Day 4

October 30, 2013

Back Up on the Esplanade and a Day Hike



Click on photos to see larger image.

Today's route stats: 

    Distance:  1.5 miles + Day Hike

    Elevation Gain:  500 feet + Day Hike

    Elevation Loss:  0 feet

We got a lot of rain last night, and it was not looking good in the morning.  We had pushed ourselves yesterday so that we would be in a good position to climb Fishtail Mesa on our layover day.  But we decided not to attempt it in the rain and mud. 

Several of us were concerned about how safe our campsite location would be if a flood were to occur.  Several of us headed down-canyon for about a half a mile looking for a safer campsite.  We didn't find anything safer than where we were.  But if a large rainstorm were to occur, our site could easily be in danger.  So we opted to hike back out onto the Esplanade and find a nice campsite there.  From there we could do a day hike.
Climbing to the Esplanade. View Towards Fishtail Saddle. Looks Like a Good Campsite to Me.

So back up Indian Hollow to Indian Hollow Spring Canyon, up the nose on creek-right, then up onto the Esplanade.  There were lots of potholes and great campsites.  The weather was still threatening, but it was starting to look better.  We found an excellent campsite on a large expanse of flat slickrock.  We all set up our tents, then got together to talk about possible day hikes.
Campsite on the Esplanade. Travertine in Indian Hollow Spring Canyon Indian Hollow Spring.

I had wanted to see Indian Hollow Spring for a long time, and now I had my chance.  Bert and Jim wanted to hike down Ojojojo Canyon to Indian Hollow.  Fred and Thomas decided to hang around camp.  Marcey, Ben, Chuck, Leslie and I headed for Indian Hollow Spring.

We didn't get started on our day hike until early afternoon.  We headed almost directly towards Indian Hollow Spring.  The going was a little rough because of the numerous rocks, black brush, and gullies.  Before we got there we decided to drop down into Indian Hollow Spring canyon where the walking proved much easier.  Water was flowing for a long ways below the spring, probably more now due to the rain.  It was only a little over a mile to the spring from our camp, and I think it took us about an hour to get there.  It is a pretty area, but heavy brush stopped us from getting to the very upper end of the spring area. 

Bert and Jim managed to get down to Indian Hollow, but not via Ojojojo.  We all returned to our campsite about the same time. 

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