Coalpits

Nobody likes to hike up Coalpits Wash in the summer because the first five miles or so look like the first picture here. While this tree is very beautiful, most of Coalpits is a charred, flash flooded wasteland coming from last summer's wildfires and this summer's weather. But if you have the stamina and the strength, you can be lucky enough to see Coalpits in the upper section where much of it has features like the small waterfall below.
On this day I was supposed to go through Mystery Canyon, so Coalpits was a bit of a letdown. I had to make it worthwhile, so I set off to see how far I could get up the canyon. Once I was hiking, there was no way that I was going to turn back. My watch was telling me that 12:15 was the time to turn around to be back to my vehicle by the time that I was off, but my eyes, heart and feet were asking what was around that next corner? Water, views and cliffs that could rival the main canyon. First there was the peak that I foolishly tried to climb by myself last spring.
I was about two-thirds of the way up this face of the peak before I decided that it was a bad idea to try to climb this peak. The views just got better as I got closer with the Bishopric

And as I was nearing the top, there was a peak that I swear looked just like Angel's Landing.

It probably would have been climbed just as much if it hadn't taken five hours to get to where I was, but it did. This left me with a bit of a predicament. It was one o'clock and I was scheduled to get off at four. The only way back was the way I came in so my instincts were to hoof it. If I booked, I thought I could get back in time. That was an idea, but when I saw the last possibility for a good swimming hole, I had to derangerify myself for a few seconds and jump on in. Yes, that is my underwear crumpled up in the sand, so this is my first and hopefully only nude picture of me online. Luckily, you can only see my head or else this would be one to keep off the internet. After that I just hauled. I was marred by quicksand, no trail, loose rocks, water, sand, brush, and flash flood debris, but I motored on through. Unfortunately, I did not make it back to the trailhead before 4:00, instead I was three minutes late and had to settle for 4:03. I am definitely loving the physical shape that my job allows me to be in, although this trek wore me out pretty good.