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Buckskin Paria Loop

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Author Article
RedRoxx44
Queen of the Walkabout


Joined: 15 Jan 2004
Articles: 35
Comments: 1
 Posted: 8/2/2004, 7:05 pm

You know how it is when you have a hike you really want to do, maybe you've only read about it, or someone told you about it, or maybe you had a taste of it---so you can't stand it--you have to do this hike.

I had read about and dayhiked Buckskin in 1999. May of 2000 I was set to go through the slot. I was solo this trip and begged a friend of mine to loan me her old mountain bike. I rode it a few times to get used to the gears, I had not been on a bike since about 12 yrs of age. I strapped it to the back of my Jeep to use as a shuttle between White House and Wire Pass trailheads. I was modeling this on Michael Kelsey's description in his Paria book.

Late May promised long days and plenty of sunlight, hot but potentially unstable weather. As I left San Diego I was watching the weather pretty closely. Scattered thunderstorms but no organized fronts. I checked the kiosk at the Paria Ranger station after I had dropped off my bike and locked it to a tree at White House. About 20% chance of rain that day then clearing. The bulletin board noted a couple of downclimbs in Wire Pass, and muddy pools in Buckskin; the Cess pool about waist deep. At the Wire Pass trailhead a hiker noted approx 40 pools, only 14 were unavoidable waders.

I car camped near Wire Pass under scattered showers and clouds. I set my alarm early and was hiking by 6:30 am. I carried my "bivy" pack--cold food, water filter, tarp , thin thermals, down sleeping bag. All this was in a thin waterproof bag a military friend of mine had gifted me, inside my pack. I had a dry bag for my camera, trekking poles and thin neoprene socks in my boots that I planned to keep on as most of the hiking would be over cobble stones and potentially muddy. The neoprene socks were to keep my feet warm, I carried wool socks also.

I brought a 25 ft 7mm static line for pack hauling, at the rockfall and other places. In Wire Pass the downclimbs were simple and there is one place you have to remove your pack and drag it a few feet in a narrow spot. In 1999 I saw the largest rattlesnake I've ever seen in there. The canyon opens up as it comes into Buckskin, look on the right hand wall for some Bighorn Sheep petroglyphs.

This year the pools started right away, about 5 or 6 about mid calf to lower thigh deep and short. The pools are opaque with suspended silt so you cannot see the bottom. It pays to use your trekking poles to locate the most stable, less deep course. And yes, that water is really cold. It sees very little sun. Here Buckskin in not terribly deep but narrow. In a short distance the pools are a memory and the canyon opens up. There are a couple of grass covered benches that could be used in a pinch.

The canyon turns curiously at times at an almost 90 degree angle. The walls are dark, it seems you are in a dead end corridor only to turn right or left. More pools, some you can tiptoe around, be careful if the banks are muddy lest you slide on in. The hiking is straightforward, its rocky but not difficult.

I am troubled by clouds overhead, its not raining nor is there sun. Of course you can't see anything unless you climb out at the middle route to the rim. I am hiking pretty steadily as it is 11-12 miles to the Paria confluence then about 7 miles up to White House. The cold water immersions encourage rapid walking to warm up.

Either before or after the middle route is the Cess pool. I had read a lot of reports about this one, so stinky and smelly when jammed with vegetation, or so deep as to be a swimmer. From my purview it was in a particularly dark and overhung section of the canyon, almost needed a headlamp. The clay colored water stretched from wall to wall 50 feet around a bend out of sight. My heart sunk at the idea of the long cold stretch. I bagged the camera and waded in. At certain points the water came up to my chest strap. I just kept on moving, one hand on the cold wall and another probing with the trekking pole.
Finally I was out and almost shivering, not a good sign. Right after the Cess pool the canyon opened up and there was thankfully some sun. I drained the bottom of my pack, tried to warm up and got going.

I passed the middle route which did not look too difficult from below; would want to belay your pack on part of it. I hiked on enjoying some rare greenery in the canyon bottom---abruptly there was nearby THUNDER--oh- ^^%$&$$$!! I hurried to the rockfall, roped my pack off, crawled down a hole, then donned my rain gear. I was still chilled from the wading but had started to dry out. The rain came down hard, waterfalls streaming down the stains on the tall tapestry walls. Beautiful but terrifying for me. I wanted out of Buckskin, passing up the safety of the confluence campsites. It was too early, it was wet, I had the "homing" instinct.

I started upcanyon in the gorgeous Paria, the watercourse dry, a small reliable spring in Buckskin after the rockfall was muddied by the weeping walls. The softly lit red walls were a pleasant contrast to Buckskins' gothic tunnel like ambience. The rain stopped, the sun came out and at Slide Rock I put my rain gear away, looking downcanyon at the dark sky. Dodged that bullet, I thought.

I was hiking on cruise control up the Paria and noted how the walls were lowering and starting to lay back. I heard a loud noise reverberating seemingly ahead of me. This area being in the east/west flight path I did not think too much of it. I heard a rock roll as if kicked, instead of seeing a hiker ahead of me a small red brown wave about a foot high rolled around the corner, wall to wall. I remember seeing sticks and debris. The world seemed to slow down around me. I understood what I was seeing and my reaction was instinctive. I ran back about 10 feet and ascended a natural ramp that brought me about 10 feet above the canyon floor. In a blink that water was 3-4 feet deep and swirling beneath my feet in whirlpools and eddies. I climbed higher to a ledge big enough to camp on, about 20 feet up. I took the photos in the gallery from there. The noise in the canyon was deafening. This particular storm had dumped a lot of rain at Zion, sweeping two young hikers off a trail, one to his death.

I watched the water for a while. Common sense told me to wait it out, in a few hours the water level would drop. I was totally freaked though, I wanted out of there. I climbed a gully, traversed a 3" wide ledge on a probably 70 degree slope, put the rope around my waist attached to my pack, chimneyed up a chute with my feet on one side and back on the other. Brought the pack up, then up to the top which was overhung. I executed the "beached whale" manuever , again pulled my pack up, and I was on top. And this from a person with a pathological fear of heights.

I hiked up and over some sand dunes and could see over into the Paria canyon where it opened wide and the water was flowing placidly in the stream bed. I had probably been less than 500 yards from being out of the narrows. Looking at a map I was at Bridger Point below the East Clark Bench. The light was lowering in the sky and I was suddenly exhausted. I decided to overnight it up there, I had plenty of water. I laid my pad and sleeping bag down in a sandy hummock between lovely Navajo domes with a handy juniper tree to hang wet clothes on. I suspended my boots upside down in the tree, ate, laid down and I was out.

It rained some in the night, I remember the moisture on my face and pulling the tarp over my head. My sleeping bag, a Marmot Pinnacle down in a Dry Loft shell performed great. It got pretty damp in the rain and with condensation under the tarp, but I stayed high and dry in the down.

The next morning I awakened to a coyote chorus on the opposite rim. It was just tremendous coinciding with the sunrise. I had slept like a log and woke happy to be alive. The sun came over the canyon walls with a vengence, I laid my sleeping bag out to dry on a bush. I packed up and route found down to the Paria and out I hiked to White House, kinda slow in the slippery mud. At White House some backpackers were getting ready to depart and a ranger was there. I spoke to him as I was parked at Wire Pass with a day permit. I told him I saw no one else in Buckskin, they were sure it had flashed also.

I dropped my pack at my bicycle, organized my water, food, hat, bike shoes, and left the pack and started out. Unfortunately it was later in the morning and getting quite hot. I tanked up with water at the ranger station tap and rode up Hwy 89 to the House Rock Valley road, a short distance. I was feeling hot, sick to my stomach and not sweating, in fact my skin was clammy and dry. Uh-oh heat illness. In retrospect I feel it was hyponatremia, I was drinking plenty of water, what I needed was salt. Now I carry jerky or crackers with me to eat. On the dirt road I was dizzy and weaving all over the place like I was drunk. I couldn't focus on where I was. I pulled over, threw up, and got under the shade of a tree, poured some still cool water on my head and on a bandana I put over my face. I laid flat of my back with my feet up.

I felt pretty terrible but my plan was to wait until it had cooled off or I felt a lot better to continue. If you are a solo hiker you have to have redundant plans in case something goes awry. I don't know how long I was there when I heard a car engine. Most folks on this road are either hikers or ranchers. I stood up, almost fell flat on my face with dizziness, and stepped out on the road with my thumb up, the universal signal. I was sure I would get picked up, in dirty clothes with branches in my hair. Fortune favored me as it was a couple from Marsailles, France on their way to Wire Pass to hike the Wave. He spoke no English but she was conversant. I got a ride in the back of their rented air conditioned Jeep Cherokee. I was in heaven, I could have cared less if it was Atilla the Hun who picked me up the way I was feeling.

I ate some crackers and drank some gatorade at my Jeep. I don't care for gatorade but this trip it was just the ticket. I felt better and retreived my bike and my pack from White House. I went to Kanab to lay on a motel room bed half a day and eat at the great Chinese place there. Then I felt better.

Later this same trip I was hiking out of Robbers' Roost, slipped and fell in the Dirty Devil river and drowned my camera. I was hating water just a little bit. And in May of 2001 I completed the above loop in a day with no melodrama, very little wading , and hitchhiked successfully to Wire Pass.
Rating: 5.00/5.00 [2]

Author Comments
paintninaz



Joined: 06 Jan 2003
Articles: 0
Comments: 1
 Posted: 8/5/2004, 2:26 pm  Post subject:

I sure hope my trip through this area is much less "adventurous" than yours!--I could do without the flash floods!
Rating: 0.00/5.00 [0]
paintninaz



Joined: 06 Jan 2003
Articles: 0
Comments: 1
 Posted: 8/5/2004, 2:26 pm  Post subject:

I sure hope my trip through this area is much less "adventurous" than yours!--I could do without the flash floods!
Rating: 0.00/5.00 [0]
SUN_HIKER



Joined: 05 Dec 2003
Articles: 0
Comments: 2
 Posted: 8/8/2004, 11:29 am  Post subject: Buckskin Peria Loop

I enjoyed reading your experience, even had my heart pound on a couple occasion. Great story, thanks for sharing this.

Gabriele
Rating: 0.00/5.00 [0]
SUN_HIKER



Joined: 05 Dec 2003
Articles: 0
Comments: 2
 Posted: 8/8/2004, 11:29 am  Post subject: Buckskin Peria Loop

I enjoyed reading your experience, even had my heart pound on a couple occasion. Great story, thanks for sharing this.

Gabriele
Rating: 0.00/5.00 [0]
 

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