jackass canyon

I had been hoping to see some sunshine in Moab last weekend but alas, it was not quite to be.  Saturday turned out cloudier than it had been forecasted to be, while Sunday turned out a wee bit less cloudy than we expected.  It never rained so I was grateful for that, at least.

Heading up the wash

Less than ideal weather wasn't going to keep us inside, however, not when there are canyons to explore.  When we did the bottom portion of the Whole Enchilada in December, we remarked at how pretty Jackass Canyon was as we hiked up to its rim.  We knew it wasn't a long canyon but we figured that it wouldn't be crowded and we wanted to see what it looked like from the bottom.

H and Milton leading the way

We parked at a large paved pull-out along the Colorado River; there must be good climbing or river access near there because that parking area is certainly not needed for Jackass Canyon.  There's no real trail, just a use-worn path that goes a little ways up the canyon before fading away.  You don't need a trail anyway: the canyon is narrow and you just follow the dry creek, picking the best route over the boulders. 

It was slow going, trying to find the best/safest route, both for us and for Milton.  If it had just been us humans, we could have easily scrambled over the boulders and gotten to the very head of the canyon, where sheer cliffs rise up to the mesa rim.  But Milton couldn't get traction in some places, and in others we worried that he'd just launch himself off something and land wrong - we didn't want to risk him getting hurt.  So we picked our way up the steep grassy side walls until we could see the end of the canyon and then retraced our steps.  There was no one in there but us and the canyon wrens, trilling their lovely, cascading songs as we clambered over rocks and under twisted cottonwood trunks.

King of all he surveys

Although we had had the canyon to ourselves, we passed - maintaining careful physical distance - about five hikers heading in, just as we were finishing up.  I wouldn't say that Jackass Canyon is my favorite canyon to hike - it's too short and the scrambling is tough for dogs - but I'm glad we got in there to see what we could see.  

Our GPS lost the satellite on the way out: we

most certainly did not go straight up the cliff walls!

But you can see how much route finding we had to do

Hike stats: 3.3 miles; moving time 1:30 / 2.2 m.p.h; overall time 2;23 / 1.4 m.p.h. (slow! with all the route-finding); 650' elevation