A Desert Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving time brought me the opportunity to escape the frozen north to the milder conditions of the desert Southwest.  I flew into Phoenix to visit my sister Ashley and our plan was to spend a week out in Utah backpacking and day hiking.

The drive out was long but beautiful



We made time to stop at Horseshoe bend, a roadside attraction (a very short hike) which leads to a sweeping view of the Colorado River just a little outside of Page Arizona.

We spent the night in Tropic, Utah then got up early to make our way down Hole in the Rock Road to start our adventure in the Grand-Staircase Escalante National Monument/ Glen Canyon National Recreation area.

The plan was to do a 3 day backpacking trip from the Hurricane Wash Trailhead, hike the rim of Hurricane Wash and Coyote Gulch to the crack in the wall entrance, then hike coyote gulch and hurricane wash back to the trailhead.

So we started off at Hurricane wash and walked for a few hours before exiting the canyon to the rim.

Ashley enjoying her new pack!

A section of narrows in Hurricane wash. We exited soon after.

Getting out of the canyon was a little bit of a scramble!

Once above the canyon it quickly became apparrent that the rimwalk was going to be no trivial matter. The terrain above the canyons was a sea of slickrock. Many rounded sandstone domes created a very up and down walk with little flat ground.

Ashley excited to gain the "rim"

Looking at our route ahead. The terrain was very complicated and there was little flat walking to be found

Our efforts however were rewarded by some amazing views of the canyons below us and the surreal terrain of the Escalante canyon country

There was a surprising amount of water near the rim. Most of the potholes (Tinajas) had at least some water.

Looking at Jacob Hamblin Arch in Coyote Gulch

Another vista looking into Coyote Gulch

A Tinaja in the sea of sandstone

Looking into Coyote Gulch and the surrounding canyon country

Almost to the crack in the wall entrance

Looking down at the sand dune we will descend to get to Coyote Gulch

The biggest obstacle on the whole trip would descending the "Crack in the Wall" to gain the sand dune below.  This is a system of chimneys that leads down the cliff face to the walking trails on the dune.

Crack in the wall is a tight squeeze in spots!

Next we made our way down the sand dune. We originally had planned to camp below Stevens Arch but the trail that appeared to lead directly to it completely cliffed out.  We had to backtrack and make our way to the main trail which heads a bit west of Stevens Arch into Coyote Gulch.  Luckilly we found a wonderful campsite right before dark.

Ashley navigating the dune

Stevens arch as the sun begins to set

Our campsite in Coyote Gulch.

The following day our plan to was hike Coyote Gulch at least to Jacob Hamblin Arch then consider making camp around there.  The hike was very pleasant and the scenery was amazing. Coyote Gulch is blessed with perennial water flow, water falls, a riparian forest, arches, and towering cliff walls. The miles seemed to go quickly with all the wonderful scenery. We were even lucky enough to have some fall colors in the canyon.

Ashley at one of the many creek crossings

Ashley wading through the creek

One of several beautiful waterfalls on the route

Gorgeous morning lighting in the canyon

Ashley under a large overhang

 

The canyon walls are often quite sheer and high. The sandstone is striking in both scale and color

Seeps into the canyon form hanging gardens and springs

Cliff Arch

Coyote Natural Bridge

The natural bridge from the other side

Fall colors along the creek

A pinnacle and high canyon walls

A slot canyon in the making

Jacob Hamblin Arch

Ashley on a sunny section of Coyote Gulch

 Despite taking a leisurely pace through Coyote Gulch we wound up in our proposed camping area around noon.  Having so much time left in the day we decided to keep walking and consider hiking out tonight.  Though it would have been fun to explore some of the side canyons and enjoy another night in Coyote Gulch, hiking out would give us more time to explore other areas off of Hole in the Rock Road.

A sunny part of Hurricane Wash

Narrows in Hurricane Wash

Sun beginning to set near the end of Hurricane Wash

We managed to get out just after dark and drove around for a while looking for a campsite off of the road. We wound up finding a wonderful spot in the open desert on a dead end dirt road just to the west of the trailhead we planned to hike the following day.

Sunrise from our camp

Car camping in the Escalante

I slept under the stars despite some cold overnight lows. The temps were in the low 20s when we woke up

Golden hour in the open desert

Our hike today would take us to the Dry Fork trailhead. Our plan was to hike Peekaboo, Spooky, and the Dry fork of Coyote Gulch slot canyons.

Looking down at the area where the slots are found

Steep slick rock on the way down to the Dry Fork

The climb into Peekaboo Slot

Although I had done this hike before I had forgotten about a few of the difficulties in Peekaboo. The entrance is guarded by a 15' cliff which is climbed via Moki Steps. This was probably the toughest section of climbing on the trip. There were also a few small pouroffs in Peekaboo that we had to find a way up. Peekaboo is very sculpted and colorful and made for a fun walk through a unique canyon.

a sculpted narrow passage in Peekaboo slot

Ashley having fun in Peekaboo

me attempting to give some scale to the narrow nature of the Canyon

Ashley finding a way through a narrow section.

After finishing Peekaboo we followed a cairned trail to the upper entrance of Spooky Slot. Spooky is a much darker slot both in lighting and the colors of the rock.  Spooky also has interesting features in the rock with many pebbles barely hanging onto the Sandstone.

Open desert en route to spooky slot

Ashley enjoying a small arch in the slot

A narrow sandy passage in spooky slot

Our biggest obstacle in spooky slot was a section of chockstones which created a 10 foot drop. The handlines made it much easier to negotiate.

a good example of the odd dimples on the sandstone

squeezing through!

After exiting spooky slot we made our way to the Dry Fork Narrows. These were much more open and had beautiful walls as well.

My sister and I enjoying the Dry Fork Narrows.

At the end of the narrows we were able to find a way to loop back to the parking lot through the open desert. This saved us quite a bit of double backing and climbing.

Overall this was a wonder hike and it was so different than our last two days. The narrow slots were quite the experience and extremely beautiful.  Since we had a bit more time left in the day we headed over to an area called Devils Garden which features beautiful hoodoos.

This was a nice easy walk with spectacular rock formations.  The following day we went to Big Water Utah to check out the Wahweap Creek Hoodoos.  These were very different in that they are formed out of extremely soft white sandstone and are capped by an odd conglomerate type rock.

the wash at Wahweap Creek

the first few Hoodoos emerging

a Hoodoo "garden"

Cliff walls near the Hoodoos

The second Hoodoo Garden

The Hoodoos were very unique indeed. The hike was easy and the scenery was spectacular. Hard to go wrong in this part of the country! After the hike we made our way to our airbnb in Big Water, Utah. Right alongside the road we spotted a Bobcat hanging out by someones house.

This was my first time ever spotting a Bobcat so it was quite the exciting find. We were able to spend 15 minutes observing the creature from the safety of our car.

In the morning we decided, on our way back to Phoenix, to stop in Sedona to do a half day hike. We wanted to check out the West Fork of Oak Creek, a highly rated and often busy hike in Sedona. We were able to snag the last spot in a full parking lot and made our down Oak Creek.

Ashley near the beginning of the trail 

One of many creek crossings in the West Fork of Oak Creek

High canyon walls and evergreen forest give this canyon a unique feel

A beautiful overhang in Oak Creek

me enjoying the West Fork of Oak Creek

Ashley rock hopping

A beautiful subway like feature in the canyon

This hike was pretty easy but incredibly scenic. It was also very different, with it's higher elevation evergreen forest, than the other hikes we did on this trip.  Overall it was a wonderful trip. I was really happy Ashley enjoyed her first backpacking experience and we were able to have a nice family holiday together. I hope to get back again this winter!