Paria-Hackberry 2022

I have been to the eastern end of (what is now) Grand Staircase / Escalante National Monument many times, but I had never done any hikes in the western end, the Paria-Hackberry basin. I scheduled a trip there for Memorial Day in 2020, but guess what happened.

I decided to put the trip on the schedule for 2022. The backcountry group size limit is 12 (per the original GSENM resource management plan, which is being restored after the Trump administration whacked it); I put a limit of limit of 11 on the number of participants. Naturally, the trip was immediately oversubscribed...

As the date approached and the number of queries increased, I realized that we could split into two groups for hikes and accommodate up to twice as many people. As it turns out, that was unnecessary; by that point, people had been making other plans, and in the end we had a group of 11 — a perfect size.

My other anxiety about the trip was the possibility that we might have trouble finding a campsite. The only official campground in the area is at Kodachrome Basin State Park, and all of the sites there had been reserved for quite a while. The national monument has only unreservable, undeveloped camping turn-outs along the main roads. My experience last year in Parowan Canyon made me wary — camping sites there had filled up early. I decided to drive down on Thursday 5/26 so that I would be more likely to get a site. A few other folks with flexible schedules joined me.

As it happens, we had nothing to worry about. Very few of the undeveloped sites were occupied. I wasn't really prepared for that; our people had to wait while Bob and I drove around looking at the campsites and deciding on the best one. We chose one that was reasonably close to the road, where people coming in later could see vehicles and the WMC signage, and there were plenty of juniper trees for shade.

(There was lots of sand, though. If you plan to camp in this part of GSENM, be prepared to get sand in your tent, your clothes, your car... Also, be prepared for loose, sandy stretches on the roads.)

Friday was warm and windy. There were 5 of us, so we could all fit into my 4Runner; I decided to drive us over to Booker Canyon.

Booker is the next major tributary on the east side of Hackberry Canyon south of the (much) more famous Round Valley Draw. We drove the bumpy road out to an unmarked parking spot and set off westward through the piñon-juniper forest. There were scattered tracks in the brush, but nothing resembling a trail.

Following some suggestions that I'd found on the net, we worked our way down the slickrock ridge that divides the upper part of the north fork. Bob found a workable way down into the eastern lobe, descending a very steep, long section of checkerboard slabs. Going downstream, we had to work around pour-offs; the left side seemed best until it wasn't, and then it was again. There are no cairns or signs or tracks, so you mostly just have to see what works.

One of the pour-offs had a nice little slot below it. We worked around it on the left, then when we could re-enter at the bottom, we walked back up to the pour-off and enjoyed a snack in the shade.

We went downstream to the junction with the south fork. This wasn't actually intentional — I didn't realize that it was the south fork until we'd already decided to turn back, and I walked up the slabs on the east side to have a look around. The views were really nice, with big slickrock basins both upstream and down.

When we got back to the parking spot, I asked Gretchen about a chalcedony (?) flake that I'd found, and she said that she had noticed lots of stone flakes and a core. Of course we had to go poking around through the trees looking for more. It was fun to think that folks in the past had spent some time here making arrowheads and spearpoints.

go to the Booker Canyon gallery

We then returned to camp and found that other folks had arrived. After helping people to set some gear up, we organized a trip down to the Cottonwood Canyon narrows.

Cottonwood Canyon runs along the foot of the huge monocline that bounds the east side of the Paria-Hackberry area. The monocline forms a long, straight valley that is paralleled on the east by a line of crags called the Coxcomb. Cottonwood Creek runs in a gorge in the sandstone on the west side of the road before coming out into the valley. At one point, the gorge comes close to the valley but doesn't connect to it; that makes for an upper trailhead. We left my 4Runner as a shuttle vehicle at the lower trailhead where the Cottonwood Creek comes out into the valley, and then we entered the gorge from the upper trailhead.

The canyon is a very easy walk with great scenery. It's worth walking a ways upstream from the upper trailhead, since there is a short section of nice narrows. Downstream, the gorge is pleasantly narrow for a while, before it eventually opens up a bit into a section with high white walls. It closes down somewhat just before coming out at the lower trailhead.

It was a very nice way to start the trip and for people to get acquainted with the scenery.

go to the Cottonwood Canyon Narrows gallery

Saturday was warm and windy too. Both Sue and I had a goal to get to the top of Yellow Rock, a prominence just south of the Hackberry gorge. I figured that we could do Yellow Rock in the morning, then go up Hackberry Canyon in the afternoon.

We parked at the Hackberry Canyon trailhead, then wandered downstream through the cottonwoods and willows to the next minor canyon. We followed a fairly well-established footpath up the canyon toward an enormous pour-off. Before reaching the wall, the path veered off to the right and climbed steeply up a slope to a saddle. After we all caught our breath, we followed the track back into the wash above the pour-off. The enormous bare mound of Yellow Rock loomed ahead.

Sue and Bruce crossed the wash and attacked the southern high point directly, while the rest of us took a northern route. As we picked up elevation, the wind became stronger and stronger. I had to cinch my cap down multiple times to keep it from sailing away in the blast.

The view from the top is fantastic. Castle Rock and its turrets stand out to the north above the Hackberry gorge. To the west, the top of the Grand Staircase is very impressive, from the pink cliffs at Bryce descending through the Gray Cliffs to the White Cliffs of Navajo sandstone, where we stood. The stairs descend to the south to the Colorado River. In the foreground, the sandstone is stained yellow and red and pink; it looks very colorful all the way to the Paria River gorge.

People were huddled together facing north in an effort to avoid the wind. It was hard to have conversations. Even as we descended the slabs, the wind kept blowing and whipping sand in our faces. The yellow-stained stone was really fun, though, and the scenery made up for the conditions (I thought).

go to the Yellow Rock gallery

After a stop at the cars, we entered the Hackberry gorge. All of the descriptions that I had read on-line said that Hackberry Creek has running water, but the creekbed was dry for at least the first mile. Even then, it was barely running. The ongoing drought is very evident.

After a stop for lunch in the shade, we headed up the wet section of the canyon. Some of us put on water shoes or sandals and splashed our way up the creek. It was a nice way to cool off on a hot day. After a while, the canyon opens up and becomes very red.

There are indeed hackberry trees in Hackberry Canyon. The vegetation didn't appear to be suffering from the lack of water (yet).

go to the Hackberry Canyon gallery

Gretchen had spotted a “cave” on the west side of the Cottonwood Canyon Road on an earlier trip. We stopped to investigate it. It's a pretty spot, shady with cottonwood trees. The cave is an alcove in a steep draw; Bruce and a couple others braved the exposed ledges to go up a level and get a view into the alcove. The approach to the upper cave entrance is blocked by a straggly tree, and no one wanted to force their way through it.

We stopped to take photos of the weird pinnacles and slopes of Carmel and Entrada sandstone around the upper Cottonwood Canyon trailhead. I had never been to Grosvenor Arch (apparently pronounced “Grove-ner”), so we made a quick side trip there too.

go to the Cottonwood Canyon Road gallery

On her previous trip, Gretchen hadn't made it to Lick Wash on the west side of the Paria-Hackberry area, so on Sunday morning we decided to give it a shot. It's a fairly long drive along the unpaved Skutumpah Road, which has many steep ups and downs. We stopped on the way at Bull Valley Gorge, where I was surprised to learn that the crushed pick-up that's stuck in the narrows is visible from the bridge above.

Lick Wash has somewhat lusher vegetation than the east-side canyons, probably because it's a little bit higher and is fed by run-off from the Paunsaugunt Plateau (Bryce Canyon). The narrows are walkable and pretty, although they're a bit short.

go to the Lick Wash gallery

We went back north on the Skutumpah Road to do Willis Creek. Willis Creek has fine, walkable narrows with dry, sandy floors. We saw lots of families, plenty of dogs, and a pet goat (!). Horse poop in the bottom shows that horse-riding tours also get down into the gorge. Parking was extremely crowded, but we were extremely creative and got all 3 vehicles squeezed into the overflow area.

I'd read that there were petroglyphs where Willis joins with Sheep Creek. I sent us on a bit of a goose chase heading upstream from the junction; when that didn't pan out, we came back down and discovered a Forest Service sign on the downstream side, showing where to go. The petroglyphs are not in the greatest shape, but they have some interesting patterns. There are (unfortunately) plenty of cowboyglyphs and tourist-glyphs too.

go to the Willis Creek gallery

On Monday, some folks were anxious to start on the drive home before the traffic got awful. However, 6 of us were still interested in doing the well-known Round Valley Draw slot canyon hike. We piled into two vehicles and headed to the inauspicious-looking trailhead. (Diana and Yi went for a hike in Kodachrome Basin.)

We walked down the open, sandy wash for about 2/3 of a mile, following a fairly well-established track that cuts off some of the bends. The narrows start abruptly. The 7-foot drop that I'd read about turned out to be pretty straightforward for our group, but there was some hesitation at the 17-foot drop, which comes shortly after. I pulled my rope out of my pack, and Christine knotted it so that it would make better handholds. I then went down the drop unaided and collected packs tossed down from above. The rest of the group followed, with Simon acting as the anchor at the top. Everybody was happy at the bottom to realize that the worst scramble was past.

The next mile or so went through really pretty narrows. There was beautiful light in many places; other places were dark, and made my camera confused (sigh). We all stopped repeatedly to take pictures. There were a few more downclimbs, mostly at rockfall, but nothing as challenging as the initial downclimb. The walls were curved and striated and seem to go on forever.

A small cairn marked the exit canyon. The trail was steep and loose, but we made it to the top without incident. As predicted by a webpage, there was a road that led away from the end of the trail across the plateau (Slickrock Bench). At this point, I should have re-read the directions that I'd printed and carried with me — instead, I just started walking down the road, keeping an eye out for cairns or an obvious trail.

By the time that we reached a dry stock pond, it was clear that I was off track. I re-read the directions, and they said to follow the road for just “a few minutes” before picking up a “hikers trail” on the south side. None of us had seen any obvious trail leading away from the road.

To make a long story somewhat shorter... We first tried to descend the draw to our south, but it was steep and loose and had lots of awkward brush. After some debate, I insisted that we should return along the road and look for the trail, rather than hike 4 miles or so back to the main road and then down the Round Valley Draw road. We didn't find anything resembling a trail leading away from the road, not even a use trail. We found footprints, but they seemed to be from people who were lost like us, and they faded away in the brush. Eventually we just struck out south toward the rim, and we picked up a use trail near the edge. That trail improved gradually as we got closer to the southern draw that we'd checked out before, and eventually the trail dropped fairly steeply into the bowl and took us back to Round Valley Draw just above the narrows.

When we got back to camp, Diana and Yi had been waiting for us for at least a couple of hours, and they were preparing to bail. The rest of us showed up in the nick of time, and we were able to get everything stowed and get people on their way home. Phew.

Many thanks to the participants for their company on a truly enjoyable weekend: Christine, Diana, Susan, Bob, Michele, Simon, Gretchen, Yi, Sue and Bruce.

go to the Round Valley Draw gallery