Broken Bow Arch, June 2009

Broken Bow Arch, June 2009

During our annual trip to the Southwest, my husband and I spent a few days in the Escalante area. Originally we planned to hike the Dry Fork slots, but they were filled with water due to some nasty storms.
So we wanted to do something else down there and decided to hike to Broken Bow Arch instead. We both haven't been there so far and Broken Bow Arch looked really interesting. The weather again wasn't the best that day, with storm clouds rolling in near Escalante. But the further south we went, the better it got.
So our decision to go was right.
Hole in the Rock Road was a pain int the ass again, especially after passing the county line. And the recent storms had worsen the conditions in some parts as well. But at least the road was dry again and made it a lot easier to drive.




some ruts and washouts

We passed Dance Hall Rock and Sooner Rocks and finally turned onto a small spur road on the left toward the Willow Gulch trailhead.
Immediately after getting on the trail, we passed this funny looking hoodoo. It obviously looked like a graduation hat, really funny.



An interesting landscape with domes of Navajo Sandstone welcomed us and we went down a long sand dune to the bottom of a canyon and into a wash.
A few minutes later we passed a short slot passage. It wasn't very long and the canyon walls were a little bit too far apart.


me in the slot section

A little bit later we passed an intersection with another canyon and walked straight ahead. Now and then there were high cliffs on both sides of the Gulch with interesting looking desert varnish. And also tons of Cottonwoods, Tamarisks and Willows grew along the creek benches, and we decided to walk into the creek bed. Sometimes it was really impossible to bushwhack the thickets of riparian growth along the benches and I welcomed the nice walk into the creek bed instead.
We also discovered this lovely little juvenile Midged Faded Rattelsnake which was hissing toward us and rattling it's tail.






Rattler

What a cutie, I have to admid that I really like rattlers.
There were also little pools, they really looked inviting and I was totally tempted to jump in. But tons of little tadpoles prevented me doing that at the end, because they were everywhere in my shoes.
Now and then I also saw tiny fish and some crawfishes. I didn't expect them here.









After a while we got the first glimpse of Broken Bow Arch, which looked really impressive to me. We took our pictures and just sat in the shadow under some Cottonwoods and enjoyed the solitude out here.
No one else was here beside us.





The way back to the trailhead didn't take us too long and with some time left we decided to check out Dance Hall Rock.
Near the bottom we discovered some interesting pattern in the sandstone, which was totally differed from the rest of the rock.



We climbed atop the rock and found some really deep potholes. Some of them were still filled with water.
We stayed for a while and discoved some really nice spots. But after a while it was time again for the long way back to Escalante.





Overall it was a good decision to head down Hole in the Rock Road today and hike to Broken Bow Arch. The weather was perfect and all the rain stayed up north around Escalante.
I definitely will come back to Willow Gulch and Broken Bow Arch, the loop tour looks really inviting to me.

Slide for featured image:

Beautiful photos Yvonne! I so look forward to hiking this. Can't wait!

Same here, just looking at those old pictures is enough of getting really excited.
And this time I want to take more pictures, I missed so many beautiful spots.

Nick, there are several potholes up there, but only one of it with a tree.
I went on top again last year, but unfortunately there wasn't any water left.

Very awesome! The more I see stuff about Willow the more I need to plan a trip there!

Great trip report Yvonne! We didn't climb on top of Dance Hall Rock and after seeing your pics I wish we had! Well, maybe next time...

x2!!!!!!!

that's exactly the way we used.
Last year I also used that access to get on top of Dance Hall Rock and tried some sunrise shots from there.
Unfortunately it failed due to some nasty storms nearby.

Bill, did you see the funny sandstone pattern on the south side, near the Alcove - like part at the bottom?

Amazing TR. Can't wait to get out and do Willow Gulch. I've heard so many positive things about this place. Like everyone else here, I wish I had known about those potholes on top of Dance Hall Rock. Would have been cool to climb up and see them.

I feel your pain, sista! I love cottonwoods, but my allergies aren't so crazy about them. Oh well, I have pet allergies, too, and it doesn't stop me from having pets.

Great post. You hit some sweet spots. I am headed down hole in the rock road this spring after coming across so many amazing photos of all the different beautiful areas along the road. This post gets me excited to have that on the horizon.