From Capitol Reef NP, I drove down to the Southern part of the Escalante/Grand Staircase NP. The hub there is the bustling tourist-town of Kanab. Unlike Torrey and Escalante, Kanab has every nature of the modern recreation tour company, mountain-bike stores, sports stores, restaurants, even a National Park office which, due to Covid, was closed. Getting permits was a much more digitally strenuous experience as a result.

After resupplying and taking care of the permit bureaucracy, I was on the way to my funky cowboy motel on rodeo grounds, a short distance from the famous Buckskin Gultch hike which I was going to partake the next day. Probably the last time I will have ever paid $50 per night for a motel room. Thank you, inflation!

Before I got to the motel, I stopped for a short hike at the Toadstool Hoodoos. Oddly shaped hoodoos of every shape, size, and color pop up seemingly from nowhere. They are more dry-mud than solid rock but they are really cute. While I meandered around the hoodoos, it started hailing.

My motel room was… well, I don’t know. See for yourself:

The following day, I drove to Buckskin Gulch at dawn and had a phenomenal hike. The slot canyon swerves through a subterranean paradise for the senses. I hiked 13 miles total, feeling giddy and humbled. Getting there early is key: it gets crowded later in the day.

After the wonderful Buckskin Gulch hike, I drove down to Vermilion Cliffs and watched California condors fly: parents were teaching the younglings the aviation skills, there were some adults coming back from hunting… It was a lovely late afternoon if rather windy (for me, not the condors; they were fine).