Return To Coyote Gulch

[powderglut]

We saw some really cool pictures in an Edward Abbey picture book back in winter 1978-79. "This place looks awesome!!" So it goes 34 years ago, I first hiked into Coyote Gulch with my wife and friends, and... yes, a dog. We also had campfires and, the best part.. we had it all to ourselves for 4 nights. Not a soul did we see.
So... A friend from Salt lake said it was her dream to visit this place forever, and would I be willing to backpack in and join her. All the pictures on the internet showed this place to be as pretty as I remembered it. Alrighty then. I guess I better go see it once more before they start selling tickets or start a lottery. "Honey, we're going to backpack Coyote Gulch." " Yah Right!!" 4 more skiing buddies from Steamboat and we have the crew. Now.. this is not exactly a spring chicken crew, but.. we all believe in "motion is the lotion" to stay young. I also told them I had a route that would get us in quick. We'd set up base camp, and then, do all day hikes. Sold! "Oh, there is this Crack in the Wall we have to get thru."
We drove down on a Sunday 7-1/2 hours from Steamboat Spgs Co. (Sorry IntuitiveCat, I meant to stop and talk coming thru, but my wife figured it was time to get this ride over with.) We stayed in Escalante that night, and then went down Hole in the Rock rd to our predetermined campsite (Thanks Nick). Set up camp and then cruised over to Devils Garden for a couple of hours.
Coming over Boulder Mt.


Base Camp


Base Camp

Devils Garden

Devils Garden

The Devil's snake

Devils Garden

Sunrise at Camp


Next day. The rest of the crew is not due until tonight. We head over to the Egypt TH to try and hike to Neon. We get a late start. Oh well, first night in the tent. We drop down the slickrock and get drawn a little north and end up between Fence Canyon instead of our intended B-line rt. Do we just drop down to the Escalante and head downstream to Neon? We've got our backpacking trip tomorrow. We choose to eat lunch above the confluence of both Fence Canyon's and then return back up to the car.
Egypt slickrock trail

Lichen covered Bunny Rabbit formation

Upper and Lower Fence Canyon Confluence

Lower Fence

Lunch

Upper Fence


Back at camp, the others show up and set up. We fix up fajitas for everyone and have a few beverages. Everyone is quite pleased to be out of the snow and camped at this really nice camp spot. Get a good nights sleep and get ready to hike into the Coyote the next day.
Packed up and ready to go. 3 nts in the gulch should be just right. We leave base camp and head for the Crack. We start the hike about 1 PM. Not exactly the crack of dawn, but hey, we're on vacation. The hike is pretty visual compared to Hurricane Wash. We shuttle packs across the the Crack and walk down the sand into Coyote. Oh yes!! I'm back here again. We find a nice spot a ways upstream and set up Coyote camp. Seep water is 5-6 minutes downstream on the wall. Piece of cake! Delicious ground filtered water to keep us quenched for the trip.
Slickrock above the Crack

Huge dome on the lower sandhill into Coyote

Coyote Camp

T-Rex

Coyote waterfalls

Coyote waterfalls

Coyote waterfalls

Pictographs

Wife and I at Coyote Natural Bridge



Jacob Hamblin Arch

Deer At the Bridge

Coyote Camp


After a lovely day, just taking our time exploring up to Jacob Hamblin Arch, we amble back to camp for dinner. We have seen very few people today. A couple coming the opposite direction and another couple of folks up near the arch. Maybe it's not as busy as people say. Wrong! While doing dinner we start seeing people working their way upstream. Glad we took this elevated campsite on the inside bend. Next morning we see a few more come thru as we get ready to head down to the Escalante. Another stellar day in the canyons. I even manage to get a triple dunking in the Escalante. I am one clean kid. We stop at the seep to fill up on the way down.
The seep

Pure desert perfection

Clean and fresh as a daisy

The perpetrators

Hiking upstream on the Escalante


A last look at Stevens on the way out


Some of the well over 50-60 people we saw coming in on a Saturday morning

Timing Baby! Go in the middle of the week.
Still a beautiful place after all these years!

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[Dave]

Nice! That train of people is one of the saddest pictures on this site. But we BCPers have added our own numbers to the crowd quite a bit this year.

Looks like a great trip.

 

[Nick]

Sweet!!! Great trip report and glad I could help with the campsite. So it sounds like i just need to not work anymore and then I too can backpack mid-week and have all sorts of solitude in Coyote Gulch!

 

[gnwatts]

Great TR and pics.
My wife and I spent 4 days on our honeymoon there in 1981, we went in and out Crack in the wall. It was a paradise (other than Fence Canyon as it had been trampled by cattle), we saw no one. Our clothing theme (how should I say this, as this is a family site) was "back to nature" for most of the time. It would be hard to do that now I think, looking at your one shot of the line of people. I also remember Lake Powell backed up to Coyote Gulch, with higher water? Maybe my bad memory.

 

[Nick]

I also remember Lake Powell backed up to Coyote Gulch, with higher water? Maybe my bad memory.

Not bad memory. Full pool in Powell floods the confluence of Coyote and the Escalante. It was nearly full in the late 70's and early 80's.

 

[powderglut]

Great TR and pics.
My wife and I spent 4 days on our honeymoon there in 1981, we went in and out Crack in the wall. It was a paradise (other than Fence Canyon as it had been trampled by cattle), we saw no one. Our clothing theme (how should I say this, as this is a family site) was "back to nature" for most of the time. It would be hard to do that now I think, looking at your one shot of the line of people. I also remember Lake Powell backed up to Coyote Gulch, with higher water? Maybe my bad memory.

We also enjoyed the waterfalls and seep showers in the au natural back then too. I remember the lake level was very close to the Coyote. Not much Escalante flowing past the confluence. I remember a lot of debris and mud down there.

Sweet!!! Great trip report and glad I could help with the campsite. So it sounds like i just need to not work anymore and then I too can backpack mid-week and have all sorts of solitude in Coyote Gulch!

Thank god we went down during the middle of the week! C'mon!!!! You can't tell me, that all these hikes and trips you do, are all on the weekend. Dude, I want to hang with you!!!

Nice! That train of people is one of the saddest pictures on this site. But we BCPers have added our own numbers to the crowd quite a bit this year.

Looks like a great trip.

The numbers of people coming in that weekend was staggering. We have no idea how many people came down the Crack and hiked upstream that day we went down to the Escalante. That same evening, we met 7 guys who had packed small float rafts down Fence Canyon and floated the Escalante to Coyote. They planned 1 nt up canyon, then hike out Jacob Hamblin rt. Burly crew! The parking lot at the Hamblin rt was full when we left on Saturday. So was the Crack lot, as we can attest to the major traffic jam at the Crack in the Wall. Hurricane Wash lot had their fair share of cars. Who knows at Red Well or any of the others. I feel blessed, that we got to experience our hike upstream at the Coyote, and down to the Escalante, without hardly meeting a soul. It was nice to show my friends how it should look. I got a lot of "atta boys" for getting us in the middle of the week.
Yes it looks like this place is getting loved to death.

 

[ogdendude]

Timing is everything. Good info to know about Coyote. Still pretty staggering numbers of people. Still amazes me how many other trips I have done recently and not seen a soul for days while other places are mobbed. I think the strategy now is to go to the places that are just as beautiful as the Coyotes but not as well known.

 

[Nick]

You can't tell me, that all these hikes and trips you do, are all on the weekend. Dude, I want to hang with you!!!

I'm tellin' ya! Everything I do is over a weekend. I haven't been on a pure mid-week trip in close to a decade. Hoping to change that soon.