Llama trek above the Escalante River

Llama packer BJ Orozco has agreed to do a spring 2025 llama trip after all, which is good news to us canyon adventurers. The trip will be a fully catered 9-night outing, leaving from a trailhead off the Hole-in-the-Rock road. Our first and last night’s camps will be at or near Gates Tanks, a perennial waterhole to the south of Fool’s Canyon. From that jumping-off point, we will hike to the far reaches of Les George Point, a location farther into the Escalante than we have camped before. That remote camp is farther than can be reached in a one-day trip, and will open some country to exploration where we have never been.

There is at least one route down from Les George point to the Escalante River, via a route called the Bobway, along the green route below. We will use that route to get into and explore the lower Escalante River. There are also routes to the south that will let us walk along the uplands north of Coyote Gulch. See the map at https://aweewalk.blog/2019/09/19/bobway-and-stevens-arch/

We will enter the canyons on Sunday, April 20, and exit on Tuesday, April 29. Before the trip, we will likely overnight in a hotel in Escalante, Utah, on the night of the 19th, and in a hotel in Boulder or Torrey, UT, on the night of the 29th.

This trip will be fully catered, with all meals and community gear provided by BJ. Most of us will take our own tents, sleeping bags, etc., but I am sure that he has gear to loan for folks who need it. The cost for the trip to BJ will be $3,600; we will collect half of that up front as a deposit. Please let me know if you would like to join. We can take a maximum of 8 participants.