Trip Idea: Dirty Hayduke Dreamin’
Well, the snow gods have not been generous to us this year (global warming is real, ya’ll). I had trips on the Gila, Escalante, and Dirty Devil planned, but its looking like a dry spring for those rivers without a storm window. At the moment, I am planning a LASH of the CDT NM for beta on the Gila for another year! In the mean time, here’s the trip I wanted to take!
The Dirty Hayduke
The route I am interested in follows the Hayduke Trail for roughly 16 miles from Hite, UT down to Fiddler’s Cove and it’s confluence with the Dirty Devil River. From there, float 22-23 miles down the Dirty Devil and take out on river right at Glencove Boat Ramp. There is a very interesting looking wash on river right about 18 miles from put in, river mile ??? I am curious if one could take out there, reuniting with the 4x4 road to UT 95 and saving a couple miles?
Dean Hill had an excellent idea and drove his group’s packs about 4 miles down FR*** and they hiked back to them. My plan was to follow suit, but park my truck at the takeout. and eliminate the 4.5 mile hwy walk with wet gear, doing the full “hike” upfront. Plus, I think I’m more likely to catch a hitch with just a day pack, rather than full backpack. 4.5 miles with daypack is a little less than 90 minutes, it would take us much longer pack boats and hoof that. Inspiration and partial beta credit goes to Dean Hill and his blog post here.
Hiking Route
Hayduke Trail Association Website Description: “The route leaves Hite by way of the Flint Trail then climbs up onto the red benches through a chimney route in the West fork of Rock Canyon. Loosely following the Chinese Trail across the Red Benches, the route then makes a steep descent into Fiddler Cove Canyon which it follows to it's confluence with the Dirty Devil River.”
I was able to find a caltopo map of the Hayduke Trail, and transcribed it into a custom for this route.
Paddling Route
The Dirty Devil is primary as Class I - Class II run, with possible
Class III at high waters. Ideally, a minimum of 100 cfs (120cfs is better).
Resources
American Whitewater: Dirty Devil
Inspiration and partial beta credit goes to Dean Hill and his blog post here.
BLM office in Hanksville:
380 S 100 W Hanksville,
UT 84734 (435) 542-3461
