Canyoneering Route Description

Egypt 4 Canyon - 4A III X
Escalante National Monument, Utah

Quick Facts

04-12-13, 3 people, 1 Day (Travel time in route 7.75 hours) Pictures Icon

Time Required - 6.5 to 9 hours
Distance - 5.8 miles Total, 1.4 miles Technical
Rappels - 0 Rappels, Longest Rappel N/A  E4 has no rappels but is dangerous and difficult requiring solid stemming skills.
Elevation Range - 5680 - 4810 Feet
Shuttle Required - No Vehicle - High Clearance, 4WD if bad road conditions Permit Required - No

Gear Used for Canyon

There are no rappels in Egypt 4 but a 30 or 40 foot piece of webbing may be good to have on hand as a just in case.  Good knee and elbow armor is a good idea as well.  You don't need a rope but this canyon is difficult with lots of high stemming.

General Comments

WARNING!!       This is an X Canyon:
There are potentially deadly situations with no way to add protection.  When that happens, friends or gear are of no use... You truly are "on your own" (with an audience).  Do not attempt an X canyon until you are proficient with sustained high stemming and confident with your technical abilities including advanced anchors, ascending, pot hole escape and partner assists.  Information about X canyons is of little use if you lack skills or experience.  Making a mistake at the wrong time can kill.
Drop into an X canyon.... "At Your Own Risk".      Ultimately you are responsible for your own actions.

Some people approach E4 from near the start of Egypt 3 and route find over to E4.  The route described here starts from the E5 / Neon parking area and provides a shorter more direct route that is very easy to follow in and out.

Movement through Egypt 4 Canyon involves lots of stemming between walls with awkward features where you will be forced to the ground then back up again over and over making this canyon difficult and tiring.  There are times you will be about 40 feet off the deck.  Due to the physical nature of this canyon, bring more water than you normally would.

Some water can be held in a few pools that can be avoided with effort but be prepared to take a plunge if you slip in one. After recent rains the canyon floor can hold water but wont be deep.

The stemming in E4 is relatively straight forward but awkward, requiring extra effort while stemming between sculpted walls with lots of features. One notable upclimb in the canyon can be very taxing to worm your way up between narrow walls about 35 feet. The stemming in E4 is a lot of work as it seems to go on for ever, but that is not the real worker of this route. The walls are such that you find yourself going to the ground multiple times as the walls widen a bit and soon realize you need to go back up. The constant up and down combined with the awkward physical stemming is what makes E4 such a worker.

Once the slotted portion of E4 starts, you will be stemming or galumphing the majority of the time for about 0.8 miles to an open section of canyon with a slickrock patio and open sandy goodness below.  The first 0.4 miles has moderately wide silos, a couple pools to cross, an upclimb of about 35 feet that is very strenuous and lots of stemming.  The second 0.4 miles has stemming to about 15 feet off the deck but has a lot of awkward movement making it strenuous as you are forced to the ground then back up over and over.

The walls in E4 are very sculpted and wind in and out a lot combined with multiple silos. The sculpted nature of the walls can be dramatic and make it tempting to call most anything a silo because the walls widen and close in.  Depending on on you look at it, you may feel there are more or less actual silos than mentioned in the route description.

One of the sections where you will be walking on the ground between very sculpted walls for about 150 feet is very scenic. Moss on the walls suggests that section could hold thigh to waist deep water at times but will generally be dry.

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).  The Hole-In-The-Rock road is dirt.  The condition of the road varies a lot with recent rains and road maintenance.  High clearance may be needed in extreme cases but most of the time passenger cars will be fine for the first 30 or 40 miles on Hole in the Rock road.

Travel about 16.5 miles southeast on Hole-In-The-Rock road to the turn off on the left (east) for the Egypt road (extEgypt).  Turn left and travel down the Egypt road.

The Egypt road is generally well maintained but a few spots may be difficult with 2WD low clearance vehicles.  A vehicle with high clearance is VERY helpful and 4WD may be useful but generally not needed.

The first obstacle is about 3.4 miles in where the Egypt road crosses over Twentyfive Mile Wash (EgyptDP-01).  On the drive in this is generally in good condition as you drop down a hill into then across the wash.  Driving back out can be a little difficult with a 2WD vehicle since the hill is steep and a little speed may be required.  The rough wash leading to the hill may make it difficult to get up to speed.

After crossing Twentyfive Mile Wash, continue on the Egypt road for about 3.2 miles to where the road crosses over the Egypt 1 drainage (pkEgypt1).  At this drainage there is what appears to be a road forking to the left going up the Egypt 1 drainage.  Do not turn left here but instead continue along the well traveled Egypt road.

About 0.7 miles farther the Egypt road crosses the Egypt 1.5 drainage (pkEgypt1.5).  If you are not looking for it and you may not notice passing by this drainage while on the road.

About 0.5 miles farther the Egypt road crosses the Egypt 2 drainage (PkEgypt2).  The head of Egypt 2 Canyon can be seen to the left (east) less than 100 feet away.   Just after crossing this drainage while driving past here is a rough section where you will need a high clearance vehicle to navigate through the slickrock in the drainage.  A 2WD vehicle can make it but it may damage the vehicle.

About 650 feet after passing the Egypt 2 drainage is a hill you will need to drive up (EgyptDP-02).  To drive up this hill high clearance is needed.  Low clearance vehicles will have issues with this spot.  4WD recommended but not absolutely needed.  A 2WD vehicle will need to get a run at this hill and need to pick just the right line to get up the hill.  I 4WD will make it up the hill with ease.

About 1.4 miles farther will be a fork in the road (extEgypt9420).  The fork to the left (north) on the drive in goes to a road which is the continuation of the Egypt road and is signed as 9420. The fork to the right (east) on the drive in goes over to a well used trailhead / parking area for the area.  Turn right at the fork and travel about 0.6 miles to the end of the road at the trailhead (pkEgypt5).  Park here to begin the 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.

Map Link Icon
Click the links for maps of the route. Map of the drive into the route 1.
Map of the drive into the route 2.
Map of the entire route.
Map of the technical section.

Details

The Approach:
From the trailhead (pkEgypt5), walk south about 800 feet to get up onto the top of hill there.  From the top of the hill (wEgypt5RP-01) continue south about 200 feet over to the rim looking down over Egypt 5 Canyon.

When you get over to the rim route find your way down the rim and traverse left (east) as you do heading toward the head of the main drainage.  As you drop down you will find yourself on a rock ledge.  Follow the rock ledge toward the head of the drainage to find a weakness (wEgypt5RP-02) where you can easily scramble down off the ledge and into the canyon.

Once down in Egypt 5 follow the drainage south a little over 900 feet to where the drainage begins to drop off steeply and slot up (yEgypt5Tp).  Do not drop southeast down E5, instead walk southwest in a shallow open valley for about 0.25 miles to where the right fork of the E4 drainage begins to form continuing down to the southwest.

As the right fork of the E4 drainage begins to form (Egypt4-01). Continue southwest down wide drainage for about 0.3 miles bypassing various small potholes along the way.

As the potholes end (Egypt4-02) the right fork of the E4 drainage is easy walking southwest down wide drainage.

About 450 feet farther the right and left forks of E4 join together (Egypt4-03-Frk). Continue south down wide drainage.

About 0.3 miles farther the drainage begins to slot up (yEgypt4Tp).

The Canyoneering / Technical Section:
From where Egypt 4 begins to slot up (yEgypt4Tp), continue down canyon with a mix of walking, galumphing and easy stemming for about 500 feet to a brief open spot.

From the brief open spot (Egypt4-04) the next 250 feet the canyon quickly slots up with stemming through twisted sculpted walls about 15 feet off the deck. Widening walls will force you down to cross 3 pools (if there is water). The first pool is too wide to bridge and most people will slip into the waist deep water, however the RDC side can be traversed with a lot of effort. The second pool is a semi wide bridge that can be awkward to get into. The third pool is an easy stem over. After the pools is more stemming gradually stemming up to 15 or 20 feet off the deck where you will cross a moderately wide silo that can be bridged over followed by a smaller silo to stem over. Shortly after is a climb to the top of a large log wedge between the walls.

From the top of the log (Egypt4-05Log), the next 550 feet continues stemming down canyon with one more silo to cross before the walls widen and force you to the ground again. A very short distance later the walls pinch down and you are forced to begin stemming up again. Shortly after crossing a moderately wide silo, continue stemming up to about 35 or 40 feet off the deck where it is wide enough to fit. Larger people will need to stem up a little higher in a couple spots to get over skinny spots. Continuing down canyon is a bunch of silo like features to cross over before you can go to the ground for a short walk where your feet barely fit between the walls. Near the end of this short walking section the canyon makes a right hand bend.

From the right hand bend (Egypt4-06RtBnd), the walls become sculpted and winding where you can walk and squeeze down canyon for about 150 feet to a difficult upclimb.

The upclimb (Egypt4-07UpClm) where the walls pinch down is about 35 feet up and strenuous since there are few features to assist and you will be stemming / wiggling your way up between skinny walls. Even taking a break can wear you down as you need to maintain pressure between walls to keep from sliding down. The next 500 feet of canyon is stemming still 30-ish feet off the deck with a few silos to stem over before touching down to the canyon floor briefly.

From where you go to the ground briefly (Egypt4-08), the next 600 feet of canyon is more of an R rated section with stemming around 20 feet off the deck at times with awkward features making movement strenuous.

After the 600 feet of R section is a spot where you could climb up out of the canyon (Egypt4-09EE) on the LDC side but it would be sketchy. Over the next 300 feet is stemming and galumphing about 10 feet off the deck where you will have to go to the ground then back up multiple times making this section strenuous.

Soon you are able to to go to the ground and over about the next 175 feet you can walk on the ground between sculpted narrow walls where deposits of moss have made the place very pretty.

As the short ground section ends stem up (Egypt4-11Up) to continue down canyon. Over the next 400 feet continue stemming at times about 15 feet off the deck. Movement here is strenuous with slightly more vertical walls.

When you reach a spot where you could exit the canyon on the RDC side relatively easy (Egypt4-12EE), over the next 900 feet is a mix of stemming and galumphing no more than 15 feet off the deck before with a couple spots you go to the ground then back up. After this section the canyon opens up to a large slickrock patio like area.

When the canyon opens to a wide slickrock patio (Egypt4-13Open), walk about 350 feet to the start of the next slot.

From the start of the start of a short slot (Egypt4-14Slot) it is about 200 feet long with stemming to 10 or 15 feet up and multiple silos to easily bridge over.

From the down canyon end of a short slot (Egypt4-15Open) where open walking starts again. In this walking section you can easily walk out of the canyon on the LDC side.

About 600 feet farther is the start of another slot (Egypt4-16) that starts with walking then goes to easy galumphing leading to a downclimb (Egypt4-17Drop) of about 12 feet then easy walking in wide trough like canyon.

Note: On our visit in 2013 there was a pool at the bottom of the drop so we bypassed this slot up and around on the LDC side then scramble back to the canyon floor and walk up to see the pool and drop from the other side.

About 950 feet farther is the start of a slot (Egypt4-18Slot) about 300 feet long at the end of E4 with easy galumphing and an easy downclimb at the end to what is a pool if water is present.

At the bottom of Egypt 4 (yEgypt4Bt), a short slot ends with an easy downclimb to a sandy area below that is a pool if water is present.

Note: On our visit in 2013 I was hot, thirsty and had been out of water for a while. I scooped up a bottle of water and threw in some iodine tablets. 30 minutes later the water was so tasty I forgot all about the cow patties around that pool.

The Exit:
From the end of Egypt 4 (yEgypt4Bt ) walk about 150 feet southwest down stream to where the wash makes a right hand turn (Egypt4-19) and a cross joint drops down from the left (east), walk up gently sloped slickrock up out of the canyon on the right (west) side. Route find west up the slickrock about 500 feet to where you can veer right to go up steeper slickrock to the north.

About 500 feet up out of the E4 drainage (Egypt4-20) veer right and go north up steeper slickrock working your way up to the top of the wide ridge / hill. Continue north up the slopes to the top out then down the other side to a saddle about 0.25 miles away.

From the saddle (Egypt4-21Sdle) continue north up to the top of the next highpoint about 1000 feet away.

From the next highpoint (Egypt4-22Peak) you can see down over the upper portion of Egypt 4 to the north. Continue north roughly following Egypt 4 for about 0.9 miles where you can walk back down into E4 at the top of the first slot (yEgypt4Tp).

To exit continue the exit route walk northeast up the wide E4 drainage about 0.3 miles to where the left fork drops in from the left (west).

From where the left fork joins (Egypt4-03-Frk) continue northeast of the right fork of the E4 drainage about 450 feet to where minor potholes begin to form.

As minor potholes begin to form (Egypt4-02), continue northeast up wide drainage bypassing several minor potholes for about 0.3 miles to a wide open valley like area.

Once to the wide valley like area (Egypt4-01), walk about 0.25 miles northeast across the open valley to the head of E5 which drops down to the southeast.

From the head of E5 (yEgypt5Tp) you can travel up canyon and retrace your steps on the way in.  Or you can walk about 700 feet northwest to where you scramble up another weakness in the rim where you can scramble up next to a tree (wEgypt5RP-41).

After getting up the weakness in the rim, route find your way north about 0.2 miles back to the trailhead (pkEgypt5).

GPS Waypoint Information

Downloadable GPX files available at BG-Gear Store (easier than manual entry and a great way to support Bluugnome).
Waypoint naming convention and map symbol information can be found on the Glossary page.  Elevations are approximate.
BEFORE manually entering coordinates set your system to WGS84 datum and Lat/Lon hddd.ddddd° coordinate format. 
Inconsistent datum's and coordinate formats will result in location errors.

Click to show / expand the list of waypoints below........
Egypt 4 (1) - Drive in to Trailhead
  1. extHoleInRock          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.72769   W -111.53143        Elev: NaN Feet
    Turn off to Hole-In-The-Rock road from Hwy 12.
  2. extEgypt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.54114   W -111.36176        Elev: 5,279 Feet
    Turn off to the Egypt Road to the east (left on the drive in on Hole in the Rock road..
  3. EgyptDP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56107   W -111.30718        Elev: 4,924 Feet
    Egypt Road crosses over Twentyfive Mile Wash. Generally in good condition but may be a little difficult to get back up the hill on the drive back to the Hole in the Rock road. The hill is steep up out of the wash and a 2WD vehicle will need a little speed which is difficult since crossing the wash can be rough.
  4. pkEgypt1          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57269   W -111.25778        Elev: 5,270 Feet
    Park here to start the Egypt 1 route.
  5. pkEgypt1.5          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57647   W -111.24791        Elev: 5,350 Feet
    Park here in one of a couple clearings on the right (south) side of the road to start the Egypt 1.5 route.
  6. PkEgypt2          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58118   W -111.24291        Elev: 5,390 Feet
    Park here to start down Egypt 2 canyon. Just after crossing this drainage while driving past here is a rough section where you will need a high clearance vehicle to navigate through the slickrock in the drainage.
  7. EgyptDP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58278   W -111.24086        Elev: 5,455 Feet
    Top of a hill where clearance is needed. 4WD recommended but not absolutely needed. 2wd will need to muscle up with some speed and choose just the right line.
  8. extEgypt9420          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.59581   W -111.22649        Elev: 5,707 Feet
    Fork in the Egypt road. The fork to the left (north) on the drive in goes to a road is the continuation of the Egypt road and is signed as 9420. The fork to the right (east) on the drive in goes over to a well used trailhead / parking area for the area.
  9. pkEgypt5          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.59306   W -111.21827        Elev: 5,620 Feet
    Parking and trailhead for multiple routes in the area. Routes like Neon, Choprock, Egypt 5 and many others. To go out toward Neon, Route find your way northeast down the slickrock slopes then through open rolling desert aiming for a sandstone peak about 3 miles away just right of a shallow drainage running through the desert. The peak is near the bottom of Neon and can be seen for most of the approach hike down into the Escalante River so it makes a good navigation aid but you will lose sight of it a few times during the first part of the hike in.
Egypt 4 (2) - Approach
  1. pkEgypt5          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.59306   W -111.21827        Elev: 5,620 Feet
    Parking and trailhead for multiple routes in the area. Routes like Neon, Choprock, Egypt 5 and many others. To go out toward Neon, Route find your way northeast down the slickrock slopes then through open rolling desert aiming for a sandstone peak about 3 miles away just right of a shallow drainage running through the desert. The peak is near the bottom of Neon and can be seen for most of the approach hike down into the Escalante River so it makes a good navigation aid but you will lose sight of it a few times during the first part of the hike in.
  2. wEgypt5RP-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.59091   W -111.21876        Elev: 5,680 Feet
    Top of the hill south of the Egypt Trailhead area. Continue south over to the rim overlooking Egypt 5.
  3. wEgypt5RP-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.59036   W -111.21796        Elev: NaN Feet
    Weakness in a rock ledge which allows an easy scramble down into the Egypt 5 drainage.
  4. yEgypt5Tp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58803   W -111.21832        Elev: 5,400 Feet
    Egypt 5 Top - 4A II or III X- or X. Top of upper Egypt 5 where it starts to drop steeply and slot up. Egypt 5 has an upper and lower section separated by a long section of slick rock hiking. At this spot is downclimb of about 70 feet and looks intimidating from the top since you can not see all of it. The downclimb is moderately easy the whole way down as work your way down the sloped V-slot. To go to Egypt 4 do not drop southeast down E5, instead walk southwest in a shallow open valley for about 0.25 miles to where the right fork of the E4 drainage begins to form continuing down to the southwest.
  5. Egypt4-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58533   W -111.22136        Elev: NaN Feet
    Right fork of the E4 drainage begins to form. Continue southwest down wide drainage for about 0.3 miles bypassing various small potholes along the way. To exit walk about 0.25 miles northeast across the open valley to the head of E5 which drops down to the southeast.
  6. Egypt4-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58202   W -111.22432        Elev: NaN Feet
    Minor potholes end and the right fork of the E4 drainage is easy walking southwest down wide drainage. To exit, continue northeast up wide drainage bypassing several minor potholes for about 0.3 miles to a wide open valley like area.
  7. Egypt4-03-Frk          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58084   W -111.22483        Elev: NaN Feet
    Right and left forks of E4 join together. Continue south down wide drainage. To exit continue north east of the right fork of the E4 drainage about 450 feet to where minor potholes begin to form.
  8. yEgypt4Tp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57668   W -111.22543        Elev: 5,130 Feet
    Egypt 4 Top - 4A III X. Top of Egypt 4 technical section where the drainage begins to slot up. Continue down canyon with a mix of walking, galumphing and easy stemming for about 500 feet to a brief open spot. To exit continue the exit route walk northeast up the wide E4 drainage about 0.3 miles to where the left fork drops in from the left (west).
Egypt 4 (3) - The Canyon
  1. yEgypt4Tp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57668   W -111.22543        Elev: 5,130 Feet
    Egypt 4 Top - 4A III X. Top of Egypt 4 technical section where the drainage begins to slot up. Continue down canyon with a mix of walking, galumphing and easy stemming for about 500 feet to a brief open spot. To exit continue the exit route walk northeast up the wide E4 drainage about 0.3 miles to where the left fork drops in from the left (west).
  2. Egypt4-04          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57526   W -111.22591        Elev: NaN Feet
    From the brief open spot, the next 250 feet the canyon quickly slots up with stemming through twisted sculpted walls about 15 feet off the deck. Widening walls will force you down to cross 3 pools (if there is water). The first pool is too wide to bridge and most people will slip into the waist deep water, however the RDC side can be traversed with a lot of effort. The second pool is a semi wide bridge that can be awkward to get into. The third pool is an easy stem over. After the pools is more stemming gradually stemming up to 15 or 20 feet off the deck where you will cross a moderately wide silo that can be bridged over followed by a smaller silo to stem over. Shortly after is a climb to the top of a large log wedge between the walls.
  3. Egypt4-05Log          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57463   W -111.22630        Elev: NaN Feet
    From the top of the log, the next 550 feet continues stemming down canyon with one more silo to cross before the walls widen and force you to the ground again. A very short distance later the walls pinch down and you are forced to begin stemming up again. Shortly after crossing a moderately wide silo, continue stemming up to about 35 or 40 feet off the deck where it is wide enough to fit. Larger people will need to stem up a little higher in a couple spots to get over skinny spots. Continuing down canyon is a bunch of silo like features to cross over before you can go to the ground for a short walk where your feet barely fit between the walls. Near the end of this short walking section the canyon makes a right hand bend.
  4. Egypt4-06RtBnd          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57323   W -111.22677        Elev: NaN Feet
    From the right hand bend, the walls become sculpted and winding where you can walk and squeeze down canyon for about 150 feet to a difficult upclimb.
  5. Egypt4-07UpClm          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57283   W -111.22718        Elev: NaN Feet
    The upclimb where the walls pinch down is about 35 feet up and strenuous since there are few features to assist and you will be stemming / wiggling your way up between skinny walls. Even taking a break can wear you down as you need to maintain pressure between walls to keep from sliding down. The next 500 feet of canyon is stemming still 30-ish feet off the deck with a few silos to stem over before touching down to the canyon floor briefly.
  6. Egypt4-08          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57158   W -111.22802        Elev: NaN Feet
    Spot where you go to the ground briefly, the next 600 feet of canyon is more of an R rated section with stemming around 20 feet off the deck at times with awkward features making movement strenuous.
  7. Egypt4-09EE          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57026   W -111.22927        Elev: NaN Feet
    Spot where you could climb up out of the canyon on the LDC side but it would be sketchy. Over the next 300 feet is stemming and galumphing about 10 feet off the deck where you will have to go to the ground then back up multiple times making this section strenuous.
  8. Egypt4-10          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56942   W -111.22955        Elev: NaN Feet
    Over about the next 175 feet is where you can walk on the ground between sculpted narrow walls where deposits of moss have made the place very pretty.
  9. Egypt4-11Up          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56904   W -111.22986        Elev: NaN Feet
    As the short ground section ends stem up to continue down canyon. Over the next 400 feet continue stemming at times about 15 feet off the deck. Movement here is strenuouse with slightly more vertical walls.
  10. Egypt4-12EE          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56809   W -111.23044        Elev: NaN Feet
    A spot where you could exit the canyon on the RDC side relatively easy. Over the next 900 feet is a mix of stemming and galumphing no more than 15 feet off the deck before with a couple spots you go to the ground then back up. After this section the canyon opens up to a large slickrock patio like area.
  11. Egypt4-13Open          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56598   W -111.23151        Elev: NaN Feet
    Slot opens up to wide slickrock patio, walk about 350 feet to the start of the next slot.
  12. Egypt4-14Slot          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56507   W -111.23111        Elev: NaN Feet
    Start of a short slot about 200 feet long with stemming to 10 or 15 feet up and multiple silos to easily bridge over.
  13. Egypt4-15Open          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56430   W -111.23200        Elev: NaN Feet
    End of a short slot where open walking starts again. In this walking section you can easily walk out of the canyon on the LDC side.
  14. Egypt4-16          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56275   W -111.23243        Elev: NaN Feet
    Start of another slot that starts with walking then goes to easy galumphing leading to a downclimb of about 12 feet then easy walking in wide trough like canyon. Note: On our visit in 2013 there was a pool at the bottom of the drop so we bypassed this slot up and around on the LDC side then scramble back to the canyon floor and walk up to see the pool and drop from the other side.
  15. Egypt4-17Drop          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56231   W -111.23320        Elev: NaN Feet
    Downclimb of about 12 feet to trough like canyon below. Can hold water and be a swim below.
  16. Egypt4-18Slot          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56032   W -111.23460        Elev: NaN Feet
    Slot of about 300 feet long at the end of E4 with easy galumphing and an easy downclimb at the end to what is a pool if water is present.
  17. yEgypt4Bt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.55968   W -111.23535        Elev: 4,820 Feet
    Bottom of Egypt 4 where a short slot ends with an easy downclimb to a sandy area below that is a pool if water is present. Note: On our visit in 2013 I was hot, thirsty and had been out of water for a while. I scooped up a bottle of water and threw in some iodine tablets. 30 minutes later the water was so tasty I forgot all about the cow patties around that pool.
Egypt 4 (4) - Exit
  1. yEgypt4Bt          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.55968   W -111.23535        Elev: 4,820 Feet
    Bottom of Egypt 4 where a short slot ends with an easy downclimb to a sandy area below that is a pool if water is present. Note: On our visit in 2013 I was hot, thirsty and had been out of water for a while. I scooped up a bottle of water and threw in some iodine tablets. 30 minutes later the water was so tasty I forgot all about the cow patties around that pool.
  2. Egypt4-19          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.55934   W -111.23569        Elev: 4,810 Feet
    As the wash makes a right hand turn and a cross joint drops down from the left (east), walk up gently sloped slickrock up out of the canyon on the right (west) side. Route find west up the slickrock about 500 feet to where you can veer right to go up steeper slickrock to the north.
  3. Egypt4-20          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56045   W -111.23665        Elev: NaN Feet
    Veer right and go north up steeper slickrock working your way up to the top of the wide ridge / hill. Continue north up the slopes to the top out then down the other side to a saddle about 0.25 miles away.
  4. Egypt4-21Sdle          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56359   W -111.23380        Elev: NaN Feet
    Saddle between sandstone peaks. Continue north up to the top of the next highpoint about 1000 feet away.
  5. Egypt4-22Peak          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.56645   W -111.23274        Elev: 5,200 Feet
    Top of a sandstone peak where you can see down over the upper portion of Egypt 4 to the north. Continue north roughly following Egypt 4 for about 0.9 miles where you can walk back down into E4 at the top of the first slot.
  6. yEgypt4Tp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.57668   W -111.22543        Elev: 5,130 Feet
    Egypt 4 Top - 4A III X. Top of Egypt 4 technical section where the drainage begins to slot up. Continue down canyon with a mix of walking, galumphing and easy stemming for about 500 feet to a brief open spot. To exit continue the exit route walk northeast up the wide E4 drainage about 0.3 miles to where the left fork drops in from the left (west).
  7. Egypt4-03-Frk          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58084   W -111.22483        Elev: NaN Feet
    Right and left forks of E4 join together. Continue south down wide drainage. To exit continue north east of the right fork of the E4 drainage about 450 feet to where minor potholes begin to form.
  8. Egypt4-02          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58202   W -111.22432        Elev: NaN Feet
    Minor potholes end and the right fork of the E4 drainage is easy walking southwest down wide drainage. To exit, continue northeast up wide drainage bypassing several minor potholes for about 0.3 miles to a wide open valley like area.
  9. Egypt4-01          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58533   W -111.22136        Elev: NaN Feet
    Right fork of the E4 drainage begins to form. Continue southwest down wide drainage for about 0.3 miles bypassing various small potholes along the way. To exit walk about 0.25 miles northeast across the open valley to the head of E5 which drops down to the southeast.
  10. yEgypt5Tp          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58803   W -111.21832        Elev: 5,400 Feet
    Egypt 5 Top - 4A II or III X- or X. Top of upper Egypt 5 where it starts to drop steeply and slot up. Egypt 5 has an upper and lower section separated by a long section of slick rock hiking. At this spot is downclimb of about 70 feet and looks intimidating from the top since you can not see all of it. The downclimb is moderately easy the whole way down as work your way down the sloped V-slot. To go to Egypt 4 do not drop southeast down E5, instead walk southwest in a shallow open valley for about 0.25 miles to where the right fork of the E4 drainage begins to form continuing down to the southwest.
  11. wEgypt5RP-41          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.58948   W -111.21979        Elev: 5,560 Feet
    Bottom of a weakness where you scramble / climb up by a tree to get up one level to exit. After getting to the top of this route find your way north back to the trailhead about 0.2 miles away.
  12. pkEgypt5          Lat/Lon (WGS84):  N 37.59306   W -111.21827        Elev: 5,620 Feet
    Parking and trailhead for multiple routes in the area. Routes like Neon, Choprock, Egypt 5 and many others. To go out toward Neon, Route find your way northeast down the slickrock slopes then through open rolling desert aiming for a sandstone peak about 3 miles away just right of a shallow drainage running through the desert. The peak is near the bottom of Neon and can be seen for most of the approach hike down into the Escalante River so it makes a good navigation aid but you will lose sight of it a few times during the first part of the hike in.

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