April 2022 – Page 5 – Sagebrush Trails

Monday?

HDT 2022 Day 18, April 18, Monday
Start top of Fifty Mile  Bench S7 mile 6.9
End start of Navajo Canyon S7 mile 22.7
Miles walked: 15.8

With Fifty Mile Bench we leave the brilliant red rocks of yesterday, and move to more muted colors, tans and grays, like my own state. Continuing to follow the pack trail, we get to Mudhole Springs, a line shack with fenced off springs, and the next sure cattle-free water is many miles away, so it is time to fill all water containers and drink as much as possible, as hikers would say,¨camel up¨.

Fifty?

HDT 2022 Day 17, April 17, Sunday
Start Coyote Gulch S6 mile 62.0
End top of Fifty Mile Bench S7 mile 6.9
Miles walked:17.4

Coyote Gulch widens at times into a lovely riparian area, with cottonwoods and oak.

We get to walk through Coyote Natural Bridge.

Coyote?

HDT 2022 Day 16, April 16, Saturday
Start Escalante River, S6 mile 40.0
End Coyote Gulch S6 mile 62.0
Miles walked:12

Continuing with yesterday’s strategy, I minimized crossing and walking in the river, and dealt with thick brush and climbing over boulders, slow going. Boulders covered about half the elevation of the cliff face, so that is a lot of rock to fall into the water channel.

By early afternoon progress was slow, as channel banks tended to become more narrow and steeper, and climbing around truck-size boulders was tricky.