Atop The Waterpocket Fold and into Stevens Canyon | GEL Part 5

[@gayleedgar1794]

What a beautiful route. I believe this video series is my favorite so far! Thanks for sharing.

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks -- I'm really glad to hear that. In many ways this series was a struggle to finish due to some technical issues as well as just trying to figure out how much (or little) to show in each area/episode. Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@gregskolozdra]

Amazing journey! Beautiful and Scary! Thanks for sharing your adventure.

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks! As I tell my mom... it's not really as scary as the camera makes it look. (well... most of the time!) Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@krigsgaldr5619]

Thanks for sharing Jamal, really enjoying this Escalante loop series. Please keep up the good work.

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks -- I really appreciate that. There will be 12 episodes total -- so look for a few per week through the end of June. 🌞👍

[@Desertkns60]

It’s great how you share all the details, the flowers, birds, tadpoles, croaking frogs etc. Thank you!

[@Acrossutah]

Thank YOU for watching! This is the extended series, so I do show a bit more of the minutiae than my shorter re-cap videos. Some people like it, others prefer the shorter videos -- but luckily on KZbin I can share both! 😉 Cheers! ✌

[@stanwagon4570]

I've been to Cliff Point twice: very memorable and a spectacular location. The "Lower East Side" is some of the toughest and most remote hiking in the US. Nice job on the route.

[@Acrossutah]

Heya Stan! This was actually my first time up to Cliff Point and I'm glad I finally made it happen. I have yet to get into Fold, Ichabod, George's Camp, etc. Tough terrain -- but I'd still like to do it one day (just kinda hard as part of a thru hike.) Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@potatothorn]

spectacular episode, non stop awesome views and so much "oh my god what is he doing"! hahaha thanks for taking us with you, we'd never make it !!

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks! As I tell my mom... the camera makes some things look worse than they really are! (and it add 10 pounds! 😉) Cheers! ✌

[@jeffMinnesota952]

whatta canyon... friendly lizard... what a trip, thanks for sharing

[@Acrossutah]

Yep -- it's a good one! Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@lisaunderwood6777]

I almost feel "guilty" watching your wonderful video. Here you are doing all the hard work while I get the benefit of it. Thanks so much.

[@Acrossutah]

No guilt necessary! I really did start this channel to share these videos with others who couldn't join in. That used to primarily be family and friends -- but now I'm glad the vids have found a wider audience. Thanks for watching and the comment! 🌞✌

[@martinforrester8249]

It's such a pleasure to watch your journey unfold Jamal. Living in England, with no comparative terrain, (although your spring weather is) ,my visits to Utahs awesome landscapes over the years never ceases to inspire me. Oh to be young again.

[@Acrossutah]

Not sure there is any place in the world quite like southern Utah! Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@laramassano2340]

I'm loving this series and this episode including Cliff Point and all the views was nothing short of awesome. I know you keep saying you were being slow, but some days, some adventures just be that way. Besides, you're you're constantly filming and taking pictures and I'm so truly amazed at your skills going cross-country and the research that will have gone into it to figure out trails and logistics. You could be going five miles per day and I'd watch every single episode.

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks! Cliff Point area was pretty great and it was my first time up there. Yeah -- this was a fairly slow year for many reasons. Even though I've gotten pretty good at "run and gun" filming, it does still slow me down. Thanks for watching and I promise to always go more than five miles a day! (I hope anyway!) 🌞✌

[@NorwegianXplorer]

Wow, so much water up on the fold!

[@Acrossutah]

Wasn't that crazy? I've read reports of people struggling to find water up around Cliff Point (even Allen's "big pool" can be dry I guess) -- but that was definitely not an issue on this trip as there was SO much water up there! Cheers Jarl! 🌞✌

[@NorwegianXplorer]

@@Acrossutah Yeah, I was up there in a dry spell, and we had our last water down in Stevens, we had to go all the way up to the source of the spring before we found water, and then all of Allens water sources where dry except for that Mega pothole on Cliff, I can not really imagine that pothole ever being dry though, it is huge and surrounded by reeds.

[@ervinslens]

Fantastic scenery man, brilliant shots!

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks -- I appreciate that. 🌞

[@TheWayOutdoors]

What amazing views atop the fold! You really could not get away from those thunderstorms this time around. That ramp into Stevens canyon looked extra spicy with the lighting looking like a dark bottomless pit below you. Upper Stevens looks lush and wonderful 2023. Looking forward to the next!

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks -- yes, many great views to be had along that stretch! I think I had more rain days on this trip than my previous five hikes combined. The ramp into Stevens really isn't THAT bad, but different people have different reactions to it. You are right that the lighting really can affect the "feeling" while there. Thanks again for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@joyouslily2982]

Really cool lizard liked its coloring. Boy was he fast! Lotsa rain but at least gave you good watering spots. Some scary steps… oops! Wardrobe malfunction 🤣😂

[@Acrossutah]

Yep -- lizards like that one are sneaky... often they barely move, but then they can dart about at any given moment! The rain definitely made finding water on this hike a lot less stressful than years past. Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@lizard2425]

Beautifully done! We spent a lot of time down there in the mid 70s. Went accross the fold and down Moody. We even lost for a bit going out Stevens and trying to find our way back across the Fold. 😀😃

[@lizard2425]

Was way before the days of guide books and GPS. Took us 10 days as I recall. Involved a pool swim and sketchy climb to get up Steven's.

[@Acrossutah]

That's awesome -- must have REALLY felt like a whole other world back then! My first time going up Choprock I didn't even have paper maps for that area because I hadn't planned on going that way. It's definitely NOT recommended for most people, but there is something fun about exploring w/o having detailed notes for an area. Thanks for watching and sharing your experience. 🌞✌

[@WJr_88]

I was watching this one while laying in bed relaxing and winding down for sleepy time and those frogs at the end of day 12 made my eyelids real heavy... They must be super relaxing or possibly annoying... Guess that depends on the day. That lizard did the jaw drop because it realized who was talking to him... Word gets around out on the trail 😁 I'm sure both the edge and the ramp would have gotten my heart racing 😬 Thanks Jamal for another great VLOG.

[@Acrossutah]

Haha -- don't think I've ever been recognized by a lizard! 😉 Thanks for watching and the comment. ✌

[@cjjt66]

I have watched many of your videos & I must say that your footage terrified me. I am not good with heights. It really freaked me out. Keep up the good work!

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks! As I tell my mom... it's often really not as bad as it looks! Thanks for watching though and leaving a comment. 🌞✌

[@michaelpuett6358]

Miller canyon is quite the view indeed.. I remember the mesa on the other side of Halls creek has a weird uplift in it. Absolutely ancient and astounding, especially after the rain that you had! Great lighting! And yes! Someone needs to make obscure notes about how to traverse this landscape - thank you Jamal!

[@Acrossutah]

Yep --so many great views of the Fold and its canyons from the top OR from the east like you mentioned. I remember seeing a picture of the entire bendy uplift as a kid and just though it was wild. Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@StereoSpace]

11:02 You see right here why you're up so high. That monocline lifted this whole plateau. You can see the spine of rock diving into the ground across the canyon there, and when you look at all the rock stacked on top across the way, all of that was once up here too. Most of that is eroded away now. Amazing landscape.

[@Acrossutah]

Yep -- love seeing that bend in the earth's surface. Several spots along the The Fold are really dramatic. In general walking the top of this section wasn't that great though as frequently it's so wide and rounded that one doesn't get the dramatic views (though the few great views of Millers and Stevens kinda makes up for it.) Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@randygodfrey7809]

Oh Jamal, you're killing me 😍. May favorite places in Stevens, which is about my favorite place on Earth. I love it! Thank you for sharing it and your journey.

[@Acrossutah]

It is a really great place -- and more of it coming up in the next episode! Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@proutieboy]

Hi Jamal, greetings from the Scottish Highlands. Am a bit of an old crock these days, so it's a real joy to watch your rejig of last year's adventure. I just wish I could get back to southern Utah - a truly wonderful place. Am looking forward to the rest of your trip, so keep up the good work and give my regards to 'Mr Shadow|' cheers Graham

[@Acrossutah]

Heya -- thanks, I appreciate that! I've been to Scotland once and enjoyed it -- but didn't get to do any hiking or visit the highlands. Next time! Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@arizjones]

Thanks again for another nice video.

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks YOU for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@GrandmaBev64]

Thank You 😊 for sharing and showing us where you are. Im disabled and I like to follow along on Google Earth with people. I can't walk anymore, so I do my traveling through your guys. You are my "Boots on the ground." I find all kinds of things that others miss. It's easy to overlook stuff when you are there. You are pretty good at spotting cool stuff. Wow! Gorgeous! Do you ever look for footprints? Dinosau, animals humans footprints are there. Fossils too at certain elevations. I love the deserts.

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks for "following along". I definitely enjoy seeing the various wildlife tracks out there. On occasion I'll come across dinosaur prints, but not by accident -- only at known sites which I'm looking for while hiking (sometimes even those are hard to locate.) Thanks for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@GrandmaBev64]

@@Acrossutah I thought I saw tracks inside of a cave the POV guy was in a while back. You never know what is under the sand, especially in dried up waterways. Up here, there's so much forest, finding artifacts is easier on the dried ravines and creeks because the pine needles were too thick. We just had wildfires so I'm able to see a lot more than I could before and I am finding evidence of Indigenous People here. There's a mound on "Moonlight Road, Westwood,," and they are using it for a gravel pit. "Mountain Meadows Reservoir" is covering up more of the Native camps. Lake Almanore too.

[@BFanning-yv1dp]

It's amazing you know & remember the routes and all the names of different canyons. It was nice see the lizard up close and how fast he is. Omg The Ramp. Scary to me. Yes, it's a long way down! Be safe, we love watching your videos!

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks! Yeah, it's hard to imagine lizards moving so fast -- but they really can! As I tell my mom... the camera makes some of those spots look scarier than they really are! I'm not sure that she believes me tough. 😉 Thanks for watching and the comment. ✌

[@tippin.turtle]

"Ranchers"......LOL! 🤣

[@Acrossutah]

I wondered if anyone would call me out on that. 😉 But... just to clarify it is actually blasted out (not carved) so it's a fairly contemporary "improvement" to the canyon. Cheers! ✌

[@tippin.turtle]

@@Acrossutah Some really nice shots you captured. Thanks for sharing your adventure.👍

[@CanyonsCalling]

Yikes, Stevens Canyon. Who's the guy who said that it presents "no real obstacles"?😅 You're right, the traverses aren't that bad, but Poison Ivy Hill is just ridiculous. Have any suggestions for east-side canyon alternates to get back down to the Escalante and then west? (Now that I'm sitting in the comfort of my van and with a few weeks on it, it is kind of fun to watch a Stevens reprise.)

[@Acrossutah]

It's funny -- I think Stevens is the most dramatic-looking canyon that really isn't THAT hard/scary. The slip n' slide at the bottom of Poison Ivy Hill can definitely be tricky and a few of the steps/scrambles could be hard for solo hikers who are short-ish -- but all in all I still don't think it's that bad. I just spoke with a group that turned around at the ledges due to fear -- which surprised me because they got up the ramp w/o any problem. Just shows that different people are affected differently at different spots. Unfortunately I don't think there are any easier alternatives. There's a well-documented route down from Fold or Ichabod Canyon which evidently can be downclimbed (but many use ropes for protection.) Allen and Kelsey both mention other routes out of forks of Stevens and nearby canyons -- but they often cite "climbing" which is a red flag for me. I dunno... I'd definitely love to explore this area more, but that's tough to do while on a bigger thru hike. One day I need to just go spend a week or two in this area. 😀👍

[@CanyonsCalling]

Anyplace where Kelsey talks about climbing, I pretty much figure "nope." I was mostly intimidated by the sheer scale of Stevens Canyon but the only really dicey spot (I think) is that slickrock ramp. It makes me feel better that you didn't just blithely stroll down it! Thanks for the info...and love all your videos. Looking forward to the next installment!

[@lyndonreddick1888]

I am a little confused, you didn't see seven people on trail l this day 13? Thinking maybe bad luck, couldn't be- not above that sketchy ledge and ramp. Phipps arch- way on the other side of this loop. ❓Just amazing view down the Footprint! 😆

[@Acrossutah]

Oh no... it was nine other hikers TOTAL since starting in Escalante town! Seven of those were near Phipps Arch on Day 4 -- so otherwise only two hikers in the other 12 days. That doesn't count the people I saw at trailheads, in cars along roads, or at a distance (BMT runners). So it was a very isolated experience this year (except for Coyote Gulch coming up next.) Thanks again for watching! 🌞✌

[@BobWadeGuitar]

Jamal you are a hell of a hiker! If one wanted to do week of this loop, but avoid crowds (and see the cool stuff), where could you drop in and out? Tough question, but thanks!

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks! That's a tough question -- just because everyone is different in terms of preferences of scenery, tolerance for the not-so-great "connecting" stuff, and of course travel speed. There are definitely plenty of loop options available in the upper and lower Escalante area and a short car/bike shuttle could eliminate some the tedious connections. The Burr Trail Loop I did in 2016 was a pretty good itinerary for 9 days (though many could do it faster.) I'd suggest looking at the Master Map on my site and turning on "More Route Options" for ideas/inspiration. Coming later this year (hopefully) I plan on publishing a new mapping tool to help with trip planning. You can always email via my site to chat more too --- I'm usually fairly happy to chat about such things (unless I'm off hiking or focused on a project.) Cheers! 🌞✌

[@BobWadeGuitar]

@@Acrossutah Thanks! I know it's kind of silly to ask because you don't know me, but I'm going to look at your map. My hiking companions like to avoid main trails and we do off trail routes in order to see those cool "in-between places" where few venture. We like watered canyons, ruins, rock art, and solitude. We did a short in and out on the Escalante a few years ago, and that was great, but many of the places in the books I've got to figure are going to be popular. Anyhow, I'll email you when I get a better feel for the overall area. Happy Trails!

[@fishnsyd]

Thanks for sharing! Regarding the sketchy route along the rock edge, do you think the camera distorts the view and makes it look sketchier than it is in person? Because it looks pretty sketchy to me!

[@Acrossutah]

Thanks! Yes, that's definitely true for when I use the 360 camera -- the super-wide view and unique perspective often make it look scarier than it is in reality. The "walk shot" along the sketchy ledges this time was done with a traditional camera though so it's a bit more realistic. However, I think shots like this are still scarier to watch than actually walking because the viewer isn't in control of the perspective. IE... while actually there walking one has more confidence as the footing and full surroundings is easier to view. Just my theory. Thanks again for watching and the comment. 🌞✌

[@SDSsongs]

Not sure what's going on, but the map of this trip isn't working for me. The link still takes me to the map, but not of the routes show up and click the layers boxes on the right has no effect. Worked fine last video I watched...

[@Acrossutah]

Ugh -- thanks for letting me know! I've been having some issues with my webhost and it's becoming more and more problematic. It tends to affect the maps on my site more than anything else for some reason. Chances are the content will re-appear on its own soon, but I'll take a look over this weekend hoping to find a permanent fix. 👍