Walking like an Egyptian in Utah

Squeezing through the narrow Peek-a-boo and Spooky Gulch slot canyons is a nerve-wracking adventure

- Rishad Saam Mehta

I am standing in front of a canyon, the entrance to which is approximately 15ft high on a slickrock wall. It has been 12 years since I have done any sort of climbing, and I stand for a moment scratching my head, trying to decide whether to carry on or turn back.

I had started driving a Nissan Rogue from Los Angeles three days ago to take it on a wander across California, but the lure of the topological features on a paper map, the fatigue-free comfort of the car and the voice in my head that kept whispering "just a little further" soon had me driving across California and Nevada into the centre of south Utah. And that's how I found myself in an area called the Badlands, staring at the mouth of a canyon.

Serving as the base to explore the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument (GSENM), Escalante in southern Utah is a one-horse town with clean, comfortable motel rooms, good food and great coffee. The GSENM spread around it is known for having the most slot canyons, or narrow deep gorges with far greater depth than width, in the world.

Poring over my map, I decide to explore Peek-a-boo and Spooky Gulch, together known as the Dry Fork slot canyons, on a whim. I do not research them—and that turns out to be a stupid mistake.

At the base of Peek-a-boo canyon, I am surrounded by a group of silver-haired women. One by one, they scamper up the rock face and into the canyon. One of them graciously offers to wait while I climb.

For me, it is a struggle. My knees, battered by a motorcycle crash a few years ago, almost creak with the effort of hoisting my body 12ft up the smooth face of rock with only shallow footholds.

I feel a shove on my posterior and a pull at my shoulders from above. The women, keen on carrying on, have taken matters into their own hands, and push and pull till I flop into the entrance of the canyon like a sack of potatoes.