Lick Wash Grand Staircase-Escalante NM, Utah

April 26, 2019

This morning at the BLM Administrative Center in Kanab, I and 131 other hopefuls try for one of 10 available permits to visit The Wave tomorrow.  Nothing good comes of that for me, except that it warms my heart when a group of five guys are disqualified from the drawing for "gaming the system".  They had filled out five matching applications after the clearly announced rules limited them to just a single entry.

By now it already is 9:30; and the air temperature will be getting into the mid-eighties.  The prospect of starting a major walk this late in the morning does not appeal; so here I am, some 40+ miles from town, after negotiating a lot of mud along the way.

I can identify those glyphs at the bottom-right of the sign; I'll bet that not many thers can say the same.  Unlike yesterday, two other vehicles arrive at the same time as I; they might also have been at the Wave Lottery.

The head of the wash

The creek bed is wet, but not flowing.  Unlike the pleasant orange sand over at Willis Gulch yesterday, this creek bed is comprised of the ugliest and slipperiest mud I ever have encountered.

Each step requires great care

Actually, the rocks here are especially colorful

The fallen obstacle is but a minor nuisance

Nice textures

While clambering over a boulder, my foot slips in some mud; I fall sideways, jamming my right thumb on the granite rock.  Bummer.

Beautiful

Not beautiful

When the canyon opens up again, I am disclined to venture farther; this canyon is not exciting me all that much.  Besides, my thumb is bothering me a bit.

End of the line for me

Nice roots
Nice rocks

The other visitors catch up

Back at the scene of my accident, I feel morbidly compelled to snap a photo.

That's the mud that I slipped in

Strangely attractive

More great color in the stream bed

§: Well, accident aside, I did not like having to worry about sliding around with every step.  The were some pretty features in the slot, but not ones that I would choose to revisit unless the creek bed were completely dry.  Go for the places where the sand is pink, not yellow.

• Trailhead: From US-89, north on Johnson Canyon Road to the end of the pavement, then right on Skutumpah Road to the signposts.
• Distance: 3 miles
• Elevation loss: 150'
• Hikers: 5
• Rating: 3

Scenery
Difficulty
Personality

ADDENDUM

Back in Kanab, I elected to visit the local hospital.  An X-ray revealed a hairline crack in the thumb joint, so they put on a little splint and told me to take some ibuprofen.  I got off a lot better this time than for my similar accident back in 2014, which resulted in a triple wrist fracture.