One of the hardest hikes I have done. @thee1ginger and I, set out on a 20 mile hike to see the elusive and beautiful Reflection Canyon with our own eyes, made famous by Photographer,@michaelmelford of @natgeo
Tipped off by @sweatengine on the location, we set out to see if we could reach this view for our final hike of the trip. After taking our rented 4×4 @jeepofficialdown the 50mi rough and “off-road” terrain, we reach the start of the hike. Guided by waypoints from GPX data, we worked our way through the hot and desolate wilderness of The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument with no trail and more than 6 liters of water.
After 10 miles of heat, we reached our goal and were amazed by the sight of the canyon. Completely alone with not a soul with-in miles of our location, it was one of the most silent places I have ever camped. We woke at sunrise to take a couple photos including this one to celebrate and remember the feat we had accomplished together. Now we had to just make it back.
Not going to lie. We came really close to a bad situation on the way back. Started right after the sun broke the horizon, within a couple hours the heat was back and we were running out of water. Stuck in a slot canyon in the shade under a rock, we were debating on the game plan with literally only had 3 more miles to go to be back at the Jeep. I decided to start trying at it again when I saw a small dirty puddle of water in the gulch below. To make sure I wasn’t hallucinating I asked Chelsey if she saw it too, and we immediately filtered the water we could to drink, and began to pour the rest on our overheating bodies.
Happy to report because of the find we made it back and may have driven the whole 50 miles back on the rugged wilderness road, in only our underwear with the AC blasting, but I can assure it was a euphoric moment and one that will be with us forever. A special thank you to @sogknives for making this trip possible, without their support and team none of this amazing trip would have been possible!
NOW! Tomorrow at 5am I leave to fly out to Denver to start my 500mile thru-hike of The Colorado Trail. So expect lots of mountains in this feed! Cheers!
Amazing photo! This place is unbelievable. I was wondering, what time of year was this? I know April is most optimal month for Reflection Canyon due to the lower water levels, but unfortunately, I’m driving through the area in October and would love to make the hike. Thanks for any advice!
Braden, I’m headed there with a buddy of mine in mid-October so it would be great if you could tell me if you did this and how it was for you. Thanks. The place feels amazing just off the research. I could only imagine what it would be like in person but we’re definitely going.