The longest and most remote hike we did on this trip was Lower Muley Twist. The Waterpocket Fold served as a foil to Mormon pioneers and from 1881 to 1884 this canyon served as a wagon route through the fold. The canyon gets its name because it was narrow enough to “twist a mule”. There were times hiking this route that we had to wonder at anyone bringing wagons through this terrain.

There are several entry points into Lower Muley Twist and we opted to do the fifteen mile loop from the Post Corral. We hiked the route counter clockwise and started off on the Post Cutoff Trail that led us west from the parking area and wasted no time in steeply climbing the Waterpocket Fold. The Waterpocket Fold, a hundred mile wrinkle in the earth’s surface, is the defining geological feature of Capitol Reef and a fun mix of sandstone layers, colors, and formations (parts of the fold reminded me of Yellow Rock). This two mile section of the hike was steep, but scenic - we were surrounded by cool slickrock and had great views back to the valley floor. This is also where we spotted bighorn sheep - the only other “hikers” we encountered all day.

We dropped into Lower Muley Twist and had eight miles to hike before we exited at the Halls Creek drainage. The hallmark of Lower Muley Twist is the various large alcoves created by undercutting of the Kayenta formation. These alcoves were truly spectacular and one of them had an immense rock pile under the overhang. It gave a great sense of scale to watch Norah and Steve pick their way among the huge boulders. We also saw some nice erosion patterns (tafoni), desert varnish, and pretty canyon colors when the reflected light was right. There were some cool narrow sections near the end of Lower Muley Twist before we exited the canyon and connected with the Halls Creek drainage to head back to Post Corral. This section of the hike was five miles and tedious at times. Some hikers hike the loop clockwise to do this less interesting section first, but we preferred a steep climb versus descent on the Waterpocket Fold and it was easy to cruise this last flat section. After our hike we had one last ascent of the Waterpocket Fold, this time up the steep switchbacks in our truck on the Burr Trail. The Navajo sandstone has been completely eroded in this section, leaving an access point through the fold - we headed up the switchbacks, pausing to admire the views, and then were on our way to Escalante.