I was naive. I thought that returning to Cedar Mesa in search of more Native American Ruins (see Utah, Re-Ruined) would get me to the point where I'd have seen most of what we'd missed on our first trip to the area some two years earlier (see Ruining Around Utah).…
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The Owyhee Canyonlands - the little known Grand Canyon of Oregon - have miles and miles of roads to explore, and solitude to enjoy. Located in the southeast corner of the state and spilling into Idaho, the Owyhee River runs north-to-south through the vast landscape. Having previously limited our explorations…
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Burning Man. I've never been and don't really ever feel like I will have the need to go, but the location - a big flat playa in the middle of a bunch of wilderness - has always intrigued me. Then, while I was researching side trips for our trip along…
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We had unfinished business in Utah, after our Ruining Around Utah trip back in spring of 2019. An unseasonably wet winter meant that the higher elevation roads were still impassable due to snow, so one of our primary goals - the Lewis Lodge ruins - remained just out of reach.…
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I've visited the Owyhee region of Oregon several times, each time discovering something new, something special. The region, located in southeast corner of the state, seems to be an empty wasteland - and nothing could be farther from the truth. Surely, it is remote, and from any single spot the…
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When my buddy Ben asked if I wanted to go to the Island District of Canyonlands National Park in order to run the White Rim Trail, I was pretty pumped. While I've been to the other districts - The Maze and The Needles - I've never been to The Island…
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Smack in the middle of winter, we found ourselves with a little extra time and nothing planned to fill the days. That, in addition to the fact that it was going to be cold and snowy in nearly all of Washington state, signaled to us that an escape down south…
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I'd been home less than a week after Tragedies in the Tablelands, and I still had the itch to get out and see everything I'd planned before things went all wonky. Even as we'd been driving home from that trip, I was ordering a new camera and lenses, and I…
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Having recently visited the Volcanic Tablelands for the first time in search of and petroglyphs, we'd been delighted with what we'd found. So delighted - in fact - that I started researching the area for a return trip as soon as we got home! As I searched, I realized we…
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Visiting the Mojave National Preserve has - unconsciously - become a traditional "last trip of the year." For three years now, the pull of the desert sun has drawn us south - out of the gloomy grey of the Pacific Northwest. This year the trip would center around foot travel…
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I don't know whether it's an "oh, duh!" moment, or "can you believe it?" situation, but less than two weeks after returning from our Death Valley trip along the Nadeau Trail, we were headed back for more! I was jazzed, and - a little surprisingly to me - so was…
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The Nadeau Trail follows the west side of Panamint Valley, roughly in a north-south direction between the Argus Range and the valley's paved roads. Measuring a scant 27 miles long - and for the most part completely straight - the casual observer may wonder if allotting three days to travel…
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There wasn't much of a question in any of our minds as to where our two week trip was going to take place for 2020. After our setback the previous year - see Exploring Colorado Becomes Redhead Down - much of the winter had been spent getting the Redhead ready…
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How could it be that we hadn’t explored this area? I have no idea, really. Most likely, it's simply a side effect of the total lack of exploration we've done in our home state of Washington - opting instead to explore areas in other surrounding states, where weather is consistently…
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Summer is a great time in the state of Washington. While much of the rest of the year might be dreary and gray, the long days and clear air between mid-July and September are nothing short of perfection for getting out to enjoy the mountainous terrain in the western part…
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I've been asked by folks who don't go on as many trips as I do, "How do you know that the roads you plan on a route - using satalite imagery - are open?" The answer, of course, is that not every trip goes exactly as planned - and that's…
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Having just completed the Nevada Backcountry Discovery Route (BDR), we now found ourselves in at the southern most tip of Nevada, quite a distance between us and home. We found ourselves there with a week to spare, having finished the trip a few days sooner than we'd originally expected. Only…
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Nevada's BDR is known to be a bit different than some of the others. Most interesting is the temperature differential between the northern and southern ends of the route - even as the north is still covered in snow, temps in the south reach over 100°F. For that reason, a…
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I can safely say that trips to with Pops have now become a tradition. I suppose I could have said that after the second trip to this special place, but with a third in as many years, I hope it continues for many more. This time, for the first time,…
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Any other year, a trip to Icicle Creek near Leavenworth, WA in early June would be our second or third visit of the season. But with everything going on this year, the Forest Service delayed opening of the road - generally used to access campgrounds and trailheads until after Memorial…
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