WES001
Location: 37.0401344299316, -111.21516418457
Marker buoy off Lake Powell; enter slickrock-framed canyon mouth for 6.2-mile boat approach; Cummings Mesa, striped in reddish-brown layers of Entrada sandstone, towers to the E
WES002
Location: 37.02978515625, -111.195167541504
L @ fork with Sei Biilikoon drainage; continue up main channel of West Canyon, note the sheer, pockmarked face of Waterfall Ridge dominating the W wall
WES003
Location: 36.9967002868652, -111.136352539062
Tie off and begin a leisurely approach through a sandy, cattail-lined gorge
WES004
Location: 36.9891319274902, -111.130485534668
Reach a 12-ft. insurmountable wall of smooth, crimson-streaked sandstone where a gentle waterfall spills off. Climb one of the dunes on either side, then wade through a face-smacking thicket of aromatic columbine
WES005
Location: 36.9798011779785, -111.119667053223
Around a boulder-hewed bend at mile 2.7, a set of Aladdin's Lamp-shaped narrows hang overhead.
WES006
Location: 36.9780731201172, -111.118774414062
Trail abruptly ends at a 200-yard-long slalom-course pothole slot filled to the brim with head-high, shade-cooled water; sidestroke the spiraling hallway with gear in tow, then quickly warm yourself by scrambling over the chockstones at the end of the narrows; head into the sandy valley where the canyon opens up again
WES007
Location: 36.9762649536133, -111.120185852051
L into the shoulder-width Lower East Fork for a shimmy session through sharp-edged helixes filled with rippled channels of waist-deep mud; caution: in wet seasons these photogenic fissures flood fast
WES008
Location: 36.9753723144531, -111.11873626709
Turn around once narrows squeeze shut, return to WPT #7; now, either continue exploring the upper reaches of the main canyon, where multiple pour-offs and narrow after narrow await, or retrace steps to boat
Swimming the slots
Location: 36.9783477783203, -111.118293762207
Scrambling deep into a watery, erosion-shaped slot canyon. ©Dale Diulus and Andrew Matranga
Forces of erosion at work
Location: 36.9775810241699, -111.118965148926
A slot canyon in the making. ©Andrew Matranga
The corkscrewing aquatic hallway
Location: 36.9783935546875, -111.119323730469
Get ready to swim, as the water reaches above the head in some spots. ©Bob Wold
Deep in the narrows of the Lower East Fork
Location: 36.9757843017578, -111.118560791016
Sunlight streams through the pinching, shoulder-width walls. ©Andrew Matranga
Hourglass narrows
Location: 36.9801445007324, -111.119232177734
Stroll through the ankle-deep water of this sinewy formation. ©Andrew Matranga
The first obstacle
Location: 36.9895477294922, -111.129577636719
A waterslide splashes from 12 feet above the canyon floor. Find a way around to continue.
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