Morning: The boys and I headed out to explore while Charlotte stayed at the hotel for a lazy morning with the gals. We drove into the park and turned onto Highway 9 that switchbacks its way up and out of the canyon and includes an impressive 1.1 mile-long tunnel. Our trailhead for two short hikes was just after the tunnel. The first hike was “Shelf Slot Canyon” and isn’t marked. It is a scramble over boulders and through narrow slots to reach the hikeable end terminus of this canyon. We were the only ones there this morning and it was completely shaded and cool at this time in the morning. We really enjoyed ourselves and tried the “echo” call more than once. Reed (da Goat) is a magician going up rock surfaces and got pretty high up the walls at various points. Our next hike was the “Canyon Overlook Trail.” It starts from almost the same spot, but basically comes up and over the edge of the canyon to look out onto the whole valley looking west over the tunnel and switchbacks we had just come up. There were grand views to be had and lots of room to spread out. It would be a great spot for sunset or stargazing. We headed back to the hotel after that to rendezvous with everyone else and then hit the road to drive over towards Kanab.
Part two of our day was a UTV tour that also included sand boarding and a walk through the Peek-a-boo Slot Canyon. Jess and Faye had gotten a great recommendation for this tour and guides Bryn and Josh. They were fantastic! The UTVs were so cool! I want one for the cabin! I enjoyed being a passenger in it way more than I thought I would and Josh expertly navigated all kinds of banked turns and steep, sandy sections of trail. First stop: sandboarding. Basically like sledding (or snowboarding) but on sand. I did it sitting down but my kids all tried standing like a snowboard and they eventually got the hang of it. There were not bindings on these boards, so that was a little different, but Reed was able to perfect the run-off exit when it slowed down. It is definitely worth doing at least once in your life. Next we drove deeper into the dunes to the entrance of the Peek-a-Boo Slot Canyon and parked the UTV. Our guides were great at explaining the ecology / geology of the area as well as setting us up for amazing pictures. It was a neat canyon, much more red than Antelope Canyon. It wasn’t as narrow or as wind-carved, however. It was a very cool spot to explore simply because there were way less people and it was possible to actually enjoy your time in the canyon and do things like try to climb up the canyon walls. Our ride back in the UTV was super fun, too and we even caught some air! We headed back to Springdale after that for some downtime and pool time and then went out for a yummy Thai dinner before hunkering down at the pool. Edison and I watched a movie while Charlotte hit the pool with her friends for a couple hours at the end of the night.
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