The bottom of the Hall’s Creek Gulch was the Devil’s Anvil and the 800 foot climb back to the overlook was horribly hot, but the small, tight canyon in the Waterpocket Fold and the views from the Hall’s Overlook and above were exquisitely beautiful. The Waterpocket Fold is an up tilted ridge of hard sandstone running for one hundred miles through southern Utah.  This sandstone is composed of sand from an ancient Sahara-like desert. The Capitol Reef is the highly-eroded, towering section of the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park.

Upper Muley Twist Canyon

The Upper Muley Twist Canyon runs between the hard, white wall of the Waterpocket Fold, and the enormously bubbling, red walls of the Kayenta formation. The bottom of the canyon is nearly one thousand feet higher than the Hall’s Overlook, the sun was behind clouds in the morning, and we had wind in the afternoon. So the hike of the canyon was pleasantly warm. We found fantastic formations and arches hiking the canyon bottom.  We took a short side hike into a wonderful, narrow slot canyon. Then we climbed high to the top of the Waterpocket Fold and, for several miles, hiked along the white rim, climbing over high points and enjoying endless views of mesas, mountains and valleys. To the west, on the other side of the canyon, we enjoyed the views of the red, cottage-cheese Kayenta. Ryan and I agreed, this was one of the best hikes in the world.