1. In a pinch, 2. Temple of the Sun: Framed, 3. cliché coyote, 4. Kissin Cottonwoods, 5. Taco at Devil’s Garden, 6. Sometimes

I recently took a trip to meet my dad and photographer friend Charlie Wood for another birthday hike. This was my 27th, and is the 3rd birthday expedition I’ve done in as many years. Last year was Canyonlands with Charlie and the year before was Zion.

This year, I met the guys in Escalante, UT. I drove over the ‘short’ route via the Smokey Mountain Road. This is a nearly 80 mile off road jaunt, over the Kaiparowitz Plateau. My first night was spent sleeping in the bed of my truck along the road:

Just to the right of this picture is the lights of Page, AZ. I’m perched on a large bentonite cliff — this is where the original was filmed….

The next morning I hauled butt over the sometimes washed out Smokey Mountain Road (see map) and was the 1st one to the ranger station in Escalante. Smokey Mountain road is beautiful, long, rugged, and remote. My kind of place.

We hiked into Coyote Gulch in the late afternoon, and had to search for a while to find a camp. Unfortunately, this American gem has been discovered. We had the displeasure of camping near a family with 2 small children who made so much noise it nearly spoiled the trip. We spent the 2nd day hiking down towards the Escalante river, but never made it — spent too much time photographing along the way…

After Coyote, my dad and I spent some time exploring Capitol Reef National Park using his wife’s charming home in Bicknell as basecamp.

Here is the map with my GPS tracks from the trip:
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You can download my GPS tracks as a Google Earth KML here