Spectacular Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness: Amazing Arizona Backpacking, Day 3

First Spring-Wingate Formation

Slow start this morning as I continue to hiking up Paria Canyon through the Paria Canyon-Vermilion Cliffs Wilderness area within Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. The spring that I reached on yesterday’s backpacking leg, the first on the trail, is little more than a trickle, and I have a lot of water to fill. It marks the border between the Chinle Formation and the Wingate Sandstone.

As I begin to wind my way further up Paria Canyon, deeper and deeper into the wilderness, the gorgeous weather and cool breeze continues.

Paria Canyon: Wingate Formation-Petroglyph Galley-Kayenta Formation

Continuing through the Wingate Formation, I pass a great gallery of petroglyphs, one of the largest I’ve ever seen. Every time I thought that I’d documented all of them I spotted more and had to go back up again. Just incredible. Canyon perils exist, too – I narrowly avoided injuring myself trying to (successfully) avoid stepping on a canyon tree frog. But after doing my program on those this summer at Grand Canyon, I couldn’t harm one here.

Paria Canyon: Kayenta Formation-Wrather Canyon

As the canyon rises, the Wingate Formation gives way to the Kayenta Formation and the canyon enters a wider and more heavily vegetated stretch, where sediment has clearly been both deposited and eroded by severe flash flooding – the vegetation growing is evidence of the amount of water provided by the river and the thick rich silt it has deposited, but the current river channel is also in places feet below the level of the vegetation, with a bank that just drops off, evidence of the power of the floods that can sweep through here.

But not today, thankfully.

Paria Canyon: Kayenta Formation Transition-Wrather Canyon

I ultimately make it to just above Wrather Arch – a cave-type arch in Wrather Canyon. Beautiful regardless of the technical terminology involved. Hopefully I have time to hit it quickly in the morning before continuing upcanyon. The red rock is simply magnificent as it glows in the evening light.