Taking the Hard Road By Jade Downing

Taking the Hard Road

Words and photos by Jade Downing

Coming back to the US after a year of bushwhacking sufferfests in New Zealand, I felt quite ready to join my friend Cassie for my first off trail desert traverse. I was no stranger to long backpacking trips especially after hiking Te Araroa south island and I have certainly done my fair share of both on and off route backpacking in US and abroad but anyone who has really gone deep into the desert knows that it’s a whole different game that is much more difficult than most alpine adventures. 

Leading up to this epic, Cassie and I, who have met only once before on an overnight backpacking trip, mainly communicated via email as I was traveling in Southeast Asia. “Do you want to practice some bouldering before the trip maybe?” Cassie had suggested when I landed back in Colorado, since there were several class 5 problems to get through during the journey. “I don’t think it’s gonna help to start now…” I mean really, the trip was in two weeks, one typically doesn’t suddenly become a climber in just two weeks. Cassie would have to lead on the class 5 problems and give me a handline for support. Scrambling and climbing also feels totally different when you are carrying a fully loaded backpack. We talked about strategies of trying to keep as light as possible. The plan was to share some gear like tent, webbing and first aid kit but to be safe we each needed our own stove and water filter. Having been a long time ultra-heavy backpacker, I was thrilled to take my new Six Moon Designs Swift X 50L weighing 38 oz instead of 67 oz Gregory Jade. Every ounce saved makes a huge difference when scrambling. Since the trip was to be in mid march, our packs were about 30 lbs each as we needed to carry essential layers for warmth.

Cassie and I finally met in Hanksville, Utah the night before our trip. The two of us were both nervous and excited. Cassie has already done several segments of this infamous Steve Allen’s route and hopes to finish the whole thing in one go this time. I was invited because I have done quite a bit of desert backpacking as well as being able to bring some rope skills and canyoneering skills to the table. However, I have never attempted a desert backpacking trip to this extent. Cassie has a lot more experience in this area and I counted on her to lead. All we had for navigation was printed maps and Steve Allen’s book where the route was described in a few pages. People who have done this trail typically purposely don’t keep a gps route on purpose to preserve the authentic experience of finding your way in the desert old school style. 

Right away on day 1, we got right to business and started bushbashing through the willows and wading through a thigh deep river where I slipped a few times but thankfully my backpack was waterproof and everything was still dry when we set up camp on a nice patch of sand that night. Day 2 we were met with a class 5 headwall to ascend right away, I had to take off the backpack and have Cassie the stronger climber get up first to shuttle our backpacks. My poor new backpack was dragged up across sandstone with every scraping sound feeling like nails on my heart. Thankfully with the x-pac material, it survived the first of many draggings it endured over the next week.

The next few days were filled with relentless ups and downs across canyons in the high desert. Trying to pick our way down into massive canyons before picking our ways out of them. Between sections of navigating across canyons we also had full days of slogging through sandy plateaus with no shade overhead but plenty of opportunistic cacti underfoot. We had to use our 40 ft webbing for some airy down climbs and to pass backpacks over exposed climbing moves. We fill our water bladder whenever we can from pot holes we encounter and during the few times we wade through the escalante. Since it was mid March, the temperature was still quite chilly at night. We woke up to a thin layer of snow on the morning of day 4 that thankfully melted quickly. Most of the nights we dry camped, on night 5 we had a little water scare when we did not encounter a pot hole for water until 6pm that night. The challenges of the terrain tested us physically and mentally. Having to choose just the right layer of rock to be on or risk being cliffed out and having to backtrack for hours. Needing to navigate closely to take the most efficient way across canyons while avoiding the delicate cryptobiotic soil. Most people may think of the desert as flat endless sand, but I can guarantee that it was very far from the reality. It often took us a few hours at the end of the day to locate a semi flat area to set up camp. 

Towards the end of the trip, we decided to take the easier version of several options of the traverse’s finale as neither of us felt confident about free soloing down a 5.8 section on the harder version. Having both brought an extra night of food we had enough to camp for an 8th night to break up the insanely long exit. Cassie was able to message her friend to give us a ride back to our car on day 9 where we exited back to the trailhead around noon feeling exhausted and accomplished. This was the most challenging trip I have been on, logistically more challenging than the wind river high route and much more physically demanding than thru hiking. We saw not a single person in the entire eight and half days. The solitude and the experience was incredibly empowering and inspiring for what we can do out there in the wilderness. It opened my eyes to the endless potential of desert adventures and I can’t stop thinking about all the canyons and routes I will have to come back for next spring.