Feeling vindicated after our second visit to Water Canyon and the White Domes, it was time to see some pictographs! They weren't far away - in fact, we'd already passed the trail system that would lead us to them a couple times - in our attempt to re-order elements of the trip due to weather- over the last 24 hours. Still, with only 90 minutes of daylight left - and no sense of the road conditions - there was a good chance we'd be finding camp and making the short trek to the rock art in the morning. Hell Dive…
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High-tailing it out of Water Canyon - after getting turned around by a flash flood in the narrows on our first attempt to reach the White Domes - we had about half the day remaining and found ourselves in a predicament. As usual, I'd fully overbooked our time in Utah, so if we had any hope of returning to Water Canyon the next day - when it wasn't raining - we needed to accomplish whatever I'd planned to do then, now. Or, not. We could decide to just skip something, like normal people. Now, if there's one thing that's been…
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It's rare that I'm at a loss for where to go, but in trying to figure out a plan for an early-October trip, I found myself casting around a bit. It's not that I don't have places I want to visit - in fact, I've been itching to get back to Death Valley, longing to spend more time up in British Columbia, and curious to see if I can find more Grand Canyon Polychrome out on the Esplanade. But - as I looked at these places, and trips I already have mapped out for each of them - none of…
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One of the very first trips we took was to run the original Oregon Backcountry Discovery Route (BDR) in July 2017. In fact, we attempted a segment of the route in May on our way home from a trip to Oregon's Malheur National Wildlife Refuge, but lingering snow and dozens of down trees made progress painfully slow. We enjoyed it so much that every year since, we've picked another BDR to tick off the list. This year, Colorado is the name of the game, and it's one I've been looking forward to for quite some time. The route begins at…
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Racing east at speeds that'd rival those we'd hit on the highway, Monte @Blackdawg and I left Capitol Reef in our rear-view mirrors as we set our sights on the San Rafael Swell. We were pretty sure that by now - nearly an hour after we'd heard that Ben @m3bassman had a flat on the van - there wouldn't be any need for our help, but we kept our eyes peeled for the big silver beast as we covered the wide-open ground. Cedar Mountain filled our view as we wound our way through the badlands. Climbing out of a wash,…
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Even with a big breakfast to make, no one was up early to get started on their contribution to the group breakfast. I'm not complaining at all - I hadn't brought anything to contribute except my growling stomach - simply noting the anomaly. Perhaps on this trip - one where we spent more time in camp than ever before - it was to be expected that we would get a slow start on our last morning together. Whatever the reason, I took a few minutes to backup the photos I'd take so far onto my laptop, and snap a few…
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The pitter patter of rain continued on and off throughout the night as we slept along the edge of a mesa overlooking Capitol Reef and the Henry Mountains. We'd found this spot - a wide area that was once an old mining road clinging to the rocky slopes - the previous afternoon, but after a long day of driving, we hadn't investigated the road at all. Perched on the eastern edge of the site - as opposed to being nestled into the trees - sun hit my tent as soon as it crested the horizon. Knowing that I'd still have…
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We awoke amongst the Pinyon Pine to the barking of pups, ready for breakfast. Given that we were nearly outnumbered by the furry beasts, this wasn't surprising; in fact, they would be our alarm clock every day. Monte @Blackdawg quickly climbed down from his tent - letting them out for a bathroom break and a quick meal - before loading them back up and heading back to bed for another hour. Apparently this is their routine at home, as well! It was closer to 8:15am when the smell of coffee permeated camp, an indicator that Mike @Digiratus was up and…
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I was two days late - at least according to Ben @m3bassman - when I rolled into the camp site they'd found just outside Capitol Reef National Park. As usual, the first order of business was a round of hellos with Mike @Digiratus and Zane @Speedytech7, followed by some good-natured ribbing. It was Zane, as I recall, that predicted my arrival time most correctly - at least according to The Price is Right rules that we all seemed to disagree on - and it was Mike who grinned a big I told you so, when I moved my truck into…
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There are always places that get missed or left behind. Sometimes it's due to a lack of time; sometimes because of a lack of knowledge. Whatever the reason, and despite the fact that it's both normal and unavoidable, I almost always feel like I've failed in some way. Of course, it's not a failure at all; there is so much more than we can ever see. Sometimes - the best times - there's so much in a given area that it's easy to plan an entire trip. Other times, there's not quite enough. In those cases, it's always nice when…
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With only 4 miles between us and a hot shower, we strolled right past the mouth of Kane Gulch on our way to check out Junction Ruin. Then, the plan was to tick off another mile - or so - of the trail out, in search of a nice slickrock camp site for the night. But oh, how plans change. High above the wash, there was no way we were going to get ourselves up to this gem of a ruin. As we approached the enormous alcove in which Junction Ruin sat, it began to rain. The storm we'd expected…
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Even before we'd pulled our sleeping bags out of the tent, I was distracted. Just outside an alcove behind the grassy area we'd called home, I'd stumbled upon some colorful spring flowers that were also waking up to a new day. Indian Paintbrush. (left) | Evening Primrose (Oenothera). (center) | Utah Serviceberry (Amelanchier utahensis). (right) The difference between the three of us and the flowers was that the flowers hadn't been stuffed into an ultralight Marmot Superalloy 3P for the last 12 hours. Now, I shouldn't complain too much - the mosquito netting of the tent did its job fantastically…
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Despite dozing off easily, our second night on the trail wasn't as great as the first. With all the dusty, dry conditions, I woke up in the middle of the night with a bloody nose, and our proximity to water resulted in a few mosquito bites - on the face - for @mini.turbodb. Still, we were all in reasonably good spirits when @mrs.turbodb's alarm went off, and soon, she and I were packing stuffing our backpacks - having informed the kiddo that she could stay warm in her bag - in preparation for the short walk to refill our water…
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I wasn't sure how comfortable @mini.turbodb would be under the stars and on slickrock, but with a few strategically placed rocks - which we all placed around our pads - to alert her to a getting-too-close-to-the-edge situation, she slept great. Better than either @mrs.turbodb or me, in fact! We'd set an alarm for two minutes before sunrise, which was technically about 30 minutes later than we should have gotten going. The cool morning temperatures are much nicer to hike in, and we weren't yet familiar with how long it would take to filter our water. Regardless, we had a relatively…
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"I want to do something epic for @mini.turbodb's spring break," @mrs.turbodb mentioned to me a few weeks ago. At the time, I think we were on our way home from a day of skiing, and I jokingly suggested that we could take @mini.turbodb on her first ever backpacking trip, through the Grand Gulch. After all, I'd recently created a goal around hiking the length of this amazing gash on the Earth's surface. Anyone who has followed along for a while will likely recall that I don't like carrying weight on my shoulders. In fact, I have a collection of variously-sized…
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After hiking 24 miles through Shangri-la Canyon - a few more miles of Grand Gulch than a sane person should in a day - cool temperatures made for one of the best night's sleep we've had in a long time. And, even waking up an hour before sunrise to "do it all over again, only in Water Canyon," we were well-rested, having fallen asleep just after 8:00pm, and only a few minutes after climbing up our ladder. All ready to go, no shadows yet playing across the land. From the little I'd been able to find about Water Canyon, it…
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Every time I go to Utah's Cedar Mesa, I find myself wondering why I don't visit more often. When I really think about it, the answer is a combination of factors, with the largest being: Distance - It's a 24-hour drive from home. Anything over 19 hours is a slog - even for the younger me, who could conquer long drives and still hike the next day. Even when the Tacoma is stored in Las Vegas, it's a 9-hour trek - nearly a full day of driving - just to get there! Death Valley - Much of the time I'd…
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Comb Ridge. There, somewhere, is a ruin that I've been searching for over the course of several years. While not unknown, this ruin - with walls supported by a Juniper Tree trunk - is infrequently visited and photographed, and the location is kept well under wraps by those who have been lucky enough to visit. And I'm fine with that. I appreciate it and understand why. Still, even as I've failed to find it on several previous occasions, I knew I'd have to keep searching until I found it. This would be our third full day with feet on the…
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Having spent a bit of time dealing with the rear e-locker, we were running about two hours "behind schedule" as we barreled west along UT-163 towards Monument Valley. In reality, I'd somehow significantly underestimated the number of miles between Comb Ridge and the Muddy Mountains where we planned to setup camp for the night, so we were running more like five hours later than planned. That meant we'd need to alter our itinerary a bit - eating dinner rather than lunch in St. George, as well as finding a nearby spot to camp so we could complete our final hike…
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I wouldn't say the wind was calm as we went to sleep overlooking John's Hole in the San Rafael Swell, but it was definitely tapering off. By midnight, only a gentle breeze blew past our camp before cascading down into the canyon. Until 3:00am. That's when we were sent scurrying for our earplugs. It's amazing how much difference a good set of these can make, and soon we were sleeping like babies, the flapping of the roof top tent muffled as our cliff-edge-cradle was rocked by the wind until just after sunrise. Wanting to catch the canyon before too many…
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