Surrounded by Utah’s Mighty 5 National Parks, it’s easy for Vermillion Cliffs National Monument to be overlooked, skipped, even unheard of. What is a National Monument anyway? Sheri was sure that it meant that a battle was fought there. Eric put his money on an important statue or building, like Lady Liberty. After a 2021 article in the New Yorker on the Lost Canyon at Lake Powell, Sheri’s research of the area amped her up to get to Glen Canyon to photograph the Antelope slot and Vermillion Cliffs to hike The Wave. Make it work, Eric!
The Vermillion Cliffs National Monument sits on the Arizona/Utah line and is just like a National Park except it does not have surfaced roads, signage, places to stay, or water. t does have deep sandy roads. The landscape is wowzie but the amenities non-existent. Just how we like it. Plenty of companies will get you to the featured attractions, but that’s not how Eric rolls. Following a high on overlanding after the Expo in Flagstaff, our 4X4 was loaded for back roads exploration with recovery boards, tow ropes, and air compressors. Throw in the tent stored under Roxie’s bed, and we’ve got an adventure in the making.
Vermillion Cliffs’ most insta-famous attraction is The Wave. If you read the blog “Page(ing) Glen Canyon,” you know why we skipped Antelope Canyon. The Wave is a different story. Getting there is not the hard part; bribing the bouncer at the velvet rope is. In this case the bouncer is the National Park Service and the bribe is for a lottery permit where the odds are a vermillion to one. Since we didn’t apply for a permit four months in advance, we’re relegated to the two days before you want to go lottery, where your mobile device has to be in the geofence and then you can pay $9 to enter for your chance at one of 20 permits.
Lesser known but just as geography-unique is the uninsta-famous White Pocket. No permit needed, but four wheel drive required to to navigate 15 miles of poorly marked, rutted and deep sandy roads. With all the experience that could be gained from checking out vendors for 2 days at an overland expo, what could go wrong?
Eric had been collecting a stack of cartoon-like maps that showed the unmarked interior of Vermillion Cliffs and location of White Pocket. Then right-place-right-time good luck struck, when a bored ex-Marine working the counter at the Kanab Visitor Center hooked Eric up with the FREE super detailed topographical, super technical interactive app that worked off-line with no cell coverage, and a whole bunch of other magic knowledge. It is important to note that while he is officially barred from making map recommendations (why?) he can share with some old Navy guy what he uses. And, what he uses is the Bomb! Suddenly, we knew how to get there and we didn’t need internet or GPS to do it.
Boss handled the deep sand like a champ with tires at a dangerously low pressure but the washboard roads busted half our water supply. Following the magic map we blazed deep into the uninhabited interior of the Monument until we arrived at the White Pocket trailhead. The plan was to set up tent camp nearby, then take off and explore. Three hours later, with the tent, ground cloth, rain fly and chairs littered across the land from the 50 mph winds, we went with Plan B. Stuff the dam tent in the truck, choke down a peanut butter sandwich and go explore. Sleeping arrangements would wait.
Exploring White Pocket is like being a moth in a room full of bright lights. Your mind is blown at first sight and as you travel in deeper you are scrambling from section to section trying to wrap your head around what’s happening. We have almost no chance of describing the total weird awesomeness that is the White Pocket. After 20,000 steps of running and climbing over sandstone slick rock, we stumbled out of the Pocket wondering how nature could have made that. It had to have been a gargantuan public art exhibit made by a bunch of people taking psychedelic drugs.
Tired, sandy, hungry and wind still howling, we retraced our route to a BLM camping area that we called our last resort. Our last resort became Red Rock Resort, the most picturesque compound in all of the greater Vermillion Cliffs. We set up a lounge, kitchen and bedroom while listening to the only radio station in range playing hits from the 2000’s, which for some reason they kept referring to as The Oldies. A Hatch Chili chicken stew and a few beers from Page’s finest brewery and all thoughts of camping at the Pocket were lost.
We didn’t get to tour the coveted Wave, mostly because we didn’t want to buy a lottery ticket and we can do the simple math that reveals how little chance you have. Our new vibe is to try to go where many others can’t or don’t. As a result, we got to go to a special place deep in the interior of this mystical monument. Odds are high that you’ll need a permit for this soon.
While Roxie sits in a no-frills campground without power or water hook-up, we are sure it will feel like the Ritz Carlton when we get there. Rationing water and ducking sand storms takes its toll on old overlanders. Come to think of it, most of those overlanders at the Expo living on the roof tent of their Jeep were half our age. Makes sense to us now.
