V
The Search
For the next several months, I would spend much time and log many miles in search of an unknown slot canyon. I looked on the maps and satellite images for likely prospects then devised routes of access on decaying dirt roads, disappearing trails, and across harsh open country. The first to be checked were the ones that appeared to have some business but were simply overlooked in the past. Next, were the ones that were less accessible or seemed to be too short to be worthwhile. Eventually, I was reduced to checking the possibilities that were most remote in both location and likelihood of containing a quality slot canyon. To say I toiled would be overstating it, since I love to walk in the desert, but I was finding the search to be quite a disappointment. So I redoubled my efforts and searched further and wider than ever before. I searched the Navajo, the Kayenta, and the Wingate and I came up with nothing.
I wanted to find and scout out a canyon so that I could give it back to the people who are so generous to me. I wanted to make amends for my piggish behavior. I wanted the thrill of researching, locating, and scouting out a fine new addition to the list of slots that are common knowledge. I wasn't finding anything and I began to think that what I wanted was just as selfish as hogging the lead. It was clear to me that the canyons I had previously explored and enjoyed were the product of years and years of desert travel, a keen eye for such things, and the drive to get back and follow through with the possibilities. I had been at it for just a few months, what should I expect?
Drainage after drainage turned out to be nothing more than open canyons, some filled with brush, others containing nothing but sterile sand. Eventually, I became resigned to the fact that I might never find a slot. I could travel through the desert for the rest of my life and not discover anything resembling a technical slot, so I had better enjoy the searching. I would continue with the quest, but I would do it while living in the moment rather than always being disappointed at the end of the day.
