revisiting day canyon

 Last weekend it really did feel like spring in Moab.  Although they'd had a little bit of rain during the week, Saturday morning was crystal clear with temperatures into the mid-60s.  With the sun it felt glorious but never too hot - just right for hiking.  The "silly season" (i.e., lots and lots of recreationers surging into town) has begun which means we start looking for places to go that are more off the radar.  We decided to revisit Day Canyon, first/last attempted in July 2020.  It had gotten too hot for Milton that day and we had turned around before getting to the head of the canyon.  We wanted to see if we could get all the way there this time.

Junipers and blue sky

While the Gold Bar campground (single sites and group sites) was chockablock full, the trailhead parking lots for both Corona Arch and Jeep Arch were only lightly attended as we drove by.  After that, we didn't see anyone - other than a couple of dudes sitting on the train tracks, drinking coffee and watching the Colorado flow past; we waved at each other - as we pulled off the road across from the mouth of Day Canyon.

The boys in matching shirts

There was a little more water in the wash than there had been in July, although there wasn't enough that we got our feet wet on the creek crossings.  It seems as though most of this water comes from springs, seeping through the rocky walls.

Layers

The trail weaves back and forth, following the wash through the cottonwood trees and other green growth at the mouth of the canyon, and then following an old ranch or mining road on the right side of the canyon as you're heading up.  After the narrowest part of the canyon, near where the old watering trough sits by a spring, the canyon widens and the trail starts to climb.  It's never truly steep but it climbed enough to put a sweat on us.  We had Milton wear his white t-shirt as the sun climbed above the canyon walls, helping to reflect some of the strong sun his black fur absorbs.

No climbers this far in

At some point, a ways past where we had turned around in July, the old road disappears.  We followed a clear foot trail, then a faint foot trail dotted with very occasional cairns, and then it all just faded away into a jumble of rocks.  We searched for an obvious way forward for a while; not finding one, we decided to again turn around before getting to the head of Day Canyon.  We people could have gone on but we didn't want to risk the dog potentially getting injured in the loose jumble.  

Heading down the canyon

It does look like maybe we could get up even further by staying down in the wash instead of being on the old road.  The only catch would be if there's an impassible pour-off somewhere that we couldn't get past.  I think it's worth exploring on another day.  There's also one decent side canyon further down that has exploration potential as well.

The river is thataway

We'd had the whole hike completely to ourselves until we got within a half mile of the mouth of the canyon.  At first we heard just voices, and then we saw a couple of clusters of climbers, clinging to the high sandstone walls.  We met another couple of climbers on the final walk out and when we re-emerged onto the road, the incidental use parking area was completely full - at least ten other vehicles, most with climbers organizing their gear to head in.  And that was nothing compared to the crowds at Wall Street where we stopped on our way out for sandwiches and surreptitious beers.  Silly season, indeed.  At least it makes for good people-watching.

Hike stats: 8.58 miles; moving time 2:56 / avg. speed 2/9 m.p.h.; overall 3:36 / 2.4; 1,400' elevation