May 11, 2016 – Day 25

It’s Day 25 and we still can’t believe it.  We wake up and feel fortunate for the opportunity that we have to do this journey.  We have never been able to be so spontaneous and free.  Never would we have been able to just decide the night before to go on a hike with friends on a Wednesday an hour away from where we were staying, but that is what we did today.   We cheated on Arizona a little by heading to southern Utah with our friends Epic Detour  to hike Buckskin Gulch. This hike travels through the largest slot canyon in the state!

This hike had not originally been on our list, but has become a favorite of ours.  Buckskin Gulch has it’s own trailhead, but we started from Wire Pass Trailhead to save a few a miles.  The cost is $6/person and $6/dog at the self check-in.  If you have an interagency pass you receive 50% off.

We found websites claiming that this trail is on the list of the 10 most dangerous trails in the U.S.  Although no one has died, the narrow gulch is prone to flash floods, and there are very few places to climb to higher ground in that circumstance.  They warn you that rescue is not rapid, nor guaranteed.  It was an easy 1.7 mile hike to Buckskin Gulch, however, there are a couple drops that you have to navigate over a log and stone and it is steep.  That part was interesting to say the least with three dogs.  Since this area constantly floods, debris changes on a yearly basis. Many other hikers claimed that some obstacles were not present on their last visit.

We started the trail at 11:30 a.m.  The light was amazing through the slots in the canyon.

The high canyon walls were breathtaking.  You stand there in awe at the size and the natural formations.

The entire group together!!

Epic Detour’s dog Redd (a Vizsla).

About 4.5 miles in you hit a place where a lot of rocks have fallen.  You can get through to keep going, but we decided that it was a good turn around point.

Dogs are slowly getting tired…well at least ours!!!

When we started heading back we noticed that it was an entirely different hike.  The sun had moved to the other side of the gulch and so places that were sunny before were completely shaded and the rocks were different colors.

We are so happy that we didn’t skip this hike.  It was more than we could have imagined.  We breezed through 9.5 miles.  This easily makes the cut of our top 5 hikes we have ever done!