OUTLAW TRIPS

BUCKSKIN GULCH - Spring, 1973           by Girard Haven In the spring of 1972, John Vitz and I, with three other people, took a magnificent hike through the Paria River Canyon in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona (DPS Newsletter #113), One of the most exciting places we saw was the canyon of Buckskin Gulch, aptly named the Dive. However, we had time to explore only the first two miles of it, so we vowed to return soon to explore the rest. Our first attempt was planned last November after the scheduled South Guardian Angel climb, but when the high temperatures fell into the low forties, we decided to postpone the trip until spring. And so, early April found the five of us once again assembled in Southern Utah. Turning south down the Doll House Valley road, which intersects U.S. 89 5 miles west of the Paria River, we soon reached the Buckskin. It was flowing several feet deep and ten feet wide with a substance that looked like slightly thinned brown paint, The upper six miles of the Buckskin can be explored on a day hike by leaving the canyon at Wire Pass, the only reasonable exit between the road and the Paria. A mile below the road, we reached the Portals, a 100 foot high sandstone gate which marks the true start of the canyon. The sky was clear and deep Utah blue, but at times the wind blew the sand at us viciously. The canyon is wide, and the walls not particularly impressive by Colorado River standards, relying on bedding and coloration for variety more than on tapestries and sculpting. Several miles past the Portals, the Catacombs begin, a 100 foot deep canyon only 4 to 6 feet wide. The brown muck ran wall to wall, but the bottom was smooth and provided reliable footing. We lunched at the junction with Wire Pass, apparently named for its 3 foot width. Beyond that point, the Buckskin seems to be swallowed by the rock walls. The Dive looked to us to be as much a cave as a canyon. However, the high level of the water and its refusal to settle into something palatable caused us severe second thoughts about trying the canyon. We hiked out Wire Pass and then 4 miles up the road to the cars, and then drove around to inspect the Paria. In contrast to the previous year when it had almost no flow at all, it flowed swiftly with the same brown paint as the Buckskin, so we decided once again to postpone the trip down the Dive and headed for the Grand Canyon. Our third attempt on the Buckskin occurred over Memorial Day. I met John Vitz and Larry Fink at the Paria, where we left their car, and then drove around to the roadhead for Wire Pass. (There are large BLM signs both there and where the road crosses the Buckskin.) we camped that night at the roadhead, weathering a light rain in a shallow cave in the sandstone. It was still overcast the next day when we shouldered our packs, which were ridiculously top heavy since we had packed everything at the top in the hope it would stay dry during the expected periods of wading, and headed downstream, Soon we entered the Dive. It is a lovely canyon, narrow, beautifully sculpted, and in places, dark as a dungeon. There are spots where the canyon runs straight at a vertical wall and it is only when one is right at it that a narrow slit to the left or right reveals the continuation of the canyon. There are also wider spaces, where cottonwoods and tamarisk grow, offering pleasant campsites (except that this time there was no water in the Buckskin). The overcast broke up in late morning so the skies were clear in the afternoon and, of course, dark blue.

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