May 29 – Wire Pass and Toadstools

No luck in the lottery this morning. There were 46 groups with a total of around 90 people. 5 groups got to go tomorrow.

Today was completely overcast but there was no rain. It kept the temperature cooler but didn’t help the pictures at all.

There is another great hike located near The Wave that anyone can go on. This hike actually shares the trailhead with The Wave trail. We had to drive 40 miles east of Kanab on Highway 89 and then 8 miles down a very rough washboard dirt road.

I could not believe it but someone actually took a large Class A motorhome down this road. It must have been shaking apart.

The Wire Pass Trail follows a wash into a very narrow canyon until, after about 2.7 km, it T’s into Buckskin Gulch. At its narrowest the walls are barely shoulder width apart and very tall.

Starting down the wash. The narrow part is only about 1 km long and it right before the junction so it takes a while to get there.

An interesting fluffy plant.

Finally a narrow section, but just for this corner.

Jennie saw an unusual rock.

Ok in we go. The walls start low and get tall fast.

The were two drops that we had to negotiate. The log was very slippery.

We came out of the first section into a short open area.

Then we headed into the narrower and taller next section.

Just before the junction Jennie saw a bat sleeping on the wall.

Coming out of the canyon at the junction with Buckskin Gulch there was a huge alcove.

Looking back as some more people come out of the canyon.

We had lunch at the junction. This was our view down and up the Gulch.

We headed up the gulch for a while. It was not as narrow as Wire Pass but the patterns on the walls were amazing.

 

We went down a short way until it started to open up a bit. We had gone about 3 km by now and there was still another short hike that I wanted to do.

Heading back out to the junction.

And back into Wire Pass. Jennie close.

And farther. It is amazing how much bigger the alcove looks with Jennie in it.

Going in.

I saw this huge bug on the ground that Jennie had just stepped over. It was about 1.5 inches long.

Jennie made me do a two finger salute.

 

Again the picture are a pale imitation. I also wish it had been sunny so the colours would show up better. It would have been cool in the canyons even if it was sunny.

Back out in the wash we saw the spot where the Wave Trail tees off of ours. Hopefully we will be back.

Back at the car and heading out to the highway, slowly!

Since it was a long drive to get to this area, I wanted to do another short hike that I had heard about.

We drove another 7 miles east on the highway to The Toadstools Trail.

You follow a wash in for a little over a kilometer.

Jennie loves to check out the rock formations.

We saw a very weird seed pod on this plant.

At the end you get to a small plateau with a few toadstools.

I thought the huge wall of alcoves behind it was far more interesting.

 

There were some very lacy dripping up at the top.

I wanted to see what was over the wall at the end of the plateau.

Not much, it turns out.

But the view back to Jennie was pretty good. She is the black dot just above center, below.

Jennie was checking out another area.

After we had explored enough we headed back to the car and home.