Day 1

I woke up in the middle of the night as I often do and was unnerved to find a complete lack of sound. No insects or man made noises to be found. The ears almost strain for any noises possible and still there is nothing. I grabbed my camera and took a few snaps of the camp and the moon and a few stars were starting to find its way through the cloud cover. Slipping back into the tent and I drifted off to sleep, still bewildered by the lack of noise.

We woke up the next morning and the landscape that had been veiled by clouds and rain the day before was becoming more visible. Rugged and mysterious. Mountains to our south and seemingly nothing to the north but rolling hills of the desert. We packed up camp and readied our gear anxious to find the next adventure.

This being my very first backpacking experience as we set off down the trail, my pack seemed foreign, heavy and exciting. My was camera securely wrapped around my right wrist. Through the sand and underbrush, I led the crew down a path, still visible even after the rains the day before. As we went along we finally hit the swooping rocks. Along the rocks we followed the path of rock cairns, each one unique and beautiful. As we got closer to the descent point into the gulch, we crossed paths with a couple, who told us that the descent was too steep and that they didn’t think they could do it, but suggested we “might” be capable of it. Unsurely we slowly worked our way to the point that they described. Looking down over the edge of the gulch, the path seemed extremely steep.

I’d be lying if I said at that point that I’d didnt know if we could make it down. We took off our packs and scouted the best route. It seemed doable when Paul made it down. Eventually with a bit of maneuvering and lowering the packs as a team, we all made it to the bottom safely.

Inside the gulch it was a completely different world. It seemed so lush and untouched by others. The first plan of attack was determining where we were located. Which as we walked down and saw the gigantic arch proved to be, Jacob Hamlin Arch. After a water break and some light exploration, we headed onward toward the Natural Bridge. When we started we were sticking to the path as people were walking by us in the river. After an hour or so that’s exactly what we ended up doing was strolling through in the river. We passed under the Natural Bridge and after a few more twists and turns landed at our first camp spot next to the start of a waterfall. The location was gorgeous and after the setup of the gear we explored the area further.

It seemed like the more I saw of the Coyote Gulch the amazed I was by its beauty and the more that was there to be discovered.

On every hike throughout the trip each team member is granted a name. In our team we ended up with Task Master, our Scout Leader, Betsy Poppins, and the Cowboy.

-a wanderer-