Arizona National Parks Day 4

Day 4 – March 14, 2017

Today was one for the ages.  We ate breakfast, stopped off at Walmart to buy a few things then headed back into Utah.  After driving a while on Hwy 89, we turned south on House Rock Valley Road, a dirt and bumpy road that’s technically in Kanab, UT.  After about 30 minutes, we pulled into the parking lot of the Wire Pass Trailhead, paid our $24 fee and started hiking.  I think we were technically in the Vermilion Cliffs National Recreational Area but it’s hard to know.  All I do know was the hike was epic.  After a big of an uneventful, gradual decline on a sandy & graveling path, surrounded by truly the bluest sky I’ve ever seen, we entered a slot canyon and it got chilly and exciting but we came to a point, after only being in the canyon a few minutes, were there was a really steep drop-off – 10 feet? – too steep to jump down and even if we could have, we wouldn’t have been able to get back up.
 

So reluctantly we turned around and were disappointed to be cutting our hike so short.  As we left the canyon, we noticed footprints and cairns on either side of the trail so we ended up hiking up and over the impassable portion and dropped back into the canyon on the other side.  It was treacherous and exciting. 

Then we entered a longer slot canyon that opened up into a big open canyon.  That’s about where our trail intersected the Buckskin Gulch Trail so we headed southwest, a little deeper in the canyon. 

 As we entered this third canyon, we noticed animal poop EVERYWHERE.  Ryan called that portion of the hike Poopitopia.  Ryan said it was a cow and I said, “of course it’s a horse.”  We trekked just a little further and came to some water that would have been up past the kids’ knees so we turned around after hiking 1.5 hours and 2.75 miles. 

It really started to get cold so we put our jackets back on.  The temperature differential between the outside and inside of the canyon was extreme!  After we left the Poopitopia canyon, we sat in an open area (just before we got back on the Wire Pass Trail).  We sat and ate peanut butter and honey sandwiches and apples.  And sure enough, a lone black cow comes walking through the canyon and mooed at us! 

It was the strangest thing.  But he passed us by, likely walked into the canyon and got some water, then he came back out right as we were wrapping up our lunch.

We hiked back to the car and I think we all decided that it was probably the coolest hike we’ve ever done! 

Around 1:45 we got back in the car and drove back through Page, to the Lower Antelope Canyon for a tour – an expensive tour.  Including the $32 Navajo fee, the tour was $117.  We had a few minutes to kill before it started so we grabbed a snack then headed down the VERY, VERY slow and VERY, VERY crowded tour.  It was little bit annoying considering we’d just come from another slot canyon where we were basically the only people out there but it ended up being worth it.  The pictures we took and some that our tour guide took for us were spectacular.

 

Around 4, we headed back into Page to buy some souvenirs then we ran by a Subway to grab and early dinner that we took back to the motel. 

Now it’s 6:15 and we’re back at the pool and this time we’re the only ones here and my kids are in hog heaven again and my fit bit shows 17,139 steps.  It was a great day.  I think the rest of the evening will be here at the hotel.  The kids have been troopers this whole trip so they deserve the break because first thing tomorrow morning, we’re heading down to the Grand Canyon!!