Buckskin Gulch: Trip notes

I recently hiked Buckskin Gulch. Buckskin Gulch is the longest slot canyon in the world. At 13 miles long, it can seem repetitive at times. But when you take someone who hasn't ever been there and you see the look on their face you can appreciate even more. Some 15 years ago, we tried to hike Buckskin, but were forced to exit at middle trail as we could literally see the water rising as we were standing in a pool. (It turned out to be ok, since we had time to do a lot of other short hikes like Kaibito Creek (which I think is closed now)). 11 years ago, I was able to hike from the Gulch all the way down to Lee's Ferry, some 42 miles.

This trip was just going to be a quick one. In at Wire Pass, out at White House. Two days, 21 Miles. So we left at 4 in the morning from the SLC area to the Utah/Arizona border between Kanab, UT and Page, AZ. Got the (mtn bike) shuttle setup and were at Wire Pass at Noon. Actually started hiking some 40 minutes later. I wasn't sure how much water there would be at the bottom in the middle of July. It was about thigh high at the deepest. Around 8 pm we got to the rock obstacle (it's on the left side, don't go looking for it on the right side, since it can be sketchy/steep over there and you'll probably have wet shoes on), and since it was getting dark we found a nice area with dry dirt just beyond that where we camped. (Above the real "campsite" with the "seeps" (which looked dry)).

The next morning we were on the trail at 9. The hike up and out of Paria is dirtier/hotter and probably wetter than Buckskin. Buckskin shelters you from the heat and is a nice temperature. (It's weird there are pockets of heat, but I'd say it was around 70-75 down there, even though it was 96 on top of the canyon). Paria opens up pretty quickly so one is now exposed. There is also "quicksand", and the pools/river is slightly deeper. (Note that I'm talking about July conditions. And it really doesn't make sense to talk about conditions, since they can vary so much in a slot canyon. Ie, if it's raining or there's a chance of rain stay out! In April and June there can be chest high cess pools in Buckskin....) We were at the White House trailhead by 2pm. Pretty good time for 21 miles of hiking. Then I needed to ride the 14 miles of shuttle on my bike. (4 miles on road, with a decent climb, and 10 miles off). There was a pretty nasty headwind (or maybe I was just delirious), but that took about 3 hours. Two cars are recommended!

Some other notes. We took a 2L of water/day. We probably could've used 3L/day. (Paria will clog your filter, and the only water you'd want to drink in Buckskin is at the seeps some 12 (or so) miles down (which we didn't even get to the first day).

Saw a bunch of animals. Bats, rattlesnakes, (dead) skunk, jackrabbit, lizards, and birds. Saw a couple small birds that were 'stuck' in the canyon. They'd fly and get about 4 feet high and hit the side wall (buckskin gulch is probably 100 feet tall or more through most of it) and come tumbling down. My sister inlaw played the honorary Audubon member and rescued one, but there were others whose fate wasn't so pleasant, as we saw them floating (upside down) in pools.

It was hot at night. Everyone slept with their sleeping bag open. Then bugs weren't bad. But the bats and threat of rattlesnakes/scorpions is in the back of your mind. I'd bring a sleeping bag 'liner' and use that next time.

A person in the party was deliberating whether to bring their Nikon D80. So I offered to carry it (having never hiked it with a digital camera, I jumped at the chance). Probably need some lessons for how to use a fancier camera than the point/shot models I normally use.

Oh and the canyon was awesome. Check out my sister's report here.

tags: buckskin  buckskin gulch  slot canyon  paria  

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