I hike in Southern Utah often. It takes a full travel day from California, so I made a reservation at the State Park in Goblin Valley to car camp the first night. It was a good place to stay, one of the few campgrounds in the area with showers. It also has covered picnic tables at each campsite. These proved adequate to hold my hammock. goblin_campground.jpgThe wind was whipping through that place, especially around dawn and dusk. It was the strongest wind that I ever experienced while hammock camping, but I actually slept very well.
The beginning of the trail was at a place called Egypt bench near Escalante. After descending the bench, the lower mesa gives access to Fence Canyon, which is one of many tributaries into the Escalante River. The landscape is particularly great around Escalante; very rugged. beavertail_blooms.jpg I've used hammocks in the Escalante area several times in the past. Sometimes it has been hard to find trees, but I have manage to find a way (by bringing some extra rope).
This trip was the most hammock friendly of any I've taken in the area, because there were many trees to hang from.choprock_hang.jpg There were a lot of cottonwood trees and miraculously what appeared to be a pre-Columbian dwarf who is holding up the other end of my hammock. Actually, the other end is held up by another cottonwood tree.
I didn't use my tarp on the entire trip, and I really liked having the visibility of the gathering light in the mornings.hammock_in_choprock.jpg
The camp at Baker Canyon was particularly scenic. We found out the next day that we had made camp very near some petroglyphs.petro_large.jpgAt this site, I hung from oak trees in a shaded ledge above the canyon floor. hammock_baker_canyon.jpg My friend had a tarptent, if you look just behind and to the left of the tent you can see my hammock hanging in the trees (much stealthier than the tent).baker_campsite_close.jpg Escalante is one of the real gems of Southern, Utah. And many areas are hammock friendly, especially the area near Egypt Bench.
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