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| Hiking | 15.39 Miles |
2,103 AEG |
| | Hiking | 15.39 Miles | 9 Hrs 14 Mns | | 2.18 mph |
| 2,103 ft AEG | 2 Hrs 11 Mns Break | | | |
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| partners | | After receiving permits to The Wave a few months ago, we'd been periodically checking for Coyote Buttes South permits to see if anything opened up the weekend we were going to be in the area. About a week before the trip, permits became available for Monday, just two days after our Wave permits, so the timing ended up working great with our existing plans.
We had permits for Paw Hole Trailhead, but given the sandy conditions on BLM 1079, rather than risk getting stuck in the sand, we decided to park at Lone Tree Reservoir and hike to Paw Holes, which would add ~ five miles roundtrip to the hike. It would make a long day to hike up to Southern Wave and back, so we got an early start and were hiking the road as the sun came up. It was very peaceful, and we saw all kinds of animal tracks in the sand along the way. There were a few spots with deep sand, but we probably would have been fine driving the road (we saw a stock Jeep Cherokee driving in without issue in the afternoon), but it wasn't worth the risk, and we didn't mind the extra mileage.
From the trailhead, we explored Paw Hole, which was dry, and Paw Hole Buttes, then headed north around the west side of the cliffs toward Southern Alcove. Along the way, we encountered a herd of 30+ bighorn sheep at the bottom of the cliffs, including a few with some impressive horns...also impressive was their agility in climbing up and down the cliffs. They watched us closely and continued to keep an eye on us from a distance as we made our way north.
Southern Alcove was a nice spot, with a lot of impressive fins in the rock, a feature we'd see throughout Coyote Buttes South. We made our way over to Yellow Stripe, another area full of interesting color bands and streaks in the buttes [ youtube video ] . We took a short break there and then headed northeast toward the next set of features, making our way over and under several barbed wire fences. There are obviously no trails out there, but the desert brush was pleasantly light on thorns and spines and heavy on flowers, so the trek wasn't too bad.
We passed a few interesting but unnamed (as far as I know) features, then got into the next set of landmarks, including Olympic Torch and The Hydra [ youtube video ] . That, too, was another area with incredible geology and all kinds of unique spires and buttes. We could see White Pocket off in the distance to the east, and we saw other people for the first time to our north, heading toward Southern Wave.
We moved in that same direction, and the entire area up there was incredible, with a seemingly endless expanse of jaw-dropping geology. That vicinity had the highest concertation of colors, spires, fins, and crazy features--in three different spots, I looked at the best scenery of the day and thought, "This must be Southern Wave," only to find something even more impressive  . There were two other groups near Southern Wave (one couple and one large group with a tour guide), both of which had driven to Cottonwood Trailhead and hiked from there.
We explored the area around Southern Wave [ youtube video ] and then went above/south to check out Control Tower and Witch's Hat. That area had some cool fins and other unnamed formations. From there, I headed down to the waypoint I'd marked for the dinosaur tracks and found one distinct print before we had to start back toward Paw Hole. On the way, I took a quick detour to see Half & Half, a rock streaked half in pink, half in orange, and we took one more break at Southern Alcove for a snack on the hike out. We saw two other people around Paw Hole who'd driven to the trailhead in the Jeep Cherokee.
We made it to all the landmarks I'd hoped to see today, but there's still a lot more to explore for a future visit. Overall, Coyote Buttes South greatly exceeded my expectations. I went in thinking this would be a lesser version of Coyote Buttes North since those permits are tougher to get and The Wave gets so much attention. The Wave is arguably the most beautiful formation in the area, but it's concentrated in that one spot, and I felt like Coyote Buttes South had the advantage in terms of the amount/total area of unique and beautiful geology. I now understand comments from those who say that they prefer Coyote Buttes South...regardless, they're both impressive, and I was lucky to be able to visit both sites in the span of three days. |
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