The Gulch with a dog?

la_alpinista

la_alpinista

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I am planning a week-long backpack with my dog. I'm thinking to do the Boulder Mail Trail, then along the Escalante (with side trips), then out either The Gulch or Harris Wash. Can anybody tell me how these trails would be with a dog? Zorba is an experienced backpacker and scrambler, but he's getting a bit older so I don't want to take him on anything too strenuous. At 30 lbs, he is haul-able, but I wouldn't want to do that more than once or twice on the whole trip.

Thanks!
Cathy
 
He said The Gulch, not Coyote Gulch :)

The part of The Gulch I did last year was easy wash hiking, but I didn't go down all the way to the Escalante.
 
Dogs would have no problem with any of that stuff. The only possible tricky spot would be dropping into the slot in The Gulch. It was flooding when I was there, so it wasn't even an option. I'm not sure how hard it is in normal conditions. Maybe @Jammer does? But yeah, other than that, it's all just walking, no need to haul the dog through any of that.
 
I frequently underestimate what dogs can do -- but I don't think you'd have a problem in any of those areas. Getting UP the slot in the Lower Gulch would be really hard for humans or dogs -- but there is a longish bypass on the west side that shouldn't be a problem for either. You could also go up Boulder Creek to the narrows and then cross the saddle to the Gulch and thus skip the lower end of the Gulch.

Do dogs do OK crossing swift water? Extended walks on slickrock?
 
Jammer said:
Do dogs do OK crossing swift water? Extended walks on slickrock?
Click to expand...

Swift water can be tricky, but they get through pretty good in my experience. Sometimes a little further downstream than intended, but they get through. This was on the Escalante near Sand Creek during some high spring runoff. If it's something I can walk through, it wouldn't worry me dragging a pup through. With that in mind, the middle Escalante can be pretty bad in the spring when the runoff hits, for humans and dogs.

5483869481_959c9df0bb_z.jpg
 
Just in case someone else comes looking at this thread, I'll weigh in.

Solo, with a dog, there is no safe way down that section of canyon drop off. If you have a dog that is comfortable being picked up and passed down, it would still be a little difficult.

I scoped the bypass, but didn't know enough about it to try. Nemesis created. Need to go back.
 
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