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Month: April 2018

Grand Gulch: Bullet Canyon to The Government Trail

Grand Gulch Finale
Friday – Tuesday, April 20 – 24, 2018

Last year I had to skip my annual spring backpacking trip with Dave and Jared since I didn’t have any free time left after my wedding and Honeymoon Adventure in March. This year we decided to resume the tradition and go on a four day backpacking trip into the middle section of Grand Gulch between Bullet Canyon and the Government Trail. This is pretty much the final section of Grand Gulch (starting from under the Bears Ears near Highways 95 all the way to the San Juan River) that I have not hiked yet, so I was really looking forward to checking it out. The funny thing is, this section was supposed to be my very first backpacking trip into Grand Gulch about five years ago, but I missed out on that trip because I came down with strep throat a few days before and Dave and Jared went without me. I’m glad they were willing to repeat this section of the canyon with me this year!

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Lower Red Lake Canyon & The Confluence Overlook

Friday – Sunday, April 13-15, 2018

After hiking down to Spanish Bottom from The Doll House last weekend, I decided it was time to head back to The Needles for the third time this year so I could hike down Lower Red Lake Canyon from Devils Lane to the opposite side of the Colorado River. I had actually planned on doing this hike at the end of February, but a snowstorm the evening before made me change my mind about driving over Elephant Hill by myself in the morning and I switched up my plans at the last minute.

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Lost In The Maze

Under The Ledge // Five Years In The Maze
Wednesday – Monday, April 4-9, 2018

For the past four years Diane and I have been spending our Memorial Day Weekends in late May exploring the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park and the Orange Cliffs Unit of Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, along with the greater Robbers Roost area to the west. The first two years were great, but the last two years were hotter and buggier than we would have liked which was not as much fun for us. I recalled that my very first trip into The Maze was in early April and that the temperature was much cooler out (we even had a little snow) and great for hiking, so this year we decided to move our trip up into early April so we would hopefully have cooler temperatures and no bugs to deal with. But as you might know, the conditions on the Colorado Plateau are never that predictable, especially in the spring.

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The Ribbon Trail to White Rocks

Colorado National Monument Traverse V
Easter | Sunday, April 1, 2018

This weekend Diane and I stayed close to home so we could go on our annual Colorado National Monument Traverse on Sunday. This yearly hike has sort of become a tradition for us where we plan a longer hike through the Colorado National Monument by combining existing trails and off-trail routes. This is the fifth year we have planned a hike like this and this time I wanted to do something on the east side of the Monument that included No Thoroughfare Canyon. If you are interested in checking out our previous traverses, you can find links to those trip reports here: Traverses of the Colorado National Monument

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