Hiking Utah's Grand Gulch - Collins Spring to Kane Gulch, April 24 to May 2, 1997

The idea of hiking Grand Gulch began as Carol Muir and I were finishing our adventure in the Escalante, Utah, area last year about the same time. Over the summer and through the winter we continued to kick the idea around, and by the time we had decided to go, her friends Cathy Marquardt and Karen Odegaard expressed an interest in the trip.

Preparations were a bit easier since I'd been doing some backpacking again, but the amount of food and fuel that we'd have to carry was considerable compared to my previous trip to Utah. Whereas the trip to Coyote Gulch was conveniently located near the town of Escalante, Grand Gulch is not close to anyplace. We'd need to pack food for four people for six days, and possibly carry a fair amount of water since the conditions in the gulch could be bone dry.

Kathy was coming from Minnesota, so it was left to Carol and Karen and I to do the planning. We chose a route, estimated the number of days, and planned how many meals would be necessary.

Thursday, April 24: Reno to Delta, Utah

I got done with work at noon and headed to Carson City to meet with Carol, Cathy, and Karen. It was amazing how much stuff we packed into that Dodge Caravan; we barely had room left for people. By 1:00 PM we were on our way down Highway 50, with the hopes that we would be across the Utah border this first day of driving.

The trip down the Loneliest Road brought back bad memories of the boiling heat and aridity of the Pony Express mountain bike ride of a couple of summers ago, but the weather at this time of the year was much cooler. In fact, snow clouds hung over most of the mountains that we could see, and conditions were quite cool and windy. We passed through Austin and Eureka again but only made brief stops to use restrooms. In Ely we stopped at a mini mart for some food and had snacks at a dark city park.

My most memorable moment of the drive was when the clouds broke after leaving Ely late in the evening, and I mentioned that this would be a good night to see comet Hale-Bopp. Minutes after this we were rewarded with a spectacular view of the comet over the mountains. With no city lights anywhere around, the unique twin tails were easily visible, and the length of them was incredible even as Hale-Bopp was leaving our solar system. It was bitter cold and windy, but I stopped the van so we could get a good look and try to take some photos.

We arrived in the town of Delta, Utah, sometime near midnight. The wind was still going strong and it was cold as we pulled into the Antelope Valley RV Park and found a spot to park and set up the tents. It didn't take long to get to sleep!

Friday, April 25: Delta to Natural Bridges

It was cool enough that some ice had formed on the tents by morning, but at least the wind had eased. We paid our camping fee to a guy in a Hawaiian shirt and then found out that we needed quarters to operate the showers. This seemed a bit cheap after paying for a campsite; I wondered if the guy knew Curtis Fong … Anyhow, a shower at this point was important because we would not be taking another one for over a week!

Back on the road again after breakfast, we retraced much of the route that Carol and I took returning from Escalante last year. We went through Capitol Reef on our way and stopped briefly to look around, have lunch, and pick up some maps and cards. We made tentative plans to do a day hike if we had time on the way home. We had some great views of Lake Powell on our way past Hite and Fry Canyon to the next stop at Natural Bridges National Monument. It was getting late again when we finally arrived at the campsites there, so we only had a little time to walk to a couple of the overlooks. None of the bridges were visible from these overlooks, so this would have to wait for a future trip. Carol made a final call to our shuttle drivers and we spent much of the rest of the evening getting packs ready for the trip tomorrow.

Saturday, April 26: Collins Spring to Bannister Spring

The shuttle driver was waiting for us at the Kane Gulch ranger station where we would be leaving the van. We did last minute packing and then stuffed our backpacks into the driver's Blazer for the drive to Collins Spring. Negotiating the last few miles of dirt road to the trailhead was quite an adventure. The wet spring had produced an impressive crop of wildflowers - mostly Utah's state flower, the Sego lily.

When we arrived, there were llamas everywhere - someone was doing a pack trip and apparently following the same route that we had planned. My main hope was that they got way ahead of us so that we weren't playing leapfrog with the group or having to share campsites with the large collection of animals.

We had a group photo taken and then we were off, creaking under the weight of 45-pound packs and trying to remember what it would be like to carry our homes on our backs for the next 6 days. The recent rains and abundant snowpack had made the intermittent stream in the bottom of the gulch into a decent source of water but one that would have to be crossed often. Our first side-trip came only a few miles into the hike when we arrived at The Narrows. We dropped packs and hiked down to the narrow cleft in the rocks and then followed a trail around to the back side of the fissure. We took off our shoes and waded through the muddy creek bed, through the crack, and then headed back to our packs and resumed the main trek. The llama folks were just passing through at this time, so we continued the remainder of the day hiking past piles of llama poop. So much for any hopes of not having to do a lot of water filtering.

The bottom of Grand Gulch is much more open than the smaller Coyote. There was room for quite a few trees, and I photographed various types of cacti and yucca plants. There were many different types of wildflowers: mallow, lilies, paintbrush, Mormon tea in bloom, and the cactus flowers. Because of the open nature of the terrain the sandstone tended to be more wind carved and not have the tight turns and alcoves that I saw in Coyote Gulch. I saw lots of rocks that looked like they were balancing on each other and a couple that looked remarkably like dinosaur heads. The rains in the spring had obviously caused the creek to run quite deep; the trees were full of debris, some of it quite high. With some predictions of rain, we would have to be careful not to camp too close to the runoff routes.

Near Bannister Spring we ran across our first Anasazi ruin of the trip. To be honest it was a bit disappointing. The passage of time and the looting of the Wetherall and other expeditions left very little except for the occasional corn cob, some pottery shards, and melting mud bricks. I hoped that some of the other ones noted in the trail guides would be more interesting. We camped near Bannister Spring this evening.

Sunday, April 27: Bannister Spring to Step Canyon

After breaking camp, it was back to slogging through the creek bottom and sand. It didn't feel like we were making much progress, and nobody was looking at the maps, so we really had no idea that we blew right past Polly's Island and were near Dripping Canyon by the end of the day.

Early in the day we went past one ruin that was right next to the trail and again saw abundant wildflowers. We passed another ruin located high on a cliff wall, and I was thankful that I was not asked to try to climb up to it. This may have been the ruin on Polly's Island. The creek was still pretty deep and wide; considerable time had to be spend crossing it or wading through it. There were more balancing rocks, more that looked like dinosaur heads, and I even spotted an arch. Before calling it a day, we found some pictographs high up in an alcove.

There were clouds forming which promised some rain when we finally made camp for the night.

Monday, April 28: Step Canyon to Totem Pole

It was cloudy and drizzled a bit this morning, but it cleared up later and turned into a beautiful day. The cloud cover kept the nighttime temperatures a bit warmer. The hike today took us to the Totem Pole, a large and prominent finger of sandstone.

We hadn't gone far this morning when we ran into the llama crowd, and it was at this point that we discovered that we had made it past Dripping Canyon instead of falling short of it. With some of the pressure to make up for lost time relieved, we were able to take a somewhat more leisurely pace and explore.

We took a few hours to take a side trip up Step Canyon. The first thing we noticed was considerable flood debris quite high up the gulch walls. Entire trees were there. It gave us an idea of what the water must have been like through here during the late winter and early spring!

Not much further down Grand Gulch we found an unusual two-story ruin. Because it was located deep within an alcove, it was somewhat better preserved than others. There were the usual collection of gnawed corn cobs and shards of broken pottery. Up under the alcove were some more pictographs, this time accompanied by handprints of the artists. A bit past the ruin we saw an excellent collection of hoodoos high up on the mesa.

The campsite this evening was excellent, probably the best campsite of the trip, with a great view of the Totem Pole. I think that this was the first time on the trip, with the exception of the start, that I knew for sure where I was!

Tuesday, April 29: Totem Pole to Bullet Canyon

Roughly on schedule, we walked a few miles further to Bullet Canyon and then spent the rest of the day exploring some of the excellent ruins further up there. Some of the highlights were the Jailhouse ruin, and the Perfect Kiva ruin. We also spotted a lot of painting on the rocks. I spotted lots of wildflowers earlier in the morning, including flax, sweetpeas, mallow, and more paintbrush. Some of the paintbrush was so bright that it was almost fluorescent.

We started to see lots of other people at this point. Bullet Canyon is one of the major entry points into Grand Gulch and a popular place to come and explore on its own. Many hikers enter through Bullet and follow the trail out at Kane Gulch.

Part way up Bullet Canyon, we passed an impressive rock formation that looked just like a huge wall. Then, near a large pouroff, we found the Jailhouse ruin. Guarded by a prominent moon-faced pictograph, this extensive set of dwellings featured one house with a window that resembled jail bars. Exactly why the window was made this way is a matter of speculation. Further up the canyon we visited the Perfect Kiva ruin. The underground kiva is indeed in excellent condition. Part of it has been reconstructed, most likely for safety reasons, and a wooden ladder has been added so that people can go inside without further damage to the site.

The campsite for the night was the first time we had to camp around other people. Because of the popularity of this route, the camping area was downright crowded and included a couple of large groups. Before dinner, I trotted up the trail a bit and located another excellent ruin less than a mile from our camp. While not quite as extensive as the ones in Bullet Canyon, it was fairly well preserved.

Wednesday, April 30: Bullet Canyon to Todie Canyon

We covered a lot of ground today and managed to make it all the way to Todie Canyon and position ourselves for the trek out at Kane Gulch. We were encountering lots of people by now, most of them doing the popular Bullet Canyon/Kane Gulch route.

The highlight of the day was a side trip up Sheiks Canyon. On the way into this small canyon was the Big Man pictograph. Near the far end of the canyon we found the Anasazi village. It was a beautiful spot with a spring and lots of trees. The view from the alcove where the mud huts were located was impressive. This was the one place where I could understand why the Anasazi would want to build their homes.

We continued up Grand Gulch past waterfalls, more ruins, and a huge pouroff. Just before we reached the Tiered Ruin, we ran into a large group of people and pack horses. As Cathy approached the dust-filled camp, one of the horses spooked, smashing into a nearby tree, scattering equipment everywhere and raising even more dust. We were delayed for quite some time before the guides got the animal under control again.

The Tiered Ruin was just that - a village built on several levels. There was even a portion of roof preserved enough to see the construction technique used. Sitting on a rock was a pair of woven sandals. One had almost disintegrated and the other was in quite good condition. The good one is apparently a reconstruction that someone made; one book indicated that the knots used were not authentic and that was how one could tell.

As we neared Todie Canyon, we came across a burned-out area. In spite of the blackened landscape, we ended-up in a rather crowded spot. Every breath of wind stirred-up a dust storm of fine soot. Unfortunately there were no other sites available so we were stuck setting-up in a spot that offered some shelter from the wind.

Thursday, May 1: Todie Canyon to Kane Gulch ranger station and Hanksville

The near perfect weather ended today. By the time we had began breakfast cleanup it began to rain and continued to do so for quite a while. We quickly packed-up our drenched and ash-streaked tents and headed off into the rain and cold.

It was definitely cold. The rain didn't last a long time, but it lasted long enough to numb every exposed part of my body and to make my fingers nearly unusable. This turned out to be a major inconvenience when trying to take pictures and made it impossible to do anything even remotely like climbing.

First we came across the Turkey Pen ruin, named after a ring of sticks that were a pen for turkeys in the distant past. The ruin was quite large, and parts of it would have been accessible with a bit of climbing if my hands had been in better condition.

Right at the junction of Grand Gulch and Kane Gulch (where we would exit the canyons) was the Junction Ruin. Fortunately the rain had stopped by this time and we were able to explore the area and stand in the sun long enough to begin to dry out and warm ourselves. Junction Ruin is extensive and occupies several levels of a large alcove. Below it is a flat area with excellent campsites.

After exploring the Junction Ruin we left Grand Gulch and headed up Kane Gulch and back to civilization. We stopped for lunch at a nice waterfall and then headed out of the gulch and back to the mesa. It was only a short walk through a meadow and across the highway to the ranger station. Another crowd of llama-assisted backpackers were preparing to leave, so we had one of them take a few group photos.

The nearest town of any size was Hanksville, about 100 miles distant, and the first order of business was to find a motel and clean up. It wasn't too difficult a decision since there were only two places open in town. We settled on Fern's Place. It's a tiny but nice and squeaky-clean motel with many scenic views of Fern's junk. The collection of old stuff was truly mind-blowing. The question of where we would dine was pretty much settled by the fact that only one place, the Red Rock, was open. Even though we had managed to stay pretty clean throughout the trip, a real shower felt wonderful! Even more wonderful was a meal that someone else had prepared and to sleep in a bed once again.

Friday, May 2: Hanksville to Ely

We had a real sit-down breakfast of omelets at the Red Rock Café and then departed for Ely.

The first order of business was a stop at Capitol Reef. We did a quick hike up to Hickman natural bridge, and then drove up the road past the visitors' center to take a longer day hike on the Wagon Wheel trail. At the very top of the trail I was able to get a panoramic view of most of the park including the Water Pocket Fold, the Henry Mountains, Miner's Mountain, and an seemingly endless ocean of brush and dwarfed trees.

Once again by swapping drivers we were able to make pretty good time to Ely. We checked-into a Motel 6 for the night and went downtown for dinner at a new Mexican place. The service was downright dismal.

Saturday, May 3: Ely to Home!

Leaving the motel in Ely early, we repeated part of the tradition of having breakfast at Pony Express ride stops. This time we pulled-over in Eureka and fixed breakfast in the city park, the site of the only decent meal I experienced on that 1995 adventure.

The rest of the day consisted of driving, but I was back home by mid-afternoon.

The aftermath of this camping trip was formidable. The van was filthy, my camping gear and tent were covered with soot glued in place by the rain, and my clothing was smelling pretty foul by this time. The happiest part of my arrival back home was to talk to Gretchen over a nice dinner.

Comments and Impressions

Grand Gulch is a beautiful area, and the luck of hitting it during a wet year added to the beauty. Springtime is definitely one of the best times to do the hike in spite of somewhat "iffy" weather. The flowers were fantastic; I missed not having some sort of guide to identify them all.

I think that on a future trip I'd follow the popular route into Bullet Canyon and spend more time exploring. I would definitely be taking good maps and use a decent guide to mark various sites ahead of time. Now that I know where good campsites are located, a much better itinerary could be planned in advance and make the trip more enjoyable. I'd also be more alert for spring locations and spare a lot of water filtering time.

The lighting made photography difficult, much of it due to the high contrast situations. Possibly some higher speed film would work better, or even opt for shooting prints instead of slides for the flexibility of processing and printing. There was little problem with dust and sand like there was in Coyote Gulch; I'd be tempted to bring my good Olympus lenses instead of using the Series 1 28-105mm zoom.

One of the big drawbacks of the journey is the drive to get there. It's easily two days of constant travel, and making any other stops can stretch it out even longer. We didn't have time to explore Natural Bridges at all, and there are several places in Capitol Reef that would be worth exploring in more detail. My next trip will have to be planned for at least two weeks.

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