Trip Report _ Hamblin Arch April 9-12 2014

thefirstzukman

Finding Utah
Supporting Member
This is the first time for my family to do a Backpacking trip PERIOD..... We have done many day trips but have never done an over night trip on the trail.
My Daughter is 14 and my son is 17, we have a 20 yo son on a mission and he is pretty jealous. My daughter suffers from extreme depression and Anxiety, she had been in the Hospital for 2 weeks prior to this weekend from a Suicide attempt and had only been home for a few days.
We were not sure how this would turn out with her but her therapist thought it would be good for her to be away from people so this was a good place to be. She did good until day 3 when we came back up the canyon and ran into a ton of people at the arch, as soon as we got there she had an anxiety attack and it got a little crazy for a few.
It was a safe place for her to experience how she would react from the attack and use coping skills learned to handle and work through it. It was also a good place for us all to experience how to help her. I believe the healing abilities of the wilderness are incredible, It was a great trip

Day one Wednesday 4/9

We arrived at the trail head at Hurricane wash at about 1:00 and it was 81 degrees, we each had 1.5 l of water and were still unsure of what the water situation would be in the Gulch, we were told there were springs around the arch and down stream but no one could tell us if there was water flowing. A local in Escalante to take lots of water because it can be dry.
We decided we could push the 5 miles into the gulch on half our water and if it was dry we would come back out at first light with the rest of the water we had. While hiking in we came across someone on his way out who told us there was plenty of water to filter but it pretty sandy.

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About 2 miles in the old scout backpack my son was using decided to break, the strap had frayed at the sew line and puled through. Thank goodness I remembered the sewing kit:eek:
This was the point when I told myself "what was I thinking not buying the kids new packs" I had already spent about $700 on other stuff for them and didn't know how they would like this so i was worried about spending the money, last time I make that mistake.

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This was the typical terrain in the wash

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First sign of water
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Food after dinner the first day, we started with 4 nights 5 days for food and took 21 pounds of food for the trip.

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Camp Night 1
 
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thefirstzukman

Finding Utah
Supporting Member
Day two Thursday 4/10

We slept ok, it was a little cold but not bad. This was the first night for us on the sleep pads and in the tent, I bought pillows but found them to be a little lacking. I set up the sleeping stuff in the dark and had my pad upside down, the xtherm would have probably kept me a bit warmer if I had it reflective side up.
I was sleeping with a down quilt rated at 45 degrees so i expected to maybe be a little cool, the kids bags are rated at 35 degrees and they said it was a bit cool too.

Walking into Coyote Gulch


First real glimpse of Hamblin Arch


Jabob Hamblin Arch


These canyons are AWESOME!


The wall bleeds water


Lunch Time


Sandstone River Bed




My Workout Partner


This arch was cool, coming from the other direction it looked like you were walking into a dead end and then there was this little hole in the canyon.


Didn't hike up there, but I'm sure it gets used..


My son getting some water


View from night 2 campsite


Campsite day 2
 
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