This is another slot canyon like Golden, but the geology is much different. The rock here has been turned to marble due to so much flash flooding, and it’s as smooth as a marble countertop in places.
We walked along the widest parts with a gravel floor for the wash and had excellent views of the mountains around us.
Once we climbed up into the canyon though, the slot became increasingly narrow and steep.
With such hard, smooth stone under us, we had to scramble up the wash in several places; we had take turns giving each other our hiking poles so we could use both hands and feel to climb. I was not amused, but Tracy was having fun taking pictures of my backside, I think.
I ended up calling it quits with the scrambling up and just sat and ate a power bar while Tracy climbed to the trail’s end.
The way back down was actually easier than the previous washes since there was no lose gravel to slip on; we just sat on our butts and slid down the wash like on a playground slide. This one is maybe six feet tall; sitting at the top gave me a good slide down.
The color and variety of rock is gorgeous.
