Coyote Gulch April 24-26 2010

[Don]

When: 04/24/2010 - 04/26/2010
Where: Coyote Gulch, Glen Canyon NRA
Nearby City: Escalante
Weather Conditions: Partly sunny all days, high 60's lows in the 30's but high 30's, felt quite nice, even at night.
Time: Apparently it can be done in 11 hours if you smash it, but 2 days for an average weekend hiker or 3 days to allow time for exploring or lounging.
Source of Beta: Probably first read about it in a Kelsey book, it's been on my to-do list for years (I recently saw it on a list of goals in a notebook I kept in Iraq back in '03).

We left the Wasatch front on the evening of Friday (the 23rd) but only made it as far as Mystic Mikes hot spring in Monroe (couple minutes south of Richfield). We had a good soak and nice conversation in the hot spring late into the night. It's $10 to soak or $20 to soak and camp. Tent camping is on an open grassy field and there are no designated sites. It's not really a destination but makes a damned fine stop-over. There is a heated shower room where you have space and privacy to change clothes. Due to the conservative nature of the tiny town of Monroe Mike (a die hard hippy) enforces a swimsuit-required and a no alcohol/no drugs policy at the hot spring.
We were up a few minutes before 6:am on the 24th and unlike the night before we had the hot spring to ourselves at that early hour. After a soak and breakfast at the Little Wonder Cafe in Richfield we got back on the road.
A quick stop at the Kiva Coffee house between Boulder and Escalante scored me a latte and the best blackberry muffin I've ever had. More blackberry than muffin; it was kind of messy to eat. :)
We hit the trail much later than our pre-6:am start time should have allowed. I don't remember the exact time but it was after 1 in the afternoon. We did stop a couple times on the drive to admire and photograph the scenery.
From the water tank trailhead we followed Kevin's plan and cut west, north-west to a spot that looked easy enough to enter from map & satellite images (marked 'Entrance' on the Google map below) There was one step where we ended up handing packs down to each other but it was a pretty easy route down. A GPS for this approach is quite useful because hiking across the rolling slickrock on 40 mile bench could throw you off an azimuth pretty quick. It took a little route finding to get down into the canyon but was easy enough. From there, it's pretty easy to just follow the water course all the way to the Escalante river.
We got about a mile, maybe a bit more than a mile past the Jacob Hamblin arch that first day. We met a nice Canadian couple camped half a mile upriver from Jacob Hamblin, a guided youth group camped at Jacob Hamblin. I didn't get a count of the youths but we had a nice conversation with one of their guides, Ariana, from Utah Valley. I told her about Bogley and to come check us out! (In case you're lurking; you should join up Ariana!) There were three guys camped just below JH arch but we didn't really talk to them. I think they may have caught our judgmental vibe (they had a dog in the canyon and the trail heads are clearly marks NO DOGS). Asshats.
We didn't bring tents; no rain in the forecast so ground tarps and sleeping bags were plenty. Kept us lighter in the pack and easier on the back. We didn't see any snakes or scorpions but you may want to keep these in mind if you're considering not bringing a tent.
I did bring 3 beers, Murphy's (1 for each of two planned dinners and 1 extra). They stayed pretty cool in my pack and I did soak one in the river while eat my lunch near the pictographs on the second day. What a tasty treat. And yes, I did crush and carry out my empties.
There is a nice toilet near (just downriver) Jacob Hamblin arch. They are composting there. Lots of poo in the hole but almost no smell. No orgy of flies either. Nice. But I had to go on the second day too and since there really isn't a place to go 300 feet from the river in most of the canyon they require you to carry out your business; paper, poo and all. We brought Rest Stop II poo bags bought from Rich at Canyons and Crags Online. Good price at $1.50 each, quick shipping and an effective bag. It's a plastic poo bag with chemicals to break down the poo, inside a mylar bag that's supposed to protect you from the smell. I did put the whole thing inside another bag and seal it too. I'd really hate to have a bag of warm soft poo get loose inside my pack.
On the second day we explored the native site and up the little side canyon just down river from the native site where I had heard the water can be deep enough to swim. It probably was but it was nasty brackish standing water so we didn't.
I really loved coming around the bend in the river and stumbling across Coyote Arch. I knew it was coming sometime but it was still a cool surprise when we came to it.
We met some inflatable kayakers at the Escalante river. They were on an 11 day trip and were camped that night at the confluence of Coyote and Escalante. We explored up the Escalante, around the bend behind Stephen's Arch but not up Stephen's Canyons as we had intended. Instead we made our way back to the confluence and up the sand bar exit to the crack. We decided it would be more enjoyable to do the exit in the evening shade than in the morning sun so we were racing the sun to get to the crack before dark.
The crack looks intimidating from the approach but is easier than it looks. No big deal.
We then did the long slog back to the car (I still hate that sandy road) in the moonlight. I'm quite glad we came out when we did 'cause that exit would have sucked in sunlight. A GPS might help you go cross country back to the car here but it's just as simple to follow the cairns to the road and the road to the car.
We slept next to the car Sunday night, Monday morning we were back on the road, well after another stop at the Kiva.
Couple stops on the drive home ('Did I just see a giant sign advertising homemade pie?!?' 'Find a place to turn around!!!') and we made it back to the Wasatch front by Monday evening.
Good times. This one goes on the list of places I need to take my son!

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[Don]

My photo's are here:

And Bugby's are here:
http://picasaweb.google.com/don.ferg...ulchFromBugby#

[Cirrus2000]

Sweet! Great write-up, Don! Beautiful place. Cool that you want to take your boy through there. An excellent idea.


The spot I dropped into Hurricane Wash was further upstream (southwest):

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You end up walking farther this way, both along the slickrock, and through the wash, but it's an easy heading to follow - just aim toward the easily spotted "Chimney Rock", and keep waking toward it. No GPS needed. I got that suggestion from Tom - it's still on his map, here, but not in the trip description - he now only lists the short, one day, Crack to JH Arch trip on the site (here)

[ststephen]

Nice report and pics. That's one contented looking fella holding that Murphy's

[Bugs]

Ah... "Chimney Rock" that's not what we were calling it, it makes a great land mark!

Thanks for posting this up Don, I had a great time and again appreciate you and Cody patiently showing me around as I'm such an infrequent outdoorsman. Every so often I get to enjoy the desert and coming back to the city just kills me, even though these desert outings are intimidating for the diabetic in me. I'm saving my lunch money for some new boots now, I really hate feeling like the "weakest link". Maybe I'll find some overtime at work and can buy them sooner than later. Perhaps I can adjust my vacation schedule for the year and make it to family fest, even though all the group camping is booked...

What a cool trip, all those arches and the general scenery was great. Meeting nice people along the way was good for me as I tend to loose faith in people sometimes, so glad Don is such an outgoing guy!

Surprisingly enough I found all the horse poo more offensive than the dog(s) along the way.

[asdf]

nice TR - looks like fun!
How cold was the water in the gulch?

[Don]

Not cold. I can't give a temperature but it was quite nice. I carried neo-socks and never considered using them. Cody spent most of the weekend hiking in sandals.

[Sombeech]

Excellent report Don

[bigred72]

That is awesome. Thanks for the trip report. I am going next week to Calf Creek and hiking the Boulder Mail Trail to Death Hollow. Excited!!!

[accadacca]

Awesomeness.

[ibenick]

Great trip report! Was there much in the way of bug activity down there? I never know what to expect in the Escalante side canyons, some of them there's nothing and some you're getting eaten alive.

[Don]

No bug problems. A few gnats around but nothing bit me and I slept soundly without a tent.

[lofty]

Great TR !

Hope to do this hike this spring :)

[tgeorge1792]

Hi all,
I'm heading on Tuesday to do Coyote Gulch in Escalante with two friends. Will be backpacking for 3 days/2nights. We only have one car, so we are planning to go out and back the same route. My question is, what is the best entry? Red Well, or Hurricane Wash? I've heard Red Well is more scenic. But not sure. We are worried that Crack in the Wall may be too difficult to find/deal with, etc...Thoughts?
Also, do I need 'river shoes' for the hike or can I just use a pair of old sneakers and call it a day?
Thanks for the help,
Tony George

[Don]

Hi all,
I'm heading on Tuesday to do Coyote Gulch in Escalante with two friends. Will be backpacking for 3 days/2nights. We only have one car, so we are planning to go out and back the same route. My question is, what is the best entry? Red Well, or Hurricane Wash? I've heard Red Well is more scenic. But not sure. We are worried that Crack in the Wall may be too difficult to find/deal with, etc...Thoughts?
Also, do I need 'river shoes' for the hike or can I just use a pair of old sneakers and call it a day?
Thanks for the help,
Tony George

My response here. Trying to keep this conversation in one place.