Day 23 – 4/5/16
8.6 river + 12.9 hiking map miles (30 some GPS miles – what? Ignoring that)
350.0 / 375.8 miles total
Bubs was pretty hellbent on getting to town today, even with having 8+ river miles plus another 13 of hiking and a potentially difficult hitch ahead. We braved the cold and got on the water at 8am. Thankfully the skies were clear today and we got precious moments of sun as we rounded some bends in the river.
I was back to full-on fun-having today. Bubs was still pretty much done with rafting. Our patience for butt scooting was gone and we simply got out of the boats and moved them every time we got stuck.
The last mile and a half or so was the best part as the river mellowed and we went past Stevens Natural Arch – from both sides!
We finally exited the river to head up Coyote Gulch and found a note in the sand from Joey!
Coyote Gulch is a super popular hiking/backpacking destination in southern Utah and deservedly so. It’s beautiful with great water running its length. We saw about 100 people, no exaggeration.
But we were on a mission, and didn’t linger. We got to the remote trailhead at 6:00pm. It was ~30 miles on a dirt road to town. Probably not gonna make it this late.
But a vacationing family stopped for us! They weren’t going all the way out, just up the road a ways to do a short slot canyon hike (this late??). We decided getting closer to town was a good idea and hopped in. They dropped us at the exit for their trailhead and we tried to get a ride from there. The sun went down. Uh oh.
But then the family returned! They decided it was too late to do the hike tonight and were headed to the highway. and since town (Escalante) was only a mile or so out of their way, they offered to drop us off!! Miracle of miracles, we got to town in the dark at 8pm. We got some food and headed for the nearest motel. We snagged the last room left at the Country Cowboy Inn: the bunkhouse. I can’t describe how happy we were to sleep in a cowboy themed room with teddy bears to snuggle! What a great day!
Looks like today went better. Beautiful photos. Who got the top bunk?
I did!
Only cause Bubs was to short to get up there?
I am loving reading about your adventures! That arch picture of you was AWESOME! Thanks for blogging so I can imagine being there!
Yay Coyote Gulch! Or maybe it’s, howl Coyote Gulch!!!!
And yay for tutu wearing amid grand arches.
I love how going uo the gulch the routes takes you up a canyon with towering walls, slowly getting lower, it narrows to a slot and soon enough you are walking up to desert and range land. All of a sudden, you wonder, how did these cows get here?
Hope you two got some beers to celebrate the pack rafting finale.
Oh man, you totally had good mojo going for that hitch out! Out hitch out was pretty quick, but the hitch back to trail was the tough one. Monday Canyon is next…that’s where I was really over the “nonsense!”
Great day for you. Loved the pictures. Glad you got a good bed to sleep in.
Ya gotta love that hotel room. Nice and happy instead of droll and dark. -Great stickpic.
Thank you for sharing your adventure. Your blog is wonderful and the pictures amazing. I love your photography showing the terrain you are traversing. There is nothing like southern Utah. No wonder there are so many National Parks there. I wish you safe and FUN travels.
Just found your blog (linked from Carrot Quinn) and am enjoying your adventure. Thanks for all the gorgeous photos. I can’t wait to see more!
Shucks. My buddy and I are backpacking in Coyote Gulch for 4 days starting Saturday, April 16. Looks like we just missed you! I’ve never met an “actual thru hiker” that I was following in real time. Your photos are superb, as is your commentary. Much appreciated!
100 people in the Gulch on a Tuesday? Crazy. But I’m glad the BLM hasn’t clamped down with a permit system that only allows an elite few to enter (as in Grand Gulch–did you get permits there or just blaze through?). Anyway, we’re from Colorado, so we can, in theory, get back to the Escalante any time we want (except we have jobs, darn it!).
Lucky you! Coyote Gulch is beautiful! It was spring break while we were there – lots of vacationing families. That should be about over by the time you’re there. Have fun!
So I figured out I was thinking of the other Grand Gulch, the one on Cedar Mesa, not the one south of Capitol. :{ Kinda confusing to follow all these off-trail routes in my mental map (which has lots of gaps!).
Oh good! We didn’t know anything about permits in “our” Grand Gulch!