Escalante, Utah: Phipps Arch, Collet Top Arch, Bighorn Canyons, Red Breaks Canyon, Moody Canyons (March 2005)

Phil Hage climbing above an amazingly perfect saddle behind Phipps Arch. This image has been used perhaps one million times in calculus books to illustrate the idea of a saddle point. The layers form perfect contour lines.

My wife, Joan Hutchinson, and friends Phil Hage and Kathy Franzen spent a week doing day hikes out of Escalante; then Tom Whitesides joined us and Tom, Phil, and I did a 5-day backpack in the Moody Creek drainages. The weather was very cold, but hiking was always pleasant. A highlight was the trip, mostly four-wheel driving, to Collet Top Arch on the Kaiparowitz Plateau. The day trips to Burro Wash (Capitol Reef), Phipps Arch and Bighorn Washes (off the Sheffield Road), and Red Breaks Canyon (near Harris Wash) were all very rewarding. We had lots of interesting slots and superb Navajo sandstone to walk across. But the best is always the Wingate, and we camped on a spectacular Wingate plateau at the head of East Moody Canyon.

The Moody Backpack: We took the following route. Parked at the extremely remote Middle Moody trailhead (4WD to get there). Hiked down to Escalante River and camped at confluence with East Moody. The Escalante was running very fast and deep, but we never had to touch it. Day two: Up East Moody to near its head and the “Sheephunters Route” through the Wingate to its top. Camped about a mile beyond where we topped out. This was an 8-hour day, as the climb through the Chinle and Wingate was tough. We started the climb a bit too soon and should have waited until seeing the drainage from this canyon to avoid difficulties among house-sized Wingate boulders atop the Chinle. Day three: We were tentbound in heavy snow in the morning, but got out in the afternoon. We found a route through the Kayenta to the Navajo, and so could easily hike to the edge of Millers Canyon, providing fine northern views. Day four: Reverse the climb, with time out for a two-hour exploration of the Kayenta and Wingate just above the descent route. This route through the cliffs has three short sections of class 3 or 4 climbing. It is a beautiful route through an otherwise impassable area of cliffs. We camped at the confluence of East Moody and its West Fork. So far, we could just about match the shorter times in Steve Allen’s guidebook. But on day five we found that he overestimated the time needed for one section. The final section to the car is shorter than his guidebook suggests. It took us 3.5 hours total.

It was cold and windy throughout, and naturally I was a little worried about the drive out in case heavy precipitation should come in, turning the road to mud. Well, very heavy rain and snow did come in, but not until we had reached the paved Burr Trail!

The hike to Phipps Arch (center of photo) from the Sheffield Road is fine, but even better was the continuation of the loop by climbing from the arch onto the fabulous Navajo slickrock visible in this photo, and then circling back to the trailhead on high ground.
To continue past the arch requires some steep climbing. Here Phil Hage is climbing a steep slab up to a dome beyond the arch. Note the pretty curves in the sandstone: they appear to be contour lines for a classic saddle shape. After this section Steve Allen’s guide refers to a class 4 pitch to descend the dome, but in fact there is a class 2 walkaround. So the pitch in the photo is the hardest bit of climbing in the long Phipps Arch loop (though there is a short move or two to get to the arch that requires some easy technique).
Ever since learning of this scenic arch on the Kaiparowitz Plateau (from Jens Munthe’s book) I have wanted to visit it. We learned that the Collet Top Road was all right so we took our Ford Explorer up it. Low-gear four-wheel drive was needed here and there, but it was not too bad. This arch appears to be seldom visited. Finding it with the help of a GPS was fun.
The Anasazi granary is in perfect condition: not a stone out of place, which is amazing considering it was built 700 or so years ago and has not undergone any restoration, I believe.
2009 Note: The Collet Top Road is no longer passable. So one must take the alternative Smoky Mountain Road to reach this area.
Phil, Kathy, and Joan inside the slot.
Steve Allen’s book describes a longish route that goes down Bighorn (Sheffield Road trailhead), along Harris Wash, and then up an unnamed drainage to the east. We decided to shorten it (as described in Kelsey’s book) by coming back up West Bighorn instead. The slot in this latter canyon was excellent, and required a little rope work to exit near its head. After hitting the road, I ran a mile and a half east to get the car and return for my party. This photo shows Joan near the end of the slot.
We followed Steve Allen’s description, including an ascent of the Navajo Dome at the end. The slot in this one is very long, with somewhat challenging chockstone problems. And at the end there is an exposed class four exit. But we (Joan, Tom Whitesides, and I) did not use a rope this day.
The tafoni (aka gnammas or boxworks) on the Wingate boulders in both Moody and East Moody was phenomenal. This one is in East Moody.
Our farthest camp on the Wingate saw a large snowfall one day, but it melted quickly.
A view of the large area of Wingate sandstone at the top of East Moody Canyon. This was very scenic and provided easy and pleasant walking.