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Escalante River > Brimstone Gulch
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In terms of narrowness, Brimstone Gulch may be the ultimate slot canyon - less than a metre wide for much of its one mile length, the central section is not traversable at floor level, being in many places just a few inches across but still many meters deep. The passages are dimly lit with curving walls that block most sunlight and have quite dark-colored rocks, all of which make the canyon very ghostly and mysterious. It also usually has pools several feet deep along the lower end, requires a rather longer walk to each than the other two popular Dry Fork tributaries and so is visited much less often. Entrance from the top is an alternative, though this involves a long walk over the desert, but again only part is accessible before the canyon narrows.
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Location: The gulch joins the main Dry Fork from the north, about 2 miles east of the usual entrance to that canyon. At the junction Brimstone is unremarkable - a flat floor of soft sand between widely separated sandstone walls. The narrows start abruptly after half a mile.
Photographs: 5 views of Brimstone Gulch.
Map: TopoZone topological map of Brimstone Gulch.
Description: The canyon is deep from the beginning, and often contains a few muddy pools near the entrance after which the passageway is dry for a while. The walls become as little as 2 feet apart and the rocks above curve inwards preventing all but occasional rays of sunlight from illuminating the way ahead. In a particularly narrow and gloomy section there is a long, thin pool of cold water, 5 feet deep when I visited, that curves around several bends in the canyon but apart from this there are no major obstacles before a temporarily wider, shallower and more brightly lit section filled with fallen rocks, and a small rattlesnake in residence on this occasion. These creatures are frequently found in canyons in this region, and are usually the midget faded species, a regional variation of the western rattlesnake; pale yellow in colour without any distinctive patterns.
Beyond the open area, the gulch deepens again and soon becomes too narrow to continue - about 6 inches wide and offering no easy way to climb to rim level, so returning back to the entrance is the only option. This turn-around point is reached about 20 minutes hiking in the narrows. The lengthy central section can only be traversed starting from the upper end, by use of chimneying techniques up to 10 meters above the floor, and requires extensive rock climbing experience.
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