[Yana]

Previously, on "As the Spring Break Turns": our intrepid (stupid? ) adventurers were running (okay, driving) for their lives from a brutal spring storm in the desert of southern Utah. Hole in the Rock road, for much of its length, is paralleled on one side by the Straight Cliffs (which seems like a weird name, but it makes sense once you see them). The prominent winds seem to be coming from over there, so we decided to head toward them on a spur road in the hopes of finding some shelter. We headed toward a place labeled on my Trails Illustrated map as Batty Pass Caves, but as soon as I saw the name, I transliterated it into Fatty Ass Caves for the duration of our stay. Anyway, caves sound sheltered, don't they? We didn't find the caves, but the wind did seem to be less hurricane-like. Tazz was sleeping in her vehicle, and Liz and I found a nearby windbreak to put the tent behind. Pretty much as soon as we finished setting up the tent, it began snowing rather heavily. Didn't we come here to get away from the snow? It was 50 degrees when it started snowing, so I didn't think it would stick. However, when I got up early the next morning, I found this:

The morning after the snowstorm

We didn't need to leave super early on our overnight trip, so I decided to walk around a bit and get some sunrise photos.

Sunrise

Straight Cliffs at sunrise

Good morning, sunshine!

Snow decorated cactus

I sauntered back to camp where we dried out the tent and packed for our trip down Coyote Gulch. Coyote Gulch is the same Coyote Gulch where the slot canyons we had visited the day before were, just downstream and much less dry. We had a fairly short drive to the trailhead and set off down the trail at about 11:30. The first part of the trail follows an old road, then quickly descends into a dry wash.

Descending from Red Well

From here on out, there isn't really a trail, you just follow the dry wash.

Strange Desert Scrawl

Within a mile, the wash gets a little more damp, and soon a stream begins to flow. Here is where the fun of crossing the stream begins. It is an endless game as the canyon walls often make one side, then the other, impassable. There is quite a bit of vegetation in the canyon, though most of it in the upper parts was still leafless. At one point along this section, I rescued a pair of lost Thorlo socks from a tree. After an hour and a half of gawking and walking, we reached a narrow part of the canyon where a nice flat rock beckoned us for a break. I pulled out the route description and was dismayed to learn that we'd only gone two miles! It was tough going, walking on sand and gravel and hopping across the creek. The rabid picture taking didn't help, either. While Liz and Tazz lazed in the sun, I explored the route downstream.

Liz takes a break

I decided to try to get to the little waterfall in this narrow slot, but quickly discovered that walking in the soft mud/sand caused me to sink rather alarmingly. When I tried to pull my limbs out, the mud just sucked them back down. I managed to disengage myself and rejoin the others. We walked on. The canyon changes character from here on out - the walls get closer in and increase in height. The stream has carved out many an amphitheater out of the soft sandstone.

Anne admires the Mothership

After what seemed like an endless death march downstream, we reached the fence that's supposed to keep mainly cattle from going downstream. However, the fence wasn't doing so well and cow tracks showed that something had just wandered on through the low barbed wire. Additionally, there was a scary creature lurking on the other side.

Disregarding the sign

The canyon just kept getting better and better, the walls rising, closing in, the stream more and more serpentine with endless twists and turns. I drew a route on gmaps pedometer that kind of gives an idea of the twisty nature of the canyon: http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=2699959 (the photo resolution here is actually pretty good, so you can zoom in and see some pretty cool details) Another two long miles of twisting canyon finally brought us to the junction with Hurricane Wash, which is the far more popular route to the lower wonders of Coyote Gulch. This is obvious because the paths are much more beaten from here on down canyon. At this point, we had only two miles to our intended camp area at Jacob Hamblin/Lobo Arch. Despite being in the canyon for hours, I still couldn't get over the scenery. More than once I nearly fell over backward trying to take in the towering Redwall. It's really hard to photograph these things adequately, but oh I tried!

Redwall and green plants

Coyote Gulch Reflection

Liz on one of the MANY creek crossings in Coyote Gulch

Every turn in the canyon (and there were many) brought something new and interesting. Just past a huge overhang with amazing acoustics, we finally spied (er, got visually clobbered with) the arch.

Jacob Hamblin/Lobo Arch

That thing is huge! I took a photo, of course. Then I tried to take another only to hear the dreaded beeping - my memory card was already full. Luckily, Tazz came much better prepared than me and I was soon clicking away again. Many people camp near the arch, and we went a little downstream to find the perfect spot. It was not expansive like some of the other sites, but it was under a protected overhang, had a wonderful view of the arch, and was right across a wall seep. This was good as it meant we didn't have to filter the yucky creek water. Tazz declared that she wanted to look at stars through an arch. Luckily, it wasn't a tall order! The next morning, we packed our daypacks and set off downcanyon. We hoped to make it all the way to the Escalante River five miles downstream. Again, the scenery just kept getting better and better. We ambled along slowly, taking in the views. Along the way, we saw a gigantic overhang that was so flat and of such size that you could have a nice game of soccer under there. The stream, which is about 200 feet away, sounded like it was rushing down the canyon wall. Not much past this, you come to an amazing natural bridge. Natural bridges are different than arches because they are formed by streams, so you get to walk through them.

Natural Bridge in Coyote Gulch

The canyon widens a bit here, though the walls are no less sheer. There are some petroglyphs on a canyon wall here. I scrambled up to get a better look.

Petroglyphs

While I was up there, I saw and heard two backpackers walking on the trail upstream just a few hundred feet from where Liz and Tazz were lounging. When I got down, they claimed to have neither seen nor heard these backpackers. Great, now I was hallucinating! To add insult to injury, apparently you could photograph the petroglyphs just as well from 200 feet below as evidence by Tazz's photos of them. Mildly disturbed by these events, we nonetheless pushed on. Not far after the petroglyphs, the trail climbs out of the streambed to go around some difficulties. Though the canyon bottom is certainly spectacular, it's nice to get a view from a higher perch. Shy Cliff Arch is visible from here, as well as the first of several small waterfalls along Coyote Gulch.

Cliff Arch

Coyote Gulch and greenery

Coyote Gulch

Anne and Cliff Arch

We scrambled back down to the creek and continued on our way. Soon, we reached more waterfalls. The first of these is fairly easy to bypass and we stopped here for lunch and to wait for a large group of what appeared to be boy scouts to clear a tough spot a bit downcanyon.

Waterfall

Tazz and I scouted out the route around this tough spot (another waterfall). The waterfall itself is no more than ten feet high, but the nature of the canyon is such that getting down even this small distance is somewhat of a trial.

Anne looks for a way around the waterfall

We had two options - a scary slab (which Liz tried to scoot down unsuccessfully) or a mucky shelf downclimb. We eventually decided on the latter. I tied a line to a nearby tree to aid our descent, leaving it in place for the climb back up. The first part of the downclimb involved sitting on the muck, which resulted in some muddy butts.

Clay butts admire the waterfall we had to climb around

The nature of the canyon changes after this point as the shelf-forming rock forces you to stay in the streambed. The walls close in, but the views are still spectacular.

One of many overhangs in the canyon

Colors

Lower Coyote Gulch

There is also a surprising amount of greenery adorning the rock walls.

Waterfall in lower Coyote Gulch

Greenery

About half a mile upstream from the Escalante River, we arrived at an impassable dropoff. The route here traverses some sloping ledges high above the creek and we decided to call it quits. This was our turn around point.

Our turnaround point in Coyote Gulch

Anne in lower Coyote Gulch

Somehow, it had taken us almost six hours to go these 4.5 miles! Once again, we somehow got sucked into slow going. We didn't want to be walking back to camp in the dark, so after a break, we headed back upstream. When we got to the mucky ledges, we noted that someone had removed our handline. We had only passed two parties on this stretch - one heading upstream (who knew we were dayhiking and coming back that way) and one heading downstream (who should have given back the damn thing if they'd taken it). GRRRRR. Luckily, it wasn't necessary for the climb out, though it would have been nice to have. The hike back to camp was quicker, but still not a pace I would consider very fast, despite the fact that we didn't linger as much. The canyons - they do things to you. Well, that's my excuse anyway. I haven't felt this tired from a dayhike in a long time - and we only went 9 miles! However, the day's excitement wasn't over yet. When we got back to camp, we discovered that something had gotten into our food.

Tracks of evil Reece's Peanut Butter Cup eating rodent

I had stashed it in one of our packs, in a bag wrapped in an extra heavy duty plastic bag. Luckily, the evil creature had not gnawed through the pack itself, only through the plastic and the food bag. We actually didn't lose too much food, though I was incensed that it had eaten my Reece's Peanut Butter cups. I hadn't wanted to hang the food for the day as there were crows around. But now I no longer wanted to keep it in the pack overnight, either. No problem, I'll hang it for the night, right? Right! Where's my rope... oh... that's right, some jerk took that, too! I had to borrow Tazz's short handline to hang the food. After all that excitement, we set out to enjoying a lovely, quiet evening in camp... or so we thought. About an hour before sunset, we hear loud talking from above. Then we hear yells of "ROCK" and a splash in the stream. WTF?!!?!??! A quick trip downstream to the fancy new composting toilet revealed the situation: a very large group (very much over the 12 person party limit) composed mainly of teenagers was being belayed down the slabby face above our campsite, one by one. I'm not sure why as there are many much easier ways into the canyon. Some of them were also having their packs lowered (the one I witnessed kept having things like water bottles and what looked like a stove fall off and tumble on down). Oh, did I mention it was getting dark? It really looked like an accident waiting to happen. Liz and I went to sleep before the whole thing was entirely over, but Tazz apparently got some strange shadow theater on the canyon wall for much of the evening. She reported the next morning that everyone had gotten down safely around 11 pm. I woke up the next morning and was still in awe of the stupendous arch that dominates the view. I don't think I could ever get tired of waking up to that. Alas, it was time to leave. We packed up and started out at 9 am under strangely cloudy skies (the forecast called for sun) and a rather strong breeze. It even snowed for a little while. However, the lighting was better on the way out and so I was forced to take more photos.

Conga Line on the way out of Coyote Gulch

Coyote Gulch

Ancient Anasazi Dwellings

Beehive

The headwind whipped us about and made dallying an unpleasant proposition, so we put our heads down and marched (well, as much as we could without stopping to admire the stupendous views). We stopped briefly and had an entertaining conversation with a couple of backpackers (one of who turned out to be from Seattle of course) who were having an exciting and long trip themselves. Though we were somewhat tired, the hike back took less time as we were better at picking the optimal routes by this time. Still, the last two miles seemed WAAAY too long, especially the part in the dry wash, which seemed to go on forever.

The dry portion before Coyote Gulch

We emerged from the canyon for the last up bit to the trailhead. For a trail that has very little elevation gain (maybe a little over a 1000' for the entire 27 miles), it was remarkably strenuous! What to say about this hike? It is the most popular backpacking trip in this area of the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and I can certainly see why: it is easy to access, mostly easy terrain, and the views are absolutely phenomenal. I don't usually like trips where you meet lots of people, but this one was definitely worth it. Things I learned: 1. Just because there is no elevation gain does not mean it won't kick your ass. 2. Walking in sand sucks your soul away. 3. Canyons are absolutely awesome. 4. If you don't meet someone from Washington at least once every day, something is wrong. 5. I can make people do strenuous, unpleasant walking, and they love it and thank me for suggesting the trip!

[silly_traveler]

Dear Yana, I really like this TR Cool place and you got some nice photos Love the green stuff in the canyons that and the red rocks and blue sky....

[Matt]

Great reports. Keep them coming.

[Tazz]

Warning! I took over 300 images on this 3 day trip and I have many to share . I apologize again for too many pics but for me a pic is worth a thousand words and I love to share the sw utah experience! Enjoy... Another great report yana! What a great writeup, idea, and trip! Thanks! Great images! I love the reflection shot!

[Randy]

Very cool and motivating. I'll be down there in May in the heat.

[ree]

Beautiful pictures, ladies. What a fun trip! So you didn't make it all the way to Hole In The Rock? The road's supposed to be so nasty down there.

[Tazz]

a few from day 2 the rest are coming...

Yana at yet another crossing.

the gals

descent down the friction slab to the stream

building carns for return trip.

cliff arch

[Yana]

Hey, Tazz, I hate to be a nitpicker, but I think crossing #378 was actually crossing #341. Great photos! The colors are so vivid in your pictures. ree - no, did not make it to Hole in the Rock. The info we had suggested that most of the road up to seven miles from the end is pretty reasonable. I guess we could have tried it with the Subaru but none of us really had the desire to drive all the way out there.

[Tazz]

sheesh you are such a nitpicker! referring to my mental notes it also may be crossing 268! they all started to look the same after a while. hey randy you have to go in April to experience the snow! Don't ya wanna see some snow! we did! it followed us down there! where down there are ya headed in May? hmmm if ya need any tips give me a shout.

[Karen²]

Great stuff, I am enjoying this travelogue immensely. The photos are awesome!

[Matt]

I really like the contrast of the bits of greenery amid the big rock walls in your photos. Fascinating also to see the small stream in the midst of the huge course it has carved. Are you trying to imply that the sand made for difficult walking?

[Go Jo]

It's like you dropped onto another planet with these photos, it's difficult to imagine while looking out the window here. Great write-up, fantastic visuals, thanks for sharing. ~Jo

[Hikingqueen]

What a magical place, I must go to Utah and explore. Maybe next month. Lovely photos, landscape is ever changing.

[Bedivere]

After talking with Tazz Tuesday I'm going through and finding all these TRs. I've been wanting to head to Utah for awhile, what amazing country. Drawings & petroglyphs like this always make me wonder:

Who put that there? How long ago? What was the purpose? What story were they trying to convey, and to whom? Did they have any idea that hundreds of years in the future some traveler would see it?

[Yana's Dad]

Why go to canyons? Here is what Kathy and Craig Copeland say about this in their book "Utah Canyon Country", Wilderness Press, 2008, p. 360. "The difference between ascending a mountain and probing a canyon is the difference between the ego and the id." "Attaining a summit is celebratory. 'Wahoo', you say, 'We made it!' Standing in the recesses of a canyon is meditative. 'Whoa' you whisper, 'This is cool.'" "The experience mirrors the topography, of course. Mountains are the earth's extroverts. Canyons are their opposite, the introverts." "... you realize that this great abyss isn't shaking its clenched fist in the air, defying the heavens, daring you to challenge it. Here, the earth is open, silent, submissive, patiently awaiting your entry." "Mountains talk, canyons listen." My daughter Yana did Coyote Gulch via Red Well in the very end of March 2009; here is her TR: https://www.nwhikers.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=486342&highlight=#486342. I listened to Yana's advice to also walk down Coyote Gulch in Utah. Before that, my plan was to use my spring break for a trip down the remote Salt Creek in Canyonlands NP. To Yana, that did not seem a reasonable plan because I was to go with a 9 years old Alex Norris for whom this would be a first backpacking trip ever. Besides, spring snow covered the upper part of the Salt Creek route, including the 7000 ft high 4WD road to the trailhead. The outfitter I had contracted earlier called to tell me they could not deliver us to the trailhead. This is how we ended up going to Coyote Gulch in Escalante instead to Salt Creek in Canyonlands (both are in Southern Utah). Beside me, our group included my wife Roumi, our daughter Boyana, and her son Alex (none of them are nwhikers.net members). We did this trip in three days only one week after Yana, Liz Thomas, and 'Tazz' Anne Arnoldy. Our trip differed in two ways from the trip of Yana and Co. First, we had really good weather during most of the trip, except for our day out when we were subject to the infamous sandy wind, already described by Yana. We had cloudless skies and nearly full moon. Second, we went down and up along Hurricane wash - as very reasonably suggested by Yana - instead of Red Well. It takes 5 miles walking down Hurricane Wash to reach Coyote Gulch. Initially the wash is uninteresting but later it becomes quite scenic. There are a couple of narrow sections in the lower part of Hurricane that can be dangerous when it rains. Here are some pictures from our walk down Hurricane Wash.

After the confluence of Hurricane and Coyote, we walked three more miles to Jacob Hamblin arch. This is an amazing place, the arch itself not being the only interesting canyon feature. The arch is in the neck of a small peninsula which causes the creek to meander in about 180 degrees. Opposite to the peninsula, the creek has formed a giant overhang - giant in any respect. That overhang compares to nothing - one should see it to appreciate. Here are pictures from our walk along Coyote Gulch and from the Jacob Hamblin arch area.

Immediately after the Jacob Hamblin arch, we passed by the campsite used a week ago by Yana, Liz, and Tazz, and continued downstream for about a mile to reach a very pleasant campsite as recommended by Yana and her companions. This was certainly a most pleasant place to camp. Here are some pictures from our Camp 1.

On the second day, we day hiked down the gulch by passing the Coyote Natural Bridge, then Cliff Arch and three nice waterfalls. We turned back at the third waterfall where Yana's party used their buts and a rope to descend in the creek, and where they had their rope stolen. We decided to spare our rope (and buts, too) and turned back at that same spot. Here are some pictures from our walk down Coyote Gulch, the Coyote Natural Bridge, Cliff Arch and the waterfalls.

We went back to our camp, packed, and waked upstream to the confluence of Coyote and Hurricane. This was another great place to camp. Here are some pictures from our Camp 2.

Next morning, it did not take us too long to hike the 5 miles up Hurricane, despite of the strong headwind. Here are some pictures from our walk up Hurricane Wash.

Apart from tramping in Hurricane and Coyote, we visited - as Yana's party did - some pleasant slots in the Coyote Dry Fork (along the Hole in the Rock road) and the Devil's Garden. We had moderate ambitions and did not really explore Peek-a-boo, but enjoyed Spooky and North Fork. Here are some pictures from the slots.

We also went to see some petrified trees in the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. See pictures below.

Thank you, Yana, for suggesting this itinerary. It made for a very pleasant trip.