So Brittany got permits to do the Narrows, and who am I to say no to a pre-arranged trip where all I have to do is show up? The temps were supposed to be some of the hottest of the summer so far, around 108. We took a shuttle to start the trip to…
Escalante River Canyon – Escalante to the Hwy 12 Bridge
After the Boulder Mail Trail, I wanted to get back down into the area to explore it more. The plan to go out of anything was touch & go, but in the end, I was able to go. The plan was to hitch a ride from the Hwy 12 bridge trailhead at the Escalante…
Boulder Mail Trail
Cross another trail off the list! The Boulder Mail Trail has a lame sounding name, but it’s a cool hike through a sweet area of high desert slickrock. It starts out with a quick drive across a dirt airstrip to get to the trailhead, and then on the actual trail, you’re walking on sand,…
Canyonlands – The Maze – South Fork to The Plug
I’d never been to The Maze area of Canyonlands, in fact everything between Hwy 24 and the Green River in that area was totally uncharted to me. The weather looked awesome, but it hadn’t been warm enough to melt & dry out the Flint Trail, or the road out to Hite for my 2WD…
Grand Canyon – Hermit Trail to Tonto Trail to Bright Angel Trail
The Tonto Trail has started interesting me lately, so I picked the obvious choice for an introductory hike and that was the section between the Hermit Trail and the Bright Angel Trail. The weather forecast was sketchy, but it was going to be warmer in the canyon than it was at home, and that’s…
Baja Roadtrip – Ensenada and San Felipe Mexico
I’ve wanted to check out the upper part of Baja California for a long time now, and finally pulled myself away from the cold winter for a little sun and warmth. I left Thursday after work, drove to Mesquite, then the next day drove down to the K58 campground just off the highway to…
The Stair Machine from Hell aka Tapeats Creek to Deer Creek Loop via the Bill Hall Trail
This one wasn’t even on my list, but it was on the North Rim, and since the season to do those trails was closing, I figured why not. So it was another midnight run down to Arizona, looking for deer through the Kaibab forest, and sneaking in to Grand Canyon NP by moonlight. Everything…
So Many Trails…So Little Time
I recently sat down and made a list of all the trails I want to do. It turned out, there were a whole lot more than I thought there were. So now if I ever want to get out, all I have to do is check the list and pick one out. So here in…
The Grand Canyon Curse Lives On
Ever since I first visited the Grand Canyon, I’ve had at least one bad thing happen every time. It all started with the Havasu Falls trip that lives on as the first entry in this blog. That included a speeding ticket in Big Water, driving lost through the Arizona desert half the night, barely…
West Rim Trail – Zions National Park
I was half expecting the West Rim Trail to be nice and mellow more the first 9 miles and then just wind down some cliffs and drop in elevation down to the Virgin River, but it’s not so. Sure it starts out all nice and mellow, gradually dropping in elevation with some mellow rises…