DRY FORK of COYOTE GULCH, PEEKABOO, SPOOKY, and BRIMSTONE

This area, about 25 miles down the Hole-in-the-Rock road from Escalante, has become the most visited section of Escalante - Grand Staircase Monument.  Because of the numbers of tourists, photography can become difficult in the narrow slots with continual traffic.  Because I always want to set up with a tripod, take my time, make several 30 second'ish exposures, try a different angle, etc., such interruptions are a real pain.  Thus I was most happy to find that, in spite of what I had expected, the lighting is actually pretty good in WINTER.  I thought the low angle beam in January would not penetrate deep enough into the 1 foot gap of Spooky, for example,  to give any good reflected colorations.  I was wrong.  Although timing is very important (Spooky, 1:30pm,  Peekaboo, 3:00pm ) there are periods of about 45 minutes in these canyons that work very well.  And there isn't likely to be anybody else in there!

This is another tripod-mandatory  place.   Film actually captures colors the eyes can't distinguish in the dim light.  As illumination levels decrease your eyes can pick up images but they tend to go gray.  The colors are really there though, and long exposures with a saturated color film really brings them out.  Exposure times of 60 seconds or so are often needed, thus tripod, tripod, tripod.  For example, the picture at the left, of a two foot diameter mini-arch (the peekaboo hole), was made by laying on my back with the tripod set to just not fall over between the contorted walls.  I counted out 60, 90, 150 seconds,  something you could only do with nobody else around.  Wide angle lenses are also mandatory in the narrows (28mm, 20mm....).  As for tripods, a light one with short legs and the ability to splay the legs at many angles is most helpful.  There rarely is a lot of wind, so you shouldn't need a big heavy dude that you will have trouble dragging through the extreme narrows of Brimstone and Spooky.

Refs.  Kelsey, " Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau", Kelsey Publishing, 1999.  Tom's Canyoneering Guide:  http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/utah/esca/drycoy.htm

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. 

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