Hiking Through an Epic Slot Canyon & Halfway! - Hayduke Trail Thru Hike 9

We've reached halfway on our 850 mile thru hike of the Hayduke Trail! And we get to hike through the most narrow slot canyon of this entire route. Right around mile 425, we pick up our third food cache at Grosvenor Arch, get hit with a snow storm in May! and enter a very difficult and narrow slot canyon known as Round Valley Draw. This trail continues to be amazing every single day!

Hayduke Trail Gear List:
Shorts - http://tinyurl.com/ykdx7fwe
Hat - http://tinyurl.com/5bwua2cy
Shirt - https://amzn.to/4a9cRaU
Shoes - https://amzn.to/3wvKKnm
Watch - https://amzn.to/3mz7ePp

Backpack - http://tinyurl.com/ykhnu4fh
Pack Liner - http://tinyurl.com/2p8uvn7w
Quilt - https://tinyurl.com/yc2h5d54
Shelter - https://tinyurl.com/mv9f66r2
Foam Pad - http://tinyurl.com/3wn5zuh2
Ground Sheet - http://tinyurl.com/3yxhhbbn
Stakes - https://amzn.to/3TXTMTF

Rain Jacket - http://tinyurl.com/bdadk452
Fleece - http://tinyurl.com/4hxdpden
Beanie - http://tinyurl.com/3ynkyca3
Wind Pants - https://tinyurl.com/mtdxxztb
Socks - https://amzn.to/3DDlk73
Sunglasses - https://tinyurl.com/mrx785s6

Water Bladder - https://amzn.to/3V5zskj (Carrying 6L)
Water Filter - https://amzn.to/3UQXI9t
Spoon - https://amzn.to/3cA3mVG

Flashlight - http://tinyurl.com/5n6jkrmd
Battery - Ravpower PD Pioneer 20,000mah 60w
Charger - Ravpower PD Pioneer 30w 2-port
Camera - https://amzn.to/3wjb6sG
Lens - https://amzn.to/3IRQV8q
Microphone - https://amzn.to/4cBW6GY
Camera Clip - https://amzn.to/4cvIgpT
Watch Charger - https://amzn.to/3PJ5zm3

Bidet - https://tinyurl.com/5hav84xd
Toothbrush - https://amzn.to/3tkN4GY
Knife - https://amzn.to/3r3psb7
Trowel - https://amzn.to/3u6VIMr
Blister Tape - https://amzn.to/3qZ55f9
Chaffe Cream - https://amzn.to/3bNorNu
Wallet - http://tinyurl.com/3bbsup83

After completing our long water carry across the remote Kaiparowits Plateau in the last section, not seeing a single other person for more than three days, we finally enter a part of the state that is a little more populated. Hiking dirt roads to Grosvenor Arch, a popular spot for day hiking we actually see some cars! Grosvenor Arch is special to us for a different reason though, it marks the halfway point on this trail.

Halfway between Arches National Park, and Zion National Park. Halfway finished with our thru hike of the Hayduke Trail. It's a bittersweet feeling as I have been enjoying this thru hike so much. I don't want it to be over. Which is a funny feeling as typically on a hike like the Appalachian Trail, Arizona Trail, or Pacific Crest Trail... I am overjoyed to be halfway done. Not that those hikes are worse, but for some reason the feeling here is different. Everyday out here is such an incredible adventure, compared to the PCT being more akin to a race against wildfires.

Grosvenor Arch is at about 6,000ft of elevation, but what is supremely unexpected in the month of May, in Utah, in the desert... is to get hit with another snow storm! May 5th, and getting snowed on all night. Temperatures well below freezing, and having to setup camp to escape the bad weather. The forecast ahead for Bryce Canyon National Park doesn't look much better. More snow, in mid May, likely for the entire time we're in Bryce.

We had left a cache of food and water here at Grosvenor as it helps avoid a really long carry from the town of Escalante all the way to Bryce Canyon. So this spot also acted as our town day. Getting food out of a bucket, and sitting under a tarp in a snow storm, is quite the town day. No shower, no restaurant, no laundry, no electricity, and no internet.

We headed towards the incredible Round Valley Draw Slot Canyon! The most narrow, the tightest, the most difficult slot canyon on this entire hike. Walking up to it the earth just drops away 30ft below us in this thin ribbon of a crack. It's hard to tell how to even descend into it, and I guess in previous years a climbing rope was in place to aid hikers in getting down there. No rope exists now, and thus we need to do some much more fun canyoneering and rock climbing techniques to get down. Stemming with our backs against one wall, our feet pressed up against the opposite wall, and 20ft of nothing below us. We inched our way down to then enjoy what can only be described as an alien landscape.

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