HikeArizona.COM

Hey so some friends and myself are planning on making a trip down to Buckskin Gulch in the third week of the upcoming March. We have all of the permits and necessary paper work taken care of but have encountered other concerns. We are going to be doing the trail from Wirepass to Lees Ferry, we obviously know that it will be a rather chilly trip through the gulch at that time of year and are prepared for that. However, we were worried about the possibility of having to cancel if the weather forecast for the days leading up to and during have chances of rain. We are wondering if anyone has any suggestions of other about 4 day hikes we could do between there and Vegas because thats where we are flying in from. Additionally, any other information about the gulch and the Paria River Canyon around that time of year are appreciated! Thanks!

Drew

If the weather precludes your hiking BG/Paria, that will dampen your options close-by as well, as most of the fun hikes are also in canyons.
Not a backpack, but some fun can be had by visiting Coyote Buttes (the NORTH has the Wave). Both the north AND the south are awesome, as is the White Pocket, which is just south of the Coyote Buttes South.
It's a few hours away from Paria, but a really cool hike.... Try Grand Gulch... maybe from Kane Ranger Station down to Bullet Canyon. If you like ruins, this is the place.
No matter where you go, off pavement, in southern Utah, though, pay close attention to the road conditions as that caliche is some wicked stuff when wet.
When staying near Paria, always stop in at the Paria Adventure Ranch for showers, laundry, a meal and some fun. Tell Easton, the owner, that Kurt said "Hi".

hikeaz wrote:It's a few hours away from Paria, but a really cool hike.... Try Grand Gulch... maybe from Kane Ranger Station down to Bullet Canyon. If you like ruins, this is the place.

Yeah, about 4 hours beyond Paria. Really neat place, and easily a 4 day trip. See: http://hikearizona.com/decoder.php?ZTN=1283

Has anyone here done this hike during the winter - Dec or Jan?
I know my favorite hiking window for Buckskin is summer or early fall, but a friend asked me about winter conditions.

Of course, it will depend on rain from now until then, but I was thinking most of the pools would be pretty full at that time of year, which means lots of wading. Guessing the water will be plenty cold then, too.

Snow, ice, mud, and that's just on the drive to Wire Pass. Then more of the same in the canyon, plus short days / long winter nights. That would pretty much take all the fun out of it for me. Check the BLM link below - good chance of precipitation, temps in the 20F - 40F degree range, average number of winter visitors: near zero.

http://www.blm.gov/az/st/en/arolrsmain/ ... imate.html

triplogs show monthly visits (at the top):
http://hikearizona.com/x.php?I=4&ZTN=16112&UID=0

No Nov/Dec/Jan/Feb trips logged.

All Months
37 triplogs
Jan 0
Feb 0
Mar 2
Apr 4
May 7
Jun 10
Jul 0
Aug 1
Sep 5
Oct 8
Nov 0
Dec 0

@toddak That was pretty much what I was thinking. No fun!

@mazatzal Thanks! I actually never noticed that before.

@mazatzal
Which doesn't mean that somebody reading this forum hasn't been there during that time.

Apparently there are people who visit this website who never post anything. Shocking, I know... :roll:

@chumley
I'll bet you a pint at AWB that no haz member has been there during dec/jan (pre 2014)
June looks popular, have you been?

@mazatzal
Unwinnable bet. There are like 500,000 registered haz users. 499,500 of them have never posted anything. It's not that far fetched that one of them is a crazy photographer that wanted to get some unique winter light in there. Or something.

Have I ever been to AZW? No. It's on my list though. I hear it's good.

chumley wrote:@mazatzal
Unwinnable bet. There are like 500,000 registered haz users. 499,500 of them have never posted anything. It's not that far fetched that one of them is a crazy photographer that wanted to get some unique winter light in there. Or something.

Have I ever been to AZW? No. It's on my list though. I hear it's good.

Lot of lurkers on this site. Even know of a few wives and girlfriends that don't even hike that join HAZ on the off chance they need to find out where we are going in case they need to call SAR.

@chumley
I really meant the whole hike through Buckskin which was the original question but I agree probably someone on haz has done it in winter.

Anyway, Buckskin should be on everyone's list it's

Might I suggest the Arizona Trail on steroids; the Hayduke Trail, http://www.hayduketrail.org/index.html. There are fourteen distinct sections of the trail, and I'm guessing at least one (all?) of them would be a perfect alternative to Pariah Canyon.

SAMBA wrote:Might I suggest the Arizona Trail on steroids; the Hayduke Trail, http://www.hayduketrail.org/index.html. There are fourteen distinct sections of the trail, and I'm guessing at least one (all?) of them would be a perfect alternative to Pariah Canyon.

Do they have empty beer cans along the way instead of cairns? Seem to remember from the book that's how Hayduke measured distance.

@SAMBA
I am trying to suggest some alternatives to her, so thanks for the input.
It is funny how denial works, though. She keeps saying things like, "Oh, I'm sure the temperatures will be nice for us. There won't really be any ice."