I am planning on making a trip over to the Golden Cathedral in Neon Canyon in the next few weeks and was curious when the best time to visit would be to get the characteristic glow. I would assume it would be in late morning but I just wanted to confirm that before making the trip out there. Any info is much appreciated!
Yep, morning is the best time for the glow. Start the hike early though and be sure to have some sort of walking stick to cross the river if it's running high.
Like Tony said, morning is best, and start early! You want to be there before the sun has a chance to hit the wall which faces west-southwest. You'll still have to deal with highlights in the upper "holes" which can receive sun earlier.
Finding your way back out can be problematic as the trail is weak and divides a few times at the point where you leave the river to head back to the trailhead. Take a GPS and make note of features near where the trail hits the river for the first time.
Once in the river, it is easiest to stay in the river, but the water can be muddy so you won't see the small softball size or larger rock you are about to trip over. Hiking poles would be good here.
Awesome, thanks for the info! I will be taking my GPS for sure and mark out a trail before I go then record the tracks. From what I have seen there appear to be two main routes to the river. I havent plotted it out yet but Im hoping we can do the hike in 2-3 hrs.
Posted by Jim Talaric on April 21, 2010 at 9:39 PM
Andy,
To my knowledge there are basically two ways to get to the GC. Both ways descend from the Egypt trailhead steeply down a slickrock cliff (approx a 400 - 500' descent). Once at the base you can go left and descend down Fence canyon then into Neon.
The other way is to check a topo map and get a fix on the "5270" knob which is about 3.3 miles to the NE from the TH. The Knob is right next to the entrance to Neon. Once you are at the bottom of the cliff you can walk directly for the knob through the sand. Upside is that it is shorter than the Fence Canyon route but harder walking (in the sand). When I did it we did the direct route to the knob and GC then returned via Fence canyon. As others have mentioned make sure you can find your way back to the TH and be sure to carry hiking poles for the river crossing. In the route described above I think we crossed the river 8 times. When we went, early May, the Escalante river was at a very high flow rate and rushing very fast. I had to tie a rope around me and to a anchor just in case!
BTW, when I did it I wished I had packed a sleeping bag as there is lot's to see in that area.
Enjoy!
Jim
Posted by Todd Caudle on April 21, 2010 at 9:44 PM
Don't forget to rub the Buddha's belly.
Posted by Andy Brehm on April 21, 2010 at 11:26 PM
Whats the Buddha's belly, im not familiar with that.....
One rubs the Buddha's belly for good luck. Do a wiki search on this to learn more. Todd was just pointing out that you want a little luck to get there and back with the best of weather conditions and some great shots. Kind of a joke, O.K.?
Posted by Andy Brehm on April 22, 2010 at 12:01 PM
Ah....I was thinking that there was some rock formation or something that has been called the Buddha's belly. No worries then!
andy
Posted by Josh Schutz on April 23, 2010 at 2:30 AM
i think that you can push the late morning to late early afternoon this time of year. i showed up around 2-3 in the afternoon. this time of year i think that the sun is still low enough on the horizon, that it gives you an additional couple of hours. and push it as far as you can. just keep the sun out of the shot. the farther you push it the more glow you will get.
Posted by Andy Brehm on April 23, 2010 at 10:32 AM
Awesome shot Josh. Hope it looks that good when Im there! Not sure where Ill do sunrise yet but I hope to make it there by late morning pretty easily. I just bought the Garmin Southwest DVD map set so Im all ready to go now!
Andy
Posted by Todd Caudle on April 24, 2010 at 5:33 PM
Sorry Andy, I was just joking on the "Golden Cathedral" aspect of your post. I don't know anything about Buddhism, or whether or not Buddha lives in a cathedral at all, let alone a golden one, but its the first thing I thought of. I'm kinda Tourette's Syndrome-ish that way. Ask my wife.
Discussion
11 repliesthanks,
Andy
Finding your way back out can be problematic as the trail is weak and divides a few times at the point where you leave the river to head back to the trailhead. Take a GPS and make note of features near where the trail hits the river for the first time.
Once in the river, it is easiest to stay in the river, but the water can be muddy so you won't see the small softball size or larger rock you are about to trip over. Hiking poles would be good here.
To my knowledge there are basically two ways to get to the GC. Both ways descend from the Egypt trailhead steeply down a slickrock cliff (approx a 400 - 500' descent). Once at the base you can go left and descend down Fence canyon then into Neon.
The other way is to check a topo map and get a fix on the "5270" knob which is about 3.3 miles to the NE from the TH. The Knob is right next to the entrance to Neon. Once you are at the bottom of the cliff you can walk directly for the knob through the sand. Upside is that it is shorter than the Fence Canyon route but harder walking (in the sand). When I did it we did the direct route to the knob and GC then returned via Fence canyon. As others have mentioned make sure you can find your way back to the TH and be sure to carry hiking poles for the river crossing. In the route described above I think we crossed the river 8 times. When we went, early May, the Escalante river was at a very high flow rate and rushing very fast. I had to tie a rope around me and to a anchor just in case!
BTW, when I did it I wished I had packed a sleeping bag as there is lot's to see in that area.
Enjoy!
Jim
andy
andy
http://www.flickr.com/photos/joshschutz/3635014834/in/set-72157619855874372/
Andy