White House Campground in the Vermillion Cliffs region of Escalante-Grand Staircase National Monument

From Zion National Park, I got up early and made my way to Kanab, Utah where I went to the Ranger Station/Visitor center to attempt a shot to enter the lottery for the beautiful "The Wave" portion (North Coyote Buttes).  There were 113 other people vying for 10 slots, so needless to say I didn't win the lottery.  It was interesting to watch, though, as they stringently enforce the rules - a couple of people were ejected for entering the lottery twice.

So from there I drove to the White House campgrounds (not sure why it is called white house, but there you go) where I set up my tent.  It was pretty hot and very deserty.  Though I was continually surprised by the amount of flowers and color in the southern Utah desert.

The first day, I first set up camp and then put on my pack and hiked down the Pariah River Gulch.  I hiked about 5-6 hours, guessing about 10 miles total.  The Pariah River isn't particularly deep, though I did have to search a bit to find good crossing points to help keep my feet dry, never walking more than five minutes before I needed to cross once again.

At the end, the river all of a sudden stopped - but continued to roll and expand down-gulch towards the confluence with Buckskin Gulch.  It was pretty neat to watch a river being "born" in the desert!

I made it back to my camp in time to have a nice dinner (by camping standards), and then took some time to chat with my fellow campmates.  Once guy was from Colorado and his buddy was from Nevada.  They had been meeting every year for many years for various hikes and trips throughout the southwest - it was fun to share a beer and listen to their stories.

The next day I hike down Buckskin Gulch to it's confluence with Wire Pass.  That was another 12-14 mile day, and the temps were in the upper 90's.  Thankfully I was able to find some shade in the gulch - though honestly that was 1.5-2 hours in; otherwise it was pretty wide open.

Buckskin is the longest slot canyon in the southwest, and once you get in there is very pretty.

Buckskin never got terribly thin, but a short walk up Wire Pass really brought the walls close.

I then drove to Page, Arizona to check out where I needed to go for my (much anticipated) next part of my trip.  I then shot down the highway for a couple of miles to go see horseshoe bend.  I originally was going to stick around for a sunset shot, but was already pretty tired from my 12+ miles in Buckskin and really just wanted to get some rest.

And not to mention that this little old-timer settler's fence (walking distance from my tent) was west facing and with the flowers in bloom it really caught my eye.  All in all, White House was a very nice part of my trip.

Cheers,

Marc