• The water most likely won’t go above mid-to-low thighs. It also will be deepest in the parts where the canyon is the most narrow. That’s spooky, but if you can get through that, you’re in for a big reward on the other side.
• The water never really ends (at least it didn’t for us), but there are breaks where the canyon floor is dry for awhile. Push as quickly as you can through the first bit of water to keep your legs from going numb and get to the dry part.
• After you make it through the first stretch of water, the canyon will dry out and the zebra stripes will begin. This is a good place to turn back if you aren’t comfortable climbing.
• After this, you’ll quickly encounter a 10-12 foot dry fall. You’ll probably want to climb over it to keep going. Just beware that this is a tougher climb than it appears, particularly if you end up coming back down (like we did).
• After the dry fall, you’ll encounter pockets of canyon with deep pools of water and slick, 10 foot or higher sides. To keep going, you need to climb up these sides. This could be feasible if the water was low. When we were there, it was above my head, so we didn’t attempt it. Instead, we climbed back down the dry fall, which was a lot tougher than coming up it.

April 16, 2014

Yesterday's visit to the tourist-infested Calf Creek Falls area was just a warmup; today it is time to venture down the hideous Hole-in-the-Rock Road to the first of several scheduled trailheads. Compelled to travel at as little as 10 miles per hour in places due to washboarding of the road surface, my Outback is delighted when I stop to park after just eight miles of torture.

Clouds are abundant, but non-threatening. For me, it always is difficult to predict what will happen to the weather around here.

Getting started

Before long, the trail reaches a rocky area sporting some predictably interesting formations.

That fence isn't guarding much of anything

As I reach another open area, I know that the first objective is over in that next rock outcropping.

Heading for the distant slickrock

There it is — an opening in the rock just where it is supposed to be:

Approaching Zebra Slot

Just inside the entrance, a little puddle is easy enough to inch around.

A minor obstacle

Zebra Slot Canyon Dogs Allowed

Claustrophobic, yet exciting

I must admit that being in here alone is a bit eerie. I'm no fraidy-cat, but I cannot help being reminded of the commemorativeplaque down at Lower Antelope Canyon showing the names of the eleven people who drowned in a flash flood there in 1997, while in the company of the resident guide (the only survivor). Today's skies are sufficiently inclement that, when I encounter a section of canyon that would necessitate a scramble though a section just six inches wide, I decide to proceed no further.

Some nice photos are going to be missed

I breathe just a bit more easily after exiting the slot.

Off to the next attraction

Just half a mile around the corner is the entrance to a scenic wash with rock walls steep enough to prevent climbing in an emergency, but I'll venture in anyway.

Some neat stuff around the opening

It's time to go in...

..or is it?

Oops! No sooner do I enter the slot than I encounter a puddle more than a foot deep, and there's no way around it. A strong canyoneer could inch his way over it, I suppose; but I am not one of those. Thwarted again!

Heading out already

Well, that's too bad; it wasn't far to the other end. When visiting slotcanyons in the springtime, one must be prepared to deal with water hazards.

Patterns

According to my research, there is some special stuff above the upper end of Tunnel Slot. Today I cannot get through it; but by returning to the mouth of the canyon I should be able to go up and around, and I do. Locating the objects of my search proves easy, because they are all over the place:

Moqui marbles ⇔

The spherules are iron oxide concretions — a sort of hematite 'glue' around a sandstone center. They weather more slowly than the surrounding stratum, finally detaching from the host rock as it erodes away. These geologic phenomena were predicted to exist on Mars; and in fact such 'Martian blueberries' were discovered at Meridiani Planum.

Moqui marbles had substantial spiritual significance to the Hopi Indians. Nowadays any interest tends to be purely commercial, and that is principally why it is illegal to remove these or other materials from federal parklands. I will content myself with a few photographic memories.

Upper Tunnel Slot Canyon is a contorted sandstone maze, seemingly unable to make up its mind.

Reminiscent of The Wave down near Buckskin Gulch ⇔

Zebra Slot Canyon Dogs For Sale

Heading back down beside the deep wash

Former plant life

Now that I know the lay of the land, it is easy to shortcut back across the open area.

More patterns

The threatening sprinkles have arrived. I really need to get a poncho long enough to cover my lumbar pack, thereby solving several issues. As it is, I wrap my rain gear around my camera and carry it under an arm as I scurry down the last mile of path to the trailhead. Just now, four hikers appear — the only humans I have seen today.

Trying to beat the rain

§: This nearly level walk served as a good initiation to the wonders of Escalante. Although my canyon explorations were curtailed by prevailing conditions, visiting all the fantastic rock formations was a lot of fun, and observing my first-ever Moqui marbles was a real treat.

• Trailhead: 8 miles from SR-12 on Hole-in-the-Rock Road
• Distance: 7½ miles
• Elevation: 5400' to 5200'
• Hikers: 4
• Rating: 5 (more in drier weather)