Wire Pass to Lees Ferry: Paria Canyon Backpacking Trip
Date: June 13th - June 18th 2022
Location: Southern Utah and North AZ near Page AZ
Hiking Partners: Colin and Anthony
Paria canyon backpacking trip. This trip was a couple years in the making. Colin and I originally wanted to do this hike in 2020 but with covid rampant the permitting system and most of the land was shut down so we had to postpone. Finally the permits released in March. We snagged our spots and the journey began.
Sunday June 13th: Departure Day
Colin met at my place and we picked up Anthony on the way out of town. This was my first big outing in my truck as well so I was excited just for that part too. We made our way up the I17 through Flagstaff, up through Cameron AZ and finally arrived in Page. Once in Page we had a few hours of time to kill before our shuttle picked us up. We had lunch at this great BBQ restaurant then headed to Utah to pick up our permits. We talked to the ranger about trail conditions and picked up our wag bags, a current map and were on our way. We saw some sights on our way back then headed to Page. Once back in Page we made our way to Grand Canyon Brewery and enjoyed our last beers before hitting the trail.
We were instructed to meet our shuttle at a local Chevron close to where we were going to drop off my truck at the end of the trail. There was an unfortunate fire that started in Flagstaff which delayed our shuttle 30 minutes. While waiting for the shuttle we started packing up all our gear. Making sure we had everything and didn't leave anything in the truck.
While packing up I discovered something very interesting.....I forgot my hiking shoes! Luckily I was wearing my Puma 306725-02 SpeedCat OG+ Sparco Mens Sneaker Shoes Blue Casual which were already on their last leg at the time. I did what any other person would do. Freak out quietly. I was the leader of this hike and I forgot my hiking shoes. I sneakily disappeared and started combing the shops in walking distance. They had cheap water shoes in the shop but that's about it. I contemplated buying the cheap shoes and wearing my neoprene socks and calling it a day but decided against it. After much quiet deliberation I made the executive decision to hike in my Pumas. I had no other choice.
I broke the news to the guys. We all brainstormed but I wasn't going to postpone the hike a day. We didn't have enough time to head back to town to get new shoes at Walmart. Anthony even called a local friend and she said she would pick some up if our shuttle didn't arrive on time but ultimately I stuck with my Pumas. I love these Pumas. I used to wear them all the time so they were very broken in and fit my foot almost perfectly.
The guys were a little worried about blisters but I wasn't. Nothing was going to stop me from going on this trip the way we planned it. Most of the trail is flat and slopping slowly down for the next 5 days so I didn't need a lot of support from my shoes. At this point in the shoes life they were pretty warn down and didn't really have any support. Almost like barefoot shoes. Remember these are supposed to be casual shoes and not hiking shoes. I figured neoprene socks with these shoes and I would be golden. I heard a great quote the other day from my Uncle Brett after telling him this story and he said "Sometimes things go wrong but that's what its all about!" Makes a great story to tell later!
It was 6pm and our shuttle was supposed to be there at 5:30pm. We called and text and called and no one was picking up. We started calling other companies to see if they had any room and finally the shuttle guy picked up. His response was, What? You called me? I was already not happy about him being late and never actually calling us to let us know either but he was on the way and would be there soon.
He arrives. In a Prius. The website where I booked him shows his supped up SUVs with the company logo branded on the side but he decided to pick us up in a Prius. We loaded our packs in the back and followed him to the truck drop off point. Followed is loosely used as we lost him 2 minutes into the drive as he took off speeding down the road. We arrived, dropped off my truck and hopped in the Prius.
Then the wild ride started. Colin and Anthony in the back and I was the lucky one to sit next to this guy. All the sudden he started this scripted speech about politics, AZ running out of water and how everything in the desert was dying. If you look to the left you'll seeing lush landscape...if you look to the right you'll see everything is dying spoken by our shuttle.
How did we know it was scripted? Good question, well every time he would ask us a question during his speech we would try to answer it and he would continue to talk over us. He seemed really confused as well when we would try to answer like he lost his place when reading a speech. This was all memorized.
While presenting this speech to us, lets talk about his driving. I was in a position where I couldn't see the speedometer but Anthony had a great view. Anthony looked out the window during a tight turn and noticed a speed limit sign that said 35. Anthony clocked him on this turn at 76! At this point in the ride I turned around to the guys and gave them the same look they were giving me. Well it was nice knowing you guys we might die on the way to the trail.....in a Prius.
Where we were picked up was only about an hour from the trailhead but since he picked us up in his Prius and not in the lifted SUV, we had to do a car swap....AT HIS HOUSE! Instead of taking us directly to the trailhead as we thought, we headed all the way back into town the long way which added another hour easily to the drop off. I wasn't happy. Once again speeding along, passing cars, drifting close to the guard rail and not staying in the lane lines were a normal thing for this guy. Finally we arrived at his house. The SUV from the website was there. His wife was in the kitchen cooking and his young son came out to greet him. We packed the SUV and we were finally on our way to the trailhead.
The SUV was a smooth ride. Something that you would expect from a shuttle service but the next part we didn't expect at all. We turned on the dirt road headed to the trailhead. It was going to be a long dirt road but we expected it. This was at low sunset. The sun was already passed the mountains and we just had residual light left. Same as on the road he was swerving all over the place. We almost hit the rocky side of the mountain multiple times on my side and I'm sure we almost did on the other side too.
Then all of the sudden he was driving on the wrong side of the road! Not to mention that he was going 60 down this dirt road at sunset! Luckily there were no other cars leaving the trailhead otherwise a head on collision would have ruined our hike and our lives. As we came around a blind corner we found a couple of people packing up their sedan to head out. We were luckily they were not on the road with this guy.
As we were approaching the trailhead, Antony started asking a few questions to lighten the mood. First he asked about the shocks, yep those made sense but then he asked about tire pressure. The guy responded oh their Goodyears.....everyone went quiet. That's a brand...not tire pressure. Finally he answered 20 psi! I knew that was low but as Anthony explained later that the tire pressure is so low and he was going so fast on the dirt road, that the wheel well has a very high chance of melting, popping and flipping the SUV.
After two hours we finally made it to the trailhead unscathed. He dropped us off at the trailhead with some sparkling water. I handed him his money and included a tip. I didn't want any trouble from him out in the middle of nowhere, plus he mentioned randomly on the way that he had tons of guns and honestly we didn't know if he had one on him.
We made it to the trailhead! There was another group already in their tents sleeping not too far from where we set up camp. We setup our tents. Made dinner and enjoyed the rest of the night under the stars. There were actually bathrooms at the trailhead too which was a nice addition considering we were going to have to pack our poop out for the rest of the trip. For me this was great since I had the worst food poisoning I've ever had for three days all the way up to the morning of the hike. So much so that I had dropped a solid 8-10 pounds of weight before this hike and not on purpose!
Monday June 14th Day One
The sun rose and so did we. While the guys made their breakfast, big groups on hikers started forming at the sign in post. Due to the fact that this first section is the longest slot canyon in the world many people day hike or do a quick overnighter through Wire Pass - Buckskin Gulch and out White House Pass. The group of people next to us were already up, signed in and were hitting the trail at sunrise. We grabbed all our gear. Made sure our water was full, signed in, greeted a few people and started down Wire Pass.
Wire Pass is a short introduction trail to the Buckskin Gulch. It's about 4 miles long and greets the entrance to Buckskin Gulch. The trail starts off in a wash going slightly downhill. Then the fun begins. This trail is a nice introduction to the slots your about to get into.
You also run into your first obstacle in the canyon. Flash floods often bring in big pieces of wood that get lodged in the canyon walls.
At this point we were still in Wire Pass so the slots were short lived but always opened out to some beautiful desert views.
We also found a little wooden ladder to traverse. This was one of the only ones we found on this hike.
After about 4 miles we made it to the three way crossing that is Buckskin Gulch. The trail veers to the right where you'll see a huge arch in the rocks.
There were a couple groups of people here doing day hikes and were kind enough to take a picture of all of us.
Heading down to the right we were finally in Buckskin Gulch. The views were amazing and the pictures don't do it justice but we took a ton anyway!
There was often large pieces of wood lodged in the canyon from previous flash floods. This one was about 50 feet above us.
There were tons of great rock formations.
Even a couple flowers here and there.
While there was light coming through most of the canyon there were areas of darkness.
In some areas of the slot the top was only a few feet wide.
As you can see, most of what we hiked in was sand but there were a few rocky places too.
Some of the canyon walls looked almost like they were cut with a hot knife into butter.
We made a friend along the way. This crow followed us in the canyon for at least 2 miles.
Sometimes the canyon would open up into a huge room.
While other times we had to make our way around or under obstacles.
After a few miles in Buckskin Gulch we ran into the group that started before us. We all had a good laugh about the shuttle service. The other group had taken the same shuttle, same speech and same reckless driving. The lady in the group called him Nascar racer. They were traveling through Buckskin Gulch, camping over night at the confluence then heading out White House Pass the next day. We said see yea at the confluence and headed out.
We took a couple breaks along the way as needed.
After quite a few miles we made it to what's called the Rock Fall. The Rock fall has two ways to bypass it. The first and most preferable way is going through the rat hole. This is a hole between the fallen rocks that you can climb through and bypass this section of the hike. Sometimes this hole will be filled and blocked with debris from flash floods but we were lucky enough to do this hike when the canyon was dry. There's a small hole up near the left side of the rock fall that takes a little scrambling to get to. Look out for a rope attached to the top of the rockfall and that's the entrance to the rat hole. We tested the rope strength and headed down. Anthony went through first so we could toss the packs down to him. I was next then Colin was last.
We were happy to not have to pass through the Rock Fall going this sketchy way.
Once we were passed the rock fall it was smooth sailing...or so we thought. We stopped for a break for about ten minutes. Refueled, checked our water and proceeded to put our packs back on. I tried to put my pack back on and immediately felt light headed and almost collapsed on the ground. I wipped my pack off real quick and laid on the ground. The guys turned around and asked if I was okay. My skin color turned gray at that point and I was in the beginning stages of heat exhaustion. Being in a situation like this many times before I knew I just needed a few more minutes to center myself. Anthony sprayed some water on my chest and a few minutes later my color returned and we were on our way.
As we continued to get closer to the confluence we started seeing signs of moisture. This was a welcome sight. Anthony had run out of water already 4 miles back so we were in dire need to find the confluence sooner than later. We started seeing mud, then small pools of water close to the canyon walls. All were stagnant nasty smelling water but we had excellent filters.
Anthony opted to wait till we had running water at the confluence to filter so we continued our journey. All of the sudden we came around the corner and their were two or three people standing there. We were ecstatic! Thinking we were at the confluence. Nope not yet but close. The group told us about 200 meters and your there. A quarter mile later the canyon opened up to the confluence. There was a group of people chillin on a rock formation that we walked past near the river. Smiles on our faces we headed to the right down the confluence.
We found a nice sandy beach to start setting up camp. The main goal was to setup the tents then get into the water and cool off before sunset while also filtering water to drink. Anthony was feeling a bit light headed and laid down in his tent from heat exhaustion. I grabbed him and we sat in the super cold water up to our wastes. Colin came down to greet us with the water filter and began pumping the water. We all drank half a liter or more to refuel. We ended up sitting in the water for over an hour. Everyone was feeling much better. We grabbed some electrolyte tabs and drank some supped up water and started cooking dinner.
I had an assortment of different types of gluten free and dairy free freeze dried foods while Colin and Anthony were a little more consistent with their meals. Colin in particular ate Biscuits and Gravy every single night! Freeze dried foods were great for this hike sine we lost so much sodium in our sweat they were a nice way to replenish what we lost.
As we were cooking dinner I was looking up and down the canyon. The people we saw chillin on the rocks went by our camp and said hi, then continued to find another spot. I was getting a little worried though as we still had not seen the group that we passed early on in Buckskin Gulch. This was a family from the east coast with younger guys in their 20s and their mom as well. All in great shape but so were we and we struggled through the last part with heat exhaustion and running out of water. I was growing concerned that we might have to hike back in with headlamps and smaller packs with water to escort them to the confluence. Right before we lost our light the group came through! Woo hoo! They made it! We all shared our mileage together. One person had 14 miles, another 18 and we had around 17. To this day we don't now what the mileage was. Wire pass was about 4 miles and Buckskin was supposed to be 11.2 miles so combined 15 miles. This was longer than 15 miles. We are thinking somewhere around 17 to 18 miles altogether. The family passed our camp and went around the corner and set up their own camp.
I instructed the guys to bring something to share with the group on the last night of the hike but to not tell anyone till then. Anthony slipped up on what he brought but it was a welcome treat after our first big day of hiking. Anthony brought his favorite beef jerky you can only get back where he used to live out of state. At this point the sun was set and it was pitch black in the canyon. We enjoyed the nice treat of beef jerky, enjoyed the stars and retired for the night.
Tuesday June 15th Day Two
We started around 8 am. On top of the canyon temperatures were reaching above 100 but in the canyon temperatures were around 70s to low 80s. Plus we were often hiking right next to and in the water most of the way. At this point of the hike we were completely out of Buckskin Gulch and now in Paria Canyon. The canyon was no longer narrow but opened up into a huge wide canyon. Still lots of shade throughout but also a lot more exposure. Again the pictures don't do this canyon justice but we still took a ton! There were some great rock falls along the way.
Anthony was missing his girlfriend and got busted writing this in the sand on day two.
About a month after our hike. Anthony proposed to his girlfriend and she said yes! Congrats buddy and its about time!
As we continued down the canyon there were many river crossings. The water was lower than usual which benefited us in that way but also meant the fresh water springs may not be running. We found the first one quickly and drank straight from the rocks.
After the spring and a quick rest we continued down the canyon. Anthony taught us his unique mating dance that attracted his now fiancé.
We encountered many river crossings along the way.
A lot more exposure but we still had some shade.
We often took breaks along the way to cool off.
Shoes were holding up nicely.
Then we were back on the trail.
Both Colin and Anthony ended up buying the same pack so they bonded over flaws and ways to readjust their packs on the fly.
It was also common practice for Anthony to practice his pooping position so he would be ready when he needed it most.
We also found another spring along the way.
We even got into some deeper water.
Along the way we found some old mining parts.
We started seeing actual trees in the canyon and some flowers here and there.
After another couple of miles we had arrived at camp two. We setup our tents for another night in Paria canyon.
This camp was a lot more windy that the other since we were right at the end of a straightaway but it was a nice cool off from the days hike. Our chairs almost blew away a couple times.
Anthony received a solar panel that he brought along to try out. There wasn't much direct sunlight by the time we got to camp two so it didn't work out that day.
Colin had found the night before that his sleeping pad didn't keep the air in so we put it in the river and found the hole. Patched it with duct tape and hoped it would hold for the night. After dinner Colin busted out his special treat which was a flask of whiskey. We all enjoyed sips throughout the night. A few hours after sunset we retired for the night.
Wednesday June 16th Day Three
The next morning we woke up well rested and ready for the day.
We made breakfast and Anthony had his coffee.
Colin was the first to attempt using a wag bag. He was successful but said I literally had nothing come out except deer poops. Our bodies must be using everything we are putting in. Once this accomplishment was complete we headed down the trail.
At this point of the hike there wasn't a ton of shade. The canyon was pretty wide but we were hiking in the water much more than previous days.
By day two the guys figured out a system to help each other put their packs on with out having to bend down.
We were making good time.
Anthony found the first quick sand of the trip while crossing this section of the river. He sunk in up to his ankles while standing in the middle of the river talking. Realized and beat feet it out of there.
We continued down the canyon as it continued to open up.
Then we found it! Shower spring! One we've been waiting for. Colin was nursing some huge blisters so he didn't make the short journey to the spring but Anthony and I checked it out. We hiked about ten feet up the side of the river and then dropped into a huge pool of water. The water was freezing cold and pouring right out of the rock. The water was about knee to thigh deep all the way to the spring.
We drank straight from the rocks and put our heads under the flow. Would love to hang out here longer but we had camp to make a few more miles down.
We continued down and realized we were now in horse fly territory. Constantly feeling bites and slapping them off our legs.
We still had smiles on our faces despite the record amount of f bombs that were said to the horse flies biting us.
We even found some quicker moving water along the way.
There were a couple of big steps.
Lots of great rock formations.
Getting in the water was a pretty normal thing at this point.
Before we started this hike I had warned the guys about quick sand, which we already saw and quick mud. Quick mud is very dangerous as you can sink into it very fast and get stuck very easily. It normally takes a couple people to pull the person out.
I finally found some to show the guys! The mud pit was only about a 10x10 foot hole. There was a rock on the edge that led to the middle where the deepest part of the hole was. We spent about ten minutes throwing rocks into the hole watching them immediately sink in with a gloop. Then I was standing on the edge of the mud pit the with my shoes still on and said, you know what, I'll get in to show you guys how dangerous it can be. I stepped up the edge and slipped. It was like a cartoon trying to not slip on a bandana peal. I got my footing and made my way to my pack. I took my pack off and my shoes and walked into the shallow part of the hole. I immediately sunk to my knees. To demonstrate how struggling it not a good idea I wiggled back and forth slightly and sunk down to my upper thigh. At this point I could feel the pull of quick sand below the mud as well. I didn't have shoes on so I slipped right out and back to shore. Both guys were in strategic positions in case they needed to pull me out. I had a big smile on my face walking out of that mud pit and the softest skin like I had just gone to an expensive mud spa!
The river crossings started to get a little more difficult.
Then the sand dunes appeared above the canyon.
We took this opportunity to enjoy the sand waterfall and a much needed rest to cool off. I found the perfect spot to lay in deeper running water and invited everyone to get in.
Anthony often contemplated the mysteries of the universe.
At this point of the hike we decided, well we are going a great pace. If we go further today we can finish the hike in four days instead of five so we hiked further. All of the sudden the crossing started getting very difficult.
The trail started climbing up and away from the river unexpectedly.
This part was pretty funny. I passed through this area that was really tight and the rock was protruding out just enough to knock me over since I had a pack on. Anthony came through and the exact same thing happed to him. We both laughed and didn't tell Colin who was approaching from behind. Anthony wipped his cell phone out to catch of video of Colin coming through. Like before he indeed got knocked over!
The whole trail at this point changed. We were up on top of the river now.
Breaks were essential to try and get out of the sun.
My shoes were still doing a great job!
The next section brought us into a boulder field for some scrambling.
I was feeling the heat now and it was crucial to get to camp as quickly as possible. We could tell that we were getting close to camp because the canyon was starting to really open up.
We finally made it to camp! The color of my skin had changed once again to a pale grey so I hung back and rested while the guys refilled our water down by the river. I took my temperature which was at the normal range and a few minutes later my color returned.
Once the guys were done refilling the water we setup our tents and gathered around to start dinner. This camp was about 50 feet above the flowing water. This was our last night in Paria so it was my turn to pull out my special thing to share which was Sour Gummy Worms! Everyone was VERY excited especially Anthony. Never seen him so happy in my life to see Gummy Worms in the middle of a backpacking trip. The sun slowly set and we hung out by Anthony's little hanging lantern he brought along. At this point of the night the bugs were going crazy so we set up the lamp right in the middle of us to steer the bugs away.
What we didn't know is that the lamp actually attracted some interesting guests that night. As we were sitting around the lamp I saw something move out of the corner of my eye right next me. I jumped a little bit hoping it wasn't a snake and found a little frog! Taken our camp was quite a ways up and away from the water, this little guy saw the light and the bugs and decided to join us for dinner. I jumped up and tried to get a picture of him but he was too fast and got away. About an hour later I saw another movement next to me. In the exact same place as the last frog, another bigger one hopped up next to me. This guy jumped right over to the light and started eating the bugs right in front of us. He hung out with us all night as we treated him to a feast! This was a really cool thing to see since the whole way down Paria Canyon we saw thousands of tad poles but no frogs.
As we were starting to get ready for bed all of the sudden a small field mouse ran across our camp. Remembering the warning about this camp we tied our backpacks and food to the tree in the middle of the camp. Colin retired shortly after while Anthony and I stayed up enjoying the stars. Anthony was even able to capture the moment with a couple long exposure pictures.
That's the moon rising for the night.
We both retired shortly after.
I thought for sure a little mouse was going to crawl across my bivy at night and I was going to have to launch it off but it never happened. I did hear some weird sounds at one point in the night but they only lasted a short time so I didn't get up.
Thursday June 17th Day Four
We woke up a little earlier this morning to start the 8 mile fully exposed hike. My hair was looking pretty sexy after just waking up from my slumber.
We untied our packs and food from the tree only to discover a mouse had attempted to get into our packs. Colin had forgotten about a bag of nuts in his small side zipper pouch. It looked like the mouse launched himself from a rock, landed on his pack but couldn't hang on long enough to get the nuts. His pack on the other hand was chewed through to the plastic bag holding the nuts.
My dry bag also had a chewed hole.
After our discovery we laughed it off. Colin said shoot, now I'm going to have to replace my pack. A few minutes went by and he said, well actually this is a pretty cool trophy and its only a small hole in the side pocket not attached to the main compartment so I'm going to keep it. My dry bag, although patchable, was no longer air tight and became just a normal bag.
We headed out for our last 8 miles of our journey in the sweltering heat. The weather was now in the hundreds since we were fully exposed out of the canyon. We hiked fast to get out quick. Anthony decided to wear his best shirt for the hike out.
Anthony tried very hard not to get his feet wet at this portion of the hike.
This part of the trail was much dryer than the past. The trail brought us on top of the river then back down multiple times.
Colin made it successfully across.
Anthony had a little more trouble. Remember he's trying to keep his feet dry.
So far so good.
Well it was a good try but ultimately the river got him.
That was one of the last river crossings of the trip. The rest of the hike out was up above the river. This part of the hike was very hot and I was starting to feel the heat once again.
We started seeing signs of life.
We then found the trail sign out sheet which for some reason was not at the end of the trail. We still had another mile to get to the trail head.
It was hot but we still had smiles on our faces.
More signs of life!
Even an old cemetery.
Is that an old truck in the distance...why yes...yes it is.
We also passed an orchard on the way out.
I was moving quickly back to my truck and was a good 200 meters in front of guys trying my best to get out of the heat. All the sudden the guys saw a bobcat in the wash very close to where my truck was. He was too far away for pictures but a cool sighting right at the end of the trail. Glad we didn't take the short cut through the orchard and through the wash!
We finally made it! Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch to Paria Canyon to Lees Ferry! SUCCESS! In total we hiked about 45-49 miles in four days!
After the hike we enjoyed a treat of beef jerky in my air conditioned truck and took off for Flagstaff.
We stopped at the same Chevron on the way out for some gas and snacks. My shoes did a great job! I only had one tiny blister and that's it! The suede held up well and I was very proud to make it through sporting these Pumas!
We made our way down to Flagstaff taking a long detour on the way back through the reservation since the highways into Flagstaff were closed from the fire. Once we got to Flagstaff we showered and headed into town for some pizza and beer! After our pizza and beer we found a cool spot to do trivia and enjoy flights of beer. On the way Anthony had day dreams of the porcelain goddess helping him relive himself since at this point only Colin had the pleasure of pooping into the wagbag during the whole trip! Likely so, Anthony found this toilet on our walk to trivia. We told him he couldn't use it but look at that smirk, you know he wanted too!
We ate after trivia then headed back to the hotel to lounge for the rest of the night. We nursed our injuries, especially our horse fly bites and headed for bed.
Friday June 18th Departure Day
The following morning we ate breakfast in Flagstaff and headed back down to Phoenix to conclude our hike.
This was the ultimate backpacking trip in AZ. We decided this should be an annual trip from here on out. Thanks for the great memories Paria Canyon. See you next year!
Until next time!
