My aunt “Sam” flew down from her home in the Oregon/Washington area so that David and I can take her hiking in southern Utah. We decided to day-hike into Coyote Gulch and visit Jacob Hamblin Arch by taking the cliff entrance. We can then hike down to Coyote Natural Bridge and back out the same day.
We spent the night in Escalante Utah . The next morning we found the Hole-In-The-Rock road to be just as washboard as usual.
The two mile trek from the parking area at the water tanks was uneventful and it didn’t take too long to locate the cliff that we were suppose to descend. I was pleased to find a rope had been permanently positioned there because the cliff looked a lot steeper than the first time I had used this “trail”. Auntie Sam thought we were crazy but followed me down the rope anyway. I felt much better when the three of us were safely on the canyon floor.
It was a beautiful Fall day in the Escalante Canyons. We had lunch at Jacob Hamblin Arch before hiking the few miles down to Coyote Natural Bridge, which is one of the few natural bridges that actually has a stream flowing through it.
Unfortunately, Fall days are short and soon it was time to climb up the rope and head back to the vehicle. For some reason, the hike back seemed like a real slough.
We again spent the night in Escalante and found ourselves to be too tired to do much the next day. We bumped around Escalante, Salt Gulch and Boulder Utah areas before heading home again.
Aunt Sam went home with some ugly bruises on her arms from the rope into Coyote Gulch. I suppose that is one way to remember a quick trip to southern Utah.