When you research and plan out a hiking experience for your bestie, you want her to experience the coolest places you can find. Well the Peekaboo Slot and Spooky Gulch Slot definitely fit the description of “coolest”.

We weren’t sure if we would be hiking there today because of the rain. If there is a lot of rain, the slot canyons flood and that is extremely dangerous. We lucked out. A little drizzle in the morning an we set out for a day of hiking. Thank goodness we had a Jeep, coutesy of Doug, because a bit of our trek was on dirt, rock and sandy road.

We headed down the canyon not certain which slot we would hike first when we spotted a couple climbing the opening of the Peekaboo Slot. They waved for us to join them which was a blessing in disguise. Not only did they help us out of the muddy pit at the beginning, but they teamed up with us on the first few climbs which was a great help. But these climbs did come with lots of cuts, scrapes and bruises.

Right from the beginning I became a muddy, dirty mess.

And we wiggled our way through these slot, squeezing under, between and over rocks. Loving every minute. The coolest climb ever.

We finally made it out of the Peekaboo Slot and took a quick break to eat a snack and clean out our boots and socks. Sadly, when we emerged, our climbing friends were nowhere to be found and we never saw them again.

We set out for the Spooky Gulch Slot and it was like one of those movies you see where people wander the canyons lost for days. We missed the trail marker and that was the beginning of a 20-30 minute journey around the canyon. We are blaming it on my big hat and poor trail markers (cairns), so this inspired up to build about 5 more cairns along the way to help other “big hat” people like me. (LOL) (From Diana – You just can’t trust your phone to send you in the right direction all the time – especially in the desert! Old fashioned tracking skills are the best!)

We made it to the Spooky Gulch Slot and began our journey. At first we thought it was easy-peasy, but then….When I say you need to “think thin” when you traverse through this slot, I am not joking. I made Diana laugh so hard because I said that even my chest, with barely anything, was dragging against one wall while my butt dragged along the other! LOL

We climbed up, down and slid through the cracks. The canyon walls were multi-colored but also very bumpy and this scrapped us up a bit. It was well worth it though.

When we walked out we felt exhausted and elated all at the same time. We high-fived each other and knew this was an experience of a lifetime.

We hiked out of the canyon and my big hat got us off course slightly agin. We headed up the canyon and took the path less traveled. Not sure Diana’s knee was happy about that. Sorry my bestie.

Tip of the Day: Well there are two. 1. While in the slots, think skinny. Sometimes that means that a Camelback isn’t the best choice because it makes you fatter.
2. Big hats make you lose sight of things. You are watching where you are stepping and you miss sight of those all important things called cairns. Baseball hats may be a better choice.