Here’s an account of our latest adventure this past weekend. Unfortunately, some of our clients were out of commission due to a bum knee, wisdom teeth pulled and a newly arrived client.
Before we left for our journey to Buckskin Gulch, a client gave a synopsis of his life and how he wound up at B2B. After a thorough account of his life experiences, we loaded up the van and we were off on our 2.5 hour ride to Whitehouse Trailhead. The van ride was filled with heavy punk rock and the guys looking forward to our next adventure.
As we arrived at the trailhead, we were all given reflective metallic poop bags so we didn’t stink up the canyon! Who would have thought? We unloaded the van and we were all ready to go by about 3pm. We hiked down the Paria River Canyon and slowly were surround by huge slabs of sandstone on either side of us. We hiked to river confluence where the Paria merged with Buckskin Gulch. We set up camp overlooking the Paria with walls of sandstone that were at least 200 ft. high on both sides. The red walls mixed with water seeping down made for vibrant contrast of white, dull reds, and charcoal. We set up camp there for 2 nights; it was a little condensed but we managed to squeeze all 7 of us. We ate a hearty dinner, did a meditation, and retired for the night.
7:30 AM was wake up time for the day ahead of us. We suited up, grabbed our day packs with all of our food in them due to little critter and ravens, ate our ‘mandatory oats’ and strolled off down the Paria. We were in search of ‘Big Spring’. Miles upon miles, bend after bend, lined walls of red sandstone city buildings high overshadowed us down the slick, muddy stream.
About halfway through our day hike, we found a huge inlet with an alcove that involved a little climbing. We took a quick break and had AA about our reservations about both the AA and B2B programs. After that we were back on track hiking downstream. We found lots of water bubbles underneath the surface and as we were walking it felt like we were walking on a water bed. We were all checking this out – until it happened… Once client threw a mud ball at another and it was on! The epic battle of mud flung across the stream began. Everyone got mud everywhere. One client in particular was head covered head to toe in mud.
While having a grand time, we went a mile or two too far, not even aware we had passed the ‘Big Spring’. We decided to head back and we eventually found it. We all filled up our Nalgenes and camelbacks with the crystal spring water and had a 5 mile trek back. Overall we hiked about 14 miles that day. Some clients forgot their boots, so blisters were slowing down the pace of the group.
After an all day affair, we ate and did Sharing is Caring then meditated and got a good night’s sleep for the hike back to the van. We woke up at 6 AM, packed up, ate ‘mandatory oats’ and drank some coffee in preparation for the 7 mile hike back. Hiking back, blisters being popped, muddy boots and sore feet made the hike a little bit of a test, but we all conquered with time to spare. And that will wrap up the trip to Buckskin/ Paria.
Thanks for tuning in and until next time, all the best from the boys here at B2B!
