Hiking Coyote Buttes North and The Wave

The last place we visited on our southern Utah trip was "The Wave".  Actually, visiting The Wave was the purpose we planned the trip.  The BLM limits access to Coyote Buttes very tightly and tickets are hard to come by.  Only 20 people are allowed to visit each day, and the permits are divided into 2 groups.  Ten of the tickets are won through a lottery system 4 months in advance.  The other ten tickets are given out at the Kanab Ranger Station each morning. 

I had seen countless pictures of the wave and Coyote Buttes North, but the lottery permit system was daunting and troublesome.  In my mind getting a permit was not worth the jumping through all of the hoops. 

In November, somehow a few permits became available and I was able to snatch them up.  Bo-Yah!  With the permits, the BLM sends a detailed hiking map that also stresses that the route is for experienced hikers only.  With the level of detail in the hiking directions, clearly the BLM's definition of 'experienced' is considerably different than my own. 

We arrived at the trailhead about 9 AM and had a leisurely hike to the Wave.  My GPS showed 2.87 miles one way.  Most of the route is hiking across sandstone slabs, and although there are some ups and downs, generally it's a pretty flat hike- except at the end.  The last 200 yards is a moderately steep climb up a hill of sand, and right at the top is the wave.

WOW!  This place is pretty much a photographer's dream.   Even if you're an amateur photographer like I am (see the overexposed foreground in the picture above), it would take some serious bungling to not come away with several great pictures. 

We spend quite a while exploring and taking pictures.  It's amazingly beautiful, but also is a very localized area.  After visiting, I am able to understand why the access is so restricted.  Open access would leave the Wave completely overrun with visitors. 

I enjoyed some of the larger scenes, but also the fine detailing in the sandstone as well.  Enjoy the pictures. 

We thought about visiting "The Wave 2" further into Coyote Buttes, but my wife wasn't quite feeling up to it as it was her first major hike after giving birth in October.  I can't say I blame her!  She wasn't going to be left out of this one, and we definitely took it at a slower pace, but it was definitely a fantastic first big hike for #2. 

On the way out, we stopped and looked over a trailcam that's bolted to a steel post on the south of the trail.  It's off in the brush a few hundred yards after climbing the first hill on the way in.  If you notice it be sure to go and get a few good mugshots for the BLM Rangers to enjoy! 

Nearest City: Kanab, UT and Page, AZ
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: 5 hours
Difficulty: Moderate-
Kid Friendly: Yes
Additional Info: BLM Coyote Buttes Permit Area

Warner Valley Dinosaur Trackway

After stopping by Fort Pearce, we drove two- three miles down the road to the Warner Valley Dinosaur Tracks.   The road, although dirt, is in good shape and is accessible by passenger car. 

From the parking area, it's maybe a quarter mile walk to the north and east to the trackway. 

The tracks were originally discovered in 1982, and since then other investigations have revealed countless more tracks.  The last investigation identified over 400 tracks and 23 trackways.  Most of the identified tracks are thought to be from Grallators - meat eating dinosaurs about as big as a man. 

The biggest tracks  (my favorite ones at this site) were from Eubrontes- a large meat eater that weighted 750-1000 lbs, and was about 12 feet tall. 

Nearest City: St George, UT
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Kid Friendly: Yes
Additional Info:

Fort Pearce

We spent an easy day in the St. George area checking out a few new to us sites.  The first stop was at Fort Pearce. 

The fort is in ruins now, but it used to be a stopping spot for settlers coming from the Arizona Strip to St. George. 

We wandered around it and through the ruins.   Sparse accomodations!  It's not a place that travelers would want to spend an extended period of time at- especially being so close to St. George.  

We then wandered down the Fort Pearce Wash to look for petroglyphs.  There are several boulders and overhangs with petroglyphs in the wash. 

There are also numerous "cowboy glyphs" written in axle grease under the overhangs.  One of my favorite was this one of a bearded Mormon. 

Nearest City: Washington, UT
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Kid Friendly: Yes
Additional Info:

Mountain Meadows

We took a trip down to Southern Utah the end of last week.  Boy was it good to get away!  It seems like it's been forever since I've gotten out!  Our first "adventure stop" was at Mountain Meadows. 

Mountain Meadows was the site of  a black spot in the history of Utah.  In 1857, about 120 emigrants from Arkansas heading to California were massacred here, in part by some of the Mormon settlers.  There's a lot of speculation on what happened, including very biased viewpoints slanted both ways, but the fact of the matter is we won't ever know what the situation really was. 

I thought to myself that it's hard to understand why people that had been kicked out of 3 states, persecuted, and had many of their friends killed could do this to others.  But at the same time, it easily could have been such that "We've been kicked out of Ohio, Missouri, and Illinois- we're not moving again".  Either way, the situation was a powderkeg, and the wrong things were said and done by both sides. 

There is now a memorial at the site, with a monument over the bones of the victims.  It's an interesting place to visit that leaves you walking away with a lot of unanswered questions. 

Nearest City: Enterprise, UT
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: 30 minutes- 1 hour
Difficulty: Easy
Kid Friendly: Yes
Additional Info:

Little Wildhorse Canyon

After the great Burr Trail Fiasco, we had to decide if we should head home the most direct route possible, or if it was ok to play a little bit more.   After looking at the maps, we decided that the most direct route home was only about 40 miles less than the the route we wanted to take.  Hmm...cut the trip short, or play another half-day...cut the trip short, or play another half day...cut the trip--NAH!  It just wouldn't be right to do something like that!  So after a great night's sleep, we picked up camp and set off toward Goblin Valley. 

We decided to stop at Little Wildhorse Canyon to give the kids a taste of another slot canyon. Actually, Little Wildhorse is the introductory slot canyon for a lot of people.  With easy access, sculpted narrows, easily surmounted challenges, and a short entry hike, it's easy to see why it's such a popular slot.   Some people turn it into a loop hike in conjunction with Bell's Canyon, but after doing it once about 5 years ago I quickly decided it's not worth doing again.  Bells Canyon never really slots up, and the hike across the top of the triangle isn't very fun.  Why do LWH just one way, when doing it in reverse adds to the fun?

The kids really enjoyed the canyon- especially the first set of narrows.  The second set of narrows was full of water.  I bridged over the top and went a short way further up the canyon then turned around to tell everyone else that the water section was short.  Ultimately we decided not to go further.  There were just too many kids who were close to naptime that going further would have been more effort than it was worth. 

The way back down the canyon was still fun.  We paused again in the narrows for some more stemming practice.  It was pretty sweet because even the youngest one was able to do some stemming.  The kids thought they were pretty hot stuff.  I always enjoy watching kids having fun.  Even though we didn't do it all, this is a great little canyon.

Nearest City: Hanksville or Green River, UT
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: 1-3 hours
Difficulty: Easy-Moderate
Kid Friendly: Yes- most of the time
Additional Info:  Most of the time, the biggest obstacle is the crowds of other people.  Most of the queuing will generally occur at the narrow places in the canyon.  Go early or late to have the canyon to yourself.  You also could find water in the slot and some short up/downclimbs among other things.  As with all desert hikes- bring enough water. 

The Burr Trail - or The Most Expensive Trip Yet

After hiking Headquarters Canyon, and having a quick lunch at the Muley Twist Trailhead, we continued on.  The plan was to drive the Burr Trail to Boulder, then either hike to Calf Creek Falls or drive the Devils Backbone Road, or something else.  As fate would have it, we ended up doing something else that was entirely unplanned. 

A little background- our car has had a little problem for the past 3-4 years.  It burns oil. There's nothing on the ground, but sometimes after a longer drive, it would leave a nice thick plume billowing out the tail pipe for the first little while after starting it up again.  We'd had it looked at with no luck, and other then burning oil, it hadn't had other problems.  It even passed emissions tests.  So, I kept an eye on the oil level, and kept driving it.  Finishing up graduate school was more of a priority then chasing a ghost somewhere in my car's engine. 

At some point, the deferred maintenance catches up to you. Our point was driving up the switchbacks on the Capitol Reef end of the Burr Trail. We lost some power and the "Check Engine" light started flashing.  Oops!  We were glad my brother-in-law was driving right behind us. I wasn't going to stop on the slope, so we pushed up to the top, found a parking area, then looked over everything and couldn't see anything wrong.  I wasn't going to wait out there for a towtruck, so we limped on to Boulder, in hopes of finding a mechanic there.  The Burr Trail was really pretty, but I was more concerned about the car then looking at scenery.  We got a few pictures of Peek-A-Boo Arch above the switchbacks, but that's it. 

We made it to Boulder.  No mechanic.  They do have one in Escalante.  Not wanting to go further from home, and seeing that we'd made it as far as we already had, we opted to drive over Boulder Mountain to Torrey, in hopes that there would be a mechanic there.  As it ended up, we found a mechanic in Bicknell who looked the car over, said he couldn't fix our car (we pulled in a little after 5 on a Friday and they close at 6 for the weekend), but after looking over it, he said we'd be able to make it home alright, but there was a misfire in one of the cylinders.  We made it home, dropped the car off at the mechanic, and picked it up last week.  The car's all better, but now my wallet hurts. 

Nearest City: Boulder, UT
 Location:
Time Needed: 45 minutes-1 hour +
Difficulty: Easy
Kid Friendly: Yes
Additional Info:

Headquarters Canyon

We spent the Friday of our vacation at Headquarters Canyon.  Since it's in the far south area of Capitol Reef, it took a while driving to get there.  We drove through the park, then down the Notom Road.  As we drove, we noticed a few construction vehicles turn off at the Fremont River Falls area.  Apparently the falls are now shut down indefinitely. 

It's a pretty drive, but I had to wonder why the section of the road in the park was the section of the road that was worst maintained.  The drive on the east side of the Waterpocket Fold was really pretty and remote.  We made it to the trailhead after about 30 miles of dirt roads, and had it to ourselves.  We loaded up, then started hiking.

Along the way, as we walked through an area where the water has eroded a small ledge, a dove quickly flew up and away.  It appeared to me a defensive distracting measure that mother birds often do to distract predators from their young.  Of course we looked and found the nest!  There were two young doves sitting on a small shelf.  We approached, took a few pictures, then left them otherwise undisturbed. 

Around a turn or two, of the wash, the canyon slotted up really quickly.  The kids really liked the narrows, but I found them a little bit short.  We played around and practiced stemming for a while before looking further up the canyon.  The canyon opens up, and while remaining narrow, is no longer a slot canyon.  We walked up it for a while before deciding that the best part was behind us. 

We turned around, then headed back to the slot for more monkeying around.  We played for a while, but the wind picked up sand as it passed through the slot, so we decided it best to head back to the cars for lunch.

Nearest City: Boulder, UT
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: 2-3 hours
Difficulty: Generally easy. 
Kid Friendly: Kindof
Additional Info:  Bring your own water.  If you break down, don't count on your cell phone working, or other people coming along frequently. 

The Capitol Reef Orchards

I really had fun picking the fruit in the orchards at Capitol Reef.  The only fruit ripe on our visit was apricots, but they have quite a variety of fruit grown at Capitol Reef.  I was actually suprised at how many different kinds of fruit they have at Capitol Reef:  apples, apricots, cherries, peaches, pears, plums, almonds, mulberries, walnuts, nectarines, grapes, quinces, and pecans.  That's 13 different types of fruit & nuts! 

The only varieties open for picking though are the apples, apricots, cherries, peaches, and pears.  While I was there, I found this brochure at one of the orchards that had a lot more & better information then I could find on the NPS Website.  I scanned the brochure called "Capitol Reef Fruita Orchards" and have included it as the first two graphics on this blogpost.  If you're interested in information on the orchards, I'd recommend downloading the map and the narrative shown here.   *Or post a comment with your email address and I can email the PDF file to you- just note in the comment if you don't want your comment/address published and I won't.

Basically, some sort of fruit will be ripe at the orchards from mid-June to mid-October.  That's an awesome 4-months!  Cherries are available the last half of June.  Apricots, most of July.  Peaches and pears, most of August.  Apples are ripe September to mid-October.  For current info, you can call the Capitol Reef Fruit Hotline at (435) 425-3791.  Once connected, press 1, then 8.

I really like the orchards at Capitol Reef.  It was just awesome to walk in the trees and smell the ripe fruit.  We camped in the campground ($10/night), and had several orchards within 100 yards.  The rangers at the visitor center will tell you which orchards are open for picking.  Within the orchard, you can eat as much fruit as you want for no charge.  They also allow you to pick fruit to bring home.  The cost will be posted, along with a scale to weigh your fruit.  The NPS also has ladders and fruit pickers available for you to use.  Also, fruit that has fallen from the trees can be gathered at no charge.  The kids thought it was like a big easter-egg hunt.

Most of the fruit is $1 per pound, but if you're a volume picker you can get a bigger discount.  The cost at the apricot orchard we were at was $1/lb or $18 per bushel, or equivalent to about $0.50/lb. 

Nearest City: Torrey, UT
Location: See map above, or stop at Visitor Center
Time Needed: Variable
Difficulty: Easy
Kid Friendly: Yes

Additional Info:

Capitol Reef National Park: Sulphur Creek

This hike is definitely my favorite non-technical hike in Capitol Reef.  It's got it all- narrow canyons, waterfalls, water to play in, and lots of options for pictures. It's also one that most of the touristy type miss.  Officially, it's a route, not a trail, so the park doesn't advertise it. 

The route starts at the Chimney Rock parking area and ends at the Visitor Center.  I've seen several different lengths on the hike, most of them putting it 5-6 miles long.  From the Chimney Rock Trailhead, cross over the highway and follow the wash south until you encounter running water at Sulphur Creek. 

From that point on, you just follow the creek.  I mentally divide the hike into 3 parts: the wash, the narrows, and the meanders. 

The first section goes from the trailhead, to just above the first waterfall.  The canyon is pretty open with deepening ledges as you get further downstream.  There is also plenty of vegetation on the bench above the creek and it's pretty easy to stay dry.  The canyon winds a little but, but the course of direction is generally to the east and south.

The second section "the narrows" starts just above the first waterfall, as the canyon closes in and the cliffs come essentially to the water.  This is the section you can look down on from above if you stop at the Goosenecks Overlook. 

Staying dry is not an option here, but in the summer why wouldn't you want to get wet?!  The water is mostly ankle to calf deep, with some deeper spots mixed in.  There are two waterfalls here, along with numerous smaller drops.  The narrows is the best part of the hike and is a complete romp.

The waterfalls appear nearly impassible at first glance to most hikers, but are generally easy to navigate if you stay to the right.  Some easy downclimbing is available  if you stay south of the creek at the base of the cliffs.  All three of the waterfalls will require downclimbing. 

The last part of the canyon is the meanders.  The canyon opens up a bit, with cliffs far back from the water. It seems to drag a little bit as you anticipate the visitor center to be around the next bend (and the next and the next).  The last waterfall is in this section, and prevents people from walking up the canyon from the visitor center further. 

Right above the visitor center, be sure to check out the rock shelter at the base of the cliff on the north side of the river as you exit the canyon.  I'm not sure if it's anglo or pre-anglo in origin, but it's worth looking at.

Nearest City: Torrey, UT
Location: N° W°
Time Needed: Half a day
Difficulty: Shuttle needed, hiking in water, some downclimbing
Kid Friendly: Best for older kids, or kids you can carry.  The distance involved (5-6 miles) and some of the downclimbing could make this hike sketchy for some kids.
Additional Info: Bring your own water on this hike!  If you don't bring enough,you'll wish you had.