The Golden Cathedral of Neon Canyon

Essence: Begin on an historic stock trail down a Navajo Sandstone slab. Ford the Escalante River several times and walk up Neon Canyon where Wingate walls glisten and textures abound. Enter the Golden Cathedral, a deep glowing grotto. The soaring overhanging roof has three vertical tunnels bored out by water constructing a three-bridge effect. Create a loop by returning overland on the Beeline Route. Must be experienced hiking freestyle and navigating by landscape features in the absence of a trail. This hike is within the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area.
Travel: From Escalante, Utah, drive east on Utah State Route 12 for just under five miles. Turn south on Hole In The Rock Road and proceed for 16.7 miles. Watch for a small brown sign with white lettering, "Egypt 10 mi." Turn east and zero-out your trip meter. The road initially presents as flat and graded washboard but it gets rougher as you go. Still, it is vastly improved since my first trip out to Egypt in 2005. At 2.8 miles continue straight. Cross Twentyfive Mile Wash, likely wet, at 3.5 miles. In the Carmel Formation, this ford is potentially the greatest travel impediment, especially after rain. Drive cautiously over a stretch of bumpy bedrock heading a canyon at 8.0 miles. The Egypt 3 slot is marked by a culvert at 9.2 miles. At a "Y", 9.5 miles, go right. Park at ten miles in a large circular lot. 4WD with moderate clearance should suffice. There are no facilities or water at the trailhead. Allow 1:10 to 1:30 from Escalante.
Distance and Elevation Gain: Your mileage will vary but figure no more than 10 miles with about 1,450 feet of climbing.
Time: 5:30 - 7:30
Difficulty: Trail fragments, primarily off-trail; navigation moderately challenging; no exposure; potentially deep wading in the Escalante River (bring water sandals); flash flood hazard in Neon Canyon; perennial, clear water in lower Fence Canyon--water in the Escalante River is generally silty.
Map: Egypt, UT 7.5 USGS Quad
Latest Date Hiked: October 11, 2017
Quote: It is an honor to walk where all around me stands an earth house made of scarlet, of jet, of ocher, of white shell. It is more than beautiful at the center of the world. Joy Harjo

The sculpting power of the waters of Neon Canyon created a mid-channel cavern whose ceiling has three massive skylights (one is a double). From the interior of the chamber the entire structure may be seen in the reflection pool.
(THW, photo)

Route: From the upland rim on the east side of the parking lot, descend the inclined escarpment on a sandstone sheet. Heading northeast, cross the Egypt Bench, a long sandy flat, staying north of the main fork of Fence Canyon. Locate a well-defined trail near the apex of the wedge between the two arms of Fence and descend to the Escalante River, 1,100 feet below the trailhead. Walk and wade downstream to Neon Canyon, not named on the topo. Follow the canyon northeast to the Golden Cathedral. Retrace your steps to the trailhead. Beeline Route option: At the mouth of Neon cross the Escalante and locate a trail up a sandy hill. Walk off-trail westward and meet the down-coming route at the base of the initial slab. This sandy choice is slightly more direct but not much faster. 

After signing the trail register pause at the trailhead, elevation 5,620 feet, to get your bearings. Looking east, on the horizon are the Henry Mountains. Image-center is Point 5,270', the rounded dome rising just east of Neon Canyon. The Beeline Route is a direct shot from here to Point 5,270'. The standard route bears northeast paralleling the north rim of Fence Canyon, image center-left. The initial sandy track is obvious. (THW, photo)

There are two sedimentary strata in this location. The predominant rock in the Carmel Formation is limestone, once a shallow sea shelf. It forms the resistant cap that slows the erosion of the underlying Navajo Sandstone. Dark brown Carmel blocks hurtle down the slickrock.

We flow down the east-facing slope on pink stone and red earth. Cowboys chiseled deep steps for horses and cattle on the zigzagging historic stock trail.

A proliferation of rock stacks makes cairn hopping haphazard inside the bowl. Just bear generally northeast avoiding the steepest friction pitches. We follow curiosity, walking for a time down a fluted rill masterfully sculpted by water and wind. Below, Fence Canyon is image-center.

In about 0.7 mile, you will have dropped 450 feet to the base of the slab. Look back and reference the location of the trailhead. This is even more critical for hikers who intend to return on the Beeline Route.

Standard Route
Once off the slab the trail is not maintained across Egypt Bench, a mix of sandy pockets and sandstone. The proliferation of random cairns makes navigation more difficult than it really is. The juniper-dotted plain is incised with the unnamed north fork and the main fork of Fence. Stay between the canyons. More specifically, head Fence and walk down its left-hand side. There will inevitably be streams of footprints; a clear trail should materialize at about 1.7 miles when you are along the south side of two low-rising buttes. The image below depicts Egypt Bench with Fence Canyon on the right and the soft forms of the north fork on the left.

The platform between the arms of Fence forms a steadily tapering wedge. The trail is distinct to the apex of the wedge at 2.6 miles, elevation 4,700 feet. Walk off-trail out to the point where you can look directly down into the north fork. The old stock trail winds down through broken cliffs on the south side of the wedge, shown. The path drops into the main fork drainageway where large oak trees mix with cottonwood. The north fork, a spring-fed perennial stream, joins the main; horsetails and willows flourish along the watery way. (THW, photo)

Arrive at the Escalante River at 3.3 miles, elevation 4,539 feet. Start wading downstream immediately, skirting around the initial wall, shown. Emerge at first opportunity downcanyon-right. I have been in the river at this location when it was running thigh deep, cold and fast. Trekking poles are helpful. Protect sensitive gear. Wingate Sandstone cliffs are far apart and the river changes its meandering course occasionally as it crosses the wide flood plain. In 2017, we forded three times in the next mile, contrary to what is indicated on the map above.

We are delighted to discover a social trail barging through the tamarisk, willow, rabbitbrush, cottonwood, and tangled riparian habitat. When I was here in 2005 there was no trail and the experience was miserable. From my field notes: We spend the next hour or more tamarisk thrashing, trying to work our way a mile down river without too many crossings. No one in their right mind enjoys the ducking, the seeds and spiders down your back, the scratches, and the floundering that overgrown trails entail.

In 2017, our final river crossing prior to Neon is in and out down-canyon left. (THW, photo)

At 3.9 miles locate a petroglyph panel on a varnished sheer wall above a red bench covered with gray cobbles. The panel is 20 feet high and at least 100 feet long.

Humans have been pecking images into this wall-of-record for over 5,000 years. The abstract geometric petroglyphs are the rock art of hunters and gatherers dating from the middle to late Archaic period, beginning in 3000 BCE. You will also see a cluster of anthropomorphs in Glen Canyon Linear Style from this time period, shown. Note the bear prints and human footprints going up the wall.

Broad shouldered anthropomorphs and distinctive bighorn sheep are that of Ancestral Puebloans, dating from 1000 BCE to 550 CE. 

Elaborate horned anthropomorphs with hair-bobs distinguishes the Fremont Culture, 500 to 1300 CE. Pecked over the top of these ancient images are cowboy glyphs. Beneath an elongated snake, Charles Hall added his inscription in fancy cursive in 1881, shown. In addition to the cowboy depicted below, there are two renegades down the wall with fists raised ready to duke it out. Please, do not touch the wall!

Continuing on the downriver trail, Neon Canyon is the first side canyon on the left. Arrive at the mouth of Neon at 4.3 miles. Walking up the flat sandy floor, delicate green vegetation contrasts with perpendicular shimmering walls. The whole canyon glows. Caution: poison ivy encroaches on both sides of the path. (THW, photo)

Textural and color components create a perpetual tapestry: sheer and lumpy; opaque and shiny; black patina and purple-red Wingate; machined concentric circles and solution cavities. (THW, photo)

A fallen boulder 0.8 mile upcanyon squeezes the entrance into the nave of the Golden Cathedral, an enormous, circular amphitheater. Upon the floor is a shallow glassy reflection pool. The over-arcing ceiling has three apertures, distinctive vertical shafts forming natural bridges. In 2005 we saw no one in the entire region. In 2017, eight hikers came and went while we were inside the cathedral. And yet the silence and peacefulness was undisturbed. Lie down and look up. At just the right angle you can see shafts of light streaming into the upper reaches. (THW, photo)

Sojourners gaze into the earth house mirror. (THW, photo)

 Walking out of Neon a tiger wall folds softly over our heads. (THW, photo)

Return to the Escalante River at 5.9 miles. Most hikers will retrace their steps to the trailhead. For those practiced in orienteering it is possible to create a loop by returning on the Beeline Route. We plotted this alternative from home and were somewhat disappointed to learn from hikers we happened upon that the route was established and named. It diminished the mystery and magic that comes with charting an unknown course. While the Beeline is slightly shorter (about four miles from Neon to the trailhead), much of the walking is in deep sand. This route is ill advised during summer months.

Beeline Route
Ford the river directly across from Neon Canyon. Plow through riverside vegetation and soon emerge onto the open flood plain. Locate the well-trodden trail up a sandy slope. It is just downstream of an east-facing ridge. The image below looks back to the Neon entrance and Point 5,270' from the trail.

Part way up the hill the trail forks--stay to the right. Rising up from the river, the views are fabulous. The sand track climbs for 400 feet and pierces a minor cliff band left of a stone knob, shown.

Emerge onto the southern portion of the Egypt Bench. Here, the established trail ends and you are on your own. You will see footprints and well-intentioned cairns but consider them superfluous. We climb a sandstone dome, Point 5,045', to get our bearings. The east rim of the trailhead upland is visible (and remains so). Take aim on the shallow depression left of center in the image below. Heading west-southwest, keep the main fork of the Fence Canyon trench on your right/north.

Deep sand is interspersed with welcome bubbles of stone. The topography is surprisingly convoluted. The piñon-juniper forest provides scant cover. Past the slots and fissures in Fence, at 5,060 feet we drop into the shallow, storm-carved channel and play around in the chain of scallops.

Head Fence Canyon and rejoin the slab track. The climb on the stone sheet is indelibly etched in my memory as one of the most pleasurable segments of this (or any) hike. The relationship between footfall and the dictates of stone sustained over the eons is one of symbiotic perfection and will continue to be just so over the coming centuries.