New Member - Coyote Gulch Solo Trip

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Chris_H

New Member
Joined
Aug 8, 2016
Messages
4
Hey All!

New member - got a trip planned to Coyote Gulch over labor day week. I am flying in to Las Vegas and am planning to drive to the watertank trailhead and take my time doing the ~17 mile loop solo. I have a couple of questions though:
  1. Everything I read indicates I need an SUV or high clearance vehicle. My choices are limited with rentals from the Las Vegas airport. Do you think a small SUV like a ford escape would work?
  2. My current belief is that the water tank is the best entry point and go counter clockwise towards hurrican wash. Anybody have a different point of view on this?
  3. Going to be coming in to Coyote Gulch around 3 pm. Where's the best place to park relative to the water tank trailhead?
  4. Lastly, anybody have a gpx file for the loop that I can download?
Thanks in advance for the help!

Chris_H
 
What's the 17 mile loop version?

Chris_H said:
Everything I read indicates I need an SUV or high clearance vehicle. My choices are limited with rentals from the Las Vegas airport. Do you think a small SUV like a ford escape would work?
Click to expand...

Yes. You can get to the water tank in a carefully driven car if the road is dry and in good condition. To the ridge trailhead is another story.

Chris_H said:
My current belief is that the water tank is the best entry point and go counter clockwise towards hurrican wash. Anybody have a different point of view on this?
Click to expand...

This doesn't make sense. Could you describe your route better? The water tank trailhead can be used to drop in any number of places, most of which would not make sense to then start a loop counter clockwise.

Chris_H said:
Going to be coming in to Coyote Gulch around 3 pm. Where's the best place to park relative to the water tank trailhead?
Click to expand...

Why not park at the water tank trailhead?
 
Ah, so you're saying start at the water tank and go in at crack and out at Hurricane? Doable, but exiting out of Hurricane might be difficult depending on your experience navigating in the desert. Definitely easier to find your way in there and out at Crack, especially if you fit through the crack. Also, I think that loop was longer than 17, especially if you have to walk from the ridge trailhead back to the water tank.
 
All the best stuff is between Jacob Hamblin Arch (Coyote Gulch) and Stevens Arch on the Escalante. I'm with @Nick on either parking at the tanks or even better at the Crack parking lot. You could set a base camp site near one of the flowing wall seeps just upstream of the Crack route on the Coyote. The wall seeps provide you with naturally filtered water. You can then do day hikes upstream to Jacob Hamblin 1 day, and a nice downstream the next day to Stevens Arch or even around to Stevens Canyon on the Escalante. Navigation on this is pretty simple. The 1 drawback is the sandy climb back up to the Crack. Do it early morning.
Other option if you park at the tanks, is drop in at the Crack and return up the Jacob Hamblin route. Never done it and hear people say the exposure with a backpack is pretty sketchy. Depends on your comfort zone on steep slick rock. I would also get whatever 4 WD they offer. A Ford Escape should be fine. There are only 2 legit areas to park overnight out on 40 mile ridge.. the tanks and the Crack. Soft sand in spots (out there) so make sure you keep your speed thru the soft areas. Stop at the hard spots not the soft sand.
 
I've been researching this and it is just too short for my needs. I am flyng in to Las Vegas from Florida so i am looking to maximize my time on the trail - perhaps 15-20 miles per day.
Hey all!

Does anybody know if it is possible to continued hiking down the escalante and then loop back up to the water tank like below:

Click here to view on CalTopo
 
I think in theory it is possible, but can be pretty nasty depending on the water levels of Lake Powell, and your escape route marked. The stretch from that side canyon south of coyote and the trailhead to the trailhead could be brutal (even on labour day week) :lack of water, barren landscape, really hot, possible thunderstorms (and there is no protection out there). I guess it all comes down to what you are comfortable with and what you need to do, maybe someone on here has done similar and can give better input.
 
Jeffrey Chandler said:
I think in theory it is possible, but can be pretty nasty depending on the water levels of Lake Powell, and your escape route marked. The stretch from that side canyon south of coyote and the trailhead to the trailhead could be brutal (even on labour day week) :lack of water, barren landscape, really hot, possible thunderstorms (and there is no protection out there). I guess it all comes down to what you are comfortable with and what you need to do, maybe someone on here has done similar and can give better input.
Click to expand...
Also, the tamarisk and nasty bushes along the Escalante could be less than delightful.

Instead of continuing down the Escalante, why not continue across the river into Stevens Canyon? You could spend a long time exploring Stevens Canyon if you're comfortable with navigating desert canyons (no trail).
 
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