Buckskin Gulch
On our last day in the Grand
Staircase Utah
area we hiked to a long slot canyon called Buckskin Gulch. Once again, this
hike was longer and required more effort than we originally anticipated. The
best part of this hike was being in Buckskin Gulch. It was neat hiking between
two high canyon walls where it was so narrow in certain places that you could
actually touch both walls with your arms outstretched, and it was a bit angelic
the way it lured you in wondering what was beyond the next twist or turn.
Unfortunately, the majority of the hike was spent in Paria Canyon just getting to Buckskin Gulch.
However, Paria Canyon wasn't a total loss as it did
offer up a few highlights worth mentioning - like the interesting caves and
holes along the base of it's canyon walls that were
formed by water erosion and resembled Swiss cheese, a coyote (which took off
too quickly for us to get a photo), and a trumpet lily that was the most
fragrant wildflower I ever smelt (which I thought was special until we got to
Zion National Park where there were a lot more of them). The most difficult
part of the hike was once again the muck. We were expecting to wade
through water on a rocky riverbed in the canyons, but instead it turned
out that there was very little water and a lot of muck, which as I described
earlier, was similar to quicksand when the muck was deep, and resulted in
painful walking when the muck on our feet collected dirt and stones.
Ironically, Buckskin Gulch is listed as one of the best slot canyons for
hiking. Supposedly the best one is The Narrows in Zion National Park,
which is actually more accessible in that it doesn't require as much hiking to
get to it. But as it turned out, we weren't able to do The Narrows because of
inclement weather, so in the end we were glad that we did Buckskin.
Entering Paria Canyon with it's
numerous Swiss cheese formations.
Just like a snowman, this
mud-man appreciates the shade, and Mo enjoys the scent of that trumpet lily.
Paria Canyon begins to narrow as we get closer to
Buckskin Gulch.
Finally we reach the mouth of
Buckskin Gulch with all of it's beauty and meandering
twists and turns waiting for us to explore.
