Egypt Two, Escalante, UT. Natural Anchors, Water, and Downclimbing
Made the dash to the Escalante... First on the agenda: Egypt Two. Yeah, you've driven by it a dozen times. It looks interesting, but if it's not in the bible...
OK, with a little information, we kitted up and headed off to do it. With a 300 foot rope, one could probably rap off the bumper into the exact head of the canyon. But none of us had such a beastly rope, so we hiked around the left side and searched for an easy way in. The terrain was quite interesting...
Searching for an easy way in... (Egypt Two)
In to the land of adventure... (Egypt Two)
Ramrass enjoys the view to Fifty Mile Mountain. (Egypt Two)
And down, searching for a way in. We finally found a tree about 80 feet off the canyon floor, and change roles from Rimaneers to Canyoneers (Egypt Two)
The canyon meanders a bit, and works its way down. Finally, we come to a nice little drop into a very pretty mudhole. Toss a sling around a chockstone and away we go. It IS EARLY march and we are not too excited about getting into the water. (Egypt Two)
Yah, yah, more nice canyon. Quite a bit of this. (Egypt Two)
Some guy gingerly making his way into a pool (Egypt Two)
More canyon. Mike's good side. (Egypt Two)
A little downclimb into a pool - glad we're wearing the wet suits at this point, let me tell ya. (Egypt Two)
And more interesting canyon - a few small pools, a few downclimbs, interesting stuff. (Egypt Two)
After opening out for a while, the canyon narrows again. We suspect the end is near, dump the packs and forage ahead to the confluence with Egypt 3. Okay, no big deal, no major problems. We return to our packs. All that's left... (Egypt Two)
John Baise, enjoying a cool respite from the hot sun... (Egypt Two)
Yah, yah - the slog out. We took the rib between E2 and E3, which proved expedient. (Egypt Two)
Uphill, slickrock, full sun. Go as fast as your lungs will allow. (Egypt Two)
And here's the head of E2 - and the impressive drop right next to the road. (Egypt Two)
And our Egypt Two adventure was over. BETA: A short day. 2 or 3 raps to 80 feet. Easy natural anchors. Maybe some potholes up to chest deep. Have fun. And - and - and - really, the classy way to start would be the 300' rappel, right at the head. Leave the rope tied off to the car, pad the edge. Good camping right on the slickrock.
