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 these are the right place to go, right now. Death Valley daytime temperatures are still hovering in the low triple digits, the snowbird Tacoma is 2,500 miles away from British Columbia, and I'm really hoping I can tag along - out onto the Esplanade - with a much more experienced explorer sometime next spring.
I know, I know, adventure life problems.
Ultimately, I decided that this trip would be a little bit "wandery." From a weather perspective, southern Utah is just about perfect this time of year, and there are endless places to explore in the red rock between St. George and Lake Powell, so for the next several days, that's exactly what we're going to do!
Flash Flood in Water Canyon, and the White Domes | Wanderings #1 - 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…
Ruins of Cottonwood Canyon | Wanderings #2 - High-tailing it out of Water Canyon after getting turned around by a flash flood in the narrows, 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 beaten into my noggin over the years, it is that I…
Impassable ATV Trails and Incredible Art | Wanderings #3 - 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…
The Wrong Crack | Wanderings #4 - It should have been obvious based on how long it'd taken us to get to camp the previous evening, but by the time we'd checked out a couple of pictograph sites and retraced our route along the Coral Pink Sand Dunes, it was noon when pulled into the shade of a tree for lunch, and almost 1:00pm by the time we were done making - and consuming - our tuna sandwiches. There was no way we were going to have time for an hour drive, and then a 14-mile hike through a slot canyon before the sun set just before…
Tower of Silence | Wanderings #5 - The exact time we arrived in camp was irrelevant. It was dark, and it would be dark the next morning when we began our hike, so we pulled over in the parking area and set up for the night. Then, it was off to bed. A few hours later - at 4:15am, still a full three hours before sunrise - we were up again to the sound of my alarm. We had breakfast to eat, a tent to put away, and various bits of camera equipment to load up before donning our headlamps and beginning the trek up Wahweap Wash.…
On October 23-25, the Western Sky Aviation Warbird Museum is having a fly-in event at the St. George Regional Airport. Google their website. You may want to stop in one of those days!
Thanks for the heads up. We will probably try to check it out if we're in the area! ✈️🛬🛩️