Seldom Seen Anderson
Member
- Joined
- Jan 19, 2012
- Messages
- 739
White Pocket in the Paria/Vermillion Cliffs National Monument has been on my hit list for years but because of what is called a road I had never attempted to drive out there. Now I dont mind being stuck, but I dont want to be the one with a vehicle that is stuck, I dont need that stress
! So when an invite was made I gladly accepted. When they arrived driving a Honda Pilot I was a little nervous, fortunately the infamous sand was semi frozen so that was not an issue, but we needed at least 1 1/2 inches more in clearance (R. Kelsey was dead on, on the measurements). In the deepest rutted areas you could see, feel and hear our muffler plowing through the sand. We ended up making it to the mud/snow covered parking area. First vehicles there! I saw one other person and on the way out saw Nicks truck in the parking lot, but I didnt see Nick.
White Pocket is a pretty impressive place especially for photographers. Its a wonderland of bizarrely shaped sandstone, and an artists palette of different colors. I could have spent all day out there. For others who dont really care about pictures, and the golden hours a couple hours would be sufficient. Near the end of our day we came across what must have been a temporary stopping place for Anasazi (Ancestral Puebloans for the PC crowd). There was a considerable amount of pottery shards, and chippings for arrowheads. Several different kinds of pottery would indicate that this place had been used for many migrations through the area. We found corrugated, red ware, white and gray. Most of the shard were rather small but a few were palm sized.
