Escalante Canyons, Egypt 2

It is Day 6 of 9 for Doug, Penny, Dave, Brandon and I. We've already had a great week of canyons, many of which we haven't seen before. We'd seen some really good stuff, but it was weekend menu that really had me salivating. With a few hours to kill before making the approach hike down into Fence Canyon in the cool hours of the afternoon, we decided to make a half-day out of Egypt 2.

Somewhere in there are a few pixels of Penny, as she makes the substantial rappel in to Egypt 2.

Ryan Foster Lee made the epic drive in the middle of the night to join us on just a couple hours of sleep, and rounded out the gang for the day. After Penny made the first introduction, I greeted him warmly with a partially consumed can of raviolis from the night before, and a lukewarm rockstar. You only get one chance to make a first impression, afterall.

After a few handshakes and hellos, we headed down to the Egypt Bench. The Egypt canyons are some of the easiest to access in the entire Escalante Canyon system. And let's be honest, that is perhaps the most attractive quality E2 has going for it. It is worth the effort, but not much more. As Malia would say, the work to fun ratio for this canyon is pretty high. We made the terribly long and arduous ten foot approach hike to the entry rappel, we set the 300 foot rope, and headed down.

Penny again, making the huge rappel. It’s a long ways down.

Brandon starting down the headwall. Going shirtless in E2 is a great way to naturally exfoliate.

Brandon again.

Ryan, coming on down.

Ryan on rappel. I kinda liked the harsh light on this one.

Ryan is a pretty tall guy. He is about to meet a pretty narrow canyon.

Dougy Doug, on rappel.

Dougy Doug Noel, still on rappel (it’s kinda long.)

Getting down the first rappel with a group of considerable size is the biggest obstacle of Egypt 2. Once past that, the canyon moves quickly, and the canyon develops some character. The canyon is characterized by lots of skinny downclimbs, and plenty of mud.

Ryan, still not sure why I insist on taking so many pictures of him…

Wyoming Dave.

If there was a “crux” in E2, I guess this would be it. A nice sloping downclimb with a little bombay at the end. Penny styling her way down.

The famous Egypt mud. Sure makes things more interesting.

Ryan doesn’t mind the mud.

Dave hates mud.

Ryan (a self-proclaimed Zionist) getting his first taste of the Escalante skinnines.

Doug in some nice light.

Egypt 2 is the perfect canyon for a transition day. We finished up in a few hours, leaving just enough time for a siesta before making the trek down to Fence Canyon.