Peek-A-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyon

Posted on December 26, 2021January 7, 2022 by jim

Peek-A-Boo – It’s the Spooky Slot Canyon!
Now – this is fun! Makes up for our last ‘Oops’ boondocking post that wasn’t supposed to spam everyone.
I don’t know who originally said – "Hey, let’s squeeze inside between these rock walls and see where it goes", but they were pretty intrepid explorers in my book.
It’s "spooky" enough squeezing through here when you know you can get out one side or the other unless you’re too fat and get stuck.
* Pondering all those beers, eggs, and bacon *.
Ah, damn the torpedos – full speed ahead. I’ve got a petite lead climber to tell me if I’m going to have to call the helicopters or not.
The Peek-A-Boo and Spooky Slot Canyons are in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument, 20 miles or so down the dirt Hole-In-The-Rock Road. Not convenient, but worth the drive.
We picked our boondocking spot based on convenience to this, and it works well. On our drive on we gauged the road surface and just how deep the mud and snow would be on our way out, and decided it was doable and well worth it.
The slot canyons are FUN!
After your two mile hike in, it starts innocently enough with a wide enough passage for a single person to walk comfortably through.
But it changes very, very quickly. Suddenly you’re scraping the walls, peeking around corners, and dragging your pack along behind you.
It’s definitely helpful to have a second person that you can pass your pack and poles to in many sections, because if you try to throw your pack up ahead of you, it will just come tumbling back down on your head. Dont’ do this one alone, kids.
After you clear the Spooky Slot Canyon, you have a high desert hike over to the entrance of the Peek-A-Boo Slot Canyon.
Colette was smart enough to stay on the rim, while my caveman self plunged on recklessly.
I should have known by the water at the top of the canyon that it wouldn’t diminish as I went lower….
This is where I discovered how much more difficult this is solo – in Spooky I would throw my pack ahead to Colette in the tight sections, then climb up. Here, I had to carry my pack and have one less free hand, or drop it into the water below me.
The last two big sections before the end of the canyon held unavoidable water. Too big to jump across, and walls far too slick to try to muscle across.
Slowly, slowly, slowly drop into the water and hope that it’s not chest-deep.
Luckly both pools were mid-thigh, and I was able to forge through with wet boots and wet pants, probably a better outcome than trying to reverse course and climb out of the canyon.
After a bit of a backtrack outside canyon to rendezvouz since Colette was stuck on a plateau 100 feet or so above the canyon bottom, we hiked out and managed the muddy and snowy road back to the camper.
More fun tomorrow!