Kanab Creek Wilderness has become one of my favorite areas for backpacking.  Most of the hiking occurs in the Supai formation.  On top of the Supai sits the Esplanade Sandstone, and the Esplanade itself.  In this area, the Esplanade forms very wide benches that provide easy hiking.  The canyons that cut thru the Supai from the Esplanade are beautiful and colorful, and often have water.  There is also a lot of rock art in the area, especially on the Esplanade.  And you don't need a permit.  The lowest parts of the Wilderness are cut into the Redwall limestone. 

I originally planned this hike with Rich Magill, and old high school and college friend from Santa Paula.  I asked several others along, and thus was also joined by Rob Jones, Ben Mahlab, and Jay Lawrence, making a total of five.  Jay, who I had never met before (except via the internet), was originally going to join me last Spring, but heavy snow kept him from traveling from his home in Minnesota.  I had previously done several hikes with Rob, and more than a dozen with Ben. 

We were very concerned about the availability of water on this trip.  It had been extremely dry for months prior.  We were virtually certain that all the potholes would be dry, and probably some of the springs.  We were even concerned that Kanab Creek, which is intermittent most of the year, would also be dry where we needed it.  So we planned an  itinerary flexible enough for us to deal with dry conditions. 

Kanab Creek Wilderness has several good trails and lots of fairly easy routes, so route options are endless.  I decided to start at the Jumpup-Nail trailhead near Sowats Point and end at the other end of the trail in Jumpup Canyon.  I didn't want to hike out the steep trail to Sowats Point, but also didn't want to hike both in and out of the Jumpup end of the trail because the first 4 miles of that trail is pretty boring. 

Ben flew into Saint George (from NH) late Saturday afternoon, and Rich flew into Las Vegas (from CA) the next morning.  Rich then took the shuttle to Saint George.  On Saturday I drove from Arroyo Seco to Page, AZ.  On Sunday I drove to Saint George to pick up both Ben and Rich.  We then drove to Fredonia where we met Rob and Jay.  The five of us, and our gear, piled into my 4Runner and Rob's Subaru, then drove to our exit trailhead, the Jumpup-Nail trailhead in Jumpup Canyon.  The next morning we drove my car (stuffed full, even with a roof rack) to Sowats Point to start the hike.