As we continued north on HCO; our first day in Huntington Valley, we encountered a coyote carcass hanging on a ranch fence. Sometimes ranchers shoot and hang them on fences to deter other coyote incursions. Huntington Creek, the lifeline for emigrants flows north to the South Fork Humboldt River. This river continues north to the Humboldt River and the California Trail. James Reed's name (Sinking Creek Valley) for this area may have been that the creek runs below the level of land.