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| Canyoneering | 26.00 Miles |
20 AEG |
| | Canyoneering | 26.00 Miles | 3 Days | | |
| 20 ft AEG | | | | |
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| no partners | | This trip was done April 7-10, I just got around to writing this up for my records.
It was time for an adventure. Somewhat unexpectedly, I had a couple of days open up that I could take off of work easy enough at the last minute so I decided to take a backpacking trip a littler further away than usual. Not too long ago I had watched a YouTube video that one of our members here did in the Grand Gulch which really caught my interest (previously WildWestHikes, now WildlandExplorer; if you're into the niche genre of backpacking YouTube, he does a great job and is a nice change of pace as most of backpacking YouTube is back out East, very different from our biome). The lure of Southern Utah is always there but this one is also a bit unique for a solo backpacker as you could stage a bike shuttle easy enough; the road pretty much all paved and the dirt road to the Bullet canyon is short and well maintained. The area just entered permit season so I was a bit worried but that was no issue; snagged permits for my days and it was on: would hike in to Kane Gulch on a Thursday and hike out of Bullet Canyon.
My planning mostly consisted of just figuring out the water situation as the route is pretty popular and not like you can get lost easily; just don't climb the giant cliffs to the side of you and you'll make your way to where you need to be eventually. Ol' WildlandExplorer went at the end of fall and packed in an enormous amount of water (I think it was something like 10+ liters?) because he wasn't sure what the situation would be then. My fitness level can, at best, be described as "okay" so I had zero interest in doing that. After doing a ton of internet sleuthing and talking to the rangers, I felt comfortable that I wouldn't need to carry more than 2 liters with me at any given time and this proved to be accurate. For anyone referencing this for their own trip, it appears that Todie Spring, Green Mask, and Jailhouse are reliable year-round, and are what I used as sources; I'm calling them reliable based on a couple dozen forum posts from various places at all different times of year and talking to two rangers. This is great as it's about 6-8 miles between each, which is a perfectly reasonable distance between water sources. I found that Coyote Spring may be reliable year-round, too, but didn't use that on this trip. There is a lot of mention of a spring at the junction of Bullet Canyon and Grand Gulch but I'm skeptical that exists anymore. There was a giant flood a few years ago and every reference I've seen to that spring post-flood is that it's not there/it's dry. It seems like the flood and all the debris it tossed around may have changed the flow of that perhaps? Either way, wouldn't count on that one.
For the first day, I got in around 10:30 or so after staying the night in Tuba City (couldn't get out of work quite as early as I would have liked the day before). My plan was to go to the Bullet Canyon trailhead and either drop off my bike and drive to Kane or, what I was hoping, get a drop of my car and get a hitch to Kane. I figured I would save the bike ride for the end because it gives you two chances at getting a hitch and, if you don't, well you have 7 miles to bike and think about your poor decision making skills.
I did not get a hitch.
So, bike dropped off, I checked in with the ranger at the station to make sure nothing had changed regarding water based on my research and they confirmed I had it right. With that in mind, I filled my bottles with 1.5 liters and set out. The trail quickly starts the slow and easy decent into the canyon, a mixture of sand and slick rock to carry you forward. I was immediately greeted with a ton of snow patches doing their best, and failing, to stay frozen. It made for a beautiful sight and also put to ease any last lingering water concerns I may have had. The streams of water created from the melt would continue for about 3 miles or so before disappearing; this was a bit sad but it seems like the disappearance of water happened right when the canyon walls start closing in and creating top tier views. My target for the night was Todie canyon, about 8 miles in, give or take. The terrain was easy and flat, with the only exception being if you go in and out of the wash. There are no real trails here but there is an obvious social trail and then a multitude of game trails. I decided to mix it up a bit and utilize both; staying in the wash didn't sound fun and restricts your views. Nonetheless, judging by the footprints, a lot of people do seem to stay in it for a good chunk of the trip. I took it slow, taking in the famous ruins like Turkey pen, and got to the junction of Todie canyon around 4 or 5, which had an amazing campsite with incredible views down Todie. I set my pack down and went on a quest for water. I was just about out, so this was pretty important. I went down the canyon on a well used social trail on the North side for about .25-.5 miles (I had read multiple sources that said the water would be somewhere in that range) and... nothing. I won't lie, I was starting to get a little worried as I had maybe a quarter liter left. I switched to the south side of the canyon, though, and immediately found water. So, there you go, all the research in the world won't help you if you don't also pay attention to which side of the canyon the water is actually on. Go figure.
I got back to camp just as a group of 4 was rolling in, looking for somewhere to settle in for the night. As usual, I was solo but don't mind company and the site had about 5 areas where you could fit a medium size army, so I told them to feel free to just set up camp and that it wasn't intruding on me at all. We chatted just a bit that night; they were from Salt Lake and out doing the same route as me. I made my dinner (if you guys are sleeping on packit gourmet, fix that. Best backpacking food out there in my opinion), watched some netflix, and fell asleep with a warm belly of whisky.
The next day, I didn't really have a target plan. I set out decently early, zig zagging through ruins and the wash, making my way forward. I would end up leap frogging the Salt Lake group for a good chunk of the day and then one other group of 5 or 6 guys with packs that looked to be about 100 pounds each. Eventually I made my way to the spring by the Green Mask which was cold and delicious. Around the same time, the other two groups got there as well and we all took a needed break, sharing stories and filtering water. One member of the Salt Lake group decided that wasn't enough and had a small fainting incident; he was pretty clearly suffering from mild dehydration and I think had underestimated how much the sun exposure was zapping out of him. I gave him a couple of my nuun tablets to help with electrolites and hydration and he was good to go before too long.
I had struck up good conversation with the guy so once we left there, I stuck with him and just continued chatting. The three women he was with were absolute beasts and just blowing us out of the water with their hiking speed, so it worked out. Eventually, we made our way past Jailhouse Spring (a bit murky but filtered and tasted just fine) and to a spot across from jailhouse where the canyons just open up wide. I found a nice spot under some beautiful trees and set up camp while the group found a spot in a more exposed area that could fit their tents not too far away. I'm normally a solo hiker and while I enjoyed the company while hiking, I also enjoyed having this spot to myself so I could be the introvert that I truly am. Throughout the evening and the next morning, I saw roughly 15 deer, one herd of 5 getting within 20 feet of my camp and just staring me down; I took some video of this and my 5 year daughter thought it was the funniest thing ever.
The next morning was to be a short 4.5 miles or so and ended up hiking out with that group again. This day proved to be much tougher than the others as the climb out of the canyon is done over a fair bit smaller milage. Nothing crazy, but there were some definite switchbacks that got my heart pumping. We made it back in good time and, what do you know, they had a cooler with some sparkling water... that was still ice cold. They offered my one and it was glorious.
Oh, and what do you know, they had a bike rack and were more than happy for me to load my bike on it and give me a ride to the trailhead as they were going north anyway.
This trip was one for the books. I didn't mention it much, but there truly are ruins and artifacts all over the place that make this a really interesting trip. They, mostly, aren't kept behind gates or restricted zones which means you can get up close, imagine what it was like for the people that called this home, and just let your mind mull over how long humans have been around just making life happen. Truly fantastic. |
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