We made it out of the Gultch today and we're camping again near the Petrified Forest. Man, today was one I'll never forget. We started early, trying to avoid the heat on the way out. It didn't matter. Our first experience of the day was a rock scramble/climb up out of the canyon. There is a spot near the arch where there were some ancient indian foot/handholds to climb your way on top of the rocks. Those of you who know me well know that I'm not a big fan of high places. There wasn't any other way to go but up, so I decided to get it out of the way and was the first one up the rocks. I'm just glad that someone left a nylon rope about half way up the rock. I want to thank that person, cause I trusted that rope with my life.
I put all of my weight on that thing in climbing up to a safe ledge. It was good to have a solid surface beneath my feet! After I was up, we helped the boys get to the same spot with a rope we secured to some rocks. I'm just glad we made it through without any injuries.
It took us about an hour and a half to get to our vehicles, and with that our backpacking was complete. It was a lot of fun to hike in and out of the Gultch and I think the boys had a great time. I was a little sad to see it end, but not sad enought to leave my pack on! It was about noon when we finished, so we loaded up the vehicles and headed to the Hole in the Rock - a famous pioneer landmark, where the saints lowered their wagons through the canyon. What an amazing spot. 
When you get to the bottom of the canyon you just straight into Lake Powell! How's that for a way to finish off a backpacking trip! It was my first time to Powell and I think it's safe to say that I'm one of the few people who hiked down into Powell for the first time! It was awesome! After swimming for a couple of hours we headed back to Escalante and camping for the last night of our trip.
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