Escalante River - May 13, 2011 - Calf Creek to Lake Powell - Part 3

The upper half of the Escalante was pretty brushy, but nothing I'm not used to from other southwest rivers. The willow and reed thickets on the Verde or lower Gila are as bad as the olives and willows on the Escalante. The olive thorns were, in my opinion, very over-rated as a hazard, but then I'm used to beating through mesquite thickets, willows, reeds, and tamarisks.

Typical rapid on the upper section.

For those who don’t have experience running bony desert rivers, I’ve got this to say: wear a full brim, heavy hat. You’ll be taking a lot of brush hits on your head. A hat is better than a helmet in brush because it will bend down and protect your ears and neck. Long sleeves and long pants will save you a few stripes, too. Take a spare hat and sunglasses because the chances of having those stripped off are good. Bring a pair of leather gloves if your hands are tender. I even carry a Sven saw in case my boat gets pinned in brush, but I haven’t had to use it yet.

While everyone warns and worries about the usual hazards on rivers like this, I think one of the biggest, or at least most under-rated hazards, is losing an eye when bashing through riverside brush whether in the boat or getting up the bank. I always wear glasses and a big hat. On land I move really carefully through the tamarisk and willow thickets so I don’t stumble and put my face into a dead branch. It seems like both willows and tamis die off between waist and level. Many a time I have taken stabs to the face from dead branches. I took two hits near my eyes on this trip, and I know better!

There were three river-wide sweepers, one a day for the first three days, and many partial river strainers. I pushed under two of the sweepers and lined under a third. They would have been dangerous to people coming upon them without experience with this type of hazard, especially if the water was a foot higher. At twice the flow it would have been much more risky, due to more current and the trees being closer to the surface.

The second of three river wide sweepers. I was able to push under this one in the middle.
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