Parashant Canyon (Mar 2006)

Parashant Canyon in the Grand Canyon is one isolated spot! I have been down there twice. I went down there in late winter by myself, and was worried that if something happened to me, that my best bet would be to try to get to the river in order to get help from rafters.

To get there, I drove my truck down road #1063 south of Bundyville School, and parked at the top of the rim near the stock tank. The road down into the canyon is in absolutely terrible shape. I have heard some people mountain bike down. I wouldn't do it--it's too steep, rocky, and slow. I took my motorcycle the 20 or some odd miles down to the copper mine, and I won't ever do that again either--way too many washed out ruts and big boulders. I averaged only about 8 mph both ways, and was in first or second gear most of the time. It was painfully slow.

I knew I was close to the copper mine when I saw a lot of green rocks scattered on the ground. From the copper mine it's easy to scramble down the wash and get into the narrows. Parashant does have some nice, deep, redwall narrows that go on for miles, and it's a fairly decent walk down to the river, although it too is a long ways.








Looking straight up while in the narrows.









A view down canyon.

East Zion (Mar 2006)

The east side of Zion has many side canyons and washes that are worth exploring. Many take you up on interesting slickrock and views.



Here is a slickrock highway that seems to go up into space.















These mysterious petroglyphs appear to be two humans joined at the feet, upside down.



















Here are some humanoids riding on the back of a snake?