As printed on the site

Escalante country to Round Valley Draw

Sections 6 and 7 are the long middle of the route page, 72.5 miles and then 80.8. They start at the top of the Burr Trail in Capitol Reef and end at Round Valley Draw. Between those titles the page names Lower Muley Twist, the Escalante River, Coyote Gulch, the Kaiparowits Plateau, and the Cockscomb.

The warning above the route page still applies. These are brief descriptions of the course, and the page says they are not enough for a safe trip.

Section 6, Burr Trail to Hole-in-the-Rock Road

From the Burr Trail the route follows Lower Muley Twist Canyon to the floor of Hall's Creek, then climbs the Red Slide to a pass in the Circle Cliffs. It descends into Middle Moody Canyon and follows that canyon to the Escalante River. The Escalante is followed downstream to the mouth of Coyote Gulch. The route turns up Coyote Gulch, then up Hurricane Wash, and ends at Hole-in-the-Rock Road. The mileage is 72.5. Hurricane Wash is the last named canyon before that road.

The permit line names three jurisdictions: Capitol Reef National Park, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The page does not mark which canyon sits in which one. Hall's Creek, the Red Slide, Middle Moody, the Escalante, Coyote Gulch, and Hurricane Wash are the sequence it does give.

The gallery captions Coyote Gulch as its own frame. That caption does not say whether the picture looks up Hurricane Wash or toward the river. It is the site's picture for the name, not a map of the turn.

Section 7, across the Kaiparowits to Round Valley Draw

Section 7 follows the Middle Pack Trail to the top of the Kaiparowits Plateau, then trails across the plateau and down Monday, Rogers, and Croton Canyons to the mouth of Navajo Canyon. It goes up Navajo Canyon, then through Surprise Valley to a divide, down into Reese Canyon, and along Reese to Last Chance Creek. It goes up Last Chance Creek and Paradise Canyon, then follows dirt roads past Tommy Water, Dog Flat, Long Flat, and Wahweap Creek, through the place the page calls The Gut in the Cockscomb, to Grosvenor Double Arch. From there Cottonwood Canyon Road leads up Butler Valley to Round Valley Draw. The mileage is 80.8.

The permit line on this section uses the shorter name, Grand Staircase National Monument. Section 6 and section 8 use the fuller Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The route page is not consistent about the form of the name, and these notes keep each line as printed.

Choi's 2008 notes on section 7 mention Mudholes Spring, a tank of sludgy water in upper Monday Canyon, and the narrower drainage in Rogers Canyon. Those details stay in the dated notes. The route page itself does not describe the water. It describes the order of the canyons and the roads.

Round Valley Draw is a hinge, not a town

Round Valley Draw is the end of section 7 and the start of section 8. Section 8 descends the narrows and continues down Hackberry Canyon to the Paria. The homepage carries a tall photograph of that country, and the gallery does not need to repeat the name for the place to be on the site. The next note follows the draw down to Willis Creek, then toward Bryce and the state line.

Hole-in-the-Rock Road is the other hinge, between sections 6 and 7. The route page treats it as a road name at the end of Hurricane Wash, not as a trailhead essay. No services are listed.

The Henry Mountains note ends where this one starts, at the top of the Burr Trail switchbacks. Lower Muley Twist is the first canyon of section 6 after that road. Section 8's first act is the narrows of the draw, then Hackberry Canyon to the Paria. The route page does not call the draw a trailhead with a store. It is a name shared by two section titles.

Place names worth not blurring

Surprise Valley on section 7 is on the Kaiparowits side of the route, between Navajo Canyon and Reese Canyon. The route page uses the name Surprise Valley again on section 13, between the Thunder River Trail and Deer Creek, inside Grand Canyon National Park. They are two sentences, two sections, the same two words. A reader who mixes them will be in the wrong canyon.

Butler Wash on section 3, between Red Lake Canyon and Beef Basin, is not Butler Valley at the end of section 7. Butler Valley is the Cottonwood Canyon Road stretch into Round Valley Draw. The route page uses both names. They are not one wash.

The Gut, in quotation marks on the route page, is the passage in the Cockscomb before Grosvenor Double Arch. The page does not define the name beyond placing it there. The gallery does not caption the Cockscomb. It does caption Last Chance Creek, which section 7 reaches before the dirt roads and The Gut. The caption is the picture, not a route correction. Butler Wash and Butler Valley stay different names.

Permits and the maps that do not open

Section 6's three permit names are the widest permit line in these two sections. Section 7 names only the monument, in the short form. The links page lists Capitol Reef, Glen Canyon, and Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument as separate government links. It does not say which link covers Hurricane Wash or the Kaiparowits.

The maps page repeats both section titles as links to overview drawings. Those drawings are not among the files being served. The course is the two paragraphs on the route page, the 72.5 and the 80.8. Hole-in-the-Rock Road is the hinge between the sections and is not given a permit of its own. The permit changes with the section, from three names to the monument alone. The overview drawings stay closed.

The mileage list shows section 7 as the second-longest figure on the page, after section 13's 87.2 from the North Rim to Hack Canyon. Length on that list is not a difficulty score. The warning does not rank the sections.

Questions

How long are sections 6 and 7?

The route page prints 72.5 miles from the Burr Trail to Hole-in-the-Rock Road, and 80.8 miles from that road to Round Valley Draw.

Which Surprise Valley is on section 7?

The one between Navajo Canyon and Reese Canyon, on the way to Last Chance Creek. The Surprise Valley on section 13 is a later place, on the Grand Canyon side of the route, above Deer Creek.

What permit line does section 7 use?

Grand Staircase National Monument, the shorter wording. Sections 6 and 8 print Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. The notes keep the page's own form on each section.