It was time to hit the trail for the adventure I came here for! My plan was Lower Muley Twist Canyon to Muley Tanks, stay overnight near the tanks, then finish the loop via Halls Creek to return to my Jeep. I got to the trailhead and I now know why they call it the Burr Trail. There were more sticker bushes than I could imagine. I got the boots on and threw on the pack and headed in.
The trail heads south for just a minute, then turns west and crossed Halls Creek. Then you start to head for the Water Pocket Fold. This is a geological feature in Capitol Reef, and it lived up to its reputation! The trail up is steep till you depart the red rock and meet the sandstone. Then there are carins you have to follow and a couple of spots you don't want to take a fall. But those are short lived. I would suggest a GPS or some sort of navigation for the Post Cutoff trail as a wrong turn could put you in a dangerous position. Once I crested the Water Pocket Fold it flattened out and puts you into a sandy wash. The trail then leaves the wash on a shelf where you get your first look into Lower Muley Twist Canyon.
Once you naviagte to the Post Cutoff Juction into Lower Muley Twist Canyon to going gets a lot easier. There was a lot of Tafoni to see and desert varnish on most of the canyon walls. About 2 miles in you see your first of many massive undercuts in this canyon which are mind blowing to walk through. This canyon recives massive flash floods in the monsoon season so be aware of afternoon thunderstorms July-Sept if you visit this place. Around 4 miles in there is one obstacle you have to down climb, but its is not difficult, I did not even take my pack off. About a mile after this you reach the First Cottonwoods and this is near where I found my first collectible water. It was actually a clear source and would be the best water I would see in this canyon. I drank what I carried in, then filled my two liters and a 28 oz that I put electrolytes in to drink as I walked. This canyon was a short cut for cowboys to go from the Burr Trail to San Juan County.
This whole time I have not seen another human being out here. I had the entire canyon on spring break in a national park all to myself! The third undercut was really large and had some boulders you had to navigate to stay in the main wash. The shade these provided for the above normal temps was so nice! Evening was settig in when I got to the Cowboy Camp. This is a historic site where Cowboys used to hitch their teams for the night before leaving Lower Muley Twist Canyon. It has grafiti from the 1920's on it and there are some relics from the cowboys days that litter the fire pit area. After taking a nice break I continued on the last part of Muley Twist Canyon. This section narrows, which has some really interesting light in the evening in it. After I exited the canyon, I missed the turn off for Muley Tanks and walked the wash for a bit till I found a trail that took my up to the Muley Tanks. These are depressions in the sandstone that collect water that you can drink if it is filtered. It was an 11 mile day, and my feet were tired, so I put my camera out for a star trail, and I took like a two hour nap, then got up, retireved my camera, and went back to bed.
Morning came and it was chilly to start. I got a great nights sleep and I made some coffee and breakfast, and filled up my waters, then broke camp. The hike out was really nice, sunny, sandy in some spots, and got a bit hit towards the last mile to the Jeep. All in all this place is wild, and you need to make sure you have enough water at all times. This by far was the driest desert backpacking trip I have ever done. Enjoy the pics, and makes sure you check out the YouTube video from this adventure!
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