arizona

The Arizona Trail is a great option for an experienced hiker looking for thru hike experience without committing to a longer trail such as the PCT or the CDT. I spent 32 days hiking the AZT with one zero day during a storm and a day hike in the Grand Canyon as we waited for a backcountry permit...

When current events make you want to crawl into a hole and escape reality, the Grand Canyon is the perfect hole to stay in for awhile. I spent 5 magical days reveling in the splendor of our natural world - gorgeous canyons, rocks, streams, waterfalls, cacti, trees, flowers, rocks, river, moon...

Hi all, Just returned from about 4 weeks of southern NV, AZ and CA travel: Gold Butte, Lake Mead, Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, Havasu and Mt Nutt Wildernesses, Mojave NP, Ash Meadows National Wildlife Refuge and DVNP. I've been reluctant to do full on TRs of late. As I see certain...

The following is a transcription of my handwritten journal from a nearly month-long trip down the Grand Canyon of the Colorado. Slight edits have been made to remove personal information. Grand Canyon of the Colorado November - December, 2021 with Collin, Graham, Jason, Tyler, Steve and Nick -...

My husband Ray and I just got back from an epic adventure. We did a 7-day backpack/packraft loop in the Grand Canyon starting at the New Hance Trail. We hiked 82 miles with close to 30,000 feet of elevation change. We went down the New Hance Trail (arguably the hardest trail on the south rim)...

After 27 on and off nights in the tent, the evenings & nights started to get a bit long end of November! As a Colorado campground neighbor said: “Im reading for hours it seems, check the clock and it’s only 6:50 pm…, it’s just a long night!”. So armed with the keys to our friend’s place we went...

This summer I had the opportunity to spend 6 weeks traveling around the American west with my Danish partner and to take her on her first backpacking trip. We decided on the Grand Canyon, as it was too early in the season to be in the mountains (May), and neither of us had ever been in the big...

Last leg of my Utah/Arizona 2021 Desert Trip. With the wonderful company of Kimberly S., Maureen S. and Rhonda M. Here are the first three days: Thunder River Trail-->Esplanade Camp-->Tapeats Cr Camp-->Colorado River-Granite Narrows Route-->Deer Creek Camp. With a couple of desert scrambles...

Having been interested in Cave Canyon for some time, it found its way to the top of the que and off I went. I found myself, quite by accident, at a very nice campsite atop Grand Wash Cliffs overlooking Meadview just beneath Rampart bm. Sometimes not paying the closest of attention to choice of...

I was supposed to take some teenagers to Williams and introduce them to Snow Caving for the weekend, but after all of them bailed last minute, I texted a friend of mine and asked if he would be willing to go backpacking the next day to a local canyon in Sedona. Lucky for me he was able to go and...

Between March and September of 2019, I hiked an absolutely amazing route through the heart of the West. I began atop a "sky island" on the Arizona/Mexico border and finished in a deep, dark ancient cedar and hemlock forest on the Idaho/Canada border. And in between, I saw a lot of cool stuff! I...

Man, it’s hard to choose your favourite photos as there’s so much amazing stuff in the South West, so rather than break this up to small trip reports I’ve thrown in this circular road trip into one TR. After a week of canyons on Lake Powell - a few shots here -...

Well, third time is a charm. After an exhausting week in NYC for work (time difference + inability to sleep through city noise), I took Bert's advice from the weekend prior and attempted to take the winter route to Monument Point and Bill Hall trailhead. Indeed the roads were in fairly good...

I'd never done the Havasu Falls Hike because it always seemed like a bit of a s***show IMHO: the crazy permit system, the exorbitant fees, camping one on top of another, and hoards of obnoxious people all fighting to get the same posed shots for Instagram. But... when I got "lucky" this year...

“You could drive down and see the border”…., she said. I instantly got a flashback of lots of border crossings in my life. Rarely associated with moments of fun. The days are long gone, where one Border Control agent jokes with the other and says “You can always put a pretty little heart in her...

We dealt with the double black Hangover on February 8, 2018, the day before we headed a "little bit off course" (@Rockskipper ;)) to the Chiricahua National Monument. What exactly do you need for the Hangover? WINTER, MID WEEK DAY, NON-HOLIDAY, STICKY SOLES or perhaps a MTB. And if you are a...

Spent a week in early November on the Arizona Strip without much of an itinerary, just wandering to some popular spots in the hopes of catching a decent photo or two. Started out in Vermillion Cliffs NM after striking out at the Coyote Buttes North lottery in Kanab...

Hello, it's me, it's been a long, long time ......... I actually have a backcountry trip to write about. It was a photography workshop through Arizona Highways PhotoScapes in Aravaipa Canyon with Shane McDermott. I didn't know anything about Shane except that he's a contributor for Arizona...

My son had put in for permits for North Bass but nope didn't get them so we decided to try another route for our fall Grand Canyon fix. Starting out by driving in the evening to Sowats point. We had an evening of car camping with a surprise sprinkle of rain then woke up in the morning to start...

I'm a little delayed in posting this, and this is not some "hardcore" off-road adventure, but back in early August I took a quick trip out west to Sedona and Lake Powell, and hit Schnebly Hill Road one evening for some pictures and some fun on the rocks with my kids. Schnebly Hill starts off...