Pariah -- trail with a history Part Two

Entering Pariah Canyon from the north, you begin by walking down a wash. At this time of year, the Pariah River (more a small stream) was entirely dry. I loved walking over the crackly dried mud mosaic and couldn't suppress the urge to pick up the puzzle pieces. The way mud cracks when it dries has been a delight to me since childhood. The walls of the Canyon rise rapidly and just as suddenly, the water appeared. We could walk along the bank of the stream for quite a distance, but suddenly, the water filled the entire Canyon from wall to wall and we had to make a decision as to how we were going to proceed. Most of us put on our water sandals or canvas shoes and picked up our packs. For the next few days, we would spend most of our walking back and forth, in and out of the water, sometimes crossing creek many times in an hour.

The first major milestone is the confluence of the Pariah and the Buckskin Gulch. We had a good time playing in the quicksand and getting covered with sand and mud. By this time the Canyon is deep enough to be considered a slot canyon, with no visible way to exit the Canyon.

The rest of the trip, involved walking, resting, looking for the infrequent springs and wondering about paths up and out of the Canyon. Although the weather in late May was very warm, almost hot, we certainly had enough water, especially if we wanted to purify the river water. It seems that we spent a lot of time drinking water.

Once we came out of the south end of the Canyon we expected that we would be through with walking, but there was a considerable distance to go across sand dunes but it was no longer necessary to wade the river.

Words can barely express a place that is so beautiful. It is one of those places that can be loved to death. It is really such a small place. Anything that disturbs the Canyon floor remains, at least until the next major flood. Both the Pariah and Buckskin Gulch are subject to multiple flash floods each year and extreme caution is necessary in planning any trip into the Canyon.

The southern end of the Canyon is at Lee's Ferry, which is the major staging point for rafting trips down through the Grand Canyon and for fishing trips up the Canyon towards Glenn Canyon Dam.