Day Five of the Utah trip was Tuesday October 20th. The day was actually spent in Arizona, just across the Utah border. This was the day that we went in to a place called the White Pocket. The White Pocket is a spectacular formation in the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. It is beyond the permit areas of the North and South Coyotes Buttes. It is becoming very popular with photographers so it is probably just a matter of time before access becomes restricted here as well. The only thing that saves it thus far is the fact that it is so remote.
The main access road into the Monument is the House Rock Valley Road. It is generally a fairly passable road, but very rough and slow going. However, with the recent rains the northern sections of the road were washed out. There are no bridges over the washes... which are usually dry. But when it rains, the washes are impassable. The southern section of the road is still pretty rough, but it doesn't cross any washes. This is the route that we took. It is a drive of about 50 miles from Kanab to the south end of the House Rock Valley Road. We headed south from Kanab and crossed the Arizona border into Fredonia. From there we crossed the Arizona Strip and them climbed up on the Colorado Plateau. Rather than turn back towards the north rim of the Grand Canyon at Jacobs Lake, we headed east. Just after winding down off the plateau we came to the south end of the House Rock Valley Road. From here we had to drive about 10 miles north to our turn off. Along the way we passed a site where a number of endangered California Condors have been released onto the Vermilion Cliffs. We didn't see any of these enormous birds on a number of occasions that we passed by. After turning off the House Rock Valley Road we had to navigate our way through 16 miles of BLM trails through the monument. These are mostly just rutted tracks, passing over open rock ledges and through deep loose sand. Fortunately the Bureau of Land Management numbers these trails and posts markers at every junction, so it is relatively easy to find your way around. Most people that venture out this way hire outfitters to take them. This time around we decided to go in on our own, in my friend Rob's Toyota 4Runner. Conditions were pretty good due to the rain. The moisture compacts the loose sand making it easier to get through. Once Rob got used to driving in the conditions, it went pretty well. But is was slow going and there were numerous big puddles to splash through. Although we left Kanab before sunrise, it was mid morning before we finally arrived at our destination.
This was my third trip in to the White Pocket. The first time was a quick half-day visit at the end of our trip in 2013. I was back in the spring of 2014 with the girls. Both of these trips were made with an outfitter. This third time around was the best one yet. There were puddles and pools all over the place as the result of the recent rains. This made for some pretty spectacular photography. The White Pocket is a mile or more long and about half a mile wide. It looks like someone stirred together two different colors of pudding, and then let it petrify. I've never seen anything else like it. We spent the entire day here wandering around and taking pictures. There were just a few lingering puddles here back in 2013, and the place was bone dry in 2014. This time around every depression in the rock was full of water.
This desert country is home to a small freshwater shrimp. Their eggs become dessicated when the pools dry out. When the rains return the eggs hatch and these little shrimp can be seen everywhere. If the moisture lasts long enough they can grow to a size of about 1-1/2". This time around they were mostly smaller than that. Their life cycle is very brief as they only live long enough to reproduce and lay eggs before the water disappears. These eggs are sometimes sold in science kits for kids to hatch and grow... named triops... because they have three eyes...
Through the day there were about a dozen other vehicles here. Most of them were outfitters, each with a small group of people. It was busy enough that at times we had to wait for people to wander out of our photographs. The day started out overcast and dull, with nice soft light. Later in the day the clouds broke and we ended up with some fairly clear skies and more direct light. By mid afternoon we packed up, made the short hike back to the vehicle, and then made the long drive back to Kanab. It took us about 2-1/2 hours to drive out and it was dark by the time we got back to the rental house.
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