Merwin & Baybill

[Howells Outdoors]

"You know its supposed to snow tonight right?"

That was the response from most people when StephenH and I said we were going camping Friday. Of course we knew!

We went out to Parunaweep Canyon (east fork of the Virgin River) and set up camp a few miles down from Mt. Carmel Jct. The drive in was interesting with the snow and crossing the river, but there was never a time that we thought we shouldn't be there.

We camped near Merwin and Baybill Canyons and explore up them on Saturday. Merwin has a unique slot canyon entrance, it eventually eroded through a side draw and formed a tunnel. So you enter what looks like a dark cave and then walk through to the slot canyon. Really cool!

Baybill was a nice long sustained narrows that was beautiful.

Both a pretty much walk-throughs with a few up climbs. We did end in Baybill at a big up climb and not sure if it continues as a slot form there (gonna have to come in from the top next time).

More photos can be found on mountain-dude.blogspot.com

 

[moose droppings]

whoa, that could've gone from epic awesome to epic fail in no time.
awesome looking canyons. never heard of them to be honest.
what is the road like back in there, sans epic wintertime conditions?
top side looks to be easily reached from hwy89.
thanks for the share.

 

[Nick]

Don't ya love it when people think you're insane just for camping in the winter? Good stuff man. Your blog link was broken but I fixed it. Missed a letter.

 

[Howells Outdoors]

what is the road like back in there, sans epic wintertime conditions?

The road is fine entering from HWY89, you'll cross the river several times, but in low water levels it won't be hard. 4WD-high clearance is highly recommended, if not necessary. I know the road goes along way down Parunaweep, but I only went to Baybill and Merwin, a few miles down from the HWY. If you have a 4WD vehicle you'll be fine to drive it.

Your blog link was broken but I fixed it. Missed a letter.

Ain't that embarrassing when you can't spell your own URL.

 

[lostlandscapes]

Those canyons do indeed look pretty intriguing. Way to be bold. Thanks for sharing!