For a test trip before my next attempt at the Colorado Trail, I took some friends to southern Utah for a short beginner’s backpacking getaway.
Five women between 50 and 60 years old. It’s not your typical girls’ trip.
I have spent about 40 nights backpacking and canoe camping in the wilderness. I don’t have much experience, but I have enough to know a tent with trekking poles. My four adventurous friends were at various stages of novice backpacking.
Our Plan
I really wanted to walk through the Paria River canyon. An epic journey. Because this was intended for beginners, the plan for a 3 day trip was to enter the White House trailhead, hike about 7 miles, base camp 2 nights near the confluence of Buckskin Gulch, explore the canyons on our second day, and return to the White House trailhead on the third day.
Prior permits are required. I applied in February and got permits for a trip in May. I also tried twice to get advance permits through the lottery system to hike the Wave at Coyote Buttes North one day, but no luck.
Any time you plan a trip to slot canyons, you should closely study the weather and have backup plans. And it’s important that your backup plans are equally compelling so that you don’t feel too disappointed if you need to pivot. This is how I avoid “summit fever” (or in this case, “slotted cannon fever”) and maintain a hard line on safety. I formulated not one but two separate backup plans for alternating 2-night trips.
In the end we didn’t make the planned trip. We also didn’t do our Backup Plan B or our Backup Plan C. But what we did do was pretty awesome!
Climatic complications
There is no way around it. The weather can really ruin a well-planned backpacking trip. The day before entering Paria Canyon, we were hiking nearby and saw serious black rain clouds directly over Paria Canyon. There was only a 2% chance of rain that day, but it was indeed raining over the canyons. Let me tell you, there aren’t many things scarier… more dangerous… more deadly than the risk of being caught in a flash flood in a slot canyon. A local guide who was with us gave us some solid advice: if there are rain clouds overhead or you are even the least bit worried about rain, you won’t be able to enjoy the canyon. Although there was still a zero percent chance of rain over the next three days, seeing that storm over Paria the day before our trip sealed the deal for us. Don’t go.
Unfortunately, another weather condition was altering our backup plans. Unusually high temperatures. Approaching 90 degrees. That is why it is very undesirable to climb to the plateau with full exposure to the sun. Well, shit.
I’ll skip over the mad scramble to come up with a third backup plan and jump to what we did and why it ended up being a phenomenal itinerary.
Our definitive itinerary
Day 0: Travel day
Kanab (Utah)
Three of us flew to Las Vegas, rented a car and headed to Kanab, Utah. We arrived just in time to enter the daily lottery to walk the Wave at Coyote Buttes. (You must physically be in a certain geofenced area to participate in the daily lottery.) No expectations. But damn, we got it!
Hotel: Canyons Boutique Hotel in Kanab – great service, clean, quiet, amazing breakfast
Dinner: Wild Thyme Bistro – good salads, avoid curry
Day 1: Kanab
A requirement of the Wave Daily Lottery is that you must be at the BLM office by 8:30 a.m. to receive an in-person safety briefing. If you are late, you do not get the permit. So of course I proceeded to take us to the WRONG office! Luckily, it’s a small town and we were able to get to the right place in time for our briefing. Crisis averted. We then returned to the other office to pick up our Pariah permit.
Why can’t you get both BLM permits at the same BLM office? Why are there two BLM locations in Kanab? These are very good questions that remain unanswered.
hidden lake
In the afternoon we walked to Hidden Lake. Some people rate this as a one star hike on All Trails, but we thought it was an absolutely perfect way to enjoy the local scenery. A third friend joined us that same day.
Lunch: Brown Box Cafe – delicious
Dinner: Peekaboo Canyon Wood Stove – Horror! I don’t recommend it. A friend who is gluten intolerant ordered a GF pizza with a GF crust. He was NOT gluten free and got very sick. She was so sick that she missed most of the trip. Although I didn’t get sick, I thought my pizza was pretty boring, with a cardboard-like crust.
Day 2: Walk the wave
the wave
We hired a guide, Dan, from Kanab Tour Co. to take us to Wave. If you’re comfortable sailing, I personally don’t think a guide is necessary, but it was the right choice for our group and Dan is fantastic! At sunrise, we met Dan in Kanab at 5am and were at the trailhead by 6:15am to beat the heat. Due to the strict permit system, there were not many people. This hike is famous on Instagram and lived up to all the hype…without the crowds! It is pure emotion to walk. Absolutely stunning. Dan pointed out big horn sheep on the mountainside, dinosaur tracks, and a great shady spot for lunch. I enjoyed every minute and would definitely return if given another chance. If you’re ever in the area, try participating in the daily permit lottery. It’s worth it.
Dinner: Sego Restaurant at the Canyons Hotel – The food schedule was frustratingly slow, but the food was excellent. Nobody got sick.
Day 3: Zion Observation Point Hike
Observation point in Zion
When we left the Ola we could see it raining on the Paria. That put me into a tailspin to change our plans. Plus, we had a little girl who was still struggling with gluten exposure and my fourth friend arrived early to join us. We scrapped a 2-night camping plan and decided to do a day hike to Observation Point.
This hike has good tree cover, relatively speaking, for the desert. And it promised an amazing view of Zion and Angel’s Landing. It was still very hot that day with above average temperatures. But it was another amazing hike. About 700 feet of positive elevation gain. We saw others along the way, but everyone spread out to create a peaceful experience. It really is an impressive sight. Highly recommended.
Dinner: Wild Thyme again. They all ate salads.
Days 4 and 5: Kayak on the Colorado
Drive between Kanab and Lee’s Ferry
Well. We still wanted to camp for at least one night. I mean, after all, this was going to be a backpacking trip.
With scorching temperatures, we wanted to avoid full sun exposure and hoped a river trip would help us stay cool. We rented kayaks from Kayak the Colorado. The supplier told us it would be 5-10 degrees cooler on the river. He was wrong, but it was still a great trip for most of us. (The heat was too much for my friend who had been sick and quickly became dehydrated. She decided to leave early. A tough but right decision for her. We blame the Peekaboo pizza.)
For our 2-day kayak trip, we drove to Lee’s Ferry, where at 8am we took a speedboat ride down the Colorado River to Glen Canyon Dam. If I had to do it over again, I would start later that day.
After dropping us off near the dam, we rowed/floated down the river. Again, spectacular scenery with red rock canyon walls and perfectly blue-green water.
colorado river
The entire trip is about 15 miles of river paddling, and we camped halfway at an 8 mile campsite. We kayaked Horseshoe Bend and saw little specks on the top of the canyon wall: hikers looking down at Horseshoe Bend while we looked up. We saw wild horses on the shore, condors flying above us, an incredibly fat and happy beaver, and a curious chipmunk at camp.
Camping was not my favorite. We arrived at noon and it was hot! Sand and heat. The trees were so sparse that they looked more like leafless bushes, providing only tiny strips of shade. Hot sand. Hot sun. Type 2 Fun: Absolutely miserable in the moment, but kind of funny when you think about it. We held out in silence for several hours until the sun began to set behind the canyon walls. I loved the trip overall, but I recommend starting later in the day so you don’t get stuck at the campground in the afternoon heat.
Once it cooled down, we set about setting up the tents. It was a clear night sky and the stars were big and bright! Five-star stargazing.
The next day we completed our paddle back to Lee’s Ferry. It was still hot, but it was a beautiful paddle.
We returned to Kanab to shower and spend our last night in Utah.
Dinner: Los Tapatios – good margaritas and good Mexican food. A great way to end our trip.
