Coal Wash
We tried to do Coal Wash in 2013 but we didn't have time. It's basically an extension of Fix It Pass, but it's much easier than that trail We were happy to finally be finishing this trail system. We came off of Wood Hollow and popped up to the trailhead at Fuller Bottom, to get our bearings. Then we headed in.
We saw the trailhead for Yellow Seep near the kiosk just after the trail starts, but we weren't going to have time for that trail this trip. Even after all of the trails we were going to see, there were still more left to conquer on our next trip to San Rafael Swell. That's definitely a good thing.
It was raining, and lots of ATVs were out on the trail. The trail followed the wash, and all of the rain was soaked in immediately. We saw very little standing or running water at first.
We came to the kiosk at the intersection with the Eva Conover Trail, letting a few more ATVs get by us. The Eva Conover Trail wasn't marked that way here -- it was marked as the south fork of Coal Wash. We stayed on the north fork, to see the rest of the trail.
It was pretty fun as it wound around curves in the sand. It wasn't a far-fetched idea to think of an ATV or dirtbike coming fast in the other direction, so we kept our speeds fairly low. In the end, though, we didn't see any oncoming traffic.
After many sandy curves we got to the three-way intersection with Fix It Pass and Devil's Racetrack. Matt was the only one who hadn't had the chance to run those fun trails, but he passed on the opportunity to do the ledge nearby on Devil's Racetrack. We'd be back there another time.
We turned around and started back to the Eva Conover Trail, and we got lucky -- the rain stopped and the sun came out. Everything dries out pretty quickly in the desert, and soon it looked like it hadn't rained at all. We found a wide spot in the wash that we liked (there were plenty of them) and pulled over for lunch. It was one of those perfect Utah lunches in the shade of a big cottonwood tree, and we stayed there for a bit just relaxing.
When we'd finished our lunches, we headed back up the trail. It wasn't long before we were at the intersection at the kiosk. It was time to head back south, so we started the Eva Conover Trail. It felt great to get that last trail under our belts.
