Into Buckskin Gulch
January 28th, 2012
After the open area Wirepass Canyon ends when it flows into Buckskin Gulch. That’s where these photos of Brooke and Kat were taken. Buckskin Gulch is a very different canyon from Wirepass. It is much deeper and much, much longer. In fact it is the longest and deepest slot canyon in the southwest…maybe in the world. It is 12 miles long, ending at the Paria River, which flows on into Lake Powell. The canyon is as deep as 500 feet. It’s a bit dark down in there…but it’s a beautiful darkness.
We only explored a short distance in Buckskin Gulch, going for a short hike in each direction, upstream and downstream. It takes more than a day hike to explore Buckskin Gulch. Maybe I’ll try hiking it all the way some year…but I doubt it. One time when I was down there I saw people hiking up from the Paria River. They were covered head to toe in mud. At that particular time, also October, there were pools of water in Buckskin that had to be waded…and they weren’t shallow pools. They required taking off your backpack and holding it over your head while you waded in water that left just your head above the surface. Not my kind of hiking.
One Response to “Into Buckskin Gulch”
1Dave Rudin
January 29th, 2012 @ 8:49 am
Great stuff, DL.
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