Coyote Gulch

Day 2 of our trip took us to the trail head for our hike into Coyote Gulch. This was only my second time backpacking, the first time being around 20 years ago or so (to the same gulch). I definitely had some concerns about the heat, the weight of my pack, and hiking in a higher elevation. Excitement helped calm what nerves I did have, and the hike in went better than I had expected. We lucked up and had just enough cloud coverage to keep the sun from beating directly on us, and the only sketchy part was the rock wall we had to descend to reach the gulch. It was a tad on the steep side, but James made it less scary by relieving me of my pack on the way down.


Canfields constructing the Canfield Cairn

 

 

By midday we had setup our camp across from the Jacob Hamblin Arch and spent a few hours napping/relaxing. In the afternoon we headed upstream for a leisurely hike and enjoyed having the gulch to ourselves. We spotted 2 crows (who were patiently waiting for us to leave camp so they could raid it), 2 ducks, 2 bucks and lots of lizards and toads.

Looking at the landscape stretched out before us on the hike in, you would never know such a stunning and peaceful place is hidden away just a few miles from the trail head.

 

To have the opportunity to be able to spend a few days alone with 4 of my siblings was pretty special. By the end of the day we had all reconnected in ways that I'm sure none of us had expected we would at the start of our trip.