Buckskin Gulch

After a bunch of trips to the Sierra and Rockies, we figured it was time to mix things up. What’s something different? Well, how about hiking the world’s longest slot canyon? In June 2013, we packed our gear and headed out to Utah’s Buckskin Gulch—a 13-mile slot canyon that’s as epic as it sounds.

Since it was a point-to-point hike, we had to do a bit of car shuffling—one at the Wire Pass Trailhead where we started, and another waiting for us at Whitehouse Trailhead where we'd finish. The plan? Hike through the narrow twists and turns of Buckskin, camp at the confluence with the Paria River, then tackle the final 7 miles along the Paria the next day.

The whole hike was full of challenges—flash flood threats, quicksand, not much water, and the occasional snake to keep things interesting. But we made it through without too much trouble. Afterward, we weren’t done yet. We capped off the adventure with a couple of nights backpacking through Bryce Canyon, wandering around those crazy hoodoos.

All in all, it was one hell of a trip and one that we’ll be talking about for years.

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