No rain last night. We failed to wake up early to get a good start on the hike out so we ended up starting around 8:30am. We filled our bottles to capacity before leaving Coyote Gulch back through Hurricane Wash. We got off route once in the wash but we had our trusty GPS and so we just headed cross country to rejoin the route. We got back to the car around 11:15am and moved to start our next hike: a day hike into Peek-A-Boo and Spooky slot canyons. We drove back toward town and eventually found Dry Fork Trailhead. We were able to drive most of the 0.7 mile “high clearance” road without issue. We ate a little lunch then made our way to the trailhead at the edge of Dry-fork Coyote Gulch.
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| Walking back to the car from Coyote Gulch |
Lots of people were around but were nicely spread out. We made our way down to the bottom. We actually missed the entry to Peek-a-boo gulch as it is halfway up the wall of the rock face but after that realization, we backtracked and found the entrance. We climbed up into the slot canyon and were instantly amazed! Mat just has water & snacks in his pack but he still has to take it off to slide through the narrow twists & turns of the slot. The slot opens a little before narrowing again. Eventually, we exited the head of the slot into a sandy wash where we sat in the shade and drank some water before setting out east cross-country to the head of SpookyGulchh. We entered the slot from it’s sandy wash and are once again amazed by not only the narrowness but the different characteristics of this slot compared to the one only a hundred yards away! Spooky gulch drops quickly so it is darker & cooler.
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| Climb into Peek-a-boo Gulch |
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| Peek-a-boo Gulch |
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| Peek-a-boo Gulch |
We came to a rock jam in which the floor of the canyon drops about six feet. A large gopher snake sat in a crook between two rocks, fat belly from a fresh kill so it did not move despite our presence. Thank goodness it’s a gopher snake and not a rattler since we needed to descend underneath that rock to continue down the slot! Mat lowered himself down a hole between the rocks, I handed him the backpacks, then he spotted me while I lower myself between the rocks. It’s definitely easier to descend that hole than it would be to try to climb out of it. The slot got cooler and cooler, becoming more narrow. Mat had to take off his pack again just to slide through. Unfortunately the slots weren’t that long so we broke out of the canyon before we know it. We started back to the car.
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| Figuring out how to get down into Spooky Gulch |
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| Spooky Gulch |
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| Spooky Gulch |
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| Spooky Gulch |
We debated camping another night somewhere along Hole-in-the-rock Road and getting into town tomorrow but we realized we don’t have enough water and no opportunity to get any more anywhere along the road. So we decided to get into town tonight but not before a quick stop at Devil’s Garden to admire the rock formations. Once in town, we found a hotel. Mat went in to reserve a room. The good Mormon manager asks if the room is for one person or two. “Two,” says Mat. The manager looks at Mat, who’s not wearing his wedding band, and asks if he’d like one bed or two. “One”, says Mat. Now Mat’s really getting a good looking at. Needless to say we were put into a room with two beds. Ha! We showered and headed over to Circle D restaurant, their special tonight is a 15oz Ribeye from a local rancher and it’s what we both order with a glass of beer and wine. We planned on doing laundry but we’re just too tired, we’ll do it in the morning.
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| Devil's Garden |
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| Devi's Garden |
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