Utah, May 2017

I thought I'd take one last trip to Utah before the summer heat kicked in. Usually I pack way too much into a trip trying to do it all but those of you that know Utah know that a person could spend quite a bit of time roaming around. This time I was determined to hit just three areas that were close together in the less than two weeks I planned to be gone. My other goal was to boondock during the entire trip and forgo any campgrounds except on my way to and from Utah and Northern California. I like to get out of California and close to Utah in a one day drive. So I packed up the camper, grabbed the dog and headed off around the middle of May.

Around Paria Contact Station-Part 1

First stop after a 13 hour drive was Virgin River Canyon Campground. I pulled in about 9:30 and spent the night. Since I was only about an hour and a half from Kanab, I decided to leave early the next morning and enter the lottery for the Wave (Coyote Buttes North) Why I even bother with this is question I ask myself because it is an effort of futility. Six months before the date you want to go you can enter a lottery for 10 spots, which I also never win, and the BLM holds 10 other spots for a walk-in lottery to obtain a permit for the next day. So I got up early and headed to Kanab, remembering this time that the DST time change from Arizona makes Utah an hour later. I got to the visitor center at 8:30 AM in time to fill out my paperwork for the lottery that begins at 9. That would be me and about 70 other people vying for the 10 spots. Its hard to win because the permits allow for a total of 10 people to enter the area plus the 10 that won through the internet months before. That's 10 people, not permits, so when the first "winner" is chosen, it could be for a group up to 10 people which would end the lottery. This time the first group was 4 and the next group was 2 leaving 4 more spots available. The last group was 6 but only 4 of that group could go and they elected to leave two folks behind. Since I was there, I decided to put in for the lottery for Coyote Buttes South which is not as popular. Same procedure, but I still lost out. So the heck with 'em! Who wants to go there anyway?

Plan B: White Pocket.

I have wanted to go there for a while now. When you look at the internet, the BLM recommends a four wheel drive with good clearance. There are also a number of commercial operations that bring folks up to the area in four wheel drive vehicles and offer guided tours. The commercial guys paint a fairly bleak view of the road in, but they and the BLM are correct when they highly recommend a four wheel drive, not all wheel. Not that the road to white pockets is treacherous, but it has deep sand and some SUVs with all wheel drive do in fact get stuck and pulled out at great expense unless one of the commercial guys pulls them out just to clear the road so the commercial guys can get through. However, having a four wheel drive makes the trip very easy and I had no problems. I bought a pair a MaxTrax and other recovery gear that I lugged around in the back seat of my pick up just in case, but I did not even come close to using any of it.

On the way up I was flagged down by a Russian couple who wanted a ride up to the White Pocket. So I gave them one. Their English was not so good but from what I gathered, the woman had really wanted to see the area but the day before they had tried to go but their vehicle got stuck in the sand and they had to be pulled out by a tow truck. They came back the next day and parked their car before the previous day's troublesome spot and waited to see if somebody would give them a ride. I explained to them before they got in that I was planning on spending the night up there and was not coming back down. They were fine with that even though we were miles from the area. They said (at least I thought they said) they would find a way back. Got to give it to them because I would have been worried I'd be stuck up there without any food or shelter. BTW: They emailed me the next day and said they got a ride back and thanked me for helping them out, which I was glad to do.  As I was driving up the road with the Russians, I noticed a thin line of water or fluid in the middle of the road and figured that did not look good for whoever was dropping it. Sure enough, a couple of miles up the road we came upon a vehicle with five Koreans standing outside. We stopped and asked if they needed help. They explained, in impeccable English for which I was happy, that they rented the four wheel drive from a place in Kanab but a transmission hose had come loose and leaked all the fluid until the vehicle died. They had contacted the folks at the rental shop who were on their way to rescue them.  Finally making it up to White Pocket, the dog and I explore the area for a couple of hours. It is impressive and well worth the adventure.

 

White Pockets

 

Wave like and no lottery

 

 

 

 

 

The sand.  Not so bad but worse in a couple of spots.

 

As you can see in the photos, I was there at mid day, and decided that I'd go back to the camper, rest up and have a little to eat and then head back out to photograph at sunset. However, it got really windy and I mean really windy. The dog was freaking out and I decided I could do better and get a good nights sleep if I headed lower. So I headed down and found a nice camp spot with little wind and spent the night. The dog was much happier. I would have liked to been able to photograph at sunset as I'm sure it is spectacular to be up there at that time of day.

 

Much less windy down low and a nice quiet place to spend the night.

White Rocks

The next day was cloudy with rain in the forecast and though I was thinking of hiking from Wire Pass into Buckskin Gulch.  Since I'd been to Buckskin Gulch before, I decided to forgo the hike this trip because of the rain.  Instead I went to an area called White Rocks outside of Church Well. I could not find a trail but I was able to navigate somewhat to the area on my map that said "White Rocks". I'm going to guess that these rocks are Entrada Sandstone because they are so light in color and well let's face it, there is a lot of Entrada Sandstone around Southern Utah so that it's a good guess.  I could not find any specific description of the geology concerning the White Rocks area. 

 

Too steep for Abby to get up the rocks.

I think that I actually missed the more dramatic part of this area.  But nevertheless I liked the area because there was virtually no one there. Cross country hiking route was 3.5 miles and explored the area for about two and half hours.

White Rocks

 

  
It started to rain so we headed back to the truck to look for our next camp sight. 

First I went to the White House Campground at the head of the Paria River Trail.  There is a bathroom and a small camp area.  Certainly doable in a pinch, but not the most scenic camp.  After checking out the campground, I left and shortly found what would be a spot on the Paria River that offered a nice site that I had all to myself for the next three nights.  It seemed like it rained hard during the night, but hard to tell in a popup camper.  However the Paria was up a bit in the morning. 

Wahweap Hoodoos

Next stop was the Wahweap Hoodoos located out of the town of Big Water.  But first I decided to continue past the hike's parking area and search for a camp spot that might work for the upcoming evening.  I never did find anything that was better than what I had on the Paria, but I had some nice scenery during the search.

Four Wheel Road past the Wahweap Hoodoo parking area

 

Back at the parking area a car pulled in with the Koreans I had seen going up to White Pocket.  I hiked up the wash (about 4 miles) with them and explored the area.  Two of the guys worked in Seattle and the other 3 were visiting from Korea.  One woman, whom they called "the planner" knew Utah and the area much better than I did and she detailed to me their itinerary for the next few days of their trip.  They invited me for lunch at the hoodoos which turned out to be quite the spread. 

 

There is a bit of information regarding the Wahweap Hoodoos on the web which describes that they are formed by the lower (older) layer of the softer Entrada Sandstone becoming protected from erosion by upper (newer) and harder rocks of Dakota Sandstone. The theory is that wind and rain erode the surrounding area of the Entrada except for that portion protected by the Dakota Sandstone.  This forms the pillar with the cap. 

 

Photos from the Wahweap Hoodoos:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Paria River

After the Wahweap hike, I ended up back at the campsite on the Paria and spent the night in quiet solitude except for sound of  coyotes as the sun went down.  You would think Abby would at least raise her head, cock her ears or twitch her nose at the sound of coyotes close by, but she never does.

 

The next day we took a hike down the Paria River from the campground.  This river is a popular backpacking destination.  It is a 38 mile hike from White House to Lee's Ferry through the Paria River Canyon.  You need a permit for overnight camping and all waste must be packed out.  Obviously Abby and I were not going to do a 38 mile day trip but I felt that I could get a good hike into the first part of the narrow slot canyon about 5.3 miles from the trailhead at White House.  The first 4.5 miles were basically through the wide wash of the river canyon.  We crossed the river numerous times much to Abby's relief. 

 

She doesn't like to be hot and she's no fool 

At about the 4.5 mile mark, we got into the first "slot".  We walked about a mile further before turning around and hiking back to the trailhead. 

 

 

 

Camped one more night on the Paria with plans the next day to head north up Cottonwood Canyon Road.

 



Cottonwood Canyon to Grosvenor Arch-Part 2

 

Before heading up Cottonwood Canyon, I decided to visit the Paria Town site and the Paria Movie set (referred to as well as Pahreah).  Very little is left of either places except for the cemetery for the township.  A good concise and short history of the both areas can be found on Wikpedia .

 

The drive to both areas is short with some great scenery and a picnic area at the movie set.

 

 

The Cemetery is between the town site and the move set and easily found. There are no inscriptions left on the tombstones.  A look at the "IN MEMORY OF"  gives a small glimpse into the hardships that must have faced these pioneers trying to eek out a living in this unforgiving land. 

  

After leaving the town site, we headed to Cottonwood Canyon Road.  Abby needed a day off from hiking so we were just going to head up the canyon, scout out some trailheads for the next day and find a camp spot. 

 

Cottonwood Road starts out in wide open desert and saw some antelope that made it interesting. 

 

 

I stopped and looked at the trailhead parking area for yellow rock and almost camped there.  It's not a very good spot for camping but it was doable.  But no sooner had I started walking around that cows began to show up around the camper along with the flies and smells of a lot of cattle.  I would come to find out that it was spring roundup.  Apparently Cottonwood Canyon is a great place to winter cattle and the cattlemen and sons were rounding them up either for market or to head to higher ground.

 

 

I took off knowing that I would find a better spot to camp and finally found a very nice site for the night.

 

Yellow Rock Loop Trail

Yellow Rock is exactly as its name implies.  It can be seen driving up Cottonwood Road. 

There is a loop hike that climbs to Yellow Rock, skirts the south side and then head down to the Paria River where the hike brings you back to the parking area via Cottonwood Canyon Wash.  The hike is about 8 miles with a 1200 foot elevation gain.  It was the best hike of my trip. 

The hike starts with a very steep climb up a rugged trail overlooking Cottonwood Wash and the Cockscomb

Nope-Abby does not get to go in this although she wanted too.

 

 

After passing Yellow Rock, the trail begins its decent into what I can only describe as a desert garden.  Numerous wild flowers and rock spires can be seen along this decent. 



Cool rocks on a warm day

 

 

The decent ends at the Paria River actually not far from the Paria Town Site that we visited the day before.  The Paria is followed to Cottonwood Wash and from there up the wash back to the truck.  That last part sound innocuous enough, but it was actually not fun at all.  Hiking up the wash has a lot of flies, cows, sand and mud.  I mention this because the best way to do this hike would be to have a second car where the Paria  meets Cottonwood Wash and shuttle back to the parking area.  It's only a few miles up the wash, but it would make the entire hike all the more enjoyable.  BTW:  I saw no one on this hike which for me, makes it all the better. 

 

Drove back to the campsite I was at the night before, but it was occupied, so I headed up the road further and quickly found another site.



 

 Cottonwood Narrows and Candyland

The Narrows is a short narrow canyon running along side Cottonwood Canyon and can be approached at either the north or south end.  It can be a fairly quick hike with a few side canyons to explore.  The canyon is a 2.5 round trip.  The sand is soft so walking can be somewhat difficult.

Cottonwood Canyon Narrows

 

Candyland is a name given by some of the rangers of the GSENM because of the multi colored rocks.  This area is right off Cottonwood Road.  Just park and walk around. 

 

Candyland

 

Candyland

 

Grosvenor Arch

is one heck of an arch.  Just drive right up to it, well just about.  from the parking area its a paved few hundred yard walk.  There are bathrooms and picnic tables.  It is well visited and a great photos can be had in the middle of the day. 

 

 

 



Hole in the Rock Road-Part 3



After leaving Grosvenor Arch and passing by Kodachrome State Park, I headed to Escalante and Hole in the Rock Road.  First stop was the multi agency visitor center and then on to the grocery store to stock up on supplies.  Then to the gas station for gas and my favorite Moab Brewing Company Beer.  Its funny but when buying beer in Utah many times I am told "if you go to the government store, you can get real beer".  But the thing is that Utah brewers have really gotten good at brewing up low alcohol beers such as IPAs.  I used to make beer and making a tasty pale ale or IPA that's low alcohol, is something I could never do.  But the Utah folks can do it and I end up wanting the low alcohol stuff which I can drink for the taste as opposed to the buzz.  I guess as a certified geezer, I am perpetually limited in my senses, so I don't need to add to it and Moab's IPA fits the bill at 4% ABV.

So with everything in the fridge, I head off to Hole in the Rock Road where within the first 1/2 mile, a car coming the other way, throws up a rock the size of a baseball and hits my windshield right at face level with a giant "KA-BAM".  All I could think about was if I was on a motorcycle without a full face helmet how much that would have really hurt or frankly how I would look with no teeth and a broken nose.  That's another addition to geezerness I'm glad did not happen.  The windshield had a softball sized, spider webbed gash in it and I was convinced it would soon spread to the whole windshield, but it never did and I made it home without it getting any worse. 

Figuring that it was now late enough to start looking for a place to camp. I turned off at the Harris Ranch Road and followed some of the many four wheel drive side roads leading off of it.  I filled in some washed out gullies across one of the roads and got the truck down but eventually came to a spot that was washed completely out so I had to back out quite a ways until I found a spot to turn around which seemed like a good place to camp for the night as well.  I figured nobody was coming up that road for the rest of the night and I was right.  I had a great view down into the canyon of the Escalante and a good nights sleep even though there was a moderate wind blowing consistently.

In the morning I took my time and then proceeded back to Hole in the Rock Road.  I stopped at Dance Hall Rock  and then continued down Hole in the Rock Road to the road and parking area for Broken Bow Arch. 

The arch is reached by following Willow Gulch.  Willow Gulch has a year round creek which provides a greenway through the otherwise stark and rocky canyon.  There were many birds and signs of wildlife.  Amazingly there were also small fish in the creek as well as numerous pollywogs.  High cliffs and a large side canyon are among the geology seen on the hike.  The arch itself is beautiful and quite big.  My photos do not contain anything to use for scale, so they are not very good.  A rock overhang above the creek provided a nice cool place for a bite of lunch and a rest for Abby.  The hike is rated easy and it is only 4 miles round trip with a little less than 900 feet of elevation gain on the way out.  However, the weather was starting to get pretty warm and when in the sun, it was downright hot.  So hiking out mid day presented a work out for me and the dog.  The dog actually does better than me in the heat as long as she has water and she always has water, because if hers runs out, she gets mine. 

The trailhead at Willow Gulch would make a poor camp, so off we went looking for another spot back out on Hole in the Rock.  We turned of the main road onto what I believe is 40 Mile Road.  Anyway it was the road that hikers and backpackers take to go into Coyote Gulch.  There is a parking area by a water tank or the road continues farther which would get a hikers closer to the confluence of the gulch with the Escalante River.  The hiking is said to be awesome in Coyote Gulch with a fine riparian habitat, slots and arches.  I would love to do it, but no dogs are allowed even on a leash.

Sunset Arch

I found a place to camp about a mile east of the water tower parking area.  The next morning we headed out to find Sunset Arch.  There is no trail that I could find to the arch so I just headed in the general direction over the dessert.  Its not that long of a hike and after a short while I saw the arch.  It's not anything like other arches in Utah and it is said to best be seen in the evening.  But it is an interesting place and a pleasurable walk to it. There is another arch, of even lesser caliber a short distance away called....guess what?  Sunrise Arch. 

 

Sunset Arch



Sunrise Arch

After leaving the arches, I found another good campsite with a large stone fire pit located within a juniper grove.  There was great shade which I was happy to have because it was getting very warm, and windy.  The wind did not let up all night and it was blowing a gale when I got up and at 6 am it was over 70 degrees.  Abby seems to be getting used to the wind in the camper, but she still does not like it. 

There is a lot more to see and hike along Hole in the Rock Road but because of the heat and upcoming Memorial Day holiday, I thought that I might head over to the west end of the Burr Trail and gain some altitude around Capital Reef, but I decided to call it a successful trip and head home and save the Burr Trail for another day as I want to do the whole thing from Hall's Ferry to the end by Escalante.  I decided that I would drive to Great Basin NP and spend the night and then drive home the next day, which I did.  A fine end to a good quick trip.