2020 Winter Camping Trip Day9-Slot Canyon

2020 Winter Camping Trip Day9, 2020/12/4

We tried again (3rd time) the Wave and didn't win. I was tired of it by day3 and decided not to continue anymore. After we left the lottery place we headed for Wire Pass. Wire Pass and the Wave shares the same trailhead. In fact first 1 mile is the same trail. That made me frustrated first, but after I saw the cool rocks, exciting rocks, and fun petroglyphs, I forgot the frustration but had fun.  

Buckskin Gulch

Walking in the slot canyon is extremely exciting. I was so excited and jumped and smiled. 

It is extremely amazing that all this shape was made from water. The power of water is massive. It changes the rock shape. Indeed, if flood warning exists, you shouldn't hike slot canyon. As you can see rock is so tall, path is so narrow, thus you don't have anywhere to escape. The water is all the way top to the rock and you will be flushed. 

Due to that actually this slot canyon, Buckskin Gulch is called the most dangerous hike in the U.S.

In the past Mr.N, Mr.S1, Mr.S2, and I hiked in the Paria river to the entrance of Buckskin Gulch, but we didn't go inside the Buckskin Gulch. One reason is we were extremely wet to cross the icy Paria river by the time we reached the Buckskin Gulch, and another reason was that Mr.S2 said that he wouldn't hike the America's most dangerous hike. Now on the day Mr.N and I hike Buckskin Gulch was sunny, no flash flood warning, so it was safe. As you can see in the photo, the warm light coming into the slot canyon. It was indeed beautiful.

hands

The exciting thing about this hiking is not only the slog canyon but also petroglyphs. Here there was a unique petroglyphs. I had never seen the hand marks. As you can see in the left picture, hands shapes were marked as carving. I was wowed. There are 30-40 hands on the wall. The rock was softer in the older era maybe? Why hands were marked there? Those are like family resister thing? A lot of questions, but there is no way to know now. Mysterious and interesting.

bighorn sheep

Another types of petroglphs are made by making holes on the rock. Animals are popular among petroglyphs. Wire pass area has many bighorn sheeps, and many are drawn on the rock. It is nice to see people saw the same thing and wrote them a thousand years ago. Truly human's artistic activities. 

 

 

double arch

This day we had even one more fun. We hiked off-trail to see a "double arch".  The reason why it is called double arch is obvious if you see the picture. Since there is no trail to go there, it is a hidden gem! I like to be at a cool place which is secret. More fun! 

Although we didn't get a Wave permit, we had really wonderful hike at Wire pass.