Kanab: Zion’s best side trip

By Deanna on February 3, 2014 • ( 1 )

Despite this being a hiking holiday, our main reason to detour over to Kanab had nothing to do with getting out feet dirty hitting the trails.

The draw was Best Friends Animal Society.

This No Kill animal shelter is the largest of its kind in America housing around 1,700 animals at any given time. And not just your usual cats & dogs (although that is the largest segment) – but also horses, sheep, goats, pigs and all sorts of small, furry creatures. Unfortunately the purpose of our visit was not to adopt a 4-legged friend, but just to see what the place was all about. They often are a volunteer destination with reasonably priced lodging on-site for volunteers from a far – something my mom & I now think about doing someday. Our visit to the Sanctuary included a guided tour of the grounds – and the place is huge! We walked through Cat World and met some of the special need kitties – one who sticks out in my memory is a fat grey fellow named Chauncy. A very large cuddly diabetic, requiring daily shots, and absolutely adorable!

In Kanab we headed to the visitor centre to learn about what else we could do in the area – and discovered The Wave. This hike is apparently quite a big deal. There are so many people who want to hike it, that they have a lottery system and only have 10 spots open for people like us. We decided that anything with a lottery, was definitely worth hiking. So we got up bright and early and headed back to the visitor centre to get in on this – us and about 100 other people. Our chances were slim. And our luck was poor. We were not chosen.

Instead we hiked Wire Pass. And what a lovely hike it was – I can’t even imagine what the Wave would have been like! We hiked through the desert for awhile and then disappeared into a slot canyon! It was so cool! You could reach out and touch the walls on each side! After 1.7 miles, Wire Pass led us into Buckskin Gulch. Not only is the name kinda cool, but Buckskin Gulch is thought to be the longest slot canyon in the world! And we just kind of stumbled upon it! Maybe it was our lucky day after all!

Links:

Technical details for the Wire Pass hike on Bureau of Land Management Arizona
Wikipedia Buckskin Gulch
Good info on hiking The Wave
Best Friends Animal Society
Some info about Kanab
You also might be interested in visiting Kanab if you are a fan of Western Films – many were filmed in this area.
And if you are keen on seeing some giant rocks that look like toadstools (see gallery below).