Two weeks spent exploring the slickrock benches and verdant canyons of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument
Obviously, our explorations of the areas around the Hole In The Rock Road couldn't be considered complete without at least a visit to the hole itself at the very terminus of the road, high on the cliffs above the Colorado River.  More accurately, the "hole" is really a gap in the cliffs above the spot where Lake Powell floods the section of the Colorado originally forded by the Mormon settlers who pioneered this route on their way to what is now Bluff, Utah.

  • The eponymous "hole in the rock" at the end of the road, the only break in the cliffs the Mormons could find to access the Colorado
  • The map's annotation on the last section of Hole In The Rock Road that "4WD may be required" was a cruel understatement
  • Spectacular slickrock badlands in this neck of the woods
Of course, we chose the last and hottest day of our visit to make this trip.  To make our planned swim in Lake Powell even more enticing, we decided to precede it with an out-and-back hike across baking slickrock to a spot on the Clear Creek fork of the Escalante labeled "Cathedral In The Desert (submerged)".  A photo of this site had supposedly appeared in a recent story in National Geographic detailing the newly revealed wonders of Lake Powell due to falling lake levels.

  • Looking out towards Navajo Mountain, separated from us by 30 miles of slickrock and the hidden expanse of Lake Powell
  • The Cathedral in the Desert: it's out there somewhere...
  • The closest we came to the Cathedral was this flooded section of Clear Creek, a popular spot with houseboaters
Although it was quite easy walking, after three hours of tramping over the slickrock and peering down into the canyon looking in vain for anything cathedral-like, we decided we'd payed enough dues to earn our swim in Lake Powell and headed back over to the Hole In The Rock for the descent down to the lakeshore.