10:15 am - Second breakfast

I got a later start today than planned. I woke up at 4:30 and planned to get up and start breaking camp at 5 and then the next time I checked the time it was 6. It did feel good to sleep in though after the long day yesterday. Today is not a long day anyway---only 9 miles from Tanner to Escalante Creek. I am currently in a spot of shade a couple hundred yards east of the Unkar Overlook. I probably have close to half of the mileage covered and most of the elevation. The long contour that goes over to the ridge overlooking Escalante Creek is the next step and I will have lunch there. It has been a beautiful morning, mostly sunny with a few clouds. The clouds seem to be going away. There were some nice breezes along the river but I think this next stretch will be hot. I am hoping to make it to camp at Escalante between 3 and 4 this afternoon and actually have a little time to clean up before dinner.

01:20 pm - Lunch break

I just finished lunch and I am ready to start the final leg for today, the descent to Escalante Creek. The hike over to the ridge from Unkar Overlook was not so bad, not as hot as I expected. It is warm when the sun is beating down but there are some nice cool breezes coming down from the rim and it is delightful in the shade. I am on the east side of the ridge, maybe 100 yards from the summit where the descent should start.

05:30 pm - Escalante Camp

I broke for lunch too early and was still a little more than a half mile away from the ridge summit. I was very annoyed when I rounded that bend and was not where I was expected to be. So I didn't actually start the descent to Escalante Creek until 2 and I arrived here at the beach at 3:30, still right about what I had hoped for though.

It felt good to get into camp early for once. I setup the tent, unpacked gear, filtered water... and even took a bath. There is nothing like bathing in the ice water of the Colorado River to make a person feel alive. I feel clean again for the first time in 4 days and I even have relatively clean clothes on.

The river here sounds more like ocean than river. This beach has waves crashing on it, and I don't know what causes that. It was like this the other day when I was here too. It must be some kind of eddy below the rapid.

I never had dinner last night so I know I didn't get enough calories for what I did yesterday---no where near enough. I had chicken cashew curry tonight and it was pretty good but the sauce didn't thicken enough for my liking.

I still don't know exactly when I want to be out of camp tomorrow. The earlier the better I guess but there is no rush. It's about 3-4 hours over to Red Canyon from here and I want to take a longish lunch break there before I start up the New Hance Trail. I want to camp above the Redwall and that's about another 3-4 hours. I should try to be out of camp here no later than 8.

Trail stuff---

The contour/climb from Unkar Overlook to the ridge above Escalante Creek is painfully slow and tedious. Going down to the creek from the ridge is pretty quick though.