EGYPT THREE SLOT CANYON

Egypt - 3 is a glorious day hike through an unusually narrow slot off the south side of the Egypt Bench road in Escalante Grand Staircase Monument.   It is a pretty easy technical canyon with a few ten foot down-shimmy's, one simple rappel with a solid natural anchor and a mellow start, and a fun  50 meter swim-wade through the last narrows section.  A couple potholes might need a two-person effort to get out of, depending on water levels.  An experienced solo hiker could toss a roped and weighted pack over the exit lip to gain the necessary leverage to climb out.  It did not look like any potholes would become swimmers, except for the last above-mentioned pool.  

What's neatest about E-3 are the extremely narrow sections of pockmarked walls.  You have to squeeze through sideways, dragging or pushing your pack along.  In some sections, because the slot V's out slightly, you can carry your pack on your head in a much less strenuous manner, a la Nepalese porters.  The pockmarks, like ping pong ball sand paper, are most prominent at waist level, naturally, where they can scour you and your pack pretty good.  The last swim is through a very narrow section where you don't have room to breast stroke, rather you have to push your way along using the sidewall for leverage.  Much of the canyon is so narrow and dark that good photography in many places will require a tripod, which is difficult to squeeze through along with everything else.  An ASA 400 or 800 film (by pushing Provia for example) is OK, yielding ~1/20 sec at f2.8, which, while wedged in, can be shot hand-held when using a wide angle lens.

This is a hike where you climb down into the slot, go through the canyon, then rim-climb up back to your car.  The latter bit requires route finding around various domes (if you want to minimize the length of time you spend in the sun doing this).  A GPS is very helpful to get  you get close enough to see where on the rim you parked.  You should also mark on your GPS where you anchor your rope to the arch for the rappel.  This will allow you to leave the rope and pick it up on the hike back in order to prevent scarring the rock if the rope is pulled.

Refs.  Tom's Guide to Canyoneering in Utah http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/utah/esca/Egypt3.htm  

Kelsey, " Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau,"  Kelsey Publishing, 1999  

Disclaimer:  The goal of these trip notes is to suggest good photographic locations and what I consider pretty neat hikes.  These paragraphs should not be used as a canyoneering guide.  Seek out good maps and detailed information, and get properly prepared before entering any slot canyon.