Wire Pass / Buckskin / Paria - March 1-4, 2007

[accadacca]

Cirrus, You are the ultimate trip reporter. IMO...you can NEVER have enough photos and the captions next to each photo too. You ROCK!!! This was a GREAT read and on the eyes too. Glad you enjoyed yourself...I feel like I was there.

WE SALUTE YOU!!!

[Win]

Terrific report, quite an adventure!

Win

[Scott Card]

Thanks for a great read. One of the best photo TR's yet.

[rockgremlin]

This is probably the best, most comprehensive TR I've ever seen. Thanks for taking the time to share this with us. I appreciated the personal spin you added to the story - made for a great read!

Very well done!

[Mtnman1830]

Wow. I enjoyed every bit of it. Thanks for sharing!

[Cirrus2000]

Afterword and Author's Notes

The trip is over, but fortunately the memories will last a lifetime.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have had such an... atypical introduction to Buckskin and Paria - and Wire Pass, for that matter. Not everyone gets to experience it for the first time in such a way - alone, with not a single other human in sight or earshot from start to finish. I think it made it special. Yes, I read a bunch about it beforehand, I took copies of Kelsey's info, and the BLM guide. I still felt like I was exploring, though. Like I was the first to see these things. Sure, I missed some stuff, but it will leave things for me to find next time.

The only canyons I'd been in prior to this were Dark Canyon around the Sundance Trail, the Virgin Narrows in Zion, just a few hours up from the bottom, and a short way up Orderville Canyon from the Virgin confluence. I'd heard, and I'd seen pictures, but the actual experience of Wire Pass and Buckskin - that was incredible. The light wasn't always ideal, and I'm sure that it varies from spot to spot, but once in a while it just struck right, and I had to stare at it in awe. I think that I captured some really nice photos in a few places.

The Paria Canyon was more like the canyons I'd seen previously - wider, and more open to variations in route-finding. A lot of fun, and more sustained than any other trip I've taken. This was not only my longest desert/canyon trip, but the longest (farthest) backpacking trip I've done yet. (I know, it's not a whole lot, but I'm working up to it! Gimme some time - I've got years ahead of me to do this stuff!)

I certainly am glad that Buckskin was so easily navigable for this trip. Two short puddles to mid-thigh, and nothing else beyond mid-upper calf - well, highly unusual, and it really helped keep the experience manageable for a solo rookie. Sure wish I hadn't carried the inflatable cooler float, for my pack, though. And I really could have got away without the wetsuit, for the tiny amount I really needed it. Still, glad to have had everything I actually needed.

My memory card and battery woes were lamentable, but I think I did okay with what I had. I would compose each photo in my mind, set the camera where it needed to be, then turn it on, click, and turn it off. Very few photos with flash - better to get the natural light, anyway. I can not believe that the battery lasted right to the end - and took over 250 photos, plus a bit of video. Kudos to the crappy no-name manufacturer.

I know that I've kind of overdone it with this trip report (that's me, trying to set the bar higher!) but keep in mind that I lost my notes about the trip. I wanted to save all the memories I could about the trip. I wanted to get the details down while they were fresh (I'm also presenting this trip as a slideshow to my local mountaineering club in May.) So actually, I've been typing this all into Word, and copying it into uutah.com day by day. This, along with the photos, is my permanent record of the trip.

Thanks for your patience in getting through all this stuff. This was a trip that has brought me a long way in how I feel about my capabilities (though not necessarily improved my actual capabilities), and really broadened my experience. I would like to do this trip again, when it's warmer, greener, and generally less harsh (like the wind was on the second day, and a short while on the third. Yikes!) I'll probably try to drag my usual partner, Tony, along on this trip one of these days, and I realize that I'll probably see more people - any people would be more - next time. That's OK. I've seen it on my own, and I'll never forget that - never.

Here endeth the entirety of my Wire Pass - Buckskin Gulch - Paria Canyon trip report. Whew.

[denaliguide]

fantastic trip!! next time you will have to see what else you can do without. loved all the great photos!

[tanya]

Wonderful!

[americanhero]

They've been Hasselhoff'd!!!!

Really though, haven't we all...

We need to see if he's still really popular in Germany. Jolly? americanhero? Is it true?

Hasselhoff?
He was very popular in Germany in the 90ies, that's true. Actually the younger ones don't know much about him. I can remember the popularity he once had here in Germany, but I never understood it.

By the way, a wonderful Trip Report!!!
What an adventure. I really enjoyed reading it completely. The Paria Canyon is something I will do someday. But I'm sure I won't do it in March. Looked a little chilly sometimes
And what kind of wetsuit did you use?

[Cirrus2000]

Hasselhoff?

By the way, a wonderful Trip Report!!!
What an adventure. I really enjoyed reading it completely. The Paria Canyon is something I will do someday. But I'm sure I won't do it in March. Looked a little chilly sometimes
And what kind of wetsuit did you use?

Glad you enjoyed it! Yes, it was chilly, but I don't mind the cold too much. Every morning the sun was strong enough to thaw the frost off the outside of my sleeping bag and the inside of my bivy shelter pretty quickly!

I borrowed the wetsuit from a friend, who does some scuba diving. I used his 3 mm "Bare" Farmer John suit. I could have easily done without it, considering how dry Buckskin was.

I visited the Kanab BLM Field Office the day after I came out of Paria, and there was a fellow there considering doing a quick trip through Buckskin up to White House. I told him that shorts and a towel would be adequate for Buckskin at that point. Put on shorts, run through the water, towel off, put long pants back on, and continue. It really was that easy.

How rare is that? Pretty uncommon, I think.

[stefan]

very nice cirrus. you do a great job of capturing the daily experience backpacking (every day building upon the previous) and you convey your passion for exploration and the magic of what comes next.

it's truly a wonderful canyon experience. one fellow i met in the paria narrows was hiking up canyon ... the only couple i have met doing so. he said to me that the lower part of the canyon is what he considers "ugly desert hiking," and he's coming from living in arizona. going in reverse allows you to save the best for last. i laughed.

as far as the lighting goes, it gets better when the angle of the sun is larger, but of course even then certain hours of the day are better than others as far as the best light bouncing off the walls.

thanks for putting as much thought and time into this trip report ... it's reflective of the many wonders of wild canyon system holds ... and this is one section of its journey from the paunsaugunt plateau