Paria Canyon & Southeastern Utah

We finally made it to Utah! It wasn’t a direct route; we flirted with the state line, hopping back and forth between Utah and Arizona for some time while we were in the Paria Canyon – Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness Area.

Paria Mountains

I was beyond excited to visit this area to see some rainbow mountains like the ones we hiked to on our honeymoon in Peru. Not only did we see them, we set up camp and boondocked in their midst for several days. When we first arrived, I spent the first hour bopping from window to window to drool over our amazing views.

Pictures never do it justice, do they? But seriously, we stepped just outside our tiny home to take these pictures.

One day, we did take a short walk down the dirt road to see the mountains from some different angles.

While living among the rainbows, we drove to several nearby hikes in the Paria Canyon area.

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Toadstool Hoodoos

When we first arrived at the trailhead, the only other vehicle there was packing up and pulling away. We had the trail all to ourselves!

Since we were all alone, we let the dogs wander about off-leash. They absolutely loved it!

After a short, but picturesque 1.8-mile hike through red & white layered rocks, we reached the toadstools. A toadstool is a rock column with a boulder perched precariously on top, like a mushroom. They form when the softer rock erodes away.

Interactive photo – click and drag to look around:

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Wire Pass to Buckskin Gulch

Next it was time for our first slot canyons of the trip! We took the 3.7-mile Wire Pass Trail. The first ~3 miles were pretty hot and uneventful, but then we finally reached the slots. I had read that some people actually prefer these slots to Antelope Canyon because it is less crowded, and it did not disappoint!

The coloring of the undulating curves of the slots varied greatly as we walked deeper in, depending on the light that was able to creep into each section.

At the end of Wire Pass is a large opening with an arch carved into the red and orange striped wall. Here we took a break for lunch before continuing on to the right of the opening, where Wire Pass connects with Buckskin Gulch.

Buckskin Gulch is a large series of slot canyons, all of which are even taller and more impressive than those in Wire Pass.

This was easily the dogs’ favorite hike so far because it was extremely cool and shady in the slots. We also let them hike off-leash for most of it, as long as there weren’t other people around.

Interactive photo – click and drag to look around:

The slots were huge and magnificent.

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After 4 days of boondocking in the Paria Mountains, we regretfully packed up to move on. While the scenery made it hard to leave, our lack of hookups meant we had been rationing our water supply… which meant no real showers. And Arizona is dusty. And we still needed to boondock a couple more days at our next location.

So while we have grown pretty accustomed to showering less frequently in this new lifestyle, we were ready to move things along. (Don’t judge us. I know you all have been quarantining and have been pushing the bathing boundaries as well.)

On our way to the next boondocking site, we drove through Monument Valley.

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Mexican Hat

Mexican Hat is a triangular hat-shaped rock atop a small hill. We boondocked right next to it!

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Goosenecks State Park

Whilst staying at Mexican Hat, we visited Goosenecks State Park. It is named for ‘goosenecking’ curves in the rocks, created over 300 million years. The river water continuously flows through the sinuous turns, slowly eroding the rock more and more.

You can drive right up and park by the goosenecks at this state park, so we just casually walked the path around the goosenecks to see them from different angles.

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House on Fire

Finally, we went to a real RV Park and took very long, hot showers, and it was glorious.

From this new spot, we hiked an easy 2 miles to the House on Fire located within Mule Canyon.

The House on Fire was once a granary built by the ancient Puebloans to store corn. It was carved into the Cedar Mesa sandstone, and the streaks in its stone roof look like flames.

I had read that the best time to visit is between 10:00 and 11:00 a.m. to get the full fire effect. We found that it glowed oranger when photographed from within the shadows right at its base.

Outside the shadows, it’s a little duller, but you can better see the full rock roof from this vantage point:

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Newspaper Rock

On our way up north to Moab, we stopped at Newspaper Rock to see some petroglyphs.

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In other news, Sean has joined the surprisingly large sourdough bread-making movement that is sweeping our country.

As is tradition, he named his sourdough starter. It is Sir Mix-A-Lot. Because he has to mix it a lot.

Please read the lyrics I wrote, inspired by our Sir Mix-A-Lot, to the tune of Baby Got Back:

I like big buns and I cannot lie
You other bakers can't make rye
When a girl walks in with a little bit of yeast
And a round loaf in your face, you get sprung
Better flour that dough 'cause you know that pan is stuck
Deep in the oven it's heating
I'm hooked and I can't stop kneading
Oh baby, I want to eat'cha
And share your picture
My doughboys tried to warn me
But those buns you got, make me so hungry!