Ah, it’s good to see the trip reports rolling into the eGroup. It’s a good sign that the canyoneering season is beginning in earnest. This last weekend I hiked down Coyote Gulch and also visited Peek-a-boo, Spooky and Brimstone Gulches. Here’s the report:
The weather looked less than perfect for the weekend, but then it *is* early Spring. We left Orem (Utah) at 7pm on Thursday and arrived at the metal tank (located nearly mid-way down Forty Mile Ridge road) just after midnight. We cooked up some dinner, layed out the pads and sleeping bags in the back of the truck and got to sleep. It was pretty cold (probably 20 degrees) but I was in two bags and toasty warm.
Friday morning we got up with the sun and cooked up some french toast, got geared up and plotted our route. We were going to drop off the other vehicle at the head of Huricane Wash and hike down to the exit just below Jacob Hamblin (Lobo) Arch. But after consulting Steve Allen’s book we decided to try his loop route from the metal tank trail head because the overland trek across the flats from the metal tank looked to be about the same distance as the unremarkable hike down from the head of Huricane Wash. I had loaded up my eTrex GPS with waypoints, but we didn’t need it much since navigation is easy: head straight toward Chimney Rock off in the distance (north west). The hike went pretty much as Mr. Allen described – flat at first, then slowly a drainage forms. There were even a few sections of narrows. One Mae West’ed on us and we had to stem off the deck a bit – but only for 70 feet or so. We needed to make good time so we avoided the next narrows section by rim-walking around it. After a 2.5 mile trek we made it to Huricane Wash.
After a short while of dry canyon walking we came to the spring (or more exactly, the beginning of the springs). From here on we sploshed across the stream many times. Fortunately the stream is quite shallow all the way down. Even though it was chilly (around 45 degrees) and the water was cold, our feet didn’t get cold. I wasn’t worried with my neoprene socks inside my 5-10 Canyoneers. But my partner only had tube socks and he was fine. With water came trees (mostly Cottonwoods) and bushes (mostly willows) and grass and other undergrowth. However, being March all was leafless and dead-looking. I’m certain that in the Spring when the plants leaf-out this place looks like a garden.
Soon we reached the confluence (intersection) of Huricane Wash and Coyote Gulch (or is it considered the Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch?) and all along the canyon has steadily been getting deeper. Now below the confluence the walls were getting big and the alcoves at the meandering turns were getting deeply undercut.
Next thing we know we’ve arrived at Jacob Hamblin (Lobo) Arch. What a spectacular sight! It’s enormous! Being at the foot of such a huge arch is awe-inspiring. We admired it for a while, snapped some pictures and then continued around the bend to view it from the down-canyon side as well. It looks like you could climb up and over the rubble pile under the arch, but it looked sketchy from our distance so we just went around. (Is this doable?)
The next order of business was to investigate the fin just down-canyon from the arch which is a way to exit or enter the Gulch to/from the rim. It has a few exposed spots and a slip would be bad (if not injurous or fatal), but it didn’t look that bad after we climbed up it a bit. We checked the time – 1pm. Hmmm. We looked at the map and looked at our average speed. Hmmm. Should we exit now or press on to complete the canyon today? We figured we would be able to reach “The Crack” (and possibly the trail head at the end of Forty Mile Ridge road) before dark so on we went.
It seems sacreligious to say that the rest of the canyon was more of the same, so I won’t. It was similar in depth (height of the canyon walls), but each bend had a different character and each canyon face was a fascinating “variation on a theme”. We wound down the canyon hiking along the bank and being forced into a water crossing at each bend. Then I spotted something through the leaf-bare Cottonwood’s that seemed odd. I couldn’t figure it out for a while, but some image processing part of my brain said, “something’s not right here”. After we got closer it became clear: I was seeing the next fin down-canyon through the hole in Coyote Natural Bridge behind the obscuring trees. What a beautiful sight this bridge is! The sculpted rock is art. The setting lovely (even with the “ugly” leafless trees, bushes and undergrowth). It is a peaceful place that instills reverence in the visitor. Another pair of hikers were here. We chatted for a bit and then hiked on. The view from the down-canyon side of Coyote Bridge looked different (being in the shade) but still impressed.
The canyon now changed character a bit. We came across short stretches of slickrock in the stream-bed instead of the perpetual sand and fine gravel. We had to down-climb or skirt around a few short water falls. (BTW, the falls were pleasant to the senses and each was unique.) I would have walked right past Cliff Arch (aka Jughandle Arch?) – good thing my buddy spotted it. The canyon was a delight all the way down, but our legs were getting tired. Eventually we came to a boulder jumble with the exit trail on the right. We wanted to see the confluence with the Escalante River so we scrambled over the boulders and slogged down-canyon a ways. The Escalante had more water than I thought it would have, but it’s still quite small by river standards. We couldn’t see Lake Powell from here, but it was probably just around a bend or two. Time was ticking on and we needed to head back.
We walked back up canyon to the sand slope. We trudged up the first small slope leading out of the stream-bed which granted us a view of this huge hill of sand piled up against the wall of the canyon mouth. We’d been walking in sand most of the day and by now we were tired of it. And now we had to ascend this sand “mountain”. I tried to walk in the holes made by other hikers and it helped a bit (slightly less slipage), but there was no way to make this long slog much easier. We set a steady pace and up we went. It seemed to take a long time. The only cosnolation was the view of Stevens Window (Natural Arch) off on the other side of the Escalante to the north. Eventually we reached “The Crack” – a flake from the canyon wall that created a narrow gap. We shimmied up The Crack and popped out on the slickrock of the rim.
The sun was getting close to setting so we set out along the cairned route. It was nice to walk on rock for a change. Each step resulted in a full step forward and the footing was sure – refreshing. Eventually the slickrock ran out and we were back to slogging through sand. The sight of vehicles on the knoll ahead was heartening, but the sandy slope up was a slap in the face. We reached the top and found the trail head at the end of Forty Mile Ridge road. A couple hiking right behind us got in their car to rest. I chatted with them briefly about the hike and mentioning that our camp was at the metal tank. I was hoping, maybe even fishing, for a ride – but no bite. So off we went – two more miles to camp. It was dark now and I donned my headlamp as we marched along the road that was mostly sand (of course). We ditched our packs to lighten our load knowing we could drive back and retrieve them. The few pounds less weight was refreshing. About 1/3 of the way out the couple drove by us in their Subaru. Not even an offer for a ride. I grumbled. But they did have the back piled full of gear. Still, when you’re tired it gets harder to be forgiving.
At 8:30pm we made camp. My friend took the Jeep back for the packs as I heated up some water for hot chocolate, ramen and instant pasta. I tried my MRE – Chicken in Salsa. Not bad tasting, but definitely not enough food for dinner. I’ll be taking two MRE entrees and one MRE side-dish for me for dinner in the future. We cleaned up and got in the bags. Asleep in minutes.
Saturday morning we slept in a bit. Around 9 we got up and ate breakfast. We wanted to see the route out to the fin below Jacob Hamblin Arch that provides exit/entrance to the Gulch. I consulted my GPS and off we went. The route out isn’t very well established or marked – or maybe we just got off the beaten path. There was a lot of slickrock, and of course, sand. We made the rim and discovered we were one bend too far down-canyon. It sure was a sight though! We hiked around the rim of the alcove below and hiked most of the way down the fin. I down-climbed the most difficult part and didn’t find it to be too bad. Risky? Yes. Difficult? Not really. We found a very small, flat arch that a rope could be threaded to. We’ll use this to tie off a rope if we bring non-climbers this way. We hiked back up and back to the metal tank. Except this time we went to the right (west) of the knoll that sits approximately 1/3 of the way out from the trail head. I think it was a better route – more slickrock, less sand, less wasted elevation gain. Back at the truck we ate lunch and discussed our next destination.
We drove up Hole in the Rock road heading for the Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch with the intention of bagging Peek-a-boo, Spooky and Brimstone. Our knees ached and our muscles were getting sore, but had to make the most of our time here. There were 5-6 vehicles in the trail head parking lot. We headed down into the canyon and arrived at Peek-a-boo in short order. We could hear some people in the canyon so we continued on down to Spooky. Again evidence that others were there so we pressed on to Brimstone. The few narrow section of Dry Fork on the way down to Brimstone provided a nice break from the wash-slogging. We made the turn up Brimstone and continued our march. It seemed to take too long, but we finally reached the point where Brimstone narrows. In we went. Soon it got very narrow. Then it got dim. Then it got downright dark. Cool! We reached water and stopped. We had our “dry hiking” shoes on now and we didn’t want to walk the rest of the day in wet shoes.
Reverse course back up to Spooky. No one here now. In we went. I really liked Spooky. It is so interesting and has such character. It starts out straight and really narrow (requiring sideways walking). Then it starts to twist. Then comes a chokestone to negotiate – then a chokestone jumble to wiggle through. All great fun. I was kind of disapointed when the narrows ended and we were dumped out into an arid, sandy wash. We hiked up the slope to the left (west) and then down the sandy slope and back to the mouth of Spooky where we retrieved our packs.
Last, but not least, Peek-a-boo. A short walk up from Spook and there we were. We scrambled up the short entrance “wall” and started up. When I went up Peek-a-boo last Fall it was compeltely dry so I was surprised to find water in a small pothole near the entrance. We still wanted to keep our feet dry, but it looked difficult to do here. We braistormed a bit, tested a few theories and then decided on our plan. I smeared on a nothing-of-a-scalop while my partner pushed me against the wall so I wouldn’t slip down and into the pool. I made two moves and I was over the lip of the pour-off completely dry. I braced against the fluted rock and gave a hand to my partner and up he came – dry as well. We were pleased with ourselves for overcoming this minor obstacle. The double arch was as lovely as every, in it’s own petite way. There were a few more pools, but they were easy to get past. The tight twists and sharp flutes in Peek-a-boo are a treat. We got through the best part and exited the canyon left at first opportunity. There are a few more narrows and fun spots up-canyon, but we were feeling weary and wanted to get heading for home. Another sandy slope led down to the mouth of Peek-a-boo where we again picked up our packs. A final half mile trudge up and we were out and back to the truck.
We loaded up and endured the washboards of Hole in the Rock road up to Egypt bench where the road got better. We stopped in Escalante for dinner. That chicken fajita was delicious. After a restful meal we hit the road again. We opted to take highway 20 over to I-15. Storms were threatening and sometimes going over this pass can be trecherous, but although we had some snow, the road was dry and we made it over to I-15 OK. Just south of Nephi, I-15 was a mess. The road was slushy then icy. We saw at least 15 tracks off into the snow where cars had gone off and there were tow trucks and Highway Patrol nearly every mile. After about 5 miles the ice ended and we were back to easy driving. We arrived back in Orem at 1:30am. I took a shower sank into bed.
What a great trip!
– Kris Nosack