Permits and Politics - Kodachrome Basin, Boulder Creek, and an Escalante River Backpack - September-October 2013

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courtesy JInnes

Rushing creek

Blooming plants

Wonderful Streamside Vibe

Pausing at a sunny wall

Another stretch of wading

Looking back upstream

There were many little idyllic stream-side scenes and viewpoints. Leafy trees often overhung the watercourse, creating a tunnel that framed the creek and created all sorts of nice combinations of light and shadow.

Wadewhacking

Beautiful campsite

Bypassing the bushes

Colors of fall

Navigating many boulders

Pondering next move

The frequent bushwhacks and routefinding slowed our progress down the first stretch of Boulder Creek, and we were not as far down the canyon as we would have liked by the time noon started to approach.

Fallen leaves, Boulder Creek

Good herdpath

Scenic Boulder Creek

We started to notice better stretches of herdpath as we approached the halfway point down to the confluence with Deer Creek. This was a welcome change, for it helped us start to make better time.

Dry bench

A thick stretch

Lunch spot

We stopped for a short lunch at about 12:30pm, next to a very pretty little section of the stream flowing over solid bedrock. A little spa-like pool had formed at the base of a small waterslide here, and the stream's clear water was bubbling and foaming up to the surface much like in a hot tub. Too bad it was not an oppressively hot summer day, or it would have been a perfect place to cool off.

Natural Spa

One last thrash

Corrugated streambed

We soon picked ourselves up and continued on down-canyon. At this point Boulder Creek was much less brushy, and the banks of the river sported higher arid benches that were either clean slickrock, or which had a good herdpath. As a result, our pace picked up dramatically.

Open and more desert-like

Open slickrock benches

Impressive Slickrock Scenery

We were now approaching the confluence with Deer Creek, nearing the end of our time along Boulder Creek. The scenery here was becoming more like that typical of the lower Escalante canyons: big slickrock walls, orange and desert-varnished.

courtesy JInnes

Steep Crossings

Barrel Cactus

View of exit

Shortly before 2pm, we finally arrived at the confluence with Deer Creek. We took a few moments to investigate the confluence (desert river confluences are cool things), noting that Deer Creek was flowing with an amount of water roughly equivalent to Boulder Creek's, making for a roughly doubling of Boulder Creek's flow. But, that was not for us to explore today. No - for us, it was time to find "the exit".

Deer Creek joins

Kyle at the Confluence

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