Paria Canyon Hike

On Tuesday, 03 May 2011, four members of the Skyliners Hiking Group (Donna Goodman, Dolly Yapp, Gordon Bice and the author) set out for a three-day backpacking trip down Paria Canyon. Not considering ourselves to be experienced backpackers, we had spent a lot of time and effort preparing for the trip. We made multiple 15 mile long hikes around Cottonwood and actually camped out one night at Twin Springs on Mingus Mountain, all to ensure that we and our gear were up to the task.

We gathered at Gordon’s house at 0800 on 3 May and left for Page, AZ where we would spend the night at the Super 8 Motel before starting our trip down the Canyon. We detoured to Lees Ferry on the way to Page to leave Donna’s truck in long-term parking at the lower end of the Paria Trail. We then drove in Gordon’s vehicle on through Page to the Paria Check in Station at White House, UT to pick up our human waste bags (provided free by BLM and required for the narrows section of the canyon). After receiving our human waste bags and getting an up to date report on conditions in the canyon, we returned to Page and checked into our motel before enjoying an early dinner at Strombolis. The next morning, Dolly and Donna at breakfast at the motel while Gordon and I ate at the Ranch House Grille. We then departed for the Paria Canyon Trailhead where we would leave Gordon’s vehicle in the long-term parking area until we completed our trip down the canyon to Donna’s vehicle waiting at Lees Ferry.

Several other Skyliners (Lila Wright, Kwi and Lynn Johnson and Daisy Williams) were camping and hiking in the area. We met them at the trailhead and Lila took the following picture (below) for us just before we started our hike.

Note that Dolly's backpack is so big and sticks up so far over her head that it appears she is being followed closely by another hiker. For the next three days, whenever I looked back to make sure there were still three hikers behind me, I invariably counted four.

Left to right: Gordon Bice, Ellis Price, Dolly Yapp and Donna Goodman – Photograph by Lila Wright

We left White House at 0820 (Arizona time) on 4 May and almost immediately found ourselves wading across the river. I had been told that this section of the river was likely to be dry; however, we found that it was at least ankle deep.

Donna, Dolly and Ellis fording the river – Photograph by Gordon Bice

Descriptions of Paria trips tend to pretty much start at the “narrows,” five to six mile section of the canyon that is very narrow with steep sides hundreds of feet high and no easy way to escape in case of a flash flood. However, we found some pretty spectacular scenery in the four miles leading to that section.

Random shot of the way ahead as we approached the narrows

By 0926 we were at mile 2 of our hike and by 0942 were passing under the power lines that cross the canyon before the start of the narrows. We continued for just over another mile to enter the narrows around 1100.

Near the beginning of the narrows – Photograph by Donna Goodman

The narrows is usually described as being five to six miles long, which would have it ending about ten miles from the White House Trailhead. On the other hand, one hike report that I read (www.arizonahikingtrails.com/hikingpages/pariacanyon.html) has it ending 16 miles below White House, making it 12 miles long. I am using the five to six mile figure and assuming the narrows officially ends somewhere around ten miles from the trailhead. In any case, it is a section of the canyon that is very narrow with steep sides hundreds of feet high and with (usually) no way to escape in case of a flash flood. There are a few places along the way where one could scramble to higher ground; however, being near one of these would be a matter of pure luck.

The Hikers Guide to Paria Canyon published by the Bureau of Land Management and available at the entry station for $9.00 also shows three possible camp sites in the narrows, one about one half mile below the Buckskin Gulch Confluence with no fresh water available, one just past the nine mile point with an intermittent spring and one just before the ten mile point with a reliable spring.

As we entered the narrows, wading back and forth across the ankle- to calf-deep river, we were awed by the overpowering grandeur of the scenes that unfolded before us. The sheer size of everything was overwhelming and it was mind boggling to see the shapes sculpted by water in the colorful rock.

One of the first sights pointed out in the BLM guide was Slide Rock Arch, a chunk of rock that broke off the wall above and now stands on the canyon floor forming an arch with the wall itself.

Slide Rock Arch – for perspective note Donna (tiny figure pointed out by red arrow) – Photograph by Gordon Bice

We arrived at the Buckskin Gulch junction, about a quarter of a mile downstream from the arch, at 1325 and lingered in the area for about thirty minutes.

Gordon standing in Paria Canyon at the mouth of Buckskin Gulch

We had no intention of camping in the narrows and I really did not notice any of the three suitable spots shown on the BLM Hikers Guide. I did, however, note the abandoned meander or oxbow (see photograph at right), which indicated that we were within about a mile from our intended camp-site at Big Spring. We reached the campsite at about 1730. We had traveled twelve miles on our first day of hiking and were right on schedule.

We found a party of six, traveling with three dogs, already at the campsite. However it was large enough to handle us all with no problem and we selected a comfortable spot away from the other group, dumped our packs, and set out to the spring on the other side of the river to collect water. We had enough containers, including my two-gallon nylon bucket (provided by my daughter, Diana) that we would have to make only one trip to collect enough water for the night and to take with us the next day.

Additionally, Donna and I each had carried a spare bladder; we filled these and treated the water with chlorine dioxide pills, letting them sit overnight for use on the trail the next day. I carried an extra liter of water in a Nalgene bottle all the way from the start of the hike, finally using it on the last day when the temperature reached ninety-five degrees. We were all carrying freeze-dried meals that could be prepared by dumping boiling water directly into the pouch. By eating these meals directly from the pouches they came in we eliminated the need for plates and, because the water had to be boiled anyway, we could use otherwise unpurified water.

Gordon and I were both carrying stoves. My stove burns propane while Gordon’s uses white gas. He was more adept at stove operation than I and also had a larger pot for boiling water. As a result he provided most of the boiled water. I did manage to use my stove enough to prepare my own meals and the hot tea that I drank at night and in the morning as well as the thermos and mug of tea that I normally carry with me when hiking. In short Gordon handled three people with his stove and I took care of myself.

Gordon and Ellis in camp at Big Spring – Photograph by Donna Goodman

Donna and Dolly in camp at Big Spring– Photograph by Gordon Bice

The weather was great for camping and I think we all slept pretty well. I climbed into my sleeping bag at dark, turned over a few times and thru the night.

We awoke at daybreak to a fairly chilly morning at our location deep in the canyon where the sun is late arising. My first thought was: “Oh no, it is really going to be chilly wading this morning.” However, by the time we had coffee (tea for Dolly and me), ate our breakfast and broke camp the sun was peering over the rim in places and the wet hike ahead didn’t look quite so bad. We got an earlier start than the other group camped at Big Spring and were on our way at 0740.

Gordon and I usually hiked ahead, taking turns leading, with Donna and Dolly lagging a bit behind. I learned that there is a disadvantage to leading a hike down Paria. The leader may step into a deep hole in the muddy water or get mired in the sand or mud. Those following then know to avoid that route across the stream. It was all rather a guessing game, as the water was a deep muddy brown color from all the silt it carried and it was impossible to see anything below the surface. This is where I found a hiking pole to be of great benefit; in addition to helping one to stay upright, it could be used as a sounding device to detect deep or otherwise treacherous spots ahead.

At one point, even after having carefully sounded the area ahead, my foot became stuck in a mud bank and I fell forward, barely catching myself to avoid complete immersion in the muddy stream. My fellow hikers gleefully declared me to be the winner of the “first to fall in the water” lottery. Luckily none of them were alert enough to get a picture of the event. In the below photograph I am shown later carefully sounding the water ahead as I pick a safe route cross the stream.

Ellis sounding his way across the river – Photograph by Donna Goodman

Below are a few examples of what we saw between Big Spring and Judd Hollow.

Donna and Gordon heading down the canyon below Big Spring – Photograph by Dolly Yapp

Looking ahead down the canyon below Big Spring

Not too far down stream, after we had stopped for a rest break, the other group that had camped at Big Spring caught up. Their three dogs (Photograph at left, by Donna Goodman) were trotting happily along carrying their own backpacks.

We paused for a few minutes to let the other hikers get ahead of us and didn’t see them again until we reached Judd Hollow. They were leaving there just as we arrived.

The canyon had widened somewhat and the Judd Hollow area seemed quite expansive after traveling through the narrows and the still rather restricted seven-mile section below Big Spring. I found a nice shady spot on the bank of the river and just relaxed, very nearly getting in a quick nap.

Judd Hollow in Paria Canyon

Judd Hollow is the site of an old pumping station (See photo at right), intended to pump water to the plateau above. Although we didn’t locate it during this trip we have been told that an old trail, built by the pump’s owners, leads up the north wall of the canyon somewhere nearby. From information gathered later, I suspect that the trail may be about a mile upstream. This is based on the belief that the pump was originally installed at that upstream location during a drought in the 1930s. Apparently the drought ended just as the installation was completed and the owners never used it. It is said that it sat unused until the late 1940s when it was sold to another party who moved it by horseback to its present location. It was tested, but never placed into service by the new owner. (This information was obtained from: http://www.clubtread.com/sforum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=23471)

The old pump in Judd Hollow showing the suction line – Photograph by Gordon Bice

We left Judd Hollow at 1135, having spent about half an hour resting and looking around. We were over seventeen miles into our journey down Paria Canyon and had another eight miles to go to reach our next campsite at Last Reliable Spring (both a name and a description) just beyond the twenty-five mile point. On the way there we planned to stop at Wrather Canyon and, perhaps, hike up to see the arch.

We were now seeing more and more areas where the canyon was wide enough that trees could grow alongside the stream (a fact also noted by beavers living in the area as evidenced by the gnawed off limb shown at left) and, although we were still spending much of the time wading, the hiking was now quite pleasant. Several additional photographs of this section of the canyon are shown below.

Looking down Paria between Judd Hollow and Wrather Canyon – Photograph by Gordon Bice

Looking down Paria between Judd Hollow and Wrather Canyon – Photograph by Dolly Yapp

We did find the Hole, located just downstream from mile point 19; however, no one thought to take a picture of the formation, and we continued on to Wrather Canyon, arriving about 1350.

Wrather Arch – Photograph by Gordon Bice

We lingered in the area for most of an hour while Dolly and Gordon hiked up Wrather to see the arch and Donna and I cleaned sand from our shoes and amused ourselves by watching the antics of a large lizard.

While we were at Wrather Canyon a young lady named Korinda arrived traveling upstream and asked whether we had seen her companions, an older couple. She had traveled on ahead to make some side hikes and was quite angry that they had not met her at the time and place she thought they had agreed on. In exasperation she had left her backpack alongside the trail at Shower Spring in case they arrived and hiked on up to see Wrather Arch. Amusingly enough we later met the “lost” older couple, also a bit irritated, and learned that from their perspective Korinda had not complied with the arrangements made when they separated.

Leaving Wrather Canyon we found at last a short section of real trail, a discernible trail with real soil instead of rock, sand or gravel, and with grass growing on both sides. It really didn’t last very long before we were once again wading the river. Nevertheless, after a day and a half of wading the river interspersed with short stretches of sand, gravel and rock, a bit of real trail, however brief, was a real pleasure and Donna rushed ahead to enjoy it.

A real trail at last – Photograph by Dolly Yapp

We arrived at Shower Spring at about 1530 and found the other group from Big Spring already there preparing to set up camp for the night. Since we planned to hike for another three miles and camp at Last Reliable Spring, we did not linger there for very long but pressed on. By camping at Last Reliable Spring we would have only thirteen and a half miles to go on our last day of the hike. We had considered going another mile and a half and camping for the night at Bush Canyon. But that would have required us to hike half a mile up the canyon to collect water and also would have meant setting up camp after dark. We decided it would be wiser to stop at Last Reliable Spring and turn in early for a good night’s sleep. We were all expecting the last day of the hike to be the most difficult. It would be about thirteen and a half miles as opposed to twelve miles the first day and thirteen the second. In addition, the temperature was expected to be in the middle nineties and we would need to carry extra water simply because of that. We also wanted to make sure we had a little extra in the event of an accident that required us to stay over an extra night.

In Paria Canyon between Shower Spring and Last Reliable Spring – By Donna

In Paria Canyon between Shower Spring and Last Reliable Spring – Photograph by Gordon Bice

In Paria Canyon between Shower Spring and Last Reliable Spring – Photograph by Donna Goodman

When pausing to look back and make sure that everyone was still with us, I was often confused by Dolly’s “bigger than she is” backpack. Protruding above her head as it did, it appeared at first glance to be an additional hiker (Photograph by Donna Goodman at right).

We arrived at Last Reliable Spring at 1755. The spring is across the river from the campsite, so we quickly selected a good spot to set up camp, dumped our backpacks, gathered our empty containers and headed across the river to collect enough water for cooking that night and to fill our containers for the hike out the next day.

The spring is no gusher; the water runs out of the cliff face in a series of small rivulets. With my nylon pail, I was able to catch two of the rivulets at once. Even so, it took me several minutes to collect a bit over a gallon of water. When I had collected all I could comfortable carry I could find no place at the spring to hang the collapsible bucket, so I headed back across the river to hang it on a branch at our campsite, leaving the others to finish filling the rest of the containers.

My spare bladder was still across the river with the others and knowing that they would have their hands full carrying everything back, I headed back to help. That was when I suffered the most embarrassing incident of the hike. I was carefully feeling my way across the stream with my hiking pole when I sounded a deep channel ahead, a channel that surely would have come up to my crotch. Donna was just approaching from the other side with a load of water and I stopped to direct her further downstream to a shallower crossing. I didn’t realize that my feet were slowly sinking into a mud bar until I started to back up to move down to the shallower crossing myself. My upper body backed up, but my feet remained firmly planted in the sucking mud and I sat down in the middle of the river.

Luckily I had placed my wallet and cellphone, carried in a zipped pants pocket, in plastic baggies and they were unscathed. On the other hand I was soaked to my waist, it was after sundown and getting rather chilly to be wearing wet clothes. Then, as we were returning to camp with the rest of the water inspiration struck. My pullover nylon windbreaker would make a perfect kilt. On reaching camp, I quickly retired behind a clump of bushes, removed my pants and underwear and slipped into my kilt, hanging my wet clothing up to dry in the gentle breeze. Everyone laughed at my attire, but no one thought to break out a camera. In short, I suffered some temporary discomfort and a bruised ego but escaped the ignominy of a permanent photographic record.

We quickly set up camp, prepared our meals and turned in for the night. My underpants were already dry and I restored my windbreaker/kilt to its normal place for the night … pulled over the bottom of my sleeping bag to keep my feet warm.

The camp photographs shown below were taken the next morning after everyone remembered that we had cameras.

Donna’s Tent – Photograph by Donna Goodman

Dolly’s Tent – Donna is just stowing hers – Photograph by Gordon Bice

Cooking area after a water spill – Photograph by Donna Goodman

Dolly eating breakfast – the spring is located at the bottom of the cliff across the river  directly above Dolly’s head – Photograph by Gordon Bice

It must be the Clampetts – Photograph by Gordon Bice

By 0620 we had broken camp and were headed on down the canyon.

Looking on down the canyon from the campsite at Last Reliably Spring

At the bottom of the small hill we had been camped on, shown in the lower right of the above photograph just at the dividing line between and shade and sun, we found a stream descending from a spring above. It had a much stronger flow than the spring we had used, although I don’t know whether that is always the case. Passing the spring we continued on a well-defined trail running along the bank above the river. A short distance downstream from our campsite Gordon went ahead and took the below picture looking back up the canyon. Donna and I were looking ahead trying to find a trail that would keep us on the bank.

Do we really have to cross the river again just yet? – Photograph by Gordon Bice

Our fears of getting wet again in the chill of the morning were soon relieved and we found that from this point the trail followed along the bank of the river, sometimes climbing high above it in order to navigate over old, weathered rock slides. We joined the high water route at mile point 28 without again crossing the river. The going was fairly rough in places requiring a good deal of climbing over the ancient rock slides along the way, and sometimes we looked back and found that we had taken the more difficult route when an easier one was available. Even so we still made pretty good time.

The canyon soon opened up enough that we had views all the way to the peaks on the other side of the Colorado. The country ahead was strikingly beautiful as we emerged into more open country from the confines of the canyon. In the photograph below the trail is crossing an old rock slide area and the river itself is to the left.

Looking ahead along the high water route – Photograph by Donna Goodman

Somewhere along the way we came upon the most gorgeous primrose I have ever seen.

Primrose growing in south Paria Canyon

Meanwhile the sun rose higher in the sky and, no longer sheltered by close canyon walls and with no trees for shelter, we began to feel the heat. Finally we found a large rock that offered enough shade and stopped for a snack.

Seeking shade for a snack break – Photograph by Dolly Yapp

Looking down the long, hot valley toward Lees Ferry – Photograph by Gordon Bice

Just past mile point 30 the trail crossed the river for the first time this day. This was the first of some fifteen to twenty crossings during the last eight or so miles to Lees Ferry, but now it was hot enough that we welcomed the crossings as a chance to cool off. Along the way I learned that there is at least one advantage to leading a hike down Paria Canyon. If the leader can manage to get ahead of the group when a crossing is coming up, he is able to stand in the cool water and wait for the rest of the group to catch up. We paused occasionally along the way to rest.

                               Ellis resting – Photograph      Donna resting –

                               by Dolly Yapp                            Photograph by Dolly Yapp

                               Gordon resting –                      Dolly resting – 

                               Photograph by DollyYapp      Photograph by Gordon Bice

Gordon and Dolly don’t seem to fully grasp the concept of resting. Gordon is busy marking up his map and Dolly is rearranging her pack.

Just past mile point 33 we came to the old Wilson Ranch. We found a solid stream of water flowing across the trail from a spring somewhere above. I looked closely at the National Geographic Topo Map loaded in Google Earth and found that it includes a spring at that spot. I then did a quick Internet search and found the following information at “AwayFromtheGrind.com:”

There is water at Wilson Ranch but it flows through soil and where it collects it is sitting out in the sun.¹

The water we saw was clear and looked quite fresh, so I think the author of the piece above may have been drinking pond water.

Wilson Ranch is only about five miles on to Lees Ferry and, refreshed by the frequent river crossings along the way, it didn’t take us very long to get there. Approaching the sign out box we found a couple of old buildings along the way, one apparently an outhouse, and following the sign out box, a sign pointing us to Lonely Dell Ranch.

                               Outhouse – Photograph          Sign pointing to Lonely

                               by Dolly Yapp                             Dell Ranch

As we approached the house and orchards at Lonely Dell Ranch we passed an old cemetery (Photograph below)).

Near the finish now – Dolly, Gordon and Donna at Lonely Dell Ranch and still standing

We made the trip right on schedule and were at the parking lot at 1640. As we had anticipated, GPS coverage was spotty in the canyon and I did not get a good track. However, since one cannot go wrong when hiking Paria, it really doesn’t matter.

We drove back to Page where Donna and Gordon dropped Dolly and me off so that we could clean up while they drove on to the Paria Trailhead at White House to retrieve Gordon’s vehicle. After they returned and Gordon had a chance to shower, he, dolly and I ate a late dinner at Bonkers Restaurant. We then got a good night’s sleep and were back in Cottonwood by noon the next day.

Finally, having found the following chart (next page) helpful in preparing this report I decided to include it for information:

Miles landmark

2.5 Power lines cross over the canyon

4.0 The narrows begin

7.3 Confluence with Buckskin Gulch

7.5 Camp

9.4 Camp and spring (river right)

10 Spring (river right)

11.3 Abandoned Meander (oxbow)

12.2 Big Spring (river right) and camps (river left)

12.8 Camp

14.7 Camp

17.4 Judd Hollow Pump (river left)

18.4 Spring (river right) and camp (river right just past the spring)

19.2 'The hole' (river right) and camp (river left)

20.5 Camp (river left) and mouth of canyon that leads to Wrather Arch (river right)

22 Shower spring (river left) and camp (river right)

25.3 Camp (river right) and last reliable spring (river left)

26.5 Camp (river right) at mouth of Bush head canyon. There is also a spring if you hike about 0.5 miles up the canyon.

28.0 Camp (river right) and start of high water route (river right)

30.3 Camp (river right)

31.5 Petroglyphs

33.5 Wilson Ranch

37.3 Trail register

37.6 Lonely Dell Ranch

38.4 Lees Ferry long-term parking area

From a Weekend Warriors posting on: http://www.arizonahiking.org/paria_main.htm

NOTE: After reading the conflicting opinions as to where the narrows start and stop I decided to query BLM and received the following response:

From: "ASFOWEB_AZ@blm.gov" <ASFOWEB_AZ@blm.gov

To: Ellis Price <ellisprice@ymail.com>

The Paria Narrows start at Slide Rock about 1 mile before the confluence and runs about 1 mile past the confluence.

David Hullum

Recreation Technician

Vermilion Cliffs National Monument

1www.awayfromthegrind.com/blog/hiking/utah/4day-hike-from-wire-pass-to-leesferry-advice