Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona

 

Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Arizona [rockymountainmagazine.com]

True canyoneering is a technical craft that entails climbing, rappelling, and often swimming through slot canyons that can narrow down to a body squeeze, then drop off 40 or 50 feet into another slot. Cathedral Wash gives a sense of that adventure without the technical demands, though this three-mile round-trip hike does require a bit of scrambling. The trailhead is on the Lees Ferry access road in Arizona, which curves around a prominent formation called Cathedral Rock. The hike leads through narrow passageways lined by cliffs of limestone and sandstone, smoothed and eroded into all manner of formations—arches, alcoves, overhangs, muddy pools, and dry waterfalls that are anything but dry when a flash flood courses through. This is obviously not a hike to make during or after a rain in the vicinity. In the heart of the canyon, hikers must make their way along ledges and ease themselves down drop-offs. Finally the trail opens up and reaches the Colorado River, which signals an about-face for the return hike.