Buckskin & Paria

[Erik B]

After 6 LONG canyonless months my Seattle crew finally made it back down to the desert for 11 days of adventure in the North Wash, Grand Canyon, and Buckskin/Paria! Wheels down in SLC and thus begun the rat race of baggage collection, rental cars, & supply shopping. We were off like a shot and managed to squeeze in a lap through Zero G on the way down to the North Wash (http://canyoncollective.com/threads/zero-g-the-irish.19328/). The next two days we ran through one of the Leps, Blarneys , & No Kidding (http://canyoncollective.com/threads/no-kidding-chock-full-of-kidders.19329/) . After some significant late night driving we reached the Page area and cruised through Badger Canyon (http://canyoncollective.com/threads/badger-canyon.19330/) the next day.

As for Buckskin & Paria, this was our third attempt:

Strike 1: Monsoons, September 2013
Strike 2: Government Shutdown of 2013

We had planned 4 days of travel from Buckskin Gulch to Lees Ferry. Probably a little too fast, but it's what we had. We went through the rigamaroll of reloading after a week of canyoneering, getting our permit, setting the car shuttle and THEEEEN started the rain. Ugh... Nobody felt comfortable doing Buckskin. Fortunately we had seen it coming and applied in the walk-in lottery for Coyote Buttes North. Struck out. No surprises there...what a goat show! I did manage to pull a Coyote Buttes South Permit so we filled our time.

The unfortunate reality of this was that a four day trip was now compressed into three which meant BIG DAYS.
Buckskin was in terrific shape. The infamous cesspool did not exist. I got my boots wet twice in the entire 13 miles. What a FANTASTIC canyon!

We were huddled in our tents the night before our last chance departure and the rain pounded on the tents all night long. Even up to 2 hours before daybreak the rain continued. I thought we were done for. We awoke to miraculous sunny skies. Interestingly enough, despite an flawless forecast and sunny skies in the morning it actually did drizzle (from what clouds???) in middle Buckskin (see picture #9). hmm...

Paria was not overly muddy, the rate of flow was acceptable. I came up to my waste in water only once throughout the entire trip. What an amazing place. We all felt rushed due to the trip compression but were glad to have gotten the experience. Strike 3 would have been demoralizing.

Here is the entire trip video (North Wash, Grand Canyon, Buckskin&Paria). Buckskin Paria is from ~ 7:00 til the end.


http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dscn8475-jpg.5341/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dscn7974-jpg.5342/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08594-jpg.5343/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08362-jpg.5344/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08365-jpg.5345/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08370-jpg.5346/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08399-jpg.5347/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08401-jpg.5348/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08408-jpg.5349/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dscn8512-jpg.5350/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08470-jpg.5351/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08478-jpg.5352/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08500-2-jpg.5353/http://canyoncollective.com/attachments/dsc08573-jpg.5354/

[Byron]

Man, you guys were shoehorned into that car now, weren't ya? Christ almighty! Sure looks like you made every minute count. Nice job...dig the matching jackets, too. :mrgreen:

[spinesnaper]

I love this hike. I've done it 5 times! 4 times solo and always in 3 days. I think the helmets are very appropriate in Buckskin. One year I walked through there and noticed how many 5 to 15 lb rocks had fallen from above into buckskin from above. Of course in 10 hours, I never saw a rock fall once but it must be happening all the time. I think the small rattle snakes probably fall into buckskin from above also.

Love the pix.

Ken

[Cayuse]

Did Buckskin and out to Whitehouse April 5-6 with my daughter. What an incredible trip! Now I'm thinking about the canyoneering rendezvous in September.

Thanks for the pics.

[Slot Machine]

Awesome!

[ststephen]

Nice TR and sounds like a great trip. Love that route! I have a photo mounted and framed of my wife entering one of the narrow sections. Makes me smile every time I notice it.

[Erik B]

I have a photo mounted and framed of my wife entering one of the narrow sections. Makes me smile every time I notice it.

I know the feeling. Like a canyoneering photo posted at work... No matter how busy/stressful/difficult things get on the job, that photo is a reminder of how ridiculously awesome things HAVE BEEN and are SOON TO BE AGAIN.