Coyote Gulch Advice

I am considering a spring backpacking trip down Coyote Gulch. Probably in early April. Anyone have advice on the trip.

Here are some questions.

I am going to try and talk my wife in to going with me, however, to keep her happy I will need to shorten the trip from the 26 miles of down to the Escalante and back. Is it possible to go down the canyon and then climb up through the Crack in the Wall and then either hitchhike or walk the road back to the trailhead? Is there another route in other than Hurricane wash or Red Well trailhead? I would like to cover the lower end of the canyon. How would it be to make a trip down the Crack in the Wall, up to Hamblin Arch and then backtrack back to the car?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Thanks

>> Corey

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Is it possible to go down the canyon and then climb up through the Crack in the Wall and then either hitchhike or walk the road back to the trailhead? Is there another route in other than Hurricane wash or Red Well trailhead?

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Possible, but it's much better to go in the opposite direction. Going down Crack in the Wall is much better than going up it.

There is a shortcut loop, but it is more difficult. Tom desribes the route well, but I would suggest taking two days (or more) for the route if you really want to enjoy it and do some side trips.

http://www.canyoneeringusa.com/utah/esca/coyote1.htm

The route isn't bad when dry, but it does have some exposure and is harder than say Redwell or Hurricane Gulch.

i agree that going down crack in the wall is better than the slog up to it. and i think i would do a loop and exit at either hurricane wash or do the "boy scout exit".

the boy scout exit is a steep and exposed slab climb just below hamblin arch (about 5.4) and then a x-country hike back to the car. a fall here would have serious consequences.

the hurricane wash is easy and you don't need to go far up the wash to find a exit to the east and then a x-c hike back to the car. it will be handy if you are good with a map for the x-c portions as there is not a distinct trail.

coyote gulch is a beautiful canyon. probably one of the most popular at that time of year. expect to see others maybe even lots of them. i'd do it as a 3 day trip. that way your wife isn't pushed to hard. the hiking in the canyon is easy. best thing is, you don't have to carry lots of water.

if you have topo! for utah i could send you some more detailed info.

Drive down Hole-in-the-rock rd. Continue pass the Hurricane Wash TH and turn left onto Fortymile Ridge Rd. Four miles later park at the metal water tank and hike northward towards Hamblin Arch. There is a trail most of the way. The cairns tend to disappear at times. The key is locating the "boy scout" descent into the gulch. You might get mislead into descending too soon. Once you've located the actual route the climb down is not bad as you drop from ledge to ledge. Seemed like Class 3&4 to me, but maybe if you were carrying a load, the route down would be tougher.

Once you get to the bottom you can explore the alcoves of Hamblin and then head down stream going under the Coyote Natural Bridge and then passing below Cliff Arch. If you were just doing a day hike, you might just turn around here and retrace your route back to the car.

Continuing on, however, will take you to the sand hill trail that leads to Crack in the Wall. You could camp in this area, explore along the trails in the area, as well as hike down to the Escalante.

The hike up to Crack in the Wall is through sand. Once you get through the Crack, footing improves as opportunities to walk on slickrock increase. Once you arrive at the sandy road, you'll have another 2.5 miles of travel to reach your vehicle at the water tank. If your vehicle is good in sand, you could let your mate rest while you go retrieve your vehicle. This loop hike is a grand tale except for the wearisome ending.

I made this trip with my wife and son in '07. My son was 10 then.

We elected to do it as out-and-back via Crack-in-the-Wall for similar reasons that you raised at the beginning of your question.

Yes, the climb up CitW is in sand. But, we started in early in the day and did not find it particularly bad. My 10-year-old had to carry a pack (not too heavy of course) up it. I think we started that morning about 2 miles up the Gulch and were back at the car noon-ish.

It was 3 nights: 1st at confluence area of the Gulch and Escalante, 2nd up canyon, 3rd as stated above. There's a great place to camp below the Coyote Natural Bridge in a wide area of grassy terraces on the north side of the gulch. There are faint trails through those terraces up to the canyon walls and several places with rock art and artifacts. Attached is a shot of that area.

On Day 3 we day hiked up past Hamblin (~1 mi) back to our camp, broke camp and moved back down canyon.

Have fun!

I did a trip as a big loop dayhike, which covered a lot of ground and would be a great overnighter, or even 2 nights at a really mellow, exploratory pace.

Followed the info in Steve Allen's Canyoneering 3 - hike number 20, long version. The route below, from Google Earth, clockwise, starting at the little gap just left of the point at the bottom:

http://kev.cirruswebsolutions.ca/uutah/coyote.jpg

Really nice descent into Hurricane Wash, excellent trip down Coyote Gulch. I forgot to have a look at the Boy Scout exit as I went past - wanted to see how sketchy it looked.

The hike up the sand dunes is a little bit of a slog, but I didn't find it too bad. The Crack in the Wall itself is really cool. Fun navigating back across the slickrock to the road, but the road is kind of boring back to the trailhead. Makes for a really nice loop, though.

I did this whole trip in about 11 hours, October 2007. Totally recommend it!

More pics here: http://picasaweb.google.ca/cirrus2000/CoyoteGulch