Day 41 - Escalante Coyote Gulch

This one or two night Coyote Gulch hike was an easy test of my newly learned navigation skills. Anxious to get started I awoke at 545 just as the sun was rising.

I followed an obvious landmark, a tall thin spire called Chimney Rock, northwest to Hurricane Wash (a drainage running into Coyote Gulch). After a couple of hours of walking up over and around slick rock, I entered the famous Coyote Gulch. The walls around me raised up, darkened and th water flow increased--like nature hinting at the scenic beauty ahead.

The normally crowded Coyote Gulch was fairly empty on this early Thursday morning, giving the canyon a very peaceful and quiet feeling-- fragile almost. Down steam, I ran into the famous Jacob Hamilton Arch and then thirty minutes further-- the Coyote Natural Birdge. Both were beautiful due to their see through the wall character, but both would be overshadowed in my memory by the Stevens Arch tomorrow. Pics.

By 1pm, I had hiked for six hours and my shin splint was beginning to speak to me. After being painless for the first three hours, my shin swelled at hour five and by hour six, I began having pain up to my knee. I took a lunch break in a shady spot and decided a nap was in order, so I put my backpack against a tree, covered all my skin up except for my face and closed my eyes for an hour. A few flies kept me from falling completely asleep.

After waking, I began hiking again to a dull pain. I hiked up a side canyon to a beautiful pothole, around some pretty waterfalls and tricky ledges before reaching a cave- like overhang. The overhang was completed shaded and a shelf inside formed a bed. I decided to take another break and read some from my kindle book on my phone. Enjoying the shade and rest, I kept reading and napping at this cave all afternoon and night. I had hiked seven plus hours and had four or five to go tomorrow.

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Day 96 - Banff Cirque Peak

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