In June 2011, we did a three-day, two-night backpack trip through Coyote Gulch in Utah’s Escalante canyon country. John was 58 and I was 57.
June is a challenging month for us to find somewhere to go backpacking. We like a variety of topography. But in June, canyon country is too hot, and there is still too much snow in the mountains. We decided to try something different: hiking down a creek.
We headed down Hurricane Wash toward Coyote Gulch.
Once we started down Coyote Creek, we began to see the incredible effects this creek has had over time on the surrounding canyon walls. We hiked past many magnificent alcoves. To get a sense of the size of these alcoves, look for John and me standing in the lower right-hand corner of this photograph.
We continued to follow the creek downstream …
… to where we would camp for two nights.
The next morning, we did a day hike down the canyon. We encountered the impressive Jacob Hamblin Arch.
Not all the sculptures created by this creek were huge.
But many were.
As we continued hiking down the creek, we encountered some other backpackers. One told us to look for a side trail that led to an attractive pool.
It was quite hot that day, and the heat drained us. We had originally planned to hike all the way to the Escalante River. But when we came to this waterfall, I needed little encouragement to strip down and cool off.
Then it was John’s turn.
This was an unusual trip for us. It was relatively short, and it didn’t gain or lose much elevation. However, I will never forget the immense alcoves or the refreshing shower.
All photos from this trip are on Flickr.
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