Route: Escalante Overland Route (UT)

Submitted by emilyrosekeddie on Sat, 10/03/2020 - 05:55pm
Location
Utah, US
Distance
77 mi
Vertical Gain
20,000 ft
Description

The Escalante Overland Route was proposed by Steve Allen in the end of his book, Canyoneering 3, as an incredibly demanding and challenging off-trail route finding and navigation extravaganza, requiring advanced Canyoneering, climbing, and navigational skills. The route starts on Hwy 12 northeast of the town of Escalante, and end at either the Red Well TH (as described in Allen's book) or the 40-mile TH (~1 mile longer, but includes some of the excellent Coyote Gulch), off of the Hole in the Rock Road. Distances and elevation gains are approximate as the nature of the route means there would be some differences in these figures as route finding would suggest. On our route, we added approximately 1.5 miles to see Golden Cathedral out of Neon Canyon. Those attempting this route are highly recommended to study maps of the proposed route, be familiar with and carry the terse description from Allen’s book, and come up with a basic route to follow based on those things. The submitted route is our “planned” route, which deferred from the verified route submitted which we tracked daily from start to finish. 

Adventure Alan details an extension of the route to the town of Escalante starting at the south Boulder Mail Trailhead heading north.

Comments

Thank you Emily and Garret for setting up this route! 

I am writing in hopes of finding a partner for this route next year, south to north, including Ichibod, Hydra, Shofar which I have scouted the route for. Please send me an email if interested: mcpc3839@gmail.com

Goal is route completion in 3-4 days, going in April/May when the days are longer and temps lower compared with fall season. 

Some crux passages, especially in optional category, are more difficult going NOBO but you probably know this