The sign as you enter Hole in the Rock Road where were camped a half mile away. The trailhead was 24 miles down the road. It wasn’t a horrible road, just an insane amount of washboard. The kind of road where you are hoping none of the fillings come out of your molars. It also tested the Nolte’s Mercedes Sprinter. They learned a few lessons for sure, like when all of a sudden beer spewed out of a cabinet and dripped everywhere.

We started at Upper Dry Fork Trailhead to hike the Dry Fork Narrows to Peekaboo then to Spooky and back on the Rim Trail. You can see from the map Peekaboo and Spooky are directional, for a very good reason.

Everything was just hunky-dory while we were in the Dry Fork Narrows. The Noltes were super stoked. Mare couldn’t take enough photos. 😊

Happy smiling people in the Dry Fork Narrows.

Still smiling and I was even beginning to wonder if we were in Peekaboo.

This is the entrance to Peekaboo! Holy shit! Are you kidding me? I know for sure if it were just us, we would’ve turned around, probably the same for the Noltes, but two couples together changed the dynamics.

There’s many Peekaboo slots in Utah, but this is the real one.

Somewhere in the middle of Peekaboo

As we exited Peekaboo we were left with a real sense of accomplishment. It was the right mix of stress, strength, endurance, and exhilaration. 

Bill straddling the slot that is Peekaboo.

Once we left Peekaboo we made a cross country trek to Spooky.

The beginning of Spooky…not looking too spooky yet.

Starting to get tight.

And then we came upon a guided group of six. One of the girls was paralyzed with fear as the guide was trying to coax through a maneuver. At this point Mare dropped a “William” on Bill as he crept closer to get a view. The guide was saying things like, this choke point is a lot worse since the flood in June. And this is the point of no return, once you are down this there’s no going back. Standing, waiting, and watching was beginning to let fear enter my mind. Finally they let us pass and gave the poor terrified girl a break. We wonder if they ever made it through or just turned around.

Here’s the choke point. Mare at the top, Bill talking her through the required steps. All of a sudden I was in the lead.

By the time I entered this spot I had worked myself into a full on panic attack. I was long gone by the time the three of them got here. There was no end in sight to the gnarly ups, downs, twists, and turns. I tried to breath and remain calm, but I couldn’t. I just started moving as fast as I could. I was tearing up my clothes, getting bruised, leaving a trail of blood, scratching my watch, and shredding my iPhone case. I felt horrible leaving everyone behind, especially Amelia. I knew Bill was with them, but still…

Bill was taking these pics. He had a sense I might’ve fled. Amelia and Mare had a brief moment of panic, being in the comfort of each other more than likely helped them. This is the stretch I remember having no sense of how long it was going to go on. It felt like there was no end.

Slot? More like a slit in the earth. I get uneasy just looking at this picture.

Light at the end. So thankful and relieved, but riddled with guilt.

The view as we marched through the heat back to the trailhead. I did my best to laugh and make light of my panic attack. I’ve never experienced one of that magnitude. It was not fun. Spooky still haunts me. I’ve never left my wife behind like that. I can’t begin to verbalize how awful it feels.