Escalante

2009 Update: I ran this river last year at a fairly low water level using hardshell 10 ft. kayaks. After checking in at the Ranger Station in Escalante my travel companion was all but put off of our trip by the issuing rangers attitude. Be prepared to hear about how foolish your trip is when obtaining your free permit. My permit was marked in bold as 'Not Advised' although we made all 85 miles into Lake Powell without incident.

We were pulled from Lake Powell by a charter boat rented from Bullfrog Marina for a cost of $380 for 2 10 foot boats and gear. Well worth the cost considering alternatives. If you decide to hike out you have 2 viable options, although one will cut your travel miles in half. Crack-in-the-Wall is the most common portage, a boater could also consider hiking out of Fence Canyon at the half way point. This would be a 2.5 mile scramble with the last 1800 feet being almost verticle. Still - that may be easier than Hole in the Rock.

We completed our 2009 trip in 9 days beginning on 6/12. Water levels were low with the cfs flow being 1.8 - well below 'recommended'. This equates to about 1.5 ft of moving water midstream. We used flat bottom kayaks with a large opening, as we were in and out several times a day.

I paid a local $150 plus their cars gas to move the car to Bullfrog - the entire trip was just over $500 or about $250 per person. Keep in mind you can decrease this expense drastically by hiking out.

On the river - we only encountered 1 other group - a single person hiking the length. Other than that our time was spend watching a beaver catch his dinner, scarring up a silver tail fox and watching the numerous fish and birds.

I am planning on a return for 2010, moving the trip forward about 10 days to capitalize on above average snowpack. If you have some energy, are willing to get out and push your boat in a few places and can invest the time and/or money you can easily run this river just about any year with some careful planning.