Several years ago, I became familiar with the book "Canyoneering 2" by Steve Allen. Having spent many years in the canyon country of Southern Utah, Allan describes a series of eight loop hikes that range from 5-9 days in length. These hikes link together many of the premier canyon hikes in the area. To complete one of the loops requires precise navigation using both the information in the guidebook plus the numerous 7.5-minute topo maps.

Last spring, Hal Tompkins invited me to join him on the "Dirty Devil South". This hike was rated by Allan to be the most strenuous of the eight and 4th in terms of technical difficulty. On Sat afternoon Nov 10, I met Hal along with Eric Simpson, Mike Wiseman, and Charley Sinclair at the trailhead where the road crossed the West Fork of Rock Creek, just East of Hite, Utah. In the past few years, this group has completed 2 other hikes from Allan's book and has established good traditions. We cooked a big meal by our vehicles consisting of steaks and baked potatoes grilled over a charcoal grill accompanied by a tossed green salad and several bottles of excellent red wine. This was their version of carbo-loading before the big trip.

We managed to survive the wine and woke up at 6:30 the next morning to do a final gear sort for this 7-day backpack. Hal had trimmed 2 days off Allan's 9-day hike by cutting some of the options and side trips. We started hiking around 8:30 carrying packs ranging from 45-50 pounds (without water). Since the first camp would be at a reliable water source, we only carried water for the day. However, our carrying capacity was 3 gallons of water per person since the latter part of the trip would involve dry camps. Our gear included, tents, sleeping bags, stoves, food (we each carried 1 dinner to share in addition to individual breakfasts and lunches), 2 liters of rum, clothing, cameras, etc. Each of us lobbied to fix our dinner early on the trip anticipating the lighter load the following day.

Hal brought all the maps, had done the planning, and did the majority of the route finding. After using our short rope to haul our packs up a 20-foot, 5.4 chimney at the North end of West Rock Creek Canyon (the most technical part of the trip), we were soon on our way hiking across the Red Benches toward the Dirty Devil River. This part of the world is very dry. Although the summer rains had been heavy, there had been almost no precipitation in the fall. Our concern was that the spring and pothole water sources might be dry. After finding the old cattle trail leading down into Fiddlers Canyon, we walked downstream to the mouth of Hatch Canyon. As we anticipated, the spring at the junction of the two canyons was dry so we hiked a little further to the Dirty Devil River where we camped near the muddy stream. When using muddy water, it is best to let it settle in a bucket for a while before dipping water off the top and then purifying it.

On day 2, we explored the bottom part of Hatch Canyon, found the exit route through the western cliffs and then followed an old 4-wheel drive road, which paralleled the Dirty Devil River for several miles. Our camp that night was across the river from 2-Step canyon where we found clean water in big potholes. Hal and I also explored 2-Step canyon, negotiating the 1st step, a 5.6, 20-foot climb but stopped at the 2nd step because of impending darkness.

On day 3, we hiked upstream along the river for 3 hours, crossing the knee-deep stream 15 times before reaching the mouth of Happy Canyon. The lower narrows of Happy Canyon were marvelous and one of the highpoints of the trip. The canyon was very narrow and twisted like a corkscrew for over a mile. It took several hours to reach our campsite in the dry upper part of Happy Canyon. When we arrived at our campsite, the nearby spring was running which meant that the 5 liters of water we carried were not necessary.

We continued up Happy Canyon on day 4 and camped early at a spring in the South Fork having an easy day as Hal had planned The remainder of the trip would have no reliable water sources requiring us to carry water for the next 2 camps. We loaded up our water containers with 10 liters each (20 pounds!) before settling down in our campsite for our nightly happy hour, which consisted of rum, mixed with Crystal Light.

Day 5 started with a 1000-foot climb out of the South Fork of Hatch Canyon onto "The Big Ridge". Our packs were now between 60 and 65 pounds (hence the strenuous rating), which made negotiating the short 4th class section halfway up "interesting". On the ridge we headed south admiring the expansive vistas in all directions. Fresh snow could be seen on the Henry Mountains that had fallen 2 days earlier when we had hoped that it would rain. Unfortunately, we had only a sprinkle, not enough to guarantee full potholes or eliminate the need for us to carry all this water. We dropped down into the upper part of the North Fork of Hatch Canyon via an old abandoned road or trail that had been blasted out of the rock. How hard those ranchers worked years ago in trying to find pastures for their cows. We found a nice spot for our 1st real dry camp just before a pass that led into the South Fork of Hatch Canyon after a very tiring day. Most people were asleep by 6.30, a full hour before the normal 7.30 bedtime.

Day 6 was the big day when we climbed up on "The Block". This landmark, a huge flat mesa protected by Wingate cliffs at an elevation of around 6600 feet, is viable for miles. After crossing the valley formed by the South Fork of Hatch Canyon, we had to climb almost 1500 feet of loose rock and dirt to reach the top of The Block near the eastern end, next to a distinctive tower called Gunsight Butte. Allan has a full page in his guide describing all the features that are visible from this viewpoint. We could see about 100 miles in all directions. Landmarks included the Needles, parts of the Maze, the San Rafael Swell, Boulder Mountain, and Navajo Mountain. It was the real highlight of the trip! We hiked west along The Block for a couple of hours having to find a way to bypass a narrow ledge that ended in a cliff. We worked our way down and around on the left, below the cliff bands, occasionally seeing signs of an old sheep trail. We stopped to camp at another narrow spot with views in all directions. But better yet, the surrounding potholes were filled with water. So there would be no shortage tonight. Oh, all those extra pounds for nothing!

On our 7th and last day we continued west and found the descent canyon which led back to the West Fork of Rock Creek, the same canyon where we had to haul our packs out at the beginning of the trip. By early afternoon, we were back at our cars.

We saw no people at all during the 7-day trip. If you want solitude, this is the place. The absence of any cattle is a real rarity in canyon country. We spotted a couple of bighorn sheep on day 1 but were surprised that we didn't see much else. There is a good chance that the group will reconvene next year and try another of Allan's loop hikes.