Dear HCN,
In response to Michael
Cohen’s letter, (HCN, 3/l/99), Mr. Cohen needn’t worry about
recreational fun-hogs filling the Escalante River Canyons. Aside
from Coyote Gulch being overrun, in my 28 years of backpacking the
Escalante River, I have never seen more than a handful of people,
and most of them were up Death Hollow, a
tributary.
On my last hike from the Highway 12
crossing and out 25 Mile Wash, I never saw another biped. But I did
see mule deer, owl, fox, ringtail cat, falcons and wolf spiders.
Scientifically, I wouldn’t know if the Escalante ecosystem is
disturbed. Some of the smaller side canyons are choked with
vegetation and hard to enter. From 25 Mile Wash to Coyote Gulch the
trails are disappearing. Not only are the cows not there, there
aren’t any people.
The lonely, subtle and
sequestered beauty of this place is not a Zion, Bryce, or Grand
Canyon. The Escalante’s 100 miles of winding, drawn-out, and
sometimes difficult river-negotiating terrain, perhaps doesn’t
appeal to visitors who expect prominent vistas, or a single
spectacular viewpoint.
More than once in the
past, my companions have said, “When do we get there?”
Bruce
Mouro
Ogden, Utah
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Not many fun-hogs here.
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