- Grand Canyon, AZ
- Sangre De Cristo, CO
- Snowy Range, Medicine Bow National Forest
- Grand Teton National Forest
Overnighting Buckskin Gulch, UT
Wednesday, June 26, 2013 by Katherine M. Coleman
I'm a sucker for the unforgettable sculpted walls of slot canyons and the picture above is just a glimpse into the spectacular beauty of Buckskin Gulch's ever-changing narrows. Said to be the world's longest slot canyon at an astounding 15 miles, our trip through the dark and narrow canyon is certainly one I'll never forget. And, I have to admit, I was more excited for this overnight than I was to backpack through the Grand Canyon... It's eerie to walk into a canyon that you know won't end for miles upon miles and, on top of that, know we weren't likely to see another soul our entire time in there. One of the features of Buckskin Gulch is sheer isolation. If a flash flood blasts through, there is no escape and no one to rescue you! The fantastic views of sunlight filtering into the beautiful textures of the canyon keeps you smiling though. Even in the darkest of passages, the sun's glow on the walls could usually be seen.
A permit is required not only for overnight trips, but for day hiking too. While the you might think day hiking is a fine way to do this thru-hike, you'd be wrong. The canyon is long and constantly changing with every turn, making it one of the most surprising hikes I've ever done. Taking the advice of other hikers who'd done the same route, we tried to use time as a unit to measure how much of the route we completed. We found that it truly depends on varying conditions and how many photographs you stop to take.
A permit is required not only for overnight trips, but for day hiking too. While the you might think day hiking is a fine way to do this thru-hike, you'd be wrong. The canyon is long and constantly changing with every turn, making it one of the most surprising hikes I've ever done. Taking the advice of other hikers who'd done the same route, we tried to use time as a unit to measure how much of the route we completed. We found that it truly depends on varying conditions and how many photographs you stop to take.
Here's our route:
-Wire Pass Trailhead (TH) to Buckskin Gulch -Buckskin Gulch to Middle Trail -Middle Trail to Rock Fall -Rock Fall to Paria Canyon -Paria Canyon to White House TH Due to the fact that this is a thru-hike (a long distance trail from end to end), we needed to stage a car at the White House TH, where our hike would end. After doing so, our trek began. See left for my overwhelming excitement standing on both canyon walls! Day one of two was a long one--about ten hours with all our lolly-gaging. From Wire Pass TH we proceeded east for a short distance along the south side of Wire Pass wash, then we dropped into the sandy bottom of the wash and descend eastward. |
This is a little deceiving because, at first, the wash doesn't seem like the start of the most amazing slot canyon. The picture above is our initial contact into the canyon walls, leaving the wash. In under a mile, the landscape changes drastically--the sandstone walls start to rise and the adventure begins! Entering into Wire Pass, we encountered our first scorpion and some minor scrambling over rocks and driftwood lodged between canyon walls. In just under two mikes on Wire Pass, you reach Buckskin Gulch.
Buskskin Gulch is marked by a couple petrogylph panels (see right) at the junction of the two canyons. This is also your last chance to call it quits/look at the sky as there is no exit for the remainder of the hike. The next several miles take you into the flat bottom of Buckskin Gulch with fairly easy hiking.
There are multiple pools of water that must be crossed once you hit Buckskin. We were lucky enough to have some rocks and wood to use to get across, but nothing you stepped on was guaranteed to be stable or secure. This made the murky waters below my feet a bit terrifying! That being said, I read that depending on the time of year the pools can be waist deep and frigid. So... We got lucky! For most of this portion of the hike there was a layer of slippery clay mud we could navigate around. Although some of us did a better job navigating than others...
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About 6.75 miles after leaving the petroglyphs the canyon rim starts to get much lower, indicating we were about to hit Middle Trail, our halfway point for the day! At Middle Trail, the rim of the canyon is only about 100-feet above the canyon floor. This is a short, open section of the canyon and apparently serves as an emergency exit if needed, however we were unclear as to where you would go once on top of the rim. There are some pretty cool larger, black petroglyphs in this space, two big horn sheep specifically. It's about 100-feet high and makes you wonder how someone was able to chip them in without using technical ropes.
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After leaving Middle Trail the canyon stays a bit open for awhile before the walls close in again and slot becomes dark and deep. At this point, we didn't encounter very much deep water, just some flowing water you could easily step through. About 3 miles below Middle Trail we encountered the area known as Rock Fall, host to the infamous rock jam and most serious obstacle in Buckskin Gulch, known as the Rabbit Hole. The Rabbit Hole is a big pile of boulders that are wedged into the canyons tight constriction.
Pictured above, you can see I took the more challenging route, using ropes to get over the top of the jam and tackle this very fun obstacle! However, the actual Rabbit Hole is an opening (sometimes clogged with debris) underneath the boulders (pictured right). The sheer size of these boulders is inspiration to press on, reminding you that obstacles are seldom the same size tomorrow as they are today and you never know what you're going to encounter. By this point our feet were hurting and we were very anxious to get to our campsite at the confluence with Paria Canyon, about one and a quarter mile below the rock jam.
We managed to make the final push to our campsite in under 45 minutes--phew! We passed a series of seeps in the Navajo sandstone that supply a small but steady flowing stream of water on the canyon floor (see right). We were able to filter water (clear-running water at that!) and wash our feet, one of the best feelings on such a laborious hike! The campsites were easy to spot with the only grove of maple and box elder trees growing in the sand above the stream. There are only a few campsites here and as it was late in the day, we were nervous we'd be SOL and not have one at all. We thought we might need to ask people if we could share their site as we were done walking. Luckily, there was only one other group when we arrived and we were able to snag one of the three campsites.
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It wasn't hard to fall asleep that night, with the utter silence of the canyon and the gentle sounds of water flowing close by. Before dawn we broke down camp and began our hike upstream in Paria Canyon before marveling at the outstanding beauty of the two canyons coming together. The narrows here are more open than in Buckskin and boast smooth, red sandstone walls in what may be an 800-foot gorge. The hike out on Paria was dry, making it longer and harder as you're essentially walking on sand. About a mile in we encountered Slide Arch, an unbelievably huge boulder. From there, the canyon walls widen and shorten until you hit the desert wash, about 6.5 miles to the White House TH.
Adbhuta is a Sanskrit term (one of the nine rasa's defined in the Grand Canyon blog) generally understood to mean wonder, curiosity and mystery. Buckskin Gulch invokes this feeling of adbhuta and allows one to recognize that there are things we don't understand, making life beautiful and exciting, full of wonders to explore, full of opportunity for personal growth and new understanding of the self around every corner. Wonder comes at the beginning of this hike and encourages a real spiritual journey to find real truth and solve the mystery of life, experienced in everything. The mind goes silent in the walls of the canyon in wonder at it's beauty and the beauty of the inner world, in rapture in awe of the breathtaking energies we call "life."
Read what Backpacker Magazine has to say about one of their top ten most dangerous hikes here.
Adbhuta is a Sanskrit term (one of the nine rasa's defined in the Grand Canyon blog) generally understood to mean wonder, curiosity and mystery. Buckskin Gulch invokes this feeling of adbhuta and allows one to recognize that there are things we don't understand, making life beautiful and exciting, full of wonders to explore, full of opportunity for personal growth and new understanding of the self around every corner. Wonder comes at the beginning of this hike and encourages a real spiritual journey to find real truth and solve the mystery of life, experienced in everything. The mind goes silent in the walls of the canyon in wonder at it's beauty and the beauty of the inner world, in rapture in awe of the breathtaking energies we call "life."
Read what Backpacker Magazine has to say about one of their top ten most dangerous hikes here.
Katherine M. Coleman E-RYT & MNT // biophilia, LLC : yoga & holisitc nutrition therapy
Copyright © 2013 biophilia, LLC // website made by kate
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photo courtesy
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