It is called Kirstein. The name is scratched into the Navajo sandstone at a highpoint overlooking Lake Powell in the middle of nowhere. Well, maybe it isn't "nowhere". But it is more than 50 miles from the nearest paved road.

In March of 2006, four of us - Charlie Sinclair, Eric Simpson, Hal Thomkins, and I - spent a week hiking near the end of the "Hole in the Rock" road. It was named by the Mormon pioneers who built a road through an opening in a narrow crack and down a 1000-foot cliff while trying to establish a route to the San Juan River. It took us more than 2 hours to drive the 50 miles of dirt and gravel from the town of Escalante, Utah, to a camping place near the end of the road. Since Escalante is 650 miles from my home in Redondo Beach, CA., maybe it really is the middle of nowhere.

But back to Kirstein. After doing 3 spectacular day-hikes in this area (40-Mile Gulch, 50-Mile Gulch, and Davis Gulch), we planned a 4-day backpack loop to explore the area around Llewellyn and Cottonwood Creeks. Our guidebook, Canyoneering 3 by Steve Allan, suggested visiting a spot high above Lake Powell, just across from Navajo Mountain. It is marked on the 7.5-minute topo map just by the elevation, 4595 feet. According to Steve, we would find the name Kirstein etched in the sandstone.

We started the backpack after a heavy rainstorm the previous night. In canyon country, the rain does not seep into the ground but instead forms rivulets, which flow into small streams that cascade from the slickrock. Our route called for us to descend a narrow slot canyon called Llewellyn but it soon became apparent that this would be a very wet hike. We decided to do the loop in the opposite direction, leaving this narrow slot for the end of the trip. This would give the water some time to dissipate. After descending into wide Cottonwood Canyon, we camped near an overhang since rain was still possible. The next morning, it was easy to hike down Cottonwood Canyon to Lake Powell, which is very low these days due to an extended drought in Southern Utah. Beer cans and other trash left by boaters were scattered around in the lower canyon. There was even a trashed motorboat half buried in the sediment. Some people believe the lake is so low it will never fill up again, making the Glen Canyon dam useless. They propose tearing it down to restore Glen Canyon to its former glory. We shall see.

After retracing our steps and picking up our packs, we exited Cottonwood Canyon and continued south. Indeed the spectacular hike lead over rolling Navajo Sandstone hills and crossed many gullies and small patches of vegetation. It is usually very difficult to travel in this kind of terrain because of the lack of water. But the recent rains had left hundreds of full potholes. In a few days, the hot sun would dry them out. The route generally followed the rim of Cottonwood Canyon. We slowly gained altitude and finally reached what looked like a highpoint. Then we saw it. The name "Kirstein" was carved into the rock at our feet. Most likely it had been scratched on the rock by a survey party years ago.

The skies were dark and it was very windy. We had passed a cave 30 minutes back and were prepared to retreat to it for shelter if necessary. But for now, we would enjoy the view. The Henry Mountains and the Waterpocket Fold were visible on the horizon in the East. To the West was the huge expanse of the Kaiparowits Plateau. To the South, the bulk of Navajo Mountain dominated the far side of Lake Powell. We cooked dinner and were happy to see that the storm clouds had passed us by. Our high vantage point provided a spectacular sunset. We found spots for our sleeping bags on the slickrock and went to sleep looking forward to the sunrise views.

The following day, we navigated north eventually reaching a spot where it was possible to descend into Llewellyn Canyon. The plan had been to spend a 3rd night here but the storm clouds had returned. Continuing on our loop, we found a way to bypass the slot canyons, which were still quite wet. Back at our vehicles, we broke out the grill and the wine and had a well-earned dinner.

The weather deteriorated during the night and by morning, all the higher areas around us were covered with snow. We began the long drive home a day early and encountered more bad weather to the West. But it had all been worthwhile. The night at Kirstein was one of my more memorable campsites.