canyonlands

In March of this year, my son Caleb and I wandered the Maze for six days. The Maze is a very remote area, and getting there is half of the challenge/adventure. Backpackers typically use one of several approaches to get there: truck/jeep--requires a very long and remote drive over challenging...

The SEUG Circuit As detailed earlier, I am starting a new position in early-mid June. As such, I gave myself the gift of time to packraft and walk to connect the four national park units that comprise the South East Utah Group. Connecting the parks and seeing the lands in between allowed me...

A few days before our put in at Mineral Bottom for a trip through Stillwater Canyon, I was talking to a friend of mine about the trip, he asked if I had seen the the flow on the Green further upstream? No I said. Sure enough, while I had been watching the flow at Mineral Bottom, which had been...

On the western fringes of the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park in Utah are a series of high mesas which tower some 1,000 feet above the surrounding canyons. Whilst exploring some remote areas of the park in March this year, I wandered up to the end of a fairly nondescript box...

Our two week long October trip to southern Utah was a bit too brief, but we had a great time and- other than one afternoon downpour- perfect weather. We based out of several great camping spots. Checked out some prime real estate. Viewed artwork both man made... ...and natural. Scrambled a...

We originally were going to do this trip a week earlier, then I had the bright idea of changing our put in date so we could take Tex's Riverways last boat of the season on October 25th, something I have wanted to do. As our put in date on Saturday the 22nd loomed, things were not looking good...

I was turning a loose screw in my cars engine bay, when I heard a loud SNAP coming from my right shoulder. It was a decidedly unnatural sound, with waves of pain migrating down my arm. Soon my entire right arm and shoulder were completely fused together, every breath agony. I had completely torn...

Despite the many frustrations of the Covid restrictions of 2020 and 2021, I had plenty of time to pore over maps, blogs, and guide-books and plan a big hike on the Colorado Plateau for Spring 2022. My previous long-distance hike in the US South-West in 2019 was a fantastic experience and I...

I recently completed a 105 mile loop hike, over 7 days, around the eastern section of the Needles canyon system in Canyonlands National Park; namely Salt Creek, Horse Canyon, Davis Canyon, and Lavender Creek. One of the inspirations for the hike was the incredible Google Earth aerial view of...

Spring break this year took me to Salt Creek Canyon in Canyonlands NP where I enjoyed four days of solitude on trail. I wish it had been more, but a few days here and there throughout the year are about all that I can squeeze in with work and other obligations these days. I am in the camp that...

I’m finally getting around to writing up a report for my White Rim trip over the weekend of March 19th. A buddy of mine got an overnight permit at Murphy’s Hogback and he invited my son and me to come along with him and another friend. This is the second time I’ve been to the white Rim but the...

----------------------------------- A trip from one year ago, before the current Coronavirus crisis. ----------------------------------- "Oh my goodness ... my boots, my boots ... I'm not wearing my boots !" I shouted at the driver to please not leave, just yet. I was sitting in the shuttle...

Some time back towards the first of the year, @Jackson had mentioned a desire to get a winter camping trip in. I'm all about winter, so I offered to head out with him if we could work out a location and time. Work it out we did, with our sights set on Island in the Sky for a few days...

In November I decided that it was time to finally finish hiking all of the 'official trails' in the Island in the Sky like I had done with The Needles last year. While I had hiked almost all of the trails on top of the mesa, I had not hiked any that went from the top down to the White Rim. It...

Part 1 of the trip report available here “The canyons are calling, and I must go ”. I don’t think John Muir would mind too much if I misquote him. Muir was heading into the mountains of course, but today this famous quote from the great Scottish Naturalist, and ‘father’ of the US National...

Hey everyone, originally this was going to be my first solo vacation but a few weeks before I was to start my drive from the Chicago suburbs my dad called me up and asked if he could tag along. So it became our first father son road trip, thankfully it went smoothly! His plan was to camp in Dead...

A couple weeks back myself, @scoags, and another friend made the long drive out to Utah from Illinois. We had planned a similar trip for the previous year that had to be cancelled at the last minute, so anticipation was high. We arrived at Horseshoe Canyon in the late afternoon with the plan of...

After this trip report I will be caught up on all my big adventures from last year. A year ago we made the trip down to Canyonlands to do some backpacking. We had originally planned on 5-6 of us going, but due to various circumstances only three of us were able to make it. This was the first...

It has been cold and snowy up here in Montana, so my brother and I decided to head south, looking for a place we hadn't been before. Moab caught our eye, and sort of on a whim we set up a few days to make the 11 hour road trip down. The temps weren't warm by any means, but better than what we...

I'm stealing a bit of Brian's thunder here, but hey I have more spare time than him, so here goes nothing: In April of this year, I was invited along on a trip to the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, near Moab, UT. The Grand Canyon last year got my interest up in desert...