Coyote Gulch - Crack-in-the-Wall Route

[ibenick]

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[Cirrus2000]

I went through a couple of years ago, and it's not that bad, truly. I had a medium size pack on (I had planned on spending the night in Coyote, but ended up hiking through) and I think I may have had to take it off in a couple of the spots, pictured below. It was just a little awkward, mostly. The first photo, keep in mind that the floor is about a foot wide. And the far end looks narrow because of the perspective. It wasn't that skinny. If you had a big enough belly to cause concern going through there, then the sand slog up would probably be more of a problem than the crack itself.





Don went through there recently, and I know he enjoys a beer or six now and then. I don't think he had any problems.

[trackrunner]

when I went with a church youth group as a teenager we lowered the packs over the cliff with climbing webbing and hiked down the crack.

[ibenick]

Thanks! That top picture is excellent, the others I've seen show it at even more of a perspective which make it look worse. I never would have even thought of not getting through until I went down Zebra slot last month and had trouble in one spot but that's only a few inches wide at the bottom.

One more question. I saw the route you did that started from 40 mile water tank, down Hurricane and then out crack-in-the-wall and back along the 40 mile ridge road. Do you think there would be any downside to doing the same route but in the other direction (down crack in the wall then out Hurricane to 40 mile water tank?). I figure I could just tag the water tank as we drive past it so I have something on the GPS to follow once we're out of Hurricane wash then walk the rest of the way down the road to the car parked at the 40 mile ridge trailhead.

Thanks again.

[asdf]

I backpacked Coyote Gulch in March. http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthre...lch-March-2010
We started at Chimney Rock and hiked down to the escalante and back in a leisurely 3 days/2 nights. We did not have to deal with a shuttle or an exposed hike above the canyon and I liked seeing the upper end of the canyon twice and hiking in the shady cool creek sure beat the exposed rim.
awesome way to do it..... but others disagree.

[ststephen]

And I did it down and back out Crack-in-the-Wall! Takes all kinds, eh? We were most leisurely of all with 3 nights in there when my son was 10. Our first/last days were short though (I think we did Hole-in-the-Rock to the lake on one of those days).

[denaliguide]

how about drive down to the end of the road, drop the packs off then take the car back to the water tank, so it's there when you get out. i would rather walk the road with out a pack and like to have the car there when i get there. i prefer to go down the bg dunes aand up the canyons, so no problem doing the route in reverse.

[Don]

Sorry, I'll be putting up a TR soon, I promise.
We used parachute cord to pull the packs up onto a ledge and then we were able to hand them up at the next little climb (more like a step than a climb; easy). So we didn't take them through the skinny part. It could be done without pulling them up with rope/cord though because you can pretty easily get up on the rock (the the left of the crack in the photo above) and walk above the crack instead of in it. This is the route I took 'cause yeah, I drink beer and would not fit in the crack.

[Cirrus2000]

This is the route I took 'cause yeah, I drink beer and would not fit in the crack.

Was it really that skinny? Maybe it's just my memory that's failing me...

I honestly don't recall any difficulty with my pack going up there.

One more question. I saw the route you did that started from 40 mile water tank, down Hurricane and then out crack-in-the-wall and back along the 40 mile ridge road. Do you think there would be any downside to doing the same route but in the other direction (down crack in the wall then out Hurricane to 40 mile water tank?). I figure I could just tag the water tank as we drive past it so I have something on the GPS to follow once we're out of Hurricane wash then walk the rest of the way down the road to the car parked at the 40 mile ridge trailhead.

Thanks again.

I can't see any problem with doing it that way. The GPS spot might be a good idea, but not totally necessary. You could just start out on a heading of around 120 or so, and intersect the road. You'll want to make sure you get out of Hurricane Wash before you get too far along, though, because that will just make the hike back along the road all the longer. I dropped into Hurricane wash at about 37 24' 12"N 111 05' 13"W, where a smaller wash joins from the east. You can climb up and out anywhere around there (where you can friction up the slickrock.) It might even be easier coming up than going down.

I like Les' idea about dropping the packs at the end of the road, and the cars closer to your exit. The road is long and dreary at the end of the hike, with a heavy pack. Kind of a trudge. Much better to get it out of the way at the start, without a pack.

Beautiful area.

[asdf]

Still don't get the loop idea unless you are tyring to smash it in one day like Cirrus.
If you don't have a shuttle why not cut out the "long and dreary" and just do it as an out and back.. more time in the goods right? .... just sayin.

Has anyone hiked into the gulch from Chimney Rock to Hurricane? As we were hiking out we spoke to some rangers and they said this was the best route into the upper canyon. Considering one of them had a 30 gallon garbage can strapped to his back and said they hike in to restock the restrooms once/twice a week I am guessing he was right.

[ibenick]

Still don't get the loop idea unless you are tyring to smash it in one day like Cirrus.
If you don't have a shuttle why not cut out the "long and dreary" and just do it as an out and back.. more time in the goods right? .... just sayin.

There's just something about doing loops and lollipops. It's nice nice to have every mile be unique... no backtracking makes everything a surprise.

[asdf]

There's just something about doing loops and lollipops. It's nice nice to have every mile be unique... no backtracking makes everything a surprise.

Typically I feel the same way for sure and I have never done the loop.
I guess I would just rather sacrifice the uniqueness of the sandy, shadeless, slog cross the plateau for a second dose of canyon walls and a cool meandering creek.

[Cirrus2000]

Typically I fell the same way for sure and I have never done the loop.
I guess I would just rather sacrifice the uniqueness of the sandy, shadeless, slog cross the plateau for a second dose of canyon walls and a cool meandering creek.

Well, this is true, but for most of the upper walk, I still really enjoyed it. It was just the sandy road itself that was a slog (about 2.5 miles). I enjoyed the walk from the water tank to where I dropped into Hurricane. Quite nice - a little arch, some pleasant slickrock. And from the top of the Crack to the end of the road, very pleasant as well. Some neat potholes, and interesting up and downs & route finding along the slickrock. I guess I enjoy the desert hike part as well as the canyon hike.

Both modes have great merit.

And I didn't smash it - I planned to stop for the night, but it was just going so smoothly, and I was totally in the zone...

[Bugs]

Nick, be sure to check out Don's trip report, there are a few others on here recently as well:

http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthre...ril-24-26-2010

http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthre...Gulch-footwear

http://www.bogley.com/forum/showthre...lch-March-2010

Those are fairly recent so you may have read them already.

[Wasatch]

when I went with a church youth group as a teenager we lowered the packs over the cliff with climbing webbing and hiked down the crack.

That's what we did in 2002.

[ibenick]

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[Cirrus2000]

Damn, I feel I misled you. Sorry, dude - I really didn't think it got that skinny... Glad you got through it (over it?) OK, though!

Full trip report to come?

[Don]

Right there with you. No way I was going to fit. I keep thinking I need to go back with my son, soon.

[ibenick]

Damn, I feel I misled you. Sorry, dude - I really didn't think it got that skinny... Glad you got through it (over it?) OK, though!

Full trip report to come?

No worries. If Don hadn't said that climbing over it was an option I would have started my loop on that end so that if I hadn't fit it wouldn't have been a 17 mile backtrack on the last day of a 4 day trip. That would have been rough. Trip report is on the way.

Right there with you. No way I was going to fit. I keep thinking I need to go back with my son, soon.

I know what you mean Don. I was pretty blown away with how amazing that whole canyon turned out to be, I want to share it with everyone I know. I've avoided going there for years due to the crowds and not being able to bring my dog (although I saw more asshats that ignored that rule on my trip). For anyone still waiting to do Coyote I say do it and do it now. I did it in nearly perfect weather over a weekend in May, I can't imagine it getting much busier than that and we still had a surprising amount of solitude, especially in the evenings. It seems inevitable that it could someday become a permitted, limited entry canyon similar to Coyote Buttes. Get it while the gettin's good!