Coyote Gulch — Labor Day 2009

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September 3


Our trip to Coyote Gulch began with an overnight stay at Escalante Petrified Wood State Park, just outside of Escalante, Utah. Our accomodations were very nice and included showers; very clean!


September 4


We left the campground and made our way down Hole-in-the-rock Road mid-morning Friday and arrived at the Hurricane Wash trailhead at about 11:00. The thermometer in the car said 80°.


I've always accessed Coyote Gulch via Hurricane Wash and I had taken some boy scouts into the gulch via this route on June 7 and the traveling was easy, with very mild temperatures all week.




We headed down the trail to the registration station and got signed in, then continued down into the wash. Travel wasn't too bad, everyone was getting settled in under their backpacks and we made a couple of quick stops to make minor adjustments to straps, etc. As we hiked further into the wash, the temperature began to climb dramatically. My estimate is that by the time we reached the narrows of Hurricane Wash around noon, the temp had soared to around 100°.

Due to the extreme heat (and some incidental chaffing) we didn't get to Hamblin Arch until 16:00. This is where we set up our base camp. We used a nice sandy area just above the stream on the downstream side of the arch, across from the spring. This is a nice area to camp because of the easy access to fresh water flowing from the springs. There is ample room for multiple tents here and we created a pretty nice setup, including a spot with a primitive shower.

These gals are my inspiration

                                            Sean climbing to Cliff Arch                                

September 5

On day 3 we hiked downstream to enjoy the many sites available to visitors. We played in the various pools along the way, than when we arrived at Coyote Natural Bridge we stopped for lunch. Some of our party (who will remain nameless) decided that they had had enough hiking for the day. A couple of us continued down the canyon to the confluence with the Escalante River. It was about 18:00 when we got back to camp and we began to cook dinner. After dinner it began to sprinkle and made haste in getting things put away—the smell of heavy rain was in the air! It soon became apparent that we should take cover in whatever shelter we could find. The women grabbed their essentials and ducked into the tent. The rest of us, who had been sleeping under the stars, realized that the huge alcove just upstream was going to be our best bet. We just barely got to the alcove when all heck broke loose and there was a cloudburst that would make Zeus proud. At around 20:00 the rain stopped and we went down to check on the women, all of whom were fine; we stayed down at the alcove in the event of more rain. By 21:00 it was becoming obvious that the stream was going to become flooded, this kept us awake for a few more hours to ensure that our sleeping bags were high enough above flood stage to stay dry. The flood was definately one of the highlights of our trip.

The stream was 50 ft wide at flood stage

This shows the aftermath of the flood

pretty much normal, except the stream

was on the other side of the bed