Distance: 10.9 miles round trip on use trail and cross country
Summit Elevation: 3193'
Elevation Gain: 3480'
Elevation Gain (in Empire State Buildings): 2.8
Round trip time: 7 hours
Recommended water: 132 oz.
Parking/Fees: Free on Rockhouse Canyon Road
Difficulty: Strenuous
My last visit to Coyote Mountain (SDC #71) was 2017. I wanted to take the long south ridge this time, stopping at Mist BM and Coyote West along the way. I drove to Rockhouse Canyon Road, then took an unsigned dirt road a short distance toward the foot of Coyote. I started up the closest slope, which had a use trail, only to discover it did not connect with the ridge. I had to drop down and cross a gully to reach the ridge. Mist BM came quickly, but was in a random location. There were 4 fingers stabbing eastward from the ridge and Mist was the third highest. I don't pretend to understand the logic. There was a benchmark and register from 2022. I signed in without removing my pack.
I continued up the ridge, eventually descending into a large dry lake. This was the coolest feature of the day. The caked mud on the perimeter showed that it held water at least a little while on the rare occasion of heavy precipitation. I crossed the dry lake as the ridge continued to undulate. There was a lot of extra gain from the contours. I climbed a steep section of gully, then hit a relatively flat section. There were a few places where I followed an old road, other segments had a faint use trail, and the rest was open desert with very little vegetation. Even cholla and ocotillo had only a meager presence on Coyote. I crossed Peak 2589, a forgettable bump. Before the final ascent, the ridge gave up 200' to a saddle. I took a gully up to the top, then traversed a short distance to Coyote West. It seemed almost level with the official high point and had a reference mark. There was a plastic jar with several full registers. The oldest date from 1993. As I approached the summit, I saw someone already there with a dog. I thought it might be someone local on a Tuesday, but the hiker was John Pru (sp?) with his dog Gracie. He was an avid hiker and peakbagger from Massachusetts with 44 state high points. He had come up the standard route. He and his wife were traveling the county by RV and had been in town a few days. We had a lengthy chat about peakbagging and I suggested some nearby off the beaten path hikes. We left the summit at the same time, returning along our different ascent lines. I tried some route modifications on the way down looking for easier alternatives, but they were mostly worse. I picked up one mylar balloon on the way out.
See also:
Coyote Mountain standard route
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