Memories from October 12, 2018.
Dark Canyon was quite easy after Young’s Canyon yesterday. Most of the time there are flat solid rock ledges to walk in above the river. From time to time you have to cross but not as frequently as other canyons wheee you had to cross every time the canyon turned. However, with the ledges there wee fewer crossing points where you could get down and then up the other side. It made an interesting game.
Getting out of Dark Canyon is done by hiking the Sundown Trail. There are so many crisscrossing paths near the base of the climb, it took me a few tries to find the one which actually went up. When I got to the top there were more crisscrossed trails. I followed a fresh set of tracks to know which ones to follow though some guesswork was still required as when they disappeared until I found them a steep but walkable sandstone slope.
After that it was road walking to Hite to get water. As far as road walks go, this had very nice views. I wouldn’t have minded a hitch to speed things along.
Hite itself seemed oddly absent of human life. On my way in, a car passed first coming then going. That and other cars in the distance were my human contact for the day. I’d been hoping to camp at Hite (I couldn’t figure out if it was an option and there was no one to talk to) so I refilled water and left.
Tonight I’m cowboy camping (finally) begins a rock which slopes away from the road like a horseshoe. Tomorrow morning I walk across the bridge over the Colorado River and into section 4.
Isaac Takes A Hike 