Spring 2024 Southwestern Swing, 4.01.24 - 5.06.24, Part 15, Edmaier’s Secret
On the last day of April, my head was already swimming from all the amazing sights we had seen in the last month of traveling and yet we still had three more days before turning towards home. Debbie and Darren had other plans for this day, Gina left to get back to Mesquite for a gig and Bridgit, knowing we had a really wild adventure coming up on May first opted to take the day off to relax. That left Mike and me to spend the day exploring a somewhat little known area called Edmaier’s Secret.
I hadn’t done a ton of research on this area because I was fully optimistic that I would win a daily permit to hike to the Wave and that would have bumped Edmaier’s Secret off the itinerary. Through what I’m sure must have been a clerical error, I did not win a Wave permit and as a result Edmaier’s Secret was back on the plan. In hindsight, this turned out to be extremely fortuitous.
I had been told I must see Edmaier’s Secret by my friend Gary and he had sent me some good beta on how to get there and where to go once we arrived. I was a bit surprised that most of the people I had talked to leading up to this trip had never heard of the place and I believe Gary and his wife Wanda were the only ones I knew who had ever been there.
Edmaier’s Secret lies in the far northwest sector of the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. It has no trailhead signage or even a trail once you get to it so you just pick your line and go.
Mike and I left at 6:30AM and drove the same route I had taken the day before to get to the Wire Pass Trailhead for Buckskin Gulch. Four miles north of Wire Pass on the House Rock Valley Road we pulled off and parked at the Upper Buckskin Gulch Trailhead. From this point you can follow Buckskin Gulch about four or five miles down to where the Wire Pass slot canyon joins Buckskin Gulch. There was only one other car at the trailhead and they were just using the bathroom.
We started down Buckskin Gulch at 7:30AM. For this stretch we did have a trail to follow. Since the gulch had many twists and turns, the trail basically crossed the gulch numerous times which reduced the mileage. It was just a beautiful morning. The sun was just beginning to light up the red walls on either side of Buckskin Gulch and the temperature was perfect. At one point the red rock walls closed in and made a “gateway” to walk through. Here we found a very thin vertical arch that we dubbed “Pencil Arch”.
The trail down Upper Buckskin Gulch
The moon setting over Buckskin Gulch
Pencil Arch
After following Buckskin Gulch down about two miles, we came to a wide side wash. This was where we had been told to leave Buckskin Gulch and head up the wash towards the rocks in the distance. The sand in this side wash was really deep and it was tough to hike through. Luckily it was only a bit over a hundred yards before we reached solid rock. From this point we were on slickrock the entire rest of the way.
The deep sandy side wash that leads to Edmaier’s Secret. We aimed for the ridge just left of the mountain.
No more trail the rest of the day
As we got closer we could see that the brown mountain in front of us was composed of what has been termed “brain rock”. I have also heard it described as “cauliflower rock”. This is due to the surface of this type of rock resembling the aforementioned items.
Short as the sandy wash was, we were very glad once we stepped out of the deep sand and onto solid rock. Here we slathered up with sunscreen and shed a layer to shorts and t-shirts. From this point we were simply amazed at how cool the rocks were as we made our way up the brain rock slope.
Climbing the brain rock slope
Brain rock
As we crested the low point in the rock ridge we were overlooking a sea of slickrock. To our left was a valley full of chocolate tepee rocks. To our right was the big brain rock mountain and ahead was a gigantic vast area of rock just begging to be explored. We forged straight ahead and began to climb a slickrock slope past a large rock mound with swirly bands of white, pink and purple rock. Climbing higher, we entered a bizarre area of what we call lace rock. The ground was just covered with row upon row of thin fins sticking up at an angle. Most of these fins were paper thin and fragile. We had to be extremely careful not to break any of them while walking and sometimes even altered our course when it became impossible to avoid the fins.
Lace rock
Strangest rocks I’d ever seen
These fins covered a huge area
We came from around the corner of the big rock in the upper left
It probably sounds like we were just aimlessly wandering but we actually did have a plan based on the information Gary had sent us. High above this lower section of Edmaier’s Secret was a place called the West Clark Bench. Supposedly the way up to this much higher level was by ascending something called the West Clark Bench Ramp. It was said to be a bit dicey but we were game to see if we could get up there.
Knowing we had to stay higher to access West Clark Bench, we set our sights on some prominent white domes on the horizon. As we angled up towards the domes, we passed by many strange rock formations and it felt like we were walking through some weird strange planet that didn’t resemble Earth at all. Everything was just fantastic and unusual.
To get to the white domes we had to gain a bit of altitude but it was still easy traveling. Sometimes we had to traverse around a steep corner of rock but oddly enough, many times we found natural pathways consisting of a narrow flat “trail” cutting through the steeper strata. It almost looked man-made but it wasn’t.
Once we reached the domes we once again had a new view looking across another vast area of brain rock. This brain rock was more white in color and unlike the mounds of rock at the start of the hike, this was a flatter plain of brain rock to cross so we named it “Brain Rock Flats”. As we made our way across this section we spotted three large chocolate tepee rocks down below us a bit. We also began to come across water pockets that still had water in them. It was really odd to see water in this sea of rock.
Traversing around a rock slope
Ascending to the white domes
In this photo you can see one of the natural ramps we used to get around the big rocks
Looking back from the beginning of Brain Rock Flats
As we crossed Brain Rock Flats and the water pockets, we still hadn’t found the West Clark Bench but we were pretty sure we were already above it and on the West Clark Bench. On the far distant horizon we could see more interesting looking white rock formations so we made our way towards that spot, thinking that might have to be our turnaround point. When we got there we were once again blown away at what we had stumbled upon.
The white rock formations turned out to be on the very far end of the West Clark Bench and we couldn’t have gone any further even if we had wanted to. We were at the edge a a huge cliff and the views that lay before us were beyond incredible. From our perch we were almost a thousand feet straight above the Great Alcove where Wire Pass meets Buckskin Gulch. We could even see people down by the alcove in the open area. Following the crack we could see the entire length of where Wire Pass was and even had a clear view of the Wire Pass parking trailhead. Running right below us and off around the corner we were looking at the great split in the earth that was Buckskin Gulch. Obviously the gulch was too deep to see into, but the crack in the ground was easily visible for a very long way. Further south we could see the entire area where the Wave is located. We could even follow the Wave trail for most of its length and saw people hiking along the trail. And even further beyond the Wave, the North Tepees and South Coyote Buttes were easy to spot. What a view!
Pano of Brain Rock Flats. The Chocolate Tepees are on the far right. Our end point view spot are the rocks just to the left of center.
A brilliant clump of Indian Paintbrush stood out from a long way away on a sea of white brain rock
Large water pocket near our end point
More water pockets were scattered throughout Brain Rock Flats
Another large water pocket
Wind carved rock at the end point
Zoom of Wire Pass Trailhead
Zoom of where Wire Pass joins Buckskin Gulch
Zoom of the Wave area
After soaking in the views and marveling at our high position above the west side of the Vermilion Cliffs, we were ready for some lunch. The breeze was a bit strong at the point so we made our way back to the chocolate tepees where we found a good lunch spot. Consulting our notes and Gaia it seemed like the tepees might be the top of the West Clark Bench Ramp but looking down from there all we saw were cliffs. We ended up returning on mostly the same route we had come from.
Mike meditating at the chocolate tepees
Along the way back
More lace rock on our return route
You just don’t see this kind of stuff every day
One last cool rock formation before dropping back down the brain rock to the sandy wash
Just before we got back to the first brain rocks above the sandy wash we spotted two people down below us. They were the first people we had seen all day and they disappeared. We never saw them or anyone else until back at the trailhead. To be able to explore such a vast and crazy cool landscape for an entire day with one of my all time best friends and to have the place all to ourselves made Edmaier’s Secret one of the great days of hiking in my Book of Great Hikes.