After picking up supplies in Escalante, we headed to Kodachrome Basin State Park. They have loads of hiking trails but we were more interested in their campground’s newly remodeled showers (nicest shower I have ever used) and laundromat. Deb was very excited to get the opportunity to wash her mud soaked hiking pants.
Jim and I did find a little time to enjoy one of the short hikes above the campground. We loved this view with the big yellow tree screaming out “dare to be noticed!”.
The next morning, we headed down the Cottonwood Canyon road. It was also a dirt road but much nicer to our Escape Campervan. The washboard was half that of Hole-in-the-Rock road.
Halfway down the road, we took a lunch break and did a short hike through the Cottonwood Canyon Narrows.
Our big adventure for the day was a hike up Yellow Rock.
From a distance, Yellow Rock was a pale yellow but once we touched the rock, we understood why this was such a popular hiking location.
The higher we got the more vibrant yellow the rock became.
On the upper slopes, more colorful swirls appeared. I actually thought the Instagram photos I had seen before we came were edited to enhance the color. Trust me, the color is real.
On the way back to the car, Deb and I stumbled on to this most unusual sand formation. Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument continues to impress me.
We boondocked for the night a few miles south of the Yellow Rock trailhead.
The next morning, Jim and I headed into Kanab to enter the lottery for a Wave permit while Deb and Steve went off to pickup our permit for Paria Canyon (we ended up only using her permit for parking).
Neither Jim nor I have ever won a lottery so it was no surprise to us when we lost. It might have been a surprise to the other 70+ groups that didn’t get a permit either. Over 70+ groups applied for 4 permits. You have better odds of getting an Enchantments permit. We read, your odds of getting a permit to visit the Wave is 3%. Crazy!
We regrouped with Deb and Steve outside the Old Paria Town then headed off to take in the nearby Toadstools.
We all wanted to stay at the Stateline Campground (Utah / Arizona) so we sent Deb and Steve off down the dirt road ahead of us to grab us a campsite. They were completely setup by the time Jim and I arrived.
Our afternoon hike was to the Maze. A large petroglyph just outside South Coyote Buttes.
We got an early start the next day (left camp before 9am) so we would have all day to hike in Buckskin Gulch. The canyon is 13 miles long. The longest and deepest (highest walls) canyon in the Southwest.
We reached Buckskin Gulch via Wire Pass Slot Canyon which cuts off the first 4 wide, sandy miles of the Buckskin Gulch canyon. Wire Pass is actually an 8 foot drop in the slot canyon. Someone had placed a dead tree in the slot canyon to act as a ladder.
Just before Wire Pass Slot Canyon reached Buckskin Gulch, the canyon opened up into a beautiful confluence.
From the confluence, we could look down Buckskin Gulch and admire the high walls.
We spent the next several hours hiking as far as we could down the canyon. Buckskin Gulch undulated back and forth between a narrow slot canyon and a sandy river bed.
We hiked until we came to several consecutive water / mud holes. We heard the water ranged from knee high to chest high. We chose to keep our clothes (and bodies) clean and turn around here.
As we hiked along, we came across a California Condor. We heard they were reintroduced to the area a few years back and are thriving.
For the next few days, we were on 4-wheel drive only roads due to deep sand. Our campervan would be taking a few days off while we all piled into Deb and Steve’s truck. I am convinced that Steve loved this part of our journey. Navigating his truck down these sandy, rocky roads.
Our first day, we spent in Coyote Butte South, the Paw Hole trailhead. Coyote Butte South and North (the Wave) both require advance permits due to daily quota limitations. The roads to the Paw Hole trailhead included lots of hill climbs in deep sand.
Within minutes of leaving the Paw Hole trailhead, we came to a fence and the entrance to Coyote Butte South. We were immediately hit by why this was such a protected area. The rock formations were incredibly delicate.
The rock formations displayed some amazing color and textures. The rock was incredible thin and easily broken. We were careful not to climb on anything fragile.
We did hike up to a high point for lunch. It was interesting to see the line of hoodoos marking the boundary of the protected area.
We spent the day trying to digest what we were seeing. Much of the rock fins were so thin that we were cautious to even touch them.
The next day, we decided to move camp closer to our next two trailheads. We gave up a heated bathroom and picnic table for a boondock spot under the stars with some giant red boulders. We all agreed the boondock site was 5 stars and well worth the sacrifice of comfort.
After dropping our van, we headed out to White Pocket. There is currently no permits and quotas for this area but it does require a 4-wheel drive, high clearance vehicle. Do not attempt it without one. We heard it cost $1000 to get a tow out of this area.
White Pocket is a very small area in the Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs National Monument. After spending a day here, we all agreed that this area does need a quota / permit system. There were 20+ vehicles in the parking lot. The rock here is not as delicate as Coyote Butte South but it could easily become overrun with tourists.
White Pocket doesn’t look real. It was my favorite spot on this entire vacation. I would return in a heartbeat.
The rock was colorful swirls covered with a white, brain textured layer. So undescribingly unusual.
From a high spot in the middle of White Pocket, you could see the end of the plateau on all sides. I wonder what happened here millions of years ago to create the pocket of such unusual rock.
We spent the entire day scrambled around careful to stay off the thin, delicate rock fins.
We couldn’t decide if it looked like the rock was covered with melting ice cream or silly string.
It took us only a couple of hours crawl all over every formation in the place.
We took many breaks to just take it all in.
We all agreed this area looked like waves frozen in time. On our way back to the car, Deb and I came across a wave that reinforced what we believed.
The next day, we woke to our first cloud layer in two weeks. There was actually a 20% chance of rain and high gusts of wind. We only had two days left in our trip so we decided to head out anyway. After all, we had a permit to explore the Cottonwood Teepees in South Coyote Buttes.
We all felt that this area was similar to the Paw Hole trailhead but it did have some crazier rock formations. I call this one “the goblin”.
And some very thin rock fins.
The color waves in the rock fins were beautiful.
This area was much larger than the Coyote Buttes at Paw Hole.
For our last day, we took the scenic drive along the southern end of the Vermilion Cliffs. We enjoyed the many informational stops along the way. As we got close to Page, we took a lunch stop at Horseshoe Bend.
Our final tour would be through Antelope Canyon. This is the most photographed canyon in the southwest. Since Antelope Canyon is on the Navajo Indian Reservation, all tours have been closed for over a year due to Covid.
Though the canyon is beautiful, my favorite thing on this tour was talking with our Navajo guide. I always enjoy getting to visit with people from different cultures with different life experiences.
Immediately following our tour, Jim and I said goodbye to Deb and Steve and headed south toward Phoenix. We arrived at Beth and Wendy’s around 9:30pm anxious for a shower and a real bed.
Beth and Wendy were generous enough to allow us to crash at their house and then frantically take over their driveway the next morning as we tried to repack everything from the campervan into 4 checked bags and 2 carry-ons. I got the final things packed away as Jim drove us toward the airport.
Escape Campervans rental lots are near the airports. I was super impressed with their staff. They really have outstanding customer service. Deb and I have already started to plan another adventure for Fall 2022.
——— CalTopo Map of our Complete Trip ——–
