From Wire Pass Trail Head to Lee's Ferry is somewhere around 43 miles. Buckskin is one of the best slot canyon hikes to be found. Deep and narrow canyons; one of the best arches in the world; much wildlife; many good campsites; good water; many, many petroglyphs. I would classify this as a strenuous hike for experienced desert hikers. I hope you get the idea from the highlights above that this is a slot canyon and can be very dangerous in rainy weather (sign). Several hikers have been killed in flash flood accidents in the slot canyons of this area: be prepared. The month of May seems to be the lull in rain activity.
All that said, this area is absolutely beautiful; it is so unusual that it seems surreal at times. After miles in Buckskin, you can almost feel the walls closing in upon you. Recommend good sturdy shoes that can handle much time in the water. Spread out the trip over several days so it doesn't turn into a death march or "slogathon." Much more can be seen taking a little extra time. We spent two hours climbing all over the Scorpion Rock area and found many petroglyphs and even a plateau littered with petrified wood. The terrain is relatively flat. The heat can be pretty oppressive during the summer months. Also, we didn't find the insects to be a particular bad problem. There are the infamous deer flies that get the back of a leg occasionally and some nasty fleas that burrow under the hair and bite pretty good. Enjoy. Semper paratus. Oh, by the way, I'm sure you'll understand the “puppet” song reference above after your trip...
and many, many others...
Waypoints: (Use as a guide. May be slightly off. GPS reception is difficult in the canyons.)
| WAYPOINT |
LAT |
LONG |
ALT (FT) | COMMENT |
| 89TOFF | 37°06.399 | -111°53.981 | 4416 | 89 TURN OFF TO WHITE HOUSE CAMP |
| WHCAMP | 37°04.762 | -111°53.383 | 4323 | WHITE HOUSE CAMPGROUND |
| RUINS1 | 37°03.980 | -111°52.964 | 4403 | RUINS NEAR WHITE HOUSE |
| WINDOS | 37°03.777 | -111°52.919 | 4311 | WINDOWS IN SANDSTONE |
| PET1 | 37°03.526 | -111°52.730 | 4406 | PETROGLYPHS |
| PET2 | 37°02.943 | -111°52.602 | 4397 | PETROGLYPHS |
| PET3 | 37°02.729 | -111°52.093 | 4328 | PETROGLYPHS |
| NARROS | 37°02.103 | -111°52.134 | 4209 | NARROWS SECTION |
| SLIDER | 37°00.529 | -111°51.972 | 4210 | SLIDER ROCK ARCH |
| BSCONF | 37°00.086 | -111°51.945 | 4217 | BUCKSKIN PARIA RIVER CONFLUENCE |
| CAVE1 | 36°59.721 | -111°51.580 | 4080 | CAVE 1 |
| 1STCRK | 36°58.956 | -111°51.062 | 4020 | 1ST CRACK |
| SEEPSB | 36°59.034 | -111°50.913 | 4023 | SAND BAR AND SEEP |
| 10MILE | 36°59.141 | -111°50.869 | 4036 | 10 MILE POINT |
| BIGSPR | 36°58.912 | -111°49.956 | 4064 | BIG SPRINGS |
| SPRNG2 | 36°58.997 | -111°49.729 | 3973 | 12.25 MILE SPRING 2ND CRACK |
| 3RDCRK | 36°59.489 | -111°48.894 | 3940 | 3RD CRACK |
| 4THCRK | 36°59.516 | -111°48.233 | 3952 | 4TH CRACK |
| PET4 | 36°59.594 | -111°46.799 | 4072 | PETROGLYPHS |
| SEEPS | 36°59.392 | -111°46.942 | 3916 | SEEP |
| SEEPS2 | 36°58.976 | -111°46.781 | 4253 | SEEP |
| HOLE | 36°58.861 | -111°46.783 | 3888 | THE HOLE GROTTO |
| PET5 | 36°58.299 | -111°46.689 | 4163 | PETROGLYPHS |
| WRATHR | 36°58.163 | -111°46.382 | 3817 | WRATHER ARCH CYN + SPRING |
| PET6 | 36°58.349 | -111°45.709 | 4004 | PETROGLYPHS |
| SPRNG3 | 36°57.912 | -111°45.381 | 3806 | 22 MILE SPRING |
| PETSPR | 36°57.245 | -111°44.348 | 3894 | PET AND SPRING |
| SPRNG4 | 36°57.184 | -111°43.499 | 3885 | 25.5 MILE SPRING AND CHINLE |
| BUSHED | 36°56.873 | -111°42.775 | 3635 | BUSH HEAD CYN |
| PETMJR | 36°56.325 | -111°40.210 | 3430 | MAJOR PETS & ROCKS |
| RCHMIN | 36°55.332 | -111°39.006 | 3353 | RANCHES MINES ETC |
| SIDETR | 36°53.872 | -111°37.141 | 3223 | SIDE TRAIL ON MAP AND PETS |
| GLCYN | 36°53.146 | -111°36.649 | 3186 | GLEN CYN NAT REC AREA |
| TRLREG | 36°52.346 | -111°36.134 | 3246 | TRAIL REGISTER |
| LEFT | 36°52.009 | -111°35.723 | 3156 | GO LEFT TO LEES FERRY |
| LEEFRY | 36°51.971 | -111°35.236 | 3144 | LEES FERRY |
| BSTRNO | 37°07.543 | -111°58.614 | 4798 | BUCKSKIN TURNOFF |
| BSSTRT | 37°04.045 | -112°00.189 | 4849 | BUCKSKIN TRAIL HEAD |
| WIRPAS | 37°01.192 | -112°01.410 | 4872 | WIRE PASS TRAIL HEAD |
| ARCH | 37°00.608 | -112°01.016 | 5137 | MARKED ARCH |
| MIDTRL | 37°01.845 | -111°55.592 | 4445 | MIDDLE TRAIL ROUTE |
| COBRA | 37°01.249 | -111°53.746 | 4644 | COBRA ARCH |
Water Situation:
I'm always hesitant concerning water recommendations: you're life may be on the line. So verify, verify,
verify. Don't count on water in Buckskin Gulch. Paria may even run dry at certain times of the year and
climate cycle. The springs are you best source. Pumping or filtering Paria water is a massive chore. It is
definitely too thick to drink and too thin to plow as they used to say about the Colorado. Carry extra
holding capacity so you can transport spring water to dry camps as needed. Most of the springs are
shown in the waypoint list and on the maps. The major springs should do you well.
Day-by-day Description:
Friday, 14-May-2010:
The gang met at Buhrman's house around 15:00 and headed up north. Slight change of habit this time: gas up in Flagstaff and head on up to Cameron for supper: good chow as usual. After supper and some looking around, we head on to Lee's Ferry campground for the night: $12 for the night. Enjoyed a pretty night sky – Milky Way and satellites in view and not too much wind.
Saturday, 15-May-2010:
Drop off one car (Bob's) at the Long Term Parking at Lee's Ferry, pile in the truck and head up toward Buckskin turnoff and Wire Pass Trail Head (this road is also called House Rock or Coyote Valley Road or BLM Road 1065). We made a quick stop at the famous Horseshoe Bend of Grand Canyon: the one you always see in the photos. Great overlook! We stop in at the BLM office to check out conditions for the week, browse their place, and pick up the officially recommended poop sacks for the trip – 2 kits each. We arrive at Wire Pass Trail Head,
"saddle up," take some "before" photos, and get on the trail by 11:30.
It's a pretty easy walk. About mile 1.7 we intersect with Buckskin Gulch, check out the petroglyphs there, and take a break. The scenery was pretty darn good so far, but a few hundred yards into Buckskin and we are stunned at its beauty. What a gorgeous and even surreal place. Lots of picture taking all around – Bob and Gary with tripods: click, click, click. This is the scene for the next 6-7 miles until we stop at the Hazardous Exit Trail (can't remember the map name – Middle Route Trail) for the night, totally whipped. We passed through several small, mucky, smelly pools of ice cold water near the end of our day. The mud was pretty neat: fun to play with; muddy on top, dry underneath. We were glad to be stopping. Had those wonderful Marty carnitas burritos and mandarin oranges for supper. Passed out dead to the world. High up on the wall here are a set of excellent petroglyphs.
Mice! About 01:30... crunch, crunch, crunch. The little boogers figured out how to get in the food bags we had hung from the walls: Marty's and Gary's. Things were moved; Bob and Gary like to put their food on top of their bug hut tents – works well for small critters. One mouse deceased. No food lost.
Sunday, 16-May-2010:
Rise and shine in one of the most picturesque places on earth. Off down the gulch. Over the boulder breakdown; we used the rope (in good shape) that was hanging there to climb down. Happy to see the Buckskin-Paria confluence. As gorgeous as Buckskin is, the walls begin to close in after 12-13 miles of slot canyon; I'm an open country person for sure. Come across a couple of other backpackers, even two guys coming up the river (odd...) – maybe a day hike (no English there). One couple was from Panama City, Florida, and the other from Ashland, Oregon, just the next town over from Gary – amazing. The Florida couple dropped a hat, which we recovered and used as a bribe to stay at the Big Spring camp area near them that night. Big Spring was flowing well: refreshing. Roast Beef and mashed 'taters and chocolate pudding for supper. Nice camp site. Good sleep. Good river sounds.
Monday, 17-May-2010:
We knocked out quite a few miles today and made it to Wrather Arch, the target stop, in good time. Of course we stopped by Adam's pump and the Hole Grotto and saw some tremendous sights on our way; and enjoyed our afternoon / lunch siesta. I think this was the day that Marty found one of the "holes." He certainly found quicksand! Interestingly, the water didn't seem as muddy/silty or as deep as it was last time we were here. And based on the water reports we were watching, it wasn't near the volume we expected. The water was definitely cold in the morning and warmed up considerably by evening. Great camp on the beach. Poop bag is getting pretty full and smelly – hang that thing way off. Outstanding clam chowder for supper. I think this is the place where Buhrman roasted Gary's pot protector on his stove! Ouch!
Tuesday, 18-May-2010:
Up Wrather Canyon first thing this morning. Wrather Arch and its canyon are absolutely fantastic - what a breathtaking place. Of course everywhere there were desert flowers in bloom: globemallows, penstemons, idian paintbrushes, prince's plumes, beaver tail cacti (yellow and dark pink), hedgehogs, tamarisks, daisies, black-eyed susans, trumpeters, chicories (maybe), and lupine just to name a few (orchids at Shower spring). Marty sat out the Wrather hike to nurse a sore heel. It's about a 1½ to 2 mile round trip. There was good water up Wrather canyon. It would probably dry up as summer progressed. Funny thing, when we went up Wrather canyon last evening to get water, we found it about 300 yards up the canyon. Yet this morning water was present much sooner in our walk and even flowing where it was totally dry the night before. Back to camp, load up, and head down the river. We enjoyed a stop at Shower spring. Took us a bit to find it – things had grown up quite a bit and we didn't see the giant sign someone spelled out in rocks by the river - duh! I kept bush whacking until I found it. What a gorgeous spring. Met up with another couple at the spring, two ladies. They backpacked yearly in Paria and were a wealth of information about the area.
Off down the river. This place is a geologist's heaven – wow! – even for us greenhorns, it is pure amazement. Bingo! Petroglyph central. We came across a big cluster right across from a big seep spring and the "sand slide." Click, click, click. These were beautiful samples with all sorts of figures, from "aliens" (shaman) to big horn sheep to snakes and the infamous migration symbols. We took our time and explored and enjoyed.
Off to Bush Head canyon to finish the day. We bumped into the Ashland folks again. They thought they were much further along, hoping to hike out tomorrow – tough trod if they do. Had some most excellent beef noodles and summer sausage for supper. Enjoyed the bats and a great beach camp this evening.
Wednesday, 19-May-2010:
Good sleep. Great weather. Only a hint of rain yesterday. Other than that, clear, comfortable conditions. Up and at 'em. We'd all like to get across the sand dune area before it's too hot. We remembered it being quite a trudge. I guess we took the "tougher" way last time, because it wasn't so bad this time, just a slog through a stint of sand. Nice, wide open views here – stunning! Marty and I thought we saw some petroglyphs up a draw and stopped for a look around. I climbed up the wash and on top of a small plateau where I found the whole area strewn with petrified wood. Down the trail we head to Scorpion and Upside Down Rocks and many, many petroglyphs. Click, click, click. What a great site. We took about 2 hours and climbed all over those hills and rocks hunting petroglyphs. What fun! Then off to Wilson Ranch and find a good, non-radioactive spot on the beach to crash. I guess they either mined uranium here or the area is just active, but drinking from the local springs is not recommended; we filtered the river. Wonderful red beans and rice and buffalo summer sausage for supper – a favorite. A great last night in the Paria area.
Thursday, 20-May-2010:
About 2½ to 3 hours and we're back at the Long Term parking lot of Lee's Ferry. Great walk. Nice vistas. We poke around the Lonely Dell ranch for a bit, checking out the "historical trash." Amazing and sad the death of all the Johnson children to diphtheria: I guess someone came by to warn them about it and passed the disease right along to them. Sad. Dump the trash (read that poop); rearrange the vehicle for four; head up 89A and House Rock/Coyote Valley Road (BLM Road 1065) to get the truck. Then off to the North Rim Grand Canyon for some shopping, site seeing, photos, and always a special treat, supper at the Lodge - what a dining room! I enjoyed a great meal of Meat Loaf, Marty the pork chops, Gary the salmon, and Bob the chicken alfredo; served by a young lady from Colorado – outstanding!
Off to the National Forest for an overnight site. Still quite a bit of snow all over; we didn't know what to expect. Great fire. Great views. Great beer. Perfect weather. Lots of laughs. Life is good! Amazing, the wind wasn't bad, but is it ever loud whirling through those pines. I'm glad I used the truck for a wind break. Good sleeping.
Friday, 21-May-2010:
Up and off to Jacob Lake for an always scrumptious breakfast, usually served by a "U" or "Y" summer jobber. Cowboy music on the CD and back down the road we go for gas and then another stop at Cameron for last-chance souvenirs; then on through Flagstaff and back to Phoenix and Mesa. We're back by mid afternoon. Easy travel; little traffic. Gary and I will head to the airport in the morning for our final leg. What a great trip!
Essay: Why Do I Do This?
Overall:
We all really enjoyed this trip. It was strenuous, but not too bad. It pleased God to grant us a safe
and enjoyable trip that we will remember for a lifetime, and we thank Him for it.
Rough Animal Inventory:
Bats, lizards (skinks, ring-necks [aka. collared]), frogs, ravens, lgb's
(little grey birds), doves (unusual), big horn sheep skull, kaibab squirrel, swifts or swallows?, mice (fat),
and one big yeti (a large hairy humanoid creature).
