Overview

Hype:

Buckskin Gulch and Paria Canyon are two of the most popular canyoneering destinations in the region. Buckskin Gulch, a side canyon along the river in the narrows section, is considered to be one of the longest and deepest slot canyons in the United States. Lee's Ferry and the adjoining settlement are located within the canyon just upstream of the confluence with the Colorado River, with a number of other abandoned settlements further north. The Paria is also the site of several well-preserved specimens of Native American petroglyphs. The Paria boasts a vibrant desert riparian habitat that is home to a number of sensitive and endangered species, and is also the location of Wrather Arch, one of the longest natural arches outside of Utah.

Trail Condition: Class 3 (Trail may have sections where hands are needed. Trail may not be visible in spots or may not exist at all.)

Time: 3-4 days

Length: 44 miles

Elevation Gain: -1,750 ft

Fees: Permit fee per person per night

Recommended Ages:

	0-3
	4-11
	12-19
	20-49
	50-69
	70+

Recommended Months to Visit:

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Links: https://www.blm.gov/programs/recreation/permits-and-passes/lotteries-and-permit-systems/arizona/paria-canyon

Getting There

Navigate to 37.019095, -112.024809.

Park at the Wire Pass Trailhead.

Route

This backpacking route starts at the Wire Pass trailhead and takes hikers through the Wire Pass Narrows, through Buckskin Gulch, down Paria Canyon, past Wrather Arch, and ends at Lees Ferry Trailhead 43.9 miles later. While this route can be done in 3 days, a four-day trip is much more pleasant. There are several other routes and trailheads that you can choose from depending on how much time and energy you have.

Buckskin Gulch is infamous for holding lots of sticky mud and cold pools of muddy water. The water coupled with the fact that the sun can only penetrate to the canyon floor for a short amount of each day means that the canyon floor is much colder than the surrounding area. Dress accordingly. On the flip side, the last 12 or so miles of Paria Canyon are extremely exposed with virtually no shade available, so this section of the hike can get brutally hot.

Maps

Closest City or Region: Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona

Coordinates: 37.019095, -112.024809

Interactive Guide Map

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June 15, 2020 Trip Report

By Jeremy Dye

Trip Members

Jeremy Dye, Tara Dye, Ondylyn Wagner, Shawn Parker, Marci Parker, Becca Bevan,

Logistics

Shuttle: We left the Parker's car at the long term parking lot near the Lees Ferry Trailhead. Then we drove our truck with everyone and their gear to the Wire Pass Trailhead.

Day 1: 13.3 miles from Wire Pass Trailhead to camp just above the confluence. Started hiking at 8:45 a.m. Rested from 1:40 to 5:00. Arrived at camp at 10:15 p.m.  *slow hiking due to food poisoning

Day 2: 15.5 miles from camp just above confluence to camp near Shower Spring. Plus 1.5 mile Wrather Arch side hike. Started hiking at 9:45 a.m. Arrived at camp at 8:00 p.m.

Day 3: 15.1 miles from camp near Shower Spring to Lees Ferry Trailhead. Started hiking at 7:00 a.m. Arrived at Lees Ferry Trailhead at 7:45 p.m. Arrived at Wire Pass Trailhead at 10:00 p.m.

Story

We planned this trip almost a year in advance, got the lottery permits the day they opened, and had all our plans in place. Then COVID came, and we were worried we wouldn't be able to go. However, things opened up a little, and we were able to make it happen. We drove down a few days early and did some hiking, swimming, canyoneering, and exploring for a couple days before we started our backpacking hike.

Day 1

The night before we started down Buckskin Gulch, I woke up at about 1:00 in the morning with food poisoning cramps. I thought I was going to throw up, so I went outside and sat on a camp chair with a beach towel around me to keep warm until about 2:00. I finally convinced myself that it was probably just really bad heartburn, so I crawled back in bed. I slept for 5 minutes at a time until around 6:00 when I couldn't take it any longer. The second I got up and crawled out of the truck, I started throwing up. I've decided that rice has to be the worst food to throw up. It gets stuck in your nasal cavities and is impossible to get out. No fun at all. Tara got all our stuff packed up for our backpacking trip while I curled in a miserable ball in the back seat of the truck. I threw up two more times then Tara drove us all to the Wire Pass trailhead where we started our 3-day backpacking trip through Buckskin Gulch and Paria Canyon.

When we got to the trailhead, I put on my backpack and started walking. I didn't wait for anyone else because I knew I'd be the slowest one in the group. I considered not doing the hike, but we had put so much time and effort into planning the trip, that I really didn't want to miss it. Everyone else got the gear all cleaned up, took a bunch of pictures at the trailhead, and then started hiking. I hiked for about a half hour before I had to stop and take a break. As soon as I stopped walking, I immediately started throwing up. I rested for a few minutes, took some sips of water, and then started hiking again. I made it to the boulder obstacle before anyone caught up to me, but I didn't trust myself to climb down by myself because I was so weak. Everyone else caught up a few minutes later, and we continued hiking. 

My new routine became very predictable. I would hike for as long as I could, then when I couldn't go any further, I would sit down to catch my breath. I'd rest for 10 minutes or so and sip on water, then I'd stand up to start hiking again. I would hike for about 20 feet then drop to my knees and puke my guts out, then I'd feel better and keep hiking for as long as I could.

After a few repetitions of this routine, it became very evident that I wasn't going to be able to make it the 13.3 miles to camp and fresh water unless something changed. At 3 miles in, Shawn offered to carry my pack, which was incredibly generous of him considering the weight of his pack and my pack together was over 60 pounds. He carried my pack for a while, then we stopped and shuffled gear around. Ondy took my pack because it was more comfortable than hers, and everyone (except me) took some of Ondy's gear and added it to their packs. I felt horrible for making everyone else carry my stuff and for being the one that was the weak link in the group, but everyone was very cheerful and willing to help in whatever way they could. It's a good thing they started carrying my gear when they did because we only made it 5 miles total before I had to stop for more than a short rest. It took us 5 hours and 15 minutes to travel 5 miles. I threw up a total of 12 times. It was incredibly miserable, and I've never pushed myself so hard to keep going even though every bone in my body was screaming to stop. 

Since I couldn't continue any further, we found an alcove and set up a makeshift camp to wait for the food poisoning to pass. We pulled out a sleeping pad and sleeping bag, and I slept for about 2.5 hours. Everyone else talked and played cards and relaxed. When I woke up, I saw all the ash raining down from the sky and said "Hey look, it's snowing!" to which everyone started cheering because I had arisen from the dead. I ate a few bites of food and drank a quarter of a Poweraid, then we packed up camp and started hiking.

We were running low on water and didn't have any way to refill until we reached the spring just before our planned camp. We strategized all our options for maybe sending a small group ahead to get water and then backtrack until we met up again. But in the end, we decided to just stick together and see how far we could make it. We still had 8.3 miles to go before camp and it was already 5:00 by this point.

By this point, my food poisoning had passed, but I was still weak from exertion and from not keeping any food or water down all day, so everyone still carried all my gear for me. 

When we got to the mud lakes, we weren't sure how many we would need to cross. We thought it might just be one, so we spent a long time digging up rocks and making a stepping-stone bridge across the pool. When we came to the next mud pool almost immediately after, we realized that stepping stones were not going to be an option. Shawn and Ondy took off their shoes and carried all the gear and the rest of the people across two more mud puddles. The water was incredibly cold and painful for them. At the fourth mud pool, Tara and I took a lesson from our canyoneering training. Sometimes in canyons, people will spend a huge amount of energy and time trying to avoid water only to have to get wet eventually. We were concerned about how late it was getting, so the two of us just walked through the mud with our shoes and everything on. It turns out that we could have stayed mud-free if we had let them carry us across the last pool, but our only regret was that we didn't just get muddy sooner.

The rest of the first day went smoothly. We navigated the second boulder obstacle with ease, in the dark. We arrived at camp around 10:15 p.m., rinsed off all the mud in the spring, fixed dinner, set up camp, and climbed in our beds.

Day 2

We awoke to find that mice had gotten into some people's packs, despite us hanging the packs from a tree. Marci's trail mix was reduced to a pile of raisins. We took our time getting ready and had a relaxing freeze-dried breakfast. We started hiking around 9:45.

Day 2 went much smoother than the first day, and it was much more enjoyable for everyone. I had my own pack again, and we were all doing great. We soon passed the confluence with Paria Canyon and crossed the state line into Arizona. We spent most of the second day walking in ankle-deep water. We really enjoyed all the cool meanders and cracks and other geology. We ate lunch in an abandoned meander. We stopped at Judd Hollow and looked for the old abandoned pump, but the map we were using wasn't detailed enough, and we weren't able to find it.

As we were nearing the end of the second day, Ondy, Tara, and I hiked up to see Wrather Arch. Marci and Becca took a break at the river as they both had sore feet, and Shawn wasn't inclined to add extra miles to the hike, so it was just the three of us that hiked up to see the arch. It was a fun little side trip.

We arrived at our camp at around 8:00 p.m. We didn't realize there was a spring right across the river from us, so we rationed our water pretty heavily. We learned our lesson from the mice the previous night and did a better job of hanging our packs.

Day 3

We knew that we had a long, hot hike ahead of us and that there wouldn't be much shade all day, so we got an early start. We started hiking at 7 a.m. and made good time all day. We skipped breakfast because we didn't have enough water to fix our meals, and hiked to Last Reliable Spring. At the Spring, we filled up all of our water containers and fixed and ate breakfast. Then we all drank as much as we could and topped off all our containers before starting the last leg of the hike. I even filled up the gravity filter bag, bringing my water carried up to 2 gallons. That ended up coming in really useful because several people ran out of water and I was able to give them some of mine. It didn't come close to repaying them for carrying all my gear the first day, but at least I was able to give back in a small way. 

Even though Day 3 was incredibly hot and exposed and not especially pretty, we really enjoyed the petroglyphs, ruins, and Lonely Dell Ranch along the way. During the hottest hours of the day, we pulled out our chairs and played some cards under the shade of a solitary tree. 

On the very last couple of miles, Shawn and Marci took the direct trail while Becca, Ondy, Tara, and I ended up on the scenic trail that passed a rock cabin ruin and some other small structures. We stopped and waited for them at the corral. It was really weird though because we had seen them a few minutes before and they weren't very far behind us, but they never did catch up to us. We figured they must have stopped for a rest in the shade, so we got tired of waiting and started hiking again. Well, unbeknownst to us, they had taken a parallel trail and passed within 100 feet of us, but we couldn't see each other because of the corral in between us. So they ended up getting way ahead of us, and they were going fast because they were trying to catch up to us. 

We stopped at the picnic area at Lonely Dell Ranch and waited to regroup. After a while of exploring the cabins and other displays at Lonely Dell Ranch, Ondy walked back toward the corral to look for them while I walked toward the parking lot to do the same. I met up with Marci at the Lees Fairy Trailhead. She and Shawn had walked through the orchard and to the long-term parking lot. When we weren't at the parking lot, Shawn stayed there and Marci came to look for us. We were all a bit puzzled about how we had passed each other without noticing, and we went back and looked at timestamps on pictures to figure out where we had missed each other. Luckily we all made it safely to the car and didn't waste too much time or effort looking for each other.

When we got to the car, we loaded up all the bags and stripped the shoes from our weary feet. Tara, Marci, and Becca all had many, many blisters on their feet and toes. When we got home, they all texted pictures of their feet back and forth to see who had the worst blisters. We drove back to the Wire Pass Trailhead, ate a quick dinner, then slept in our cars in the parking lot for the night.

The next morning, we drove home.

Pictures