It's Cold and Wet in the Desert

The weekend before Thanksgiving Ava and I drove down to Kanab to hike in the Paria slot canyon.  The canyon is part of the Paria Canyon-Vermillion Cliffs Wilderness Area, which is also home to the popular Wave.  Paria Canyon runs for about 38mi, but we had planned on camping 10mi into the canyon just beyond the Buckskin Gulch confluence and return back the next day.  As we picked up our permits Friday afternoon in Kanab, the ranger had informed us of waist to chest deep water in one section of the canyon that would likely require some swimming.  I downplayed the report thinking there’s no way that much water could be in there this time of year, and we’ll be fine with our neoprene socks.  Needless to say, we were very unprepared. 

Paria River

Rocks behind the campground.

It always surprises me how cold the desert can get.  We woke up to mid-20 degree weather and realized we would be hiking in water that was practically made of ice, at least until the sun had risen a bit more. 

"Look how cool this is, I found a stick."

Erosion

As the canyon narrowed, each water crossing got deeper, to where most of them were knee to thigh height.  We eventually came to the largest pool we had seen yet, about 5mi in.  Testing the depth with a tree branch, I realized I would have to carry the pack over my head to prevent all the contents from getting wet.  In hindsight, we should have brought dry sacks for this very reason.  Ava watches me wade across this frigid pool as the water approaches my neck, and in frozen agony, I tell her we’re not going any further.   

"Should we be worried of sharks?"

It would have been a type 2 fun experience if we didn’t die of hypothermia, and Ava is not really a type 2 fun person to begin with.  So, we hiked back out and drove to the north rim of the Grand Canyon.