Coyote Gulch

gloo

gloo

{insert witty remark here}
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Jan 22, 2012
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Looking to put together a quick trip - hopefully backpacking - during spring break in early March. This place has been on my list for a while and wondering if its a good option. most of the TR's I've seen are in later April and May. Any opinions on how the weather would be for backpacking it in early March? And if it is - suggestions on which trail head to start at / route to take? Ideally I'd like to do just a 2 nighter in there due to time.
 
Weatherwise, it could go either way. I've been out there in mid-March and the weather was great. But it could still be very cold at night. There are four ways that I know of to get into the gulch. There's the Redwell trailhead, which is off holeintherock road to the east about 5 miles before fortymile ridge road. Then a couple of miles farther on, there's hurricane wash. Either of these would present a drier path than crack-in-the-wall, the trailhead for which is at the end of fortymile ridge road. (Last few miles are sandy and might require 4WD.) Going in this way, you will be going up-canyon and there are several waterfalls to traverse. You will probably get wet. There's also a climb-out (or climb-in) that you get to by heading generally north from the watertank on fortymile ridge road. Last time I was there it was cairned. But I haven't been all the way to the bottom, which comes out just south of Jacob Hamblin arch. It's fairly steep at the end and could be slippery. Depending on your climbing skills, you might not want to try it. I would try it as a climb-out first to see what it's like. Hope this helps.


Coyote Creek Waterfall by snowpeak, on Flickr

Here's a view from near the top of the climb-out.


From the Top by snowpeak, on Flickr
 
I've done Coyote Gulch twice now...

March 17-19 2010
We started from Chimney Rock and we dropped into the east (map). We day hiked up spooky hollow then camped in the humongous alcove at Jacob Hamblin Arch. On the second day we hiked down canyon and set up camp between the lower series of waterfalls then day hike down to the Escalante. Third day we packed all the way out to chimney rock. We hand planned on camping but the wind was making things pretty damn cold. The nights were chilly but the water was really cold. I packed some Keens but the water was so cold I spent 90% of the trip avoiding the few deeps spots and did my best to keep my boots dry. I would do an early/mid march trip again but not without some neoprene socks. The worst part was there that was no greens in the canyon.


Coyote Gulch 3.18.2010 by Summit42, on Flickr

April 10-12 2011
This time I took my wife and two boys who were 4 and 7 at the time so we wanted the shortest route possible. We parked at the same spot just beyond Chimney rock (37.416493,-111.098778) then hiked directly to Hurricane Wash and entered here 37.413805,-111.080538. No real trail but in/out was so short and easy my 4yo had no issues. We mostly let the kids play in the water and sand this trip but we saw a fair amount of the canyon and hand a great time. I was trying to pack light and my wife and I took our 40° bags and non-insulated pads... huge mistake. I froze my ass off every night that trip. The kids had 30° bags with light foam pads and they slept fine. The water was much warmer but a little cold in the mornings. We hiked in water shoes the entire time and the canyon had plenty of greenery.


Coyote Gulch camp trails by Summit42, on Flickr

Here are the Trip Reports
2010 http://summit42.com/wp/coyote-gulch-2010/
2011 http://summit42.com/wp/coyote-gulch-4-2011/
 
Place looks just epic to me, but I think I'd rather save it for warmer weather so I can play in the water and/or at least not have to try to dodge it at every chance.​
 
Good call man. I did Coyote in May and it was awesome. Early spring can be kind of depressing in the canyons with all the grass still dead and the water so cold. And let's not forget about the bends that don't see the sun all winter. Even when it's 70 degrees out they might still be holding surprises. I'd stick to the dryer canyons.

March 17, 2007 on the Escalante (otherwise really nice out)



Full trip report from that icy adventure.
 
ibenick said:
Good call man. I did Coyote in May and it was awesome. Early spring can be kind of depressing in the canyons with all the grass still dead and the water so cold.
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Were still talking about Coyote Gulch right.. Isn't that awesome no matter what time of year you do it?
All I'm saying is that if you just have dedicated pair of water shoes with some $20 neoprene socks and something dry to change back into at camp you would be fine. 95% of Coyote creek is 2inches deep so not getting wet in good boots isn't all the hard.

I guess I should also mention that on our march trip we saw 2people in 3 days.
 
Summit said:
Were still talking about Coyote Gulch right.. Isn't that awesome no matter what time of year you do it?
All I'm saying is that if you just have dedicated pair of water shoes with some $20 neoprene socks and something dry to change back into at camp you would be fine. 95% of Coyote creek is 2inches deep so not getting wet in good boots isn't all the hard.

I guess I should also mention that on our march trip we saw 2people in 3 days.
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Yeah yeah yeah. It's like pizza. It's really good no matter what but some pizza is way better than others. I feel the riparian paradise canyons like Coyote are best enjoyed with leaves. :)

If I were to do it in March, I'd wear my 5.10 Canyoneers with neo socks for sure. It would be awesome not to see 100 other people in there.
 
Miss Buffalo said:
sounds good, thanks Nick.
I've planned to go a few days after Memorial Day with hopefully better conditions than last year.
I really bothered me a lot to finally cancel the trip due to the weather
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Utah weather last year from March into June was insane. Really hoping its a bit more like spring this year!
 
I need to bribe one of you into dragging me through C.G. the next time I make it out.... it's near the top of my list.
 
ibenick said:
Yeah yeah yeah. It's like pizza. It's really good no matter what but some pizza is way better than others. I feel the riparian paradise canyons like Coyote are best enjoyed with leaves. :)

If I were to do it in March, I'd wear my 5.10 Canyoneers with neo socks for sure. It would be awesome not to see 100 other people in there.
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I wouldnt have a problem doing it early again. 2 people vs 100 sounds like a nice trade off to me.

I really should mention that I'm a cold water wuss... I hate it. Most everyone in my group that trip hiked in the water the entire time and had no complaints.
 
2 people vs 100 does seem really nice. dang it...
 
For what it's worth, the people weren't much of an issue and I am generally very anti-people. I will go to great lengths to avoid them. We saw the bulk of them above Jacob Hamblin and then down near Coyote Natural Bridge and one of the waterfalls. The day we spent camped at the Swiss Cheese Falls we saw very few. I'd still take the people for the leaves, it's not like their National Park style tourists, they're backpacking so much more relaxed and friendly.
 
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