The Sand Hills, Pt. 1

A typical sandy road on the Paria Plateau.

I've posted earlier about a couple of trips to White Pocket on the Paria Plateau.  I went once with Dad and later with Matt and Danny.  The plateau's northernmost boundary is marked by Highway 89, on the east by Marble Canyon, on the south by the Vermillion Cliffs and on the west by House Rock Valley and the Kaibab.  It is the home of the world-famous Wave (in Coyote Buttes) and White Pocket rock formations.

Peggy and Andy went to see the kids in Brigham City, so Friday evening I dropped by our ward youth conference (boating and swimming conference!) at Lone Rock.  After spending a few hours there I backtracked to the Cockscomb and headed south on the washboardy road to House Rock Valley.  It was about 10pm when I pulled off the road in Corral Valley and set up camp for the night.  Which basically consisted of rolling out a foam pad and sleeping bag in the back of the Expedition and calling it a night.

I woke up in the night to a lightning and thunder show and then again in the morning to an overcast sky.  A few rays of sunshine held the promise of a brighter day and so I saddled up the 4-wheeler and set out.

Our Polaris Xplorer 300s have seen a lot of country and a lot of abuse and they keep on keepin' on.  

Since my goal this trip was to reach the southern rim of the plateau, I turned south soon after Pine Tree.  I soon found myself in the same situation we were in during our previous outings.  Some roads are marked, most aren't, and it's kind of hard to pin things down on the maps I had.

I do have a map that a guy gave me that is pretty good, but it's also about 4 ft x 3 ft.

There were a few lingering showers toward the rim, but it looked like it would clear up before I got there.  This is a typical view of the whole plateau.  I guess it's why 'sand hills' is noted in several places on the maps.

Shortly before Jarvis there is a patch of slickrock about the size of a football field that drains into a narrow draw that's been dammed off to create a tank.  A low, narrow wall has been erected along one edge to help guide runoff toward the dam.

Jarvis is the site of Dunc Findlay's old place.  The interesting thing about this place are the gutters that diverted water into the barrel at the side of the house and from there...

...into the cistern below the house.  It still works.  I'm not sure how deep it is, but there was water there.

Just below Jarvis I climbed a rocky outcrop and could see the rim getting closer.  

Made it!

From this vantage point I could see Marble Canyon wending its way south.  This view shows Tanner Wash (to the left on the far side) and Rider Canyon (on the near, or west, side) entering Marble Canyon.  It's probably been ten or more years since Andy and I hiked down Rider to the river.

Looking a bit more to the southwest, I could see the eastern part of House Rock Valley, South Canyon off in the distance, and Saddle Mountain.  South Canyon leads to Vasey's Paradise and Stanton's Cave.  In the foreground I could see 89A and the occasional vehicle.

The weather had cleared up quite a bit so I decided to head to the east to explore a bit that way.  What I got was more sand hills (natch!), unmarked roads, and basically fumbling my way around more gorgeous territory.  I figured out my route after I got back and looked at the big map and Google Maps.  I'll put that post up in a couple of days when I finish it.