san rafael swell

Nate and I headed down to the Swell before the New Year to do a little camping and meet up with some BCP folks to celebrate the new year. We were going to head down and camp near Smith Cabin and hike up to the top of the reef the first night, but the snow was way too deep. It was really odd -...

On the winter solstice I'd planned on hiking solo in the San Rafael Swell east of Ferron. Then I learned that Alan was looking for something to do that Saturday, so we planned to hike together with our pups. I took a road that I thought I'd been on in my truck before and was surprised to find it...

Chris and his girlfriend, Rachael, stayed at my place in Price this weekend and we were in need of a short hike to do on Saturday before Traci's family Christmas party. We looked at my long to-do list of waypoints in Google Earth and Chris picked out Calf Mesa, which is a few miles southwest of...

In the very short time between getting off work and the sun going down on Wednesday evening, I hiked near Jackass Wash to search for some pit houses I'd seen photos of on Flickr. I'd identified one of the photo locations based on the background and, from that starting point, was able to pan...

On the last day of my four-day weekend I met up with Nolan and Donna, Facebook friends who I'd never met before Monday, for a hike in the San Rafael Reef. We met in the parking lot of their motel in Green River and they hopped in the Jeep with me. We set out for the Farnsworth Canyon area to...

On Saturday morning as I drove south out of town it was a chilly 30 degrees at sunrise. I was heading into the San Rafael Swell east of Ferron to find some rock art that a friend had told me about years ago. The last mile or so of the dirt road leading into the area was washed out badly so I...

I've long been aware of some rock art in Ferron Box (or just "The Box" along Ferron Creek according to the USGS topo map). However, I'd never taken the opportunity to explore the area despite how relatively close it is to home. Many years ago a friend, Alan, tipped me off to some other rock art...

I spent last weekend at home with the kids while Traci was out of town, but I had Monday and Tuesday off work and I'd planned on exploring Clearwater and Rock canyons in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area those days. I didn't expect the U.S. government shutdown to affect my plans. Although...

Last weekend's adventure was a great whole-family trip. I'd planned for some hiking at Goblin Valley and canoeing at Joe's Valley. I was awake by 6AM, which seems to be the norm with the puppy and her immature bladder. Due to a lot of preparation the night before we were on the road before 7:30...

Ok, so this trip report isn't particularly adventurous or out of the way, but I did get some cool photos. Friday the 5th my brother Justin and I drove down to the Goblin Valley area. We camped on this BLM spot I always go to, by some cool Hoodoos. I woke up at sunrise to see if anything good...

It took me a while on Saturday to decide what I wanted to do for the day, and I didn't get to the trailhead until well after noon. I drove down the San Rafael River Road (Mexican Mountain Road) and hiked to some petroglyphs near the mouth of Spring Canyon. During the drive I enjoyed looking up...

This was kind of a long drive for such a short hike. I went down the Tidwell Draw road in the Swell to the San Rafael River, then hiked into Thompson Hole to find a geocache and some petroglyphs. Thompson Hole is an abandoned river meander where the San Rafael cuts through the Reef, and there's...

I set out with Alan on Saturday in an attempt to reach the arch in Spring Canyon (the one near the head of the left fork, not the one at the confluence with Nate's Canyon). The trip was Alan's idea--we were originally planning on a Cedar Mesa overnighter with new friend Terry, but with worries...

My 22 month old daughter has been in the San Rafael Swell before but last time we stayed in a hotel in Green River. I've been wanting to get her out camping for a while now and it just hasn't worked with the schedule. On Saturday, May 18 (after snowboarding 10 inches of fresh snow at...

In February 2012 I hiked up Old Woman Wash as far as I could with Chris G. until we encountered a dryfall that prevented us from going farther up the canyon. That trip was primarily a rock art hunt, but it still irked me that I wasn't able to hike the entire canyon. Last weekend I tried to...

Almost two weeks ago I hiked in the San Rafael Reef between Little Wild Horse Canyon and Chute Canyon. I chose the location largely because the fins/cracks in the Reef east of LWHC intrigued me. I also liked that there was a semi-major drainage between LWH and Chute for which there was no...

This year's semi-annual San Rafael geocaching/camping trip had a cold start. Dave got to Price shortly before I was off work on Tuesday. I loaded a few last-minute things into the trailer and, despite the high winds, we drove south pulling our camp trailers into the heart of the Swell. There was...

I was in dire need of a hike (as well as an entry for that sweet sleeping bag) and decided on hiking to the top of the reef from Smith Cabin and then down Horsethief Trail canyon. Well things didn't go as planned. I left home at 9 and was slowed down by all the traffic on the road. It was either...

Last week we were passing by Goblin Valley during the middle of a 5 day trip and decided to stop and check out the Chamber of the Basilisk route. It took awhile to actually find a parking spot due to the spring break madness but once we got going it only took us 20min to get from the car to the...

After my trip to Horizon Arch, I wanted to go back and explore some more. So on Saturday we set off from the same trailhead but kept heading East toward Link Flat. The road in had recently been graded so the riding was fast and smooth. The first stop was at a geocache we drove by last time in...