Friday, August 9, 2013

Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch Slot Canyons

August 9
Wire Pass Slot Canyon

Click here for today's pictures.

Said goodbye to the Quail Park Lodge.  It was fun to stay at a small place and chat with the manager and other visitors.  Overall neat spot to have stayed.

Headed for Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch slot canyons.  Thought it would be responsible to check in at  Visitor Center and check with Ranger on weather.  See Quotes of the Day below.  Got lucky again - gorgeous day, not too hot (70's to start, high 80's by afternoon) and beautiful sunny skies.

It was a one-hour drive, back to House Rock Valley Road, and the trailhead near yesterday's excursion.  Jeep worked nicely on bumpy rocky sandy road.  Wire Pass was fantastic.  It was a great easy slot.  Less than an hour to get to where it "slots up."  We all loved the narrow passageways.  At some points it wasn't more than shoulder width.  The kids liked forming bridges across the slot where they could.  The change of temperature between the in and out parts was quite noticeable.  The changing light in different places and at different times of day was also neat.

Spent a bit of time crushing sandstone at the confluence of Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch.  Found the petroglyphs the guide pointed us to.

After lunch and some debate, we then traversed Buckskin Gulch for a bit.  Truth be told, it was totally gross to ford the watery parts.  The water was stagnant and smelly; the mud was slimy, slippery, and was tough to pull out of in places.  I couldn't make Callie suffer through it, so I carried her through the deepest part.  The boys loved it, and complained vehemently when Karen got a little claustrophobic and declared the hike over about 3.5 hours in.  But gross and mucky or not, the important thing is we needed and used the equipment we had been lugging around for this purpose - the trekking poles and water shoes.  Plus, it was cool to go somewhere no one else went today.

We took off at 4pm, back through Kanab on our way to Zion.  Wish we had tried The Three Bears in Kanab earlier.  Our coffee milkshakes were so big and thick we didn't finish them until we got to Zion an hour later.

For a sneak preview of tomorrow, check our poolside view at Desert Pearl Inn.  "Kids are headed for the pool, I'll go watch them."  "That's OK, I can do it."  "Rock paper scissors."

Quote of the Day
Scott: Is it a good day to hike Wire Pass and Buckskin Gulch?
World's Most Useless Ranger: <blank stare>
Scott: Uh, from a flash flood perspective...
World's Most Useless Ranger (Someone's Brother-in-Law Who Needed A Job): <shrugs>  What did the weather say?

Quote of the Day #2
Woman in Visitor Center to Useless Ranger: Where's the slot canyon?  [Editor's note: This is slot canyon country, lady.  There's more than one.]

Quote of the Day #3
Scott: Do I need a detailed map?
Same Ranger Impostor: It's a canyon. The only way you're getting out of there is if you're a bird.

Kids in the Slot

4 comments:

  1. This is so fantastic. I get up in the morning and almost run to the computer to see your blog. Looks like everything (weather especially) is working for you. I am so happy you are blogging and sharing with us. See my smile?

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like you're having great weather. I love the slot canyons -- never done one. Anxiously awaiting reports from Zion. Dad

    ReplyDelete
  3. Hey! Really nice pix. I didn't realize until today that there were lots available on Flickr, so I had seen only the ones in this blog until today.

    ReplyDelete
  4. The daily 'click *here*' link should bring you to all of that day's posted pictures. Is that working?

    ReplyDelete