Sep 23: Stephens, Coyote, Escalante

Stephens Canyon was dry when we hit the bottom, then dry and sandy, but then we had to avoid a dryfall on ledges, and the ledges were very fun. They looked narrow and super sketchy from afar but were easy up close. We had one more dryfall to avoid, and encountered some poison ivy, but not unbearable--we just put on long pants and long sleeves. Then we finished Stephens at the Escalante, which was awful--super brushy and muddy and the brush had thousands of aphids. But we only had to do one or two bends before climbing over a pass to Coyote Gulch and getting a great view of Stephens Arch.

Coyote Gulch was pleasant and beautiful, but not epic like Stephens. Too crowded, and there's a ton of different use trails and muddy tracks and stuff. We saw maybe a dozen groups of backpackers. I'm glad others were out there to enjoy the cool flowing waters, large caves/grottos, and a few more arches (a 3 arch day!) but it would be great if BLM could try and confine the use to one single trail. Seems unlikely though. 

We went out of Coyote Gulch via Hurricane Wash, which was a pretty difficult sandy slog for 5 miles to HITR road. Nano's friend Doug was there waiting for us with ice cold Gatorade and snacks. He drove us to a nice hotel in Escalante, we got food after a serious delay from the only pub in town  (that made Nano miss his only chance at watching a Laker's game), took showers, and slept in real beds. HITR road is passable in a Prius or a Mini Cooper (we saw both) but Nano's friend rented a Jeep. It's washboard the entire way, so that didn't seem like a terrible idea. 

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