Weavers Caves

Looking for a half-day hike, before heading back home, we decided to visit Weavers Caves.  These shallow alcoves sit just below the rim of a Phipps Wash side canyon, quite close to the highway.  While searching for the access point to the ledge that leads to the “caves,” we could look across the wash and see Phipps Arch, where we had been just yesterday.  For such a short hike this outing provided some unique rock formations, deep canyons, and scenic views . . . oh, and some highly unusual petroglyphs, the likes of which we've never seen before!

Just like yesterday's hike, to Phipps Arch, we started off walking in a dry wash

Looks like we're not the only ones using this route

After about a mile, the wash comes to a fairly steep dryfall . . .
At this point a decision needs to be made:  Take the shorter route by continuing down the wash (requires navigating a deep pothole in a tiny slot) or climb a small ridge to access an easier shelf route to the caves
(This picture is looking down into the slot canyon) 

We had plenty of time, so we chose to make this hike a loop by beginning with the ridge route

We are making our way across the top of the ridge
(Can you find Kent?)

At top of the ridge the views were outstanding . . .
Now, we had to descend the ridge to the small saddle that is just above Kent's hat . . .
At the saddle we had three choices to make . . .

Turn left and follow the ledge (in the shadows) towards Weavers Caves (pictured in the sun) or . . .

Turn right and enjoy the views of Phipps Arch and Phipps Wash or . . .

Continue straight, following the narrow ridge, to where it meets Phipps Wash

We chose the narrow ridge . . .
These large rocks marked the end of the route for us . . . 
There's a gap in the rocks (just to the right of Kent's hat) that allowed us to look down into the canyon that holds Maverick Bridge, although we couldn't see it

Allison in the gap . . . while Kent stays far away from the 500 ft cliff that she is facing

Looking through the gap across to some interesting sandstone striations on the opposite rim 

Making our way back along the ridge to the small saddle

Taking one more look back at the rock formations at the end of the ridge walk . . .
Can you see the "Chief's face" engraved in the desert varnish?

Back at the saddle and continuing on to Weavers Caves

This picture is out of order, but we wanted to give a visual of what the ledge route entails . . .
Looking slightly right of Kent's hat is the small saddle . . . the ledge that is traversed can be seen to the right,
in the shadows . . . and the ridge that was taken is above the ledge

We have arrived at Weavers Caves

Each of the caves (alcoves) had many delicate pictoglyphs

Some were vibrant, but many were faded or had peeled off over the years . . .
Do you see the drawings that appear to be needles?  Or the threads trailing from a Weaver's loom?

Only a few held panels that had animals

Looking out of one of the alcoves

Here's an example of some of the faded paintings

We're not positive, but these look like finger prints . . . we've seen handprints before, but not fingerprints!

Oh, the stories this guy could tell!

Here's a picture of a few spiral designs that could be found . . .
These seem to be prominent in many rock art panels

Looking southeast down a side canyon of Phipps Wash towards the Escalante River . . .
This canyon holds Maverick Bridge . . .
Also, note the prominent rock, on the skyline, at the center of the picture . . . that's the "Chief Face" boulder from earlier when we walked to the end of the ridge

One last look at Weavers Caves before we start back

Remember the pothole in a narrow slot we mentioned earlier?

Kent is looking to see if we can make it across . . .

While it doesn't look difficult from this angle, trust us it's deep and slick . . . 
While we thought we might be able to make it to the logs, we doubted that we could make it up the slick ramp on the other side (certainly would have been easier coming from the opposite way) . . .
If these logs weren't here, and you slipped, it's questionable if you'd be able to get out of the pothole on your own!

So, we reversed course and headed back for the saddle

One last look at Phipps Arch as we make our way back up the ridge

Making our way back to the social trail by Kent's right shoulder . . . this lead us back to the wash
The wash took us towards the white sandstone formations where our truck was parked

This was an enjoyable half-day hike!  Our route was about 4-miles (r/t) and we spent about three and a half hours exploring the area and caves.  If this looks like an adventure you might be interested in doing you can find more information at Road Trip Ryan's website.  He does a great job and provides detailed directions and a topo map all for free!

Phipps Arch

When we visited Escalante in April to hike the Cosmic Ashtray, Kent discovered a couple of other places he wanted to visit – Phipps Arch and Weavers Caves.  His original plan was to make Phipps Arch a through-hike by starting from the Old Sheffield Road and hiking Phipps Wash to the Escalante River, but logistically this meant coordinating a car shuttle.  Instead, we decided to do an out-and-back route.  With a couple of nice early December days forecasted, we quickly organized a two-day getaway to Escalante so we could “check off” these hikes from his list!

We started the hike by parking south of the second hairpin turn below "Head of the Rocks Overlook"
(Note:  This spot requires a high-clearance vehicle to safely pull off the road)

Along the upper portion of the side canyon that leads to Phipps Wash were many tinajas . . .
Tinajas are water-filled depressions that are found in the desert or dry areas

Beautiful sandstone striations could be found in many of the tinajas that were dried up

The upper portion of the hike was pretty straight forward . . . 
We followed the wash and then looked for ways around the four prominent dryfalls along this section . . .
The first three were easy, but the fourth required a quarter-mile detour (more on that in a moment)

It was a pretty chilly morning . . .
Thankfully, there wasn't any wind and it warmed up quickly!

This is the fourth dryfall . . . it drops approximately 150 ft
We easily navigated around it by going to the right and staying on top of the rim . . .
As we neared the main canyon there were several easy spots to descend onto the canyon floor . . .
The easiest was a large sand dune that reached almost to the rim 

Once in the main canyon, it was "smooth sailing" . . .
We kept wondering if we'd see any sun with the high cliffs that began to close in on us . . .
On the plus side, the sand was all frozen and very easy to walk on

Kent was making double-time towards that sliver of sun!

It wasn't long before the canyon narrowed and became a riparian zone, with lots of trees and water

Allison was intrigued with these fungi's that were growing on the underside of a fallen cottonwood tree

Soon the seeps turned into an actual stream

To our relief, the stream was always shallow enough to cross with ease
(It looks fairly large here, but that was the exception . . . in general, it was a small trickle of water)

A pretty cool shot of the moon above the canyon rim

After about 1.75 miles of walking the main canyon, we arrived at the side canyon that holds Phipps Arch

This was the hardest part of the hike . . . trying to figure out where/how to get to Phipps Arch
We think it's above this sandstone wall, but how do we get on top of it? (There were very few cairns)

Finally, after a half an hour of working our way around the base of the cliff, we came to this sandstone ramp . . .
The slope was quite steep, requiring a three-step friction climb to reach that green tree

Once above the ramp, we followed this ledge for a short distance to a small slot canyon

This is looking back from the ledge into the side canyon we've been climbing
(We are on top of the sandstone wall pictured earlier)
In the background, you can see the main canyon we had been walking down from the big dryfall

Here's the small slot canyon that we took up from the ledge

At the head of the slot canyon is Phipps Arch . . . 
It's amazing that you can't even see the Arch until you're about 50 yards away from it!

Phipps Arch . . . 
A rather "beefy" arch, wouldn't you say!

A panoramic shot . . .
The slot canyon is to the left down in those green trees

Why is it that arches compel you to stand under them?

And of course, a picture from the other side

After "milling around" for a half hour, we began making our way back . . .
This picture is from the bottom of the side canyon, looking back up towards Phipps Arch
(Click on the picture to enlarge it)

More fungi growing on a cottonwood tree

Going back was nearly as easy as going down . . . the grade was gentle for most of the hike
(We were thankful the sun made it over the canyon walls and provided us with a nice warm afternoon)

Back on top of the big dryfall . . .
Only about two-miles more to get back to the truck

Hey, Kent where's your jacket?
(Hard to believe it was in the mid-60's on this December day)

Here's a Google Earth snippet of our hike
(Click on the picture to enlarge)

One last look at our adventure from the "Head of the Rocks Overlook"
(Again, click on the picture to make it larger)

There are several options for reaching Phipps Arch.  We considered coming in from the Escalante River, but when we read you had to cross (wade) the river four times, we ruled that out due to the time of year.  All totaled our hike was between 8-9 miles (r/t) and took us about seven hours.  For a slightly different variation (requires a car shuttle) that includes Maverick Bridge, check out Road Trip Ryan's post.