The Box of the Paria River, Hidden Cache, Cowboyglyphs, Yellow Rock

Well this "Ring of Fire", May 20 1932 hrs., has nothing to do with the hike. 

MORE PHOTOS HERE

 This is not always the best time of year to hike the GSENM. Not too buggy & the water was low in the Paria River this year. Also we started at 9 a.m., not too hot.

In order to see the two scenics above and below, don't miss the well marked route uphill at the caricature. Above is "Rock Garden".  The parentheses mean THE AUTHOR's name. By the time you near these fins, which remind me of Canyonlands Nat'l Park, you should be seeing and heading east toward Yellow Rock.

Castle Rock

The Hidden Cache, above and below. THE AUTHOR says that the access is 800 meters from the car-park to The Box plus 300 meters more to the second drainage on the right. That's where the trail to the Hidden Cache starts up on the left side of the drainage. Look, never mind the meters, just hug the right side as soon as you enter The Box (OBVIOUS!) so that you won't miss the trail up the drainage. Discover the cache then back to the river and upstream you go. If you see "Red Top" sandstone formation at the top of a drainage you missed HC trail by  two drainages and are too far upstream. If you get to the fence and the first Cowboy-glyphs you are way too far. That's how far we got before we went back.

The next three below are Yellow Rock which (like The Wave and White Pocket)  is a very photogenic geologic area near the Paria River. When you get near Yellow Rock you will see it on your right. Can't miss it. Just head for the southern side of this huge phenom. You can't possibly miss it if you go up at the caricature with the top hat and stay on the most main trail. YOU MAY OR MAY NOT SEE A TRAIL TO YELLOW ROCK-JUST HIKE CROSS-COUNTRY CAREFULLY.

The obvious beginning of southern access to The Box (just north of the Cottonwood Wash mouth), where the Paria River cuts through the Cockscomb. It's not very long but it is very cool. Is it 800 meters from the car-park? A mystery. Anyway, the trail head is marked on the west side of Cottonwood Wash Road about 11 1/2 miles north of Rt. 89 (between Page and Kanab).

Incoming, 5/20/12, 7 p.m. +







This hike was gleaned from THE AUTHOR's "Hiking and Exploring the Paria
River". The only day hikes he mentions in this area were like 20 hours for
us. So by checking his various maps which don't make sense we made this
little loop hike up. It could easily be done in 4 hours certainly, but we had
an extra hour to get lost with Kelsey. So we used up 5 1/4 hours on our
debut. The only thing that really needs attention is the descent east from
Yellow Rock to the Cottonwood Wash or to the road by the same name.
From the south side of Y Rock head due east until encountering cairns.
Some of the descent is very steep. From the wash or road it's about an
hour south to your car, once you get down. Where the road veers sharply
left to bypass a geologic reef I would recommend hiking cross country
right and nearer the wash for less mileage.
 SYNOPSIS: Enter The Box from the south and the car-park.
After seeing the Hidden Cache and two graffiti panels (R) on the
Paria River exit right and uphill until Yellow Rock comes into view
right. Exit the south exposure of Yellow Rock to the east until finding
cairns leading to a steep descent. South in the road/wash 1 hour.
 OR-
Not Tired Yet? If not you may add 2 hrs. to your hike easily. Instead of going
south after the descent turn north in the wash and hike Hackberry Canyon.
 This is a nice narrow (but not a narrows) canyon which usually has spring
 water running in it. Bear west as you are northbound to catch Hackberry.
The eastern bigger wash continues as Cottonwood. About an hour north after
the descent from Yellow Rock, on the left on a bench just above the wash floor
are some dinosaur tracks. Small rock (3 ft. wide X 5 ft. long X 2 ft. high).
This would be 15-20 minutes after the large
"rock tower" on your right as you travel upstream. So to the dino tracks
and back adds 2 hours. The tracks are outies  not innies so they are tough to
photograph. They are still cool Grallators.

Best Hikes Within 25 Miles of Kanab

Kanab, Utah. I live there. I hike there. These are our favorite local hikes:

Bunting Trail-well publicized and in town
Squaw Trail (the best view of the "Grand Staircase")-well publicized and in town
Solaredas Trail-in town
Skutumpah Canyon (rock art)
North Fork Tiny Canyon or Mace Cave (rock art & ruins)
Dinosaur track hike near Flag Point (rock art also and we saw mountain lions)

all of the above can get you home for lunch if started by 7 or 8 a.m.
the next 3, I would carry my lunch just in case

Mansard or Island in the Sky hike (rock art)
Kanab Creek east of Rt. 89 (Indian ruins)
North Fork Hog Canyon (including "Superman" rock art & waterglyphs)

the next 2 may require more than half a day, mostly because of access problems (and 4WD only)

Glass Eye or Flood Canyon Indian ruins (try to include Inch Worm Arch)
Peekaboo or Red Canyon (short & nice slot canyon)

the following is a long hike but worth the effort

Cottonwood or Ron Smith Indian ruin site (rattlesnakes)

Bryce, nice

I don't like to tout National Parks because there is plenty of great free stuff to do. However, the Peekaboo Loop accessed from Bryce Point in Bryce Canyon National Park is the most awesome hike in the most eye-popping N. P.
Hiking in Bryce is no walk in the park. The hoodoos reflect the sun's heat uncomfortably on uphill grades. High elevations and natural ups and downs make this a demanding hike. The park recommends 3-4 hours, we did it in 2 1/2. I could not recommend this on a hot summer afternoon.
This loop and access lets one see the entire Bryce Canyon Amphitheater, worthy of the name. And see the Wall of Windows. The Bryce Point access is not always open, dependent on weather. Peekaboo can also be accessed from Navaho Loop (still great but not as).

We prefaced this 5 1/2 mile hike (rated strenuous) with the 1 mile Bristlecone Loop at the top of the paved 18 mile park road. These trees are always cruelly twisted but they like it like that-bad weather is good for thousand year life spans apparently. We didn't need to do this, as Peekaboo had a few specimens. But it's an extra mile if you want it.
So go on a free National Parks day.
Red Canyon next door in Dixie National Forest has free access.

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Hometown Tiny Canyon

It's nice to drive just a few miles from home for a nice hike. Tiny Canyon  is the canyon at the south end of the rifle range which is north of Kanab, Ut. on Hwy. 89 (or the canyon just north of Trail Canyon, which is across from Hog Canyon). We accessed it twice trying to find a supposed Indian ruin in the south fork. Well we tried two south forks and haven't found it yet. There are some short decent narrows in the 2nd. south fork (turn south out of Tiny just before the west fork dry-or-wet falls). Anyway, to explore any southern forks, park at the range and find any trail on the north rim. My opinion: unless you find the ruin site, not worth the trouble for the southern forks. UP AND DOWN IN THE SAND & BRUSHY! But scenic.
We did find a nice cave (Mace) in the north fork though. Pictographs, petroglyphs, metates. Across the wash from Mace Cave there is a ruin site under a ledge, maybe 3 or 4 pits and some original beam posts. Not much there but still interesting. You could go the same way as to the last south fork and turn north. My recommendation though is to drive north past the rifle range where the guardrail ends and park. (If you get to the Best Friends turn you are too far.) Head up the sandy drainage on the west side of Hwy. 89. Get ALL THE WAY to the top. This should take a good half hour to 45 minutes. Now head west cross country, erring on the side of Tiny Canyon for orientation. 1 1/2 hours should get you to the obvious large cave at the end of the north fork. We took 3 1/2 hours round trip with exploration. You can cut time off on the way back by staying back from Tiny Canyon and taking a more direct line. Orientation should not be an issue on your way back. It's just ESE. This hike is not too tough but is not for really hot weather. We went at 8a.m. in the summer. It's sandy! Good views!
We haven't given up on those elusive ruins in the south fork yet.

Moki Steps, Petroglyphs, Pictographs, Waterglyphs, Dinosaurs, Lions and...oh my!

Moki steps are not for the afeared of heights but the only way 

the long and the short of it-a smaller dinosaur crossed at right angle to the larger

  

view from the top eastward

 

This booger is a dinosaur track pictograph! I got no idea how bullet holes got here. To see this baker's dozen (well I can't guarantee the mountain lions) from Kanab: Go east on 89. About 6 miles east of Johnson Canyon Rd. go north & park at the second cattle guard. Walk about 120 paces north on the same rd. Walk left on an obsolete 2-track and look directly at the Vermilion Cliffs. You are going to the top & the biggest white rock directly in front of you. Aim for the right side of it! About a 1000 foot climb. Perseverance will eventually get you some cairns. You must take the Moki steps. Allow 4 hours with plenty of picture taking and goofing off. A swell time for all! 

blue is unusual in pictographs

"SUPERMAN"

Want to get to these 9 above? From Kanab go north on 89. Take the Best Friends road. Take Rt. 100 right. Take Rt. 101 right. Take 101D right. Take 101E left. Park in 1/4 mile. Walk north on the rim to the waterglyph. Standing at the glyph look east across the wash to the alcove with the rock art. Lots of bush-wacking to get there. This access is 4WD only!!! ....11.22 update: About a 10 minute walk north along the rim from the pictured waterglyph there is another great one!

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Cobra Arch/Middle Trail Loop

This hike is in the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness.
Cobra Arch is one of the most unusual I've seen and the Middle Trail into Buckskin Gulch looks pretty good and doable. With just day packs it looks like a piece of cake (about 100 vertical ft.), but we didn't have time this go 'round to enter the gulch.
I've been in the bottom of Buckskin several times, but had never seen it from the rim until now. It's DEEP (up to 500 ft.)! Which I could kinda tell from the bottom.
Route to trail head: Take route 89 east from Kanab, Utah or west from Page, Arizona. Between mile posts 21 & 22, immediately east of  Paria River Guest Ranch, turn south on gravel road FR #750. Stay on the most main route, which is occasionally marked "750" to the Middle Trail. The trail head is just past a fence line, on the south side of the road, 7.8 miles from the paved Hwy. 89. The last mile is sandy and 4WD at certain times of the year. I made it all the way in 2WD.
Oh yeah, Long Canyon, which is about a mile from the pavement, looks to have some pretty neat narrows to explore sometime. It's not really colorful probably, but it is tight. 
Hiking route from the Middle Trail head: Progress south on the trail for a few minutes to where the fence is down (before 1st downgrade) and turn left or east on a well worn trail. Follow the rim for about 45 minutes where a trail  leaves the rim to the right and heads down slope. In another 45 minutes reach Cobra Arch. (So it's about 1 1/2 hours to the arch, 45 minutes on the rim and 45 minutes slogging through the sand to just below or south of the arch.) After visiting the arch head southwest toward the big gash in the earth which is Buckskin Gulch. Basically rim walk the north side of the gulch until the Middle Trail is intersected. This should take 1 1/4-1 1/2 hours from the arch. You'll get there. Then take the Middle Trail north and uphill back to your vehicle (let's say 1 to 1 1/2 hours again). With sightseeing, multiple stops for picture taking, and looking into Buckskin at various points, the whole loop took us 4 1/2 hours at a leisurely pace. WARNINGS: If looking into the slot canyon from above be extremely careful for two reasons: 1) Anything kicked or dropped or thrown into the canyon may kill someone below. 2) The slot canyon's rim is very disintegrated and flaky and if you are on a slab that breaks or if you lose your footing you are one dead person for certain.
Do take the time to look at the gulch access at Middle Trail. There are some good petroglyphs to see without leaving the rim or downclimbing.

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Snake Gulch to the Corral

I recommend it.
Snake Gulch is full of pictographs (and a few petroglyphs) from the "Basketmakers", 300 BC to 800 AD. I would call this place Canon Pintado if it wasn't already taken. The jurisdiction is Kaibab National Forest (Kanab Creek Wilderness). An easy terrain hike, out-and-back to the corral and/or spring at Table Rock took us 6 1/2 hours, including lunch. It's about 6 miles each way and features mostly red pigmented pictographs. Hike early in the day to see the north side art work more easily in the shade. Snake Gulch trail runs generally east to west on this hike. The first art site is mostly petroglyphs in an alcove right, about 45 minutes into the hike. After that keep looking right all the way to the corral, which is about 3 1/2 hours into the hike (including sightseeing). Some pictographs are ankle-high and some are 20 feet above the trail. Apparently many ledges have fallen down. There are also many ruin piles, not of much discernibility except to archaeologists. They are still cool though, with some stone fencing obvious. Turn around at the corral and cross to the south side of the gulch as there are a couple of nice panels there. The corral has not much remaining except for fence posts. Recognize it by the granaries behind it and below an alcove. If doing a multi-day hike of Snake Gulch, there is a camping site existing on the south side of the gulch, across from the corral. This should be plenty of a day, shouldering a full pack. The Table Rock spring was dry this fall day.
Access: 1 mile south of Fredonia, Az. take a right onto Forest Service Route 22 for 21 miles paved and 1 1/2 miles gravel. Turn right on FS 423 for 1 1/3 mi., then right on FS 642 for 2.6 miles to the trail head. The trail is about an hour from downtown Kanab.

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