Paria River Canyon, Buckskin Gulch, Snake Gulch

PARIA RIVER CANYON

We just returned from hiking the Paria for the 7th time. It continues to astound us. We urge you to read about it in our book Hiking from Here to WOW: Utah Canyon Country (Trip 12, page 89), then begin making plans to hike there. Every devoted backpacker should witness this world-wonder canyon at least once.

You already have reservations to hike the Paria? Lucky you. Here are some important updates to the most recent edition of our book:

• Hwy 89, south of Page, is closed indefinitely. The highway was severely damaged during a “seismic event.” That means the shuttle between the White House trailhead and Lees Ferry now takes hours longer (one way) than previously. For that reason, you might not want to hike the Paria as a one-way trip. Until the highway is reopened, we recommend a round trip. Start at White House trailhead. Hike 12.2 mi (19.6 km) down-river to Big Spring. Base-camp there, then dayhike farther down-canyon. Turn around just past Judd Hollow, which is about 18 mi (29 km) from the trailhead.

• The 2011 flood did not significantly rearrange Paria Canyon, or its tributary Buckskin Gulch, nearly as much as we had been led to believe by the reports we’d received.

• The high, sandy benches near the bottom of Buckskin Gulch, just a few minutes upstream from the confluence with Paria Canyon, are still there. (On page 96 of the 2012 reprint of our book, we stated what the authorities had told us: that these benches had been washed away. That’s not true.) These confluence benches continue to offer three, excellent campsites. Each campsite has room for several tents. As for water, however, we could not find the spring that used to drip from the north wall here. So we filtered water from the relatively clear streamlet flowing along the floor of the gulch.

• If you intend to hike up-canyon, generally west, into Buckskin Gulch, within 1 mi (1.6 km) you’ll encounter the boulder jam described on page 88 of our book. A fixed rope previously made the necessary scramble here much easier. That rope is gone, but another option is now available. So, take your pick: (1) moqui steps (chiseled footholds) on a smooth, nearly vertical rockface without help from a fixed rope, or (2) a pair of sturdy logs vertically jammed among the boulders. Approaching from the confluence, you’ll immediately see the moqui steps (right). Continue left, crouching beneath the boulder, to find the vertical logs. The first moqui step is very high, and the pitch, though short, is exposed. The vertical logs are firmly in place and grant relatively safe, easy passage. (See the photos above.) Kids and tentative adults might need assistance, but most hikers will likely find they can use the vertical logs to get up and down.

• About 2 mi (3.2 km) farther down the Paria from the Buckskin/Paria confluence is a high bench on the left (NE) wall. It offers one campsite with room for up to four tents beneath a huge, beautiful cottonwood. Just downstream, on the opposite wall, is a strong, clear-water spring.

• Big Spring, at 12.2 mi (19.6 km), remains an impressively reliable source of water. The long bench opposite the spring, affords numerous tentsites.

BUCKSKIN GULCH

As of of the first week of April, Buckskin Gulch was easily hikeable. No need to wade through fetid pools. We encountered only a couple, short, muddy sections — nothing worse than knee deep. Otherwise, the floor of the gulch was solid underfoot: just moist sand.

If you can’t get a permit to backpack the Paria, consider dayhiking Buckskin. Read about it in our book Hiking from Here to WOW: Utah Canyon Country (Trip 11, page 84).

Starting at Wire Pass trailhead, you can hike a round trip: down in, then retracing your steps back out. Or, if you’re strong and can arrange a shuttle, hike all of Buckskin in a single day: 13 mi (21 km) from Wire Pass to the confluence with the Paria, then 7 mi (11.3 km) up the Paria to the White House trailhead.

The average width of Buckskin Gulch is just 12 ft. The walls average 100 ft high. The most spectacular stretch is the lower end of the gulch, closer to the confluence. If hiking down the gulch from Wire Pass, read the fifth paragraph above (under Paria River Canyon), describing the boulder jam you’ll encounter shortly before arriving at the confluence.

SNAKE GULCH

If you’re hiking Paria and/or Buckskin, here’s another, nearby dayhike we enthusiastically recommend: Snake Gulch. Plan to do it before or after Paria/Buckskin.

Hidden within Snake Gulch is a prolific concentration of native, rock art. The trailhead is a mere 31 mi (50 km)—an 80-minute drive—from Kanab, Utah. The hike is not in our WOW Utah book because it’s entirely in Arizona.

The rock art dates to 500 B.C. It was created by Archaic, Basketmaker, Ancestral Pueblo, and Fremont natives over a span of 15 centuries. It comprises petroglyphs (pecked into the rock) and pictrographs (painted on the rock). The pictographs display more colors, including yellow and green, than much of the rock art elsewhere on the Colorado Plateau.

By Vehicle

From Kanab, drive S on Hwy 89A to Fredonia. Continue left (SE) on 89A for 1 mi (1.6 km), then turn right (S) on paved FSR (4)22. This is just S of an industrial plant. Follow it 21 miles (33.8 km), until FSR 462 forks left (E) toward Jacob Lake (9 mi / 14.5 km distant). Reset your trip odometer to 0 here and proceed right (W). Continue S on unpaved FSR (4)22. At 1.6 (2.6 km) turn right onto FSR 423, signed for Kanab Creek Wilderness (5 mi / 8 km distant). Continue N another 2 miles (3.2 km). Descend through a canyon. At the Y junction, veer right (N) on unpaved FSR 642. The road ends at the signed, Snake Gulch trailhead. The elevation here is 5800 ft (1768 m).

On Foot

Follow the obvious trail N. The remains of a homesteader’s stone house is visible across the drainage. The trail curves left (W) into Snake Gulch.

Departing the trailhead, hike briskly. There’s little to see initially other than the gulch itself. It’s pleasing but not impressive.

Most of the art in the gulch is on the right (N) wall, facing left (S). If you’re observant, however, you’ll also see panels on the left (S) wall. There are many more panels than we’ll mention here. It’s easy to spend an entire day admiring the rock art in this world-class, outdoor gallery.

Within 50 minutes, fast hikers will see a rock-art panel on the right (N) wall. At 1.5 hours (2.5 mi / 4 km) again look on the right (N) wall, under an overhang, for more, small pictographs. Just 0.6 mi (1 km) farther, you’ll find more pictographs on the right (N) wall.

About 2.5 hours from the trailhead, cross Toothpick Canyon—a narrow, usually dry, tributary gash entering Snake Gulch from the right (N). About eight minutes beyond Toothpick, the distinctive peninsula called Table Rock is visible jutting into the gulch from the left (S).

Soon, the deep arroyo that has so far split the gulch disappears. The floor of the gulch flattens, and you’re able to angle left, crossing the gulch toward Table Rock.

Shortly before reaching Table Rock, look up (left) on the S wall. Here, at 4.7 mi (7.5 km), 5215 ft (1590 m), you’ll see the most impressive rock-art panel in Snake Gulch. An ascending trail allows you to easily ascend to a ledge where you can walk the entire length of the panel. Most dayhikers will recognize this as the ideal, climactic, turn-around point. Simply retrace your steps, up the gulch to the trailhead.

Mexican Food

For a post-hike meal celebrating your Paria, Buckskin, and/or Snake Gulch experience, we recommend the muy delicioso Mexican food at Escobar’s, in Kanab. We’ve been stopping there for years: whenever we pass through town. Escobar’s is located on the north side of Hwy 89, two minutes east of the traffic lights at the Hwy 89/89A junction. Their phone number is (435) 644-3739. Every time we’ve been there, Rosa (who owns and runs the restaurant with her husband, Leo) has served us with grace and humour.

Casa de Amigos Fresh Mex Restaurant, Springdale, Utah

You come to Zion National Park to see the world’s highest sandstone cliffs and to hike some of the most compelling trails in Utah canyon country. Another reason to come here is to relish what we believe is the most delicious Mexican food in North America.

Mexican food has long been our favourite. We’ve dined at hundreds of Mexican restaurants and tacquerias in Mexico, the U.S., and Canada. Years ago, we were thrilled to discover an excellent one in Galway, Ireland. Prior to heading south to Arizona in December, we were eager try as many new Mexican eateries as possible.

We probably hit about 18 of them. Most were merely okay. As a result, we became frequent patrons of the popular Chipotle chain, which serves hefty portions of what they call “food with integrity.” It’s delicious, nutritious, ethical, and a good value, but it does not qualify as authentic Mexican. It’s tame.

Most of the other Mexican restaurants we tried this winter were less than tame. They were bland. Their fare is intended to suit the typical, unadventurous, North American palate. We enjoyed a few, pleasing tamales and enchiladas, some filling burritos, but nothing exciting or memorable.

After working on our computers all day during a freak, April blizzard in Zion Canyon, at 9 p.m. we ventured out of the campground, into the adjacent town of Springdale, in search of a meal. The only “OPEN” sign we saw was at Casa de Amigos Fresh Mex. Even before we ordered, we knew we’d found a special restaurant. They served us homemade chips and three condiments: pico de gallo, roasted red-chile salsa, and tomatillo salsa. Each was spectacular. Just enough spice to add a little heat, some zing, but not so much that we recoiled. Just the opposite. We dug in, enthusiastically commenting about the unique tastes.

We ordered their “super burritos” that night, and both of us agreed they surpassed any burrito we’d ever eaten. They were fresh, hearty, wonderfully spicy, with just a hint of fire. The service was equally good: relaxed, fun, yet attentive and efficient. We returned the next morning for breakfast burritos with side orders of refried beans and guacamole. That might sound mundane, but every bite was heavenly. So we returned that night for dinner and ordered their stew, which they served with steaming, corn tortillas.

We’d never heard of this Mexican cross between soup and stew. Wow! It was a meal we’ll never forget. Ingredients include slivers of seasoned, grilled beef, pinto beans, chunks of avocado, and cilantro. The owner told us he has a relative in Chicago who owns a restaurant and serves only this dish—nothing else—and customers line up for it day and night. Between spoonfuls of this divine soup, we sipped fresh, tart-yet-sweet tamarindo juice. For desert, we sipped iced horchata, which approximates liquid, vanilla ice-cream laced with cinnamon.

The owners of Casa de Amigos are Victor and Alicia. Their extensive menu is based on family recipes from Victor’s home in Jalisco province, Mexico. You’ll find Casa de Amigos at 805 Zion Park Blvd, on the east side of the street, just outside the south entrance to Zion National Park. It’s open seven days a week for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

Hike fast and far in Zion, so you’ll come to Casa de Amigos with a voracious appetite. And ask if they’ve made a batch of tamarindo or horchata. Both drinks are delectable.

Snow Canyon, just outside St. George, Utah, is one of our all-time favorite places to camp. We describe it in detail in our guidebook: “Hiking from Here to WOW: Utah Canyon Country.” It’s Trip 1, on page 34. So on our recent migration south, from Canmore, Alberta, to Tucson, Arizona, we camped here and explored the area yet again. We brought our road bikes and cycled the dedicated path heading north out of the State Park, then looping back to the park via the city. We cycled the bike path from the park, east to Kayenta, where we looped through trophy-home neighborhoods in a gorgeous, high-desert setting. We hiked the trails (covered in our book) within the park. We enjoyed it all, even though we’d done it before. But this time we did something new: We rambled off-trail on the slickrock at the head (north end) of Snow Canyon. We discovered superb “slickwalking” terrain, where we roamed—climbing, traversing, descending—for hours. If you’re a strong hiker, capable of navigating cross-country, and comfortable on steep terrain, we urge you to try it. The photos we’ve posted here (click once to enlarge, click a second time to enlarge fully) are a testament to the beauty and intrigue that await you. The last photo attests to the appeal of the campground setting. Bear in mind, all these photos were shot in December. As for how to approach Snow Canyon’s optimal slickwalk terrain, begin on the Whiterocks trail, follow the north fork into the slickrock draw, then begin ascending. Or hike west on the Lava Flow trail, then veer off trail, northwest, at the point nearest the slickrock. If you’re capable, this is all the directional advise you’ll need to begin hours of freelancing. If you feel the need for more directional assistance, you’re in over your head and should keep to the established trails. As always when hiking in Utah canyon country, take care not to step on the fragile, cryptobiotic soil. … Walk on!

Water Walkin’

One of our readers recently posed a good question: “Your guidebook, ‘Hiking from Here to WOW: Utah Canyon Country,’ has several photos of you guys splashing through water. We’re wondering, what’s your footwear solution for dry/wet/dry/wet terrain?”

It’s now too cold for hiking through water in the canyons of Utah. But the daytime temperatures remain comfortable for water walkin’ in southern Arizona. Last year, for example, we hiked through Aravaipa Canyon in January. We were in water constantly. And we were very comfortable.

If you have plans for a winter hiking escape to Arizona, or if you intend to shop the winter sales for water-walkin’ footwear you intend to use in Utah next spring, we thought you might appreciate our response to that question about dry/wet/dry/wet terrain. Here you go:

After years of experimenting with everything from Teva sandals, to 5-10′s, to old boots we don’t care about, to paddling socks + sandals… ad naseum, we eventually found what we think is the optimal solution.

Start with a pair of all-synthetic hiking boots. In other words, regular hiking boots that have no leather in their construction. Non-leather boots do not absorb water, so they remain light rather than become sodden and heavy. Non-leather boots are not damaged by days of hiking in water. Plus they dry much faster once you’re out of the water. Here are a couple examples:

Salomon Cosmic 4D GTX

http://www.travelcountry.com/shop/salomon/cosmic-4d-gtx-boots-mens.html?RefId=72&RefType=Affiliate

Kayland Zephyr Event

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/kayland-zephyr-event-hiking-boots-for-men~p~4057g/?filterString=search~kayland%2F&colorFamily=01

Whether you’ll be in water or not (or in and out of water), these boots will serve you well on almost any terrain. And they’re better in desert climes than all-leather boots, because they breathe a bit better and will therefore keep your feet a little cooler.

So, when you start hiking (presumably on dry ground), you wear your all-synthetic boots and your regular wool/synthetic blend socks. But in your pack, you bring a pair of thin, neoprene paddling socks (like the ones kayakers use). For example:

NRS Hydroskin socks

http://www.rei.com/product/722203/nrs-hydroskin-socks-unisex

Glacier Glove socks

http://www.sierratradingpost.com/glacier-glove-neoprene-fleece-lined-socks-for-men-and-women~p~11073/?filterString=search~neoprene-socks%2F&colorFamily=27

When you get to the point on your hike where wet feet are unavoidable, you stop, take off the dry socks, and put on the neoprene socks.

The neoprene socks will keep your feet warm, even in very cold water. And because you’re wearing boots designed specifically for hiking, you’ll be more stable and presumably more comfortable in rocky, slick, mucky streambed conditions.

Plus, you’ll no longer need two pairs of boots–one for wet, one for dry. And you won’t have to choose. Sometimes you don’t know whether you’ll be hiking in water or not. All you have to do is pack that pair of neoprene socks, just in case.

It works for us. Even on multi-day backpack trips.

Happy water walkin’.