My second night in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument was even more miserable than the first night. The temperature dropped to the mid-20s if not colder. I was cold all night long in my sleeping bag, although it is rated to keep me warn down to 15 degrees.

Then, the only choices for breakfast were bagels, muffins, cereal, and melon slices. This offered me nothing to eat on my very low-carb diet, even though I had told the Sierra Club about my diet preferences when I signed up for the outing.

That’s when I decided to leave early. But I waited until after we returned from the day hike down Willow Gulch into Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. We drove 18 more miles down Hole-in-the-Rock Road from our base camp 27 miles into Grand Staircase-Escalante on that long dirt road through the center of the monument.

En route we stopped at Dance Hall Rock. Its smooth floor, sheltering alcove, and natural acoustics kept up the spirits of Mormon pioneers, when they rested from their labors of building Hole-in-the-Rock trail from Escalante to San Juan in 1880.

The Tiny Figures of People Show the Size of Dance Hall Rock

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We rested from our labors from time to time too. This was one place where we stopped and admired the view.

An Oasis in the Desert

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Our destination was Broken Bow Arch, a moderately difficult six-mile roundtrip hike down Willow Gulch. Where we could see a trail, it was faint, unmaintained and unmarked, and often required us to push through willows and other brush.

But eventually we got to the arch. When we arrived, I was surprised that it wasn’t a broken arch. Actually, it got its name when a local teacher found a broken Indian bow under the arch. It’s big, with a span of 94 feet and a height of 100 feet.

Broken Bow Arch

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When we returned to base camp I made my good-byes, struck my tent, and drove back Hole-in-the-Rock road to Escalante. I went to the same motel that I stayed at a year ago, and I greatly enjoyed the warm room and bed.