Canyoneer Egypt 2 Canyon Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument, UT

May 04, 2020 — Egypt 2 Canyon is one of a half dozen canyons known as "The Egypts". It boasts a 280 foot rappel directly from the parking lot. Alternatively, there is apparently a 70 foot rappel if 280 feet isn't your cup of tea. Honestly, it's not particularly mine, but Matt and Shawn were stoked. Naturally, me being the most scared of heights out of the three of us, I was elected to go first. Yay? We set up two long and equalized anchors off a massive rock feature. The rappel started off vertical, included a short ledge to take a breather, and then a slope down to the canyon floor.

Once the three of us made it down, adrenaline high, we headed through the extremely beautiful, fun, and nontechnical Egypt 2. Though the rappel was quite thrilling, the rest of the canyon was an engaging and enjoyable series of short downclimbs, wash walks, and colorful canyon walls. We had some webbing, but didn't need it. Once the canyon opened up, we continued through the wash until a small side-canyon drained in on our right. The ridge separating this side canyon and Egypt 2 would serve as our escape route. A Class 2 slab led to the slickrock above and up the ridge that paralleled Egypt 2. One Class 2+ obstacle to get onto the rim above required wrapping to the left around a steep slickrock feature.