Canyoneering Route Description

Micro Death Canyon - 3A(B) III,  4(B) III Pothole Fork
Escalante National Monument, Utah.

Quick Facts

2013-05-25, 10 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 5.7 hours) Dry conditions and easy pothole exits.
2014-05-25, 11 people (Travel time in route 4.5 hours) Wet conditions, both potholes semi keepers.
2020-05-08, 6 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 4.5 hours)
2023-05-07, 8 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 4.75 hours)

Time Required - 4 to 6 hours
Distance - 3.1 miles Total, 0.6 miles Technical
Rappels - 3 Rappels, Longest Rappel 270 feet.  A 300 foot rope left at rap 1 and shorter ropes carried in canyon (see comments)
The Pothole Fork option will bypass the 270 foot rap but other gear and skill set considerations are needed.  See gear and general comments sections.
Elevation Range - 5930 - 5360 Feet
Shuttle Required - No Vehicle - Passenger Permit Required - No

Gear Used for Canyon

Rappelling and anchor gear, Ropes and or pull cords for rappels up to 270 feet and 40 feet of 1 inch webbing for sling placement. 

A 300 foot rope and 20 feet of webbing can be left at rap 1 and retrieved on the hike out.  A rope of about 130 feet, a pull cord / rope and 20 feet of webbing can be carried in canyon.  A potshot should also be on hand just in case but likely will not be needed.

Wet suits may be a good idea depending on if the canyon is holding water.

Pothole Fork:
If you are doing the pothole fork of Micro Death Hollow, bring pothole escape gear, ascending gear, potshots, a releasable anchor like the Smooth Operator, 200 foot rope, and at least two ropes in the 70 foot range.  Wet suits will likely be a good idea.

General Comments

Micro Death Hollow is a fun half day route with enough fun packed in to entertain everyone.  The first rappel is about 270 feet down a deep crack dropping you in deep narrow canyon with a couple potholes to play in.  Farther down canyon is a short skinny section where small people can play through down low while larger canyoneers will need to stem / galumph down canyon about 10 or 12 feet off the deck using walls with plenty of good features to make travel easy.  The short lived skinny section gives way to narrow canyon to walk then scenic wash walking down to the final sequence where raps 2 and 3 get you down and out of the lower end of the canyon dumping you down to the Escalante River.  The exit is a ramble up the cliff bands along the Escalante offering great views over the area.  On the exit you will pass back by rap 1 where you can retrieve your rope.

Note:
Death Hollow Pothole Fork entry option.  Pothole Fork Entry for Micro Death Hollow Canyon is rated 4(B) III and is an alternate entry about 300 feet down on the LDC side may also be used to bypass the first rap and first pothole in the main fork.  The Pothole Fork of Death Hollow is about 370 feet long and has a series of potholes running down into Micro Death Hollow.  This entry option can eat up a lot of time if you decide to tackle it in the right conditions. Note worthy obstacles are the pothole directly below rap 1 and the two potholes directly below rap 2 just before dropping into Micro Death Hollow proper.

The large pothole below rap 1 is large and deep requiring potshots and ascending gear to get out of. This makes a great practice spot as you can bypass rap 1 and the potholes just below it by scrambling around on the LDC side.

The two potholes below rap 2 can also be very challenging requiring potshots and ascending gear to get out of. Doing a potshot toss for the last pothole is a long toss and difficult that many will not be able to make. Fortunately there are anchors high up above rap 2 way off to the LDC (north) where potshots can be lowered using a long rope (we used a 200 foot rope extended with a 70 foot rope) then the rope dragged over to and dropped down into the potholes from above.  The rope needs to be very long so there is enough rope to work with as you drag it over to the top of rap2.

The canyon is rated an A(B) since conditions will vary depending on how much rain the area has seen and how well the canyon holds water. On one visit we had dry conditions with very little water and on a visit the following year on the same date the water in canyon made a couple of the potholes a little more effort to get out of.

A 300 foot rope and about 20 feet of webbing can be rigged and left at rap 1 then retrieved on the exit route.  A rope of about 130 feet, a pull cord / rope and 20 feet of webbing can be carried in canyon for the final two raps at the end of the canyon.  If in dry conditions you will not need a rope as long as 130 feet but if the final section is filled with water it may be a good idea to combine raps 2 and 3 into one rappel which would then need the 130 feet of rope.  A potshot should also be on hand just in case but likely will not be needed.

Rap 1 is anchored from tree at the head of the canyon and will use about 270 feet of rope from the tree to the bottom of rap 1. The vertical portion of rap 1 is a bit over 200 feet but you will need lots of extra rope to set the anchor back to the tree above the drop at the head of the canyon. Using a 300 foot rope here works well since you will be leaving the rope rigged at rap 1 (not hauling it through the canyon) retrieving it during the exit from the canyon. When retrieving the rope during exit please do not pull the rope from the anchor as this may cause severe rope grooves. Please go down the LDC ramp / ledge to the sandy area and pull the rope from there to reduce rope grooving.

The only other raps in the canyon are raps 2 and 3 right at the end of the canyon. Rap 2 anchored using a dead man anchor and drops about 25 feet to a pool with an arch to walk / swim under. If full of water the arch will not be visible and it will look like you are in a deep keeper pothole. If the arch is not visible it is possible to swim under it by going under water about 2 feet slightly RDC of center and swim under the arch.

Rap 3 can be anchored using a retrievable anchor (The Smooth Operator for example) around the arch and drops about 80 feet down to the end of the canyon where it drops into open spaces in the Escalante River. Using a retrievable anchor around the arch will use about 20 feet of extra rope so about 100 feet of rope will be used for rap 3.

Note:
If combining raps 2 and 3 but may be a very difficult pull.  If using the anchor for rap 2 and rapping all the way through (which may be needed if full of water), extend the anchor as far as possible to provide the best pull line possible. Combining raps 2 and 3 will use about 130 feet of rope.

Note:
Possible pothole issues. The large pothole at the bottom of rap 1 will be a swimmer for about 20 feet if full. Most times it is an easy swim out or an easy walk on sand out (if dry). However the down canyon end is under cut and if sand is washed out the pothole is difficult to get out of. Have a pot shot on hand just in case and be prepared to partner assist out. Another pothole a short distance down canyon after rap 1 can be an easy exit if full of sand or water but also will be difficult to exit if sand is scoured out. Again Have a pot shot on hand just in case and be prepared to partner assist out.

Note / Exit Navigation:
The exit from Micro Death Hollow goes up the Escalante River about 0.5 miles then exits up a grass covers slope then up the cliffs to the rim above.  If you are actively looking for the exit it is easy to find.  However if you blindly follow the many use trails leading along the sides of the Escalante River you may pass this exit and not notice the exit out.  Pay attention as you walk up the Escalante so you dont end up wondering around the river for a long time with no apparent way out.

Driving Directions

To get to the Trailhead

From the city of Escalante drive about 4 miles southeast on Hwy 12 to the turn off for Hole-In-The-Rock road on the right (extHoleInRock).

Continue east on Hwy 12 for 2 miles after passing the Hole in the Rock road to a turn off (exMicroDeath) on the left (north) side of the road for BLM road 107 going north.

Turn left and follow BLM road 107 for 0.2 miles to a fork in the road (MicroDeathDP1).

About 0.7 miles farther is a fork in the road (MicroDeathDP2). Continue straight (north) on BLM road 108 to go to Micro Death Hollow. Straight ahead the the main road continues but changes names to BLM road 108. To the left (west) is Big Flat Road. Of note a faint road also goes off to the right (east).

About 0.6 miles farther is a small parking area (MicroDeathDP3) by the side of the road.

About 500 feet farther is a fork in the road (MicroDeathDP4), stay left.

About 250 feet farther the road ends (pkMicroDeath) in a parking area with room for a lot of cars. Park here to start the Micro Death Hollow route.

To leave the Exit Vehicle / Escape Pod

No exit vehicle is needed.  This is done as a loop route.

Maps

GPS coordinate information listed at the bottom.  For information about waypoint naming and map symbols, refer to the Glossary page.

Click the links for maps of the route. Map of the drive into the route.
Map of the entire route.
Map of the two entry forks.
Map of the technical section and exit.

Details

The Approach:
From the parking area (pkMicroDeath) walk east roughly following the rim for about 700 feet to a break in the rim where you can walk down slickrock down to the north.

At the break in the rim (MicroDeath01) start to walk down sloped slickrock down to the north.

Note:
The canyon that the wash below is draining into about 0.4 miles in the distance is Micro Death Hollow. Route find down the slickrock and into the wash then follow the wash down to the north to Micro Death Hollow.

About 0.3 miles down the slopes is a confluence of washes (MicroDeath02).

Continue northwest down the wash for about 300 feet to the op of Micro Death Hollow Canyon (yMicroDeathTp) where there is a drop of about 15 feet.

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
Standard Entry.......
At the head of the canyon at the drop of about 15 feet (yMicroDeathTp) you can downclimb a skinny crack or walk down canyon on the LDC (west) side to a ledge / ramp to get down to a large flat sandy area below.  Rap 1 is about 30 feet down canyon on the other side of the flat sandy spot. The easiest place to anchor rap 1 however is from a tree at the head of the canyon above the 15 foot downclimb.

Before dropping down the 15 feet, anchor the 300 foot rope from the tree and leave it there to be retrieved on the exit.

Rap 1 (dMicroDeathR1) anchored from tree at the head of the canyon and will use about 270 feet of rope from the tree to the bottom of rap 1. The vertical portion of rap 1 is a bit over 200 feet but you will need lots of extra rope to set the anchor back to the tree above the drop at the head of the canyon.

Note:
Using a 300 foot rope here works well since you will be leaving the rope here and retrieving it during the exit from the canyon. When retrieving the rope during exit please do not pull the rope from the anchor as this may cause severe rope grooves. Please go down the LDC ramp / ledge to the sandy area and pull the rope from there to reduce rope grooving.

At the bottom of rap 1 is a large pothole that will be a swimmer for about 20 feet if full. If sand is scoured out the down canyon lip is undercut and may be difficult to get out of. Have one potshot handy just incase. After the pothole is a section with easy galumphing about 15 feet off the deck for about 100 feet. As the walls widen out to allow travel on the canyon floor again you soon com to a pothole that may require partner assist to get out of if sand is scoured out. As you exit the pothole the canyon widens briefly.

Canyon widens briefly (MicroDeath03) just after getting out of a pothole that may require partner assist. Continuing down canyon is easy walking between narrow walls which slowly widen out into a wide v-slot to walk in.

About 300 feet down canyon some potholes join in from the LDC (west) side (MicroDeath04) where the Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow drops into the main canyon.  Continue walking down open v-slot. As you continue the walls slowly become more narrow and you may turn side ways in a few spots to continue down canyon.

Pothole Fork Entry:
At the head of the canyon at the drop of about 15 feet (yMicroDeathTp) do not downclimb into the canyon.  Instead walk about 300 feet down canyon along the LDC (west) rim to the top of the Pothole Fork (yMicroD-PHF-Tp).

From the head of the Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow (yMicroD-PHF-Tp), you can either downclimb down into then through the first pothole or walk around the pothole on the RDC side.

Note:
The Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow packs serious punch for those who like to play in large potholes. 3 or more potshots, a Smooth Operator with pull cord, 200 foot rope and a few other shorter ropes is recommended. 

Rap 1 (dMicroD-PHFR1) is anchored from an arch down in the first pothole and uses about 95 feet of rope down into and across a large pothole below. Please use a retrievable anchor using as little rope as practical to keep rope grooving to a minimum. Optionally you can anchor from on of the trees on the RDC side but you will need a little longer rope.

The pothole at the bottom of rap 1 is deep with an undercut lip and, if not full of water or sand, will require potshots to get out of. Escaping this pothole can be very difficult in some conditions. There is a smaller pothole on the RDC side where the potshots can be placed for a very secure hold. The potshots can be lowered from the top of rap 1 using a 65 foot rope. After the potshots are lowered into the small pothole the rope can be dropped down into the large pothole to be used by someone to escape.

Note: Optionally you can scramble down the steep featured slickrock on the LDC (north) side to bypass this rap and the 3 potholes below.

Note: When we were there May 2020 the water was 8 feet down from the lip of the pothole and was still swimming depth with water making the escape challenging.

After getting out of the pothole below rap 1, there are 2 more potholes (MicroD-PHF-1) with the first being a difficult escape and the second being easy to step around on the RDC side. Optionally both potholes can be scrambled around by going up and over on the LDC side.

Throwing potshots to get past the fist pothole requires one to toss a potshot almost 50 feet to get past a sharp lip that is just beyond the second pothole. This is a difficult throw due to the long distance but is a good practice spot as you can easily bypass these potholes by scrambling around the LDC side if needed.

About 60 feet down canyon is a large pothole easily walked / scrambled around on the RDC side (MicroD-PHF-2).  About 80 feet down canyon is rap 2.

Rap 2 (dMicroD-PHFR2a) is anchored from a tree on the RDC (southeast) side about 20 feet back from the lip and uses about 175 feet of rope to go over both potholes and into Micro Death Hollow.  Depending on conditions the potholes can be difficult to get out of and will likely require a lot of work to set potshots for exit.

Note: When we were there May 2020 The first pothole was mostly full of water and had water and an undercut lip below waterline making it a little tricky to get out of.  The second and final pothole had water about 8 feet down from the lip and was chest deep water with a sandy bottom and required the rope and potshots as well as ascending gear to get out of.

Warning / Note:
Before sending everyone down rap 2, be sure you have potshots set to exit the final pothole. Optionally you could use anchors way out on the LDC (northwest) side up on ledges and rap past the potholes, but I have not measured the rope length needed for that. A long length of webbing may be needed to extend far enough to make a 200 foot rope work.

Warning / Note:
Tossing potshots for the final pothole is not possible from the top of rap 2 and will be a long difficult toss from the lip between the two potholes below rap 2. The alternative we used was to scramble up the ledges way out to the LDC (northwest) side then lower a few full potshots down to below the final potholes then walk the top part of that rope back over to the top of rap 2 and drop it down into the potholes for use as an escape rope. To do this a 200 foot rope extended by another rope of about 70 feet works well. To get the correct fall line of the potshots you are lowering, you will need to go about 90 feet north of the top of rap 2 (dMicroD-PHFR2b). If you do not go far enough out, the potshots will be pulled into the final pothole and not be useful. The 200 foot rope and extension is so you have enough rope to both lower the potshots then drag the end over to the top of rap 2. As you scramble along the ledges you may find multiple anchors rigged from various bushes.  Be sure to find one far enough out that you can lower the potshots to below the final pothole.

Continuing Down Canyon after the two entry options join:
From where the Standard Entry down the main canyon and the Pothole Fork Entry meet (MicroDeath04) continue down canyon about 550 feet farther is a drop (MicroDeath05) of about 15 feet down into skinny walls where you will need to turn sideways in places to continue. You can stay high with moderate galumphing / easy stemming but will eventually need to downclimb to the canyon floor. This skinny section goes for about 500 feet before the canyon widens out again to easy walking.

As the canyon widens out (MicroDeath06) to easy walking and slowly gets much wider enjoy the open spaces.

About 700 feet farther the LDC (west) side walls get low (MicroDeath07) and featured making a climb up out of the side possible with some effort.

about 250 farther the canyon gets narrow again (MicroDeath08) and presents a few moderate downclimbs with only about 400 feet of canyon left.

About 250 feet farther is raps 2 and 3 (dMicroDeathR3)

Rap 2 anchored using a dead man anchor and drops about 25 feet to a pool with an arch to walk / swim under. If full of water the arch will not be visible and it will look like you are in a deep keeper pothole. If the arch is not visible it is possible to swim under it by going under water about 2 feet slightly RDC of center and swim under the arch.

Rap 3 can be anchored using a retrievable anchor (The Smooth Operator for example) around the arch and drops about 80 feet down to the end of the canyon where it drops into open spaces and the Escalante River. Using a retrievable anchor around the arch will use about 20 feet of extra rope so about 100 feet of rope will be used for rap 3.

Note:
Raps 2 and 3 can be combined but this may be a very difficult pull. If using the anchor for rap 2 and rapping all the way through (which may be needed if full of water), extend the anchor as far as possible to provide the best pull line possible. Combining raps 2 and 3 will use about 130 feet of rope.

After rap 3 the canyon opens up to the wide Escalante River.  Walk about 150 feet over toward the river (yMicroDeathBt).

The Exit:
From the end of Micro Death Hollow (yMicroDeathBt)  turn left and walk north up the Escalante River where travel is a mix of walking up the river and a intermittent use trails.

About 0.25 miles up river a side drainage joins (MicroDeath09) in from the Right (north). If you can see past the vegetation you may be able to see a 40 foot dry fall about 70 feet back in the drainage. To exit Micro Death Hollow continue west up the Escalante River.

About 650 feet farther up river is a spot (MicroDeath10) on the right (north) side where you could make your way up out of the Escalante up a vegetated dirt slope. To exit Micro Death Hollow continue northwest up the Escalante River.

Note:
While not easily seen while walking up the Escalante, there are use trails up on the left (south). You can try to find your way up the vegetated side up to the use trails or continue walk up the Escalante.

About 600 feet farther side drainage (MicroDeath11) that joins in from the Right (north). To exit Micro Death Hollow continue west up the Escalante River.

About 250 feet farther is a grass covered dirt slope (jMicroDeathEx) on the left (south) side has use trails forming that lead up out of the Escalante.

Note:
There are use trails leading along both sides of the Escalante River and these use trails leading up out of the river may be overlooked if you are not looking for them. It is easy to see use trails following the river and mindlessly follow them. This hike out spot is relatively easy to find if you are actively looking for it.  If you blindly follow the use trails running along the river you may walk right by this exit.

About 670 feet up from the river use trails up out of the Escalante River meet  (MicroDeath12) semi-steeply sloped slickrock. Route find your way southwest up along the left (west) side of a wide shallow slickrock drainage for about 350 feet to where the upper end meets a steep slickrock wall.

Where the upper end of the slickrock drainage ends and meets (MicroDeath13) a steep slickrock wall. Turn left and walk east along a narrow ledge for about 300 feet to where it widens out. About half way across the ledge is a small section where the ledge is narrow and care should be taken not to slip.

Be careful at the narrow spot (MicroDeath14) along the ledge, this spot is not difficult but does have some exposure which can result in a little pucker factor.

A little over 100 feet after the narrow spot the ledge widens out to wide open slickrock (MicroDeath15). Continue east about 300 feet to just after crossing a shallow gully.

Just after crossing over a small shallow gully (MicroDeath16) running up to the south, route find and scramble your way south up the sloped ledgey slickrock staying east of the gully (the gully will be on your right / west).

About 325 feet up the ledges the scramble up gets to where you can veer south (MicroDeath17) and walk easy ledges on gently sloped slickrock to the south.  Here you will be a short distance down from the dirt mesa above. Continue south for about 400 feet to a small flat grassy area.

Note:
The large drainage on the left (east) is Micro Death Hollow and you will be roughly rim walking it back to the head of the canyon.

From the small flat grassy area (MicroDeath18) continue south for about 300 feet to a larger flat grassy area with some rock outcroppings.

From the large flat grassy area (MicroDeath19) with a couple rock outcroppings, continue south about 300 feet past the grassy area to where you can then route find south down into a side drainage about 450 feet farther.

Once down in the open drainage (MicroDeath20) continue southeast almost 400 feet over to the top of where potholes drop down into Micro Death Hollow.

Where the series of potholes drops into Micro Death Hollow (yNanoDeathTp) cross over and follow use trails southeast about 300 feet back to the head of Micro Death Hollow where you can retrieve your rope from rap 1. Please stay off the crypto when following the use trails.

Note:
The upper portion of this pothole section is sometimes used as an alternate entry into Micro Death Hollow.  I have not used this entry but have come to call it Nano Death Hollow.  Looking closely at the LDC side side webbing can be seen a ways down rigged from bushes to rap next to the potholes down into Micro Death Hollow.  Looking at Google Earth there are a few potholes in a short section just up canyon of here that may be good to check out if doing the Nano Death Hollow entry.

After getting back to the head of Micro Death Hollow (yMicroDeathTp) retrieve the 300 foot rope, please walk out to the LDC side to pull the rope up to help reduce rope grooves.

Reverse the approach route back up to the parking area (pkMicroDeath). 

GPS Waypoint Information

Click to show / expand the list of waypoints below........

Micro Death Hollow (1) - Drive to Trailhead

exMicroDeath          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.74304   W -111.50122        Elev: NaN Feet Exit off of Highway 12 onto BLM road 107 to the north. Drive north down BLM Road 107 to get to Micro Death Hollow. MicroDeathDP1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.74554   W -111.50271        Elev: NaN Feet Fork off of BLM Rd 107. Stay right / straight at the fork to travel northish. The fork to the left (west) goes out to a cattle wattering area. MicroDeathDP2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.75599   W -111.50330        Elev: NaN Feet Fork in the road. Continue straight (north) on BLM road 108 to go to Micro Death Hollow. Straight ahead the the main road continues but changes names to BLM road 108. To the left (west) is Big Flat Road. Of note a faint road also goes off to the right (east). MicroDeathDP3          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76344   W -111.50162        Elev: NaN Feet Small parking area by the side of the road. MicroDeathDP4          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76422   W -111.50031        Elev: NaN Feet Fork in the road, stay left. pkMicroDeath          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76487   W -111.50021        Elev: 5,930 Feet Road ends in a parking area with room for a lot of cars. Park here to start the Micro Death Hollow route. From the parking area walk east roughly following the rim for about 700 feet to a break in the rim where you can walk down slickrock down to the north. Optionally you can scramble directly down the draiange just east of here.

Micro Death Hollow (2) - Approach

pkMicroDeath          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76487   W -111.50021        Elev: 5,930 Feet Road ends in a parking area with room for a lot of cars. Park here to start the Micro Death Hollow route. From the parking area walk east roughly following the rim for about 700 feet to a break in the rim where you can walk down slickrock down to the north. Optionally you can scramble directly down the draiange just east of here. MicroDeath01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76458   W -111.49778        Elev: NaN Feet Break in the rim where you can walk down sloped slickrock down to the north. Note: The canyon that the wash below is draining into about 0.4 miles in the distance is Micro Death Hollow. Route find down the slickrock and into the wash then follow the wash down to the north to Micro Death Hollow. MicroDeath02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76864   W -111.49640        Elev: NaN Feet Confluence of washes. Continue northwest down the wash. yMicroDeathTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76929   W -111.49724        Elev: 5,710 Feet Top of Micro Death Hollow Canyon. Standard Entry: At the head of the canyon is a drop of about 15 feet where you can downclimb a skinny crack or walk down canyon on the LDC (west) side to a ledge / ramp to get down to a large flat sandy area below. Rap 1 is about 30 feet down canyon on the other side of the flat sandy spot. The easiest place to anchor rap 1 however is from a tree at the head of the canyon above the 15 foot downclimb. Before dropping down the 15 feet, anchor the 300 foot rope from the tree and leave it there to be retrieved on the exit. Pothole Fork Entry: Walk about 300 feet down canyon on the LDC (west) rim to the head of the Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow.

Micro Death Hollow (3) - Pothole Fork

yMicroDeathTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76929   W -111.49724        Elev: 5,710 Feet Top of Micro Death Hollow Canyon. Standard Entry: At the head of the canyon is a drop of about 15 feet where you can downclimb a skinny crack or walk down canyon on the LDC (west) side to a ledge / ramp to get down to a large flat sandy area below. Rap 1 is about 30 feet down canyon on the other side of the flat sandy spot. The easiest place to anchor rap 1 however is from a tree at the head of the canyon above the 15 foot downclimb. Before dropping down the 15 feet, anchor the 300 foot rope from the tree and leave it there to be retrieved on the exit. Pothole Fork Entry: Walk about 300 feet down canyon on the LDC (west) rim to the head of the Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow. yMicroD-PHF-Tp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76981   W -111.49808        Elev: 5,690 Feet Top of the Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow. To descend the Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow, you can either downclimb down into then through the first pothole or walk around the pothole on the RDC side. Note: The Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow packs serious punch for those who like to play in large potholes. 3 or more potshots, a Smooth Operator with pull cord, 200 foot rope and a few other shorter ropes is recommended. When exiting back to the cars, cross over the upper end of potholes and follow use trails southeast about 300 feet back to the head of Micro Death Hollow where you can retrieve your rope from rap 1. Please stay off the crypto when following the use trails. dMicroD-PHFR1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76989   W -111.49793        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 1 - Micro Death Hollow Pothole Fork. Anchored from an arch down in the first pothole and uses about 95 feet of rope down into and across a large pothole below. Please use a retrievable anchor using as little rope as practical to keep rope grooving to a minimum. Optionally you can anchor from on of the trees on the RDC side but you will need a little longer rope. The pothole at the bottom of rap 1 is deep with an undercut lip and, if not full of water or sand, will require potshots to get out of. Escaping this pothole can be very difficult in some conditions. There is a smaller pothole on the RDC side where the potshots can be placed for a very secure hold. The potshots can be lowered from the top of rap 1 using a 65 foot rope. After the potshots are lowered into the small pothole the rope can be dropped down into the large pothole to be used by someone to escape. Note: Optionally you can scramble down the steep featured slickrock on the LDC (north) side to bypass this rap and the 3 potholes below. Note: When we were there May 2020 the water was 8 feet down from the lip of the pothole and was still swimming depth with water making the escape challenging. MicroD-PHF-1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77012   W -111.49769        Elev: NaN Feet After getting out of the pothole below rap 1, there are 2 more potholes with the first being a difficult escape and the second being easy to step around on the RDC side. Optionally both potholes can be scrambled around by going up and over on the LDC side. Throwing potshots to get past the fist pothole requires one to toss a potshot almost 50 feet to get past a sharp lip that is just beyond the second pothole. This is a difficult throw due to the long distance but is a good practice spot as you can easily bypass these potholes by scrambling around the LDC side if needed. MicroD-PHF-2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77028   W -111.49766        Elev: NaN Feet Large pothole easily walked / scrambled around on the RDC side. dMicroD-PHFR2a          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77043   W -111.49754        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 2 - Micro Death Hollow Pothole Fork. Anchored from a tree on the RDC (southeast) side about 20 feet back from the lip and uses about 175 feet of rope to go over both potholes and into Micro Death Hollow. Depending on conditions the potholes can be difficult to get out of and will likely require a lot of work to set potshots for exit. Note: When we were there May 2020 The first pothole was mostly full of water and had water and an undercut lip below waterline making it a little tricky to get out of.  The second and final pothole had water about 8 feet down from the lip and was chest deep water with a sandy bottom and required the rope and potshots as well as ascending gear to get out of. Warning / Note: Before sending everyone down rap 2, be sure you have potshots set to exit the final pothole. Optionally you could use anchors way out on the LDC (northwest) side up on ledges and rap past the potholes, but I have not measured the rope length needed for that. A long length of webbing may be needed to extend far enough to make a 200 foot rope work. Warning / Note: Tossing potshots for the final pothole is not possible from the top of rap 2 and will be a long difficult toss from the lip between the two potholes below rap 2. The alternative we used was to scramble up the ledges way out to the LDC (northwest) side then lower a few full potshots down to below the final potholes then walk the top part of that rope back over to the top of rap 2 and drop it down into the potholes for use as an escape rope. To do this a 200 foot rope extended by another rope of about 70 feet works well. To get the correct fall line of the potshots you are lowering, you will need to go about 90 feet north of the top of rap 2. If you do not go far enough out, the potshots will be pulled into the final pothole and not be useful. The 200 foot rope and extension is so you have enough rope to both lower the potshots then drag the end over to the top of rap 2. As you scramble along the ledges you may find multiple anchors rigged from various bushes. Be sure to find one far enough out that you can lower the potshots to below the final pothole. dMicroD-PHFR2b          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77077   W -111.49772        Elev: NaN Feet One of a few anchors on the ledges to north and above rap 2 that can be used to lower potshots to below the final pothole or used as an alternate rap station for rap 2 to bypass the potholes entirely. Have not measured what rope length would be needed if rappelling past the potholes but a long webbing extension would likely be needed to make a 200 foot rope work. MicroDeath04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77064   W -111.49731        Elev: NaN Feet The Pothole Fork of Micro Death hollow joins in from the LDC (west) side. Continue walking down open v-slot. As you continue the walls slowly become more narrow and you may turn side ways in a few spots to continue down canyon.

Micro Death Hollow (4) - The Canyon

yMicroDeathTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76929   W -111.49724        Elev: 5,710 Feet Top of Micro Death Hollow Canyon. Standard Entry: At the head of the canyon is a drop of about 15 feet where you can downclimb a skinny crack or walk down canyon on the LDC (west) side to a ledge / ramp to get down to a large flat sandy area below. Rap 1 is about 30 feet down canyon on the other side of the flat sandy spot. The easiest place to anchor rap 1 however is from a tree at the head of the canyon above the 15 foot downclimb. Before dropping down the 15 feet, anchor the 300 foot rope from the tree and leave it there to be retrieved on the exit. Pothole Fork Entry: Walk about 300 feet down canyon on the LDC (west) rim to the head of the Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow. dMicroDeathR1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76937   W -111.49726        Elev: NaN Feet Rap 1 - Micro Death Hollow. Anchored from tree at the head of the canyon and will use about 270 feet of rope from the tree to the bottom of rap 1. The vertical portion of rap 1 is a bit over 200 feet but you will need lots of extra rope to set the anchor back to the tree above the drop at the head of the canyon. Note: Using a 300 foot rope here works well since you will be leaving the rope here and retrieving it during the exit from the canyon. When retrieving the rope during exit please do not pull the rope from the anchor as this may cause severe rope grooves. Please go down the LDC ramp / ledge to the sandy area and pull the rope from there to reduce rope grooving. At the bottom of rap 1 is a large pothole that will be a swimmer for about 20 feet if full. If sand is scoured out the down canyon lip is undercut and may be difficult to get out of. Have one potshot handy just incase. After the pothole is a section with easy galumphing about 15 feet off the deck for about 100 feet. As the walls widen out to allow travel on the canyon floor again you soon com to a pothole that may require partner assist to get out of if sand is scoured out. As you exit the pothole the canyon widens briefly. MicroDeath03          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76985   W -111.49732        Elev: NaN Feet Canyon widens briefly just after getting out of a pothole that may require partner assist. Continuing down canyon is easy walking between narrow walls which slolwy widen out into a wide v-slot to walk in. MicroDeath04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77064   W -111.49731        Elev: NaN Feet The Pothole Fork of Micro Death hollow joins in from the LDC (west) side. Continue walking down open v-slot. As you continue the walls slowly become more narrow and you may turn side ways in a few spots to continue down canyon. MicroDeath05          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77221   W -111.49702        Elev: NaN Feet Drop of about 15 feet down into skinny walls where you will need to turn sideways in places to continue. You can stay high with moderate galumphing / easy stemming but will eventually need to downclimb to the canyon floor. This skinny section goes for about 500 feet before the canyon widens out again to easy walking. MicroDeath06          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77331   W -111.49708        Elev: NaN Feet The canyon widens out to easy walking again and slowly gets much wider. MicroDeath07          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77466   W -111.49606        Elev: NaN Feet The LDC (west) side walls get low and featured making a climb up out of the side possible with some effort. MicroDeath08          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77470   W -111.49517        Elev: NaN Feet Canyon gets narrow again and presents a few moderate downclimbs with only about 400 feet of canyon left. dMicroDeathR3          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77462   W -111.49430        Elev: NaN Feet Micro Death Hollow - Raps 2 and 3. Rap 2 anchored using a dead man anchor and drops about 25 feet to a pool with an arch to walk / swim under. If full of water the arch will not be visible and it will look like you are in a deep keeper pothole. If the arch is not visible it is possible to swim under it by going under water about 2 feet slightly RDC of center and swim under the arch. Rap 3 can be anchored using a retrievable anchor (The Smooth Operator for example) around the arch and drops about 80 feet down to the end of the canyon where it drops into open spaces and the Escalante River. Using a retrievable anchor around the arch will use about 20 feet of extra rope so about 100 feet of rope will be used for rap 3. Note: Raps 2 and 3 can be combined but this may be a very difficult pull. If using the anchor for rap 2 and rapping all the way through (which may be needed if full of water), extend the anchor as far as possible to provide the best pull line possible. Combining raps 2 and 3 will use about 130 feet of rope. yMicroDeathBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77446   W -111.49385        Elev: 5,360 Feet Bottom of Micro Death Hollow where it dumps into the wide open Escalante River. To exit trun left and walk west up the Escalante.

Micro Death Hollow (5) - Exit

yMicroDeathBt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77446   W -111.49385        Elev: 5,360 Feet Bottom of Micro Death Hollow where it dumps into the wide open Escalante River. To exit trun left and walk west up the Escalante. MicroDeath09          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77744   W -111.49503        Elev: NaN Feet Side drainane joins in from the Right (north). If you can see past the vegetation you may be able to see a 40 foot dry fall about 70 feet back in the drainage. To exit Micro Death Hollow continue west up the Escalante River. MicroDeath10          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77761   W -111.49721        Elev: NaN Feet Spot on the right (north) side where you could make your way up out of the Escalante up a vegetated dirt slope. To exit Micro Death Hollow continue northwest up the Escalante River. Note: While not easily seen while walking up the Escalante, there are use trails up on the left (south). You can try to find your way up the vegetated side up to the use trails or continue walk up the Escalante. MicroDeath11          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77843   W -111.49856        Elev: NaN Feet Side drainage joins in from the Right (north). It looks like you can also find your way up to the north side rim up dirt slopes here. To exit Micro Death Hollow continue west up the Escalante River. jMicroDeathEx          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77895   W -111.49920        Elev: 5,400 Feet A grass covered dirt slope on the left (south) side has use trails forming that lead up out of the Escalante. Note: There are use trails leading along both sides of the Escalante River and these use trails leading up out of the river may be overlooked if you are not looking for them. It is easy to see use trails following the river and mindlessly follow them. This hike out spot is relatively easy to find if you are actively looking for it. If you blindly follow the use trails running along the river you may walk right by this exit. MicroDeath12          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77740   W -111.50018        Elev: NaN Feet Use trails up out of the Escalante River meet semi-steeply sloped slickrock. Route find your way southwest up along the left (west) side of a wide shallow slickrock drainage for about 350 feet to where the upper end meets a steep slickrock wall. MicroDeath13          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77682   W -111.50096        Elev: NaN Feet Upper end of the slickrock drainage ends as it meets a steep slickrock wall. Turn left and walk east along a narrow ledge for about 300 feet to where it widens out. About half way across the ledge is a small section where the ledge is narrow and care should be taken not to slip. MicroDeath14          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77681   W -111.50046        Elev: NaN Feet Narrow spot along the ledge where you will need to be careful not to slip off. This spot is not difficult but does have some exposure which can result in a little pucker factor. MicroDeath15          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77679   W -111.49993        Elev: NaN Feet Ledge widens out to wide open slickrock. Continue east about 300 feet to just after crossing a shallow gully. MicroDeath16          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77637   W -111.49905        Elev: NaN Feet Just after crossing over a small shallow gully running up to the south. Route find and scramble your way south up the sloped ledgey slickrock staying east of the gully (the gully will be on your right / west). MicroDeath17          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77546   W -111.49905        Elev: NaN Feet Scramble up gets to where you can veer south and walk easy ledges on gently sloped slickrock to the south. Here you will be a short distance down from the dirt mesa above. Continue south for about 400 feet to a small flat grassy area. Note: The large drainage on the left (east) is Micro Death Hollow and you will be roughly rim walking it back to the head of the canyon. MicroDeath18          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77432   W -111.49904        Elev: NaN Feet Small grassy area. Continue south for about 300 feet to a larger flat grassy area with some rock outcroppings. MicroDeath19          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77337   W -111.49878        Elev: NaN Feet Large flat grassy area with a couple rock outcroppings. Continue south about 300 feet past the grassy area to where you can then route find south down into a side drainage about 450 feet farther. MicroDeath20          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.77059   W -111.49887        Elev: NaN Feet Down in an open portion of a large side drainage. Continue southeast almost 400 feet over to the top of where potholes drop down into Micro Death Hollow. yMicroD-PHF-Tp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76981   W -111.49808        Elev: 5,690 Feet Top of the Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow. To descend the Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow, you can either downclimb down into then through the first pothole or walk around the pothole on the RDC side. Note: The Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow packs serious punch for those who like to play in large potholes. 3 or more potshots, a Smooth Operator with pull cord, 200 foot rope and a few other shorter ropes is recommended. When exiting back to the cars, cross over the upper end of potholes and follow use trails southeast about 300 feet back to the head of Micro Death Hollow where you can retrieve your rope from rap 1. Please stay off the crypto when following the use trails. yMicroDeathTp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76929   W -111.49724        Elev: 5,710 Feet Top of Micro Death Hollow Canyon. Standard Entry: At the head of the canyon is a drop of about 15 feet where you can downclimb a skinny crack or walk down canyon on the LDC (west) side to a ledge / ramp to get down to a large flat sandy area below. Rap 1 is about 30 feet down canyon on the other side of the flat sandy spot. The easiest place to anchor rap 1 however is from a tree at the head of the canyon above the 15 foot downclimb. Before dropping down the 15 feet, anchor the 300 foot rope from the tree and leave it there to be retrieved on the exit. Pothole Fork Entry: Walk about 300 feet down canyon on the LDC (west) rim to the head of the Pothole Fork of Micro Death Hollow. MicroDeath02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76864   W -111.49640        Elev: NaN Feet Confluence of washes. Continue northwest down the wash. MicroDeath01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76458   W -111.49778        Elev: NaN Feet Break in the rim where you can walk down sloped slickrock down to the north. Note: The canyon that the wash below is draining into about 0.4 miles in the distance is Micro Death Hollow. Route find down the slickrock and into the wash then follow the wash down to the north to Micro Death Hollow. pkMicroDeath          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.76487   W -111.50021        Elev: 5,930 Feet Road ends in a parking area with room for a lot of cars. Park here to start the Micro Death Hollow route. From the parking area walk east roughly following the rim for about 700 feet to a break in the rim where you can walk down slickrock down to the north. Optionally you can scramble directly down the draiange just east of here.