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Roaming The Reef: Ernie Point to Eardley Canyon

Canyons of the San Rafael Reef IV | Saturday & Sunday, January 24-25, 2026

While I was initially just planning on just returning to the landscape surrounding Moab again this weekend like I typically do at this time of the year, as I was watching the winter storm unfold on Friday afternoon I saw that Moab was getting some rain and snow while the weather seemed to be completely missing the area around the San Rafael Reef, so I changed gears and decided to head over that way early on Saturday morning instead. Since I was looking to get in some decent elevation gain this weekend, I thought I might try hiking up to the Ernie Benchmark which is one of the highest points along the top of the San Rafael Reef. The drive to Green River early on Saturday morning was a bit slow with plenty of fog, snow and ice- but shortly after passing through Crescent Junction the snow and fog disappeared and the roads were dry for the remainder of the way. After topping off my gas tank in Green River I continued on to the base of the San Rafael Reef near the mouth of Ernie Canyon and prepared to start the hike. I had planned to start hiking from near the old drilling derrick, but apparently that road has now been closed since I was here last January and I would now need to hike a little further than I was expecting.

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From the Colorado River to the Gold Bar Rim

Moab Meanderings | Saturday & Sunday, January 10-11, 2026

This weekend I returned to the sandstone landscape surrounding Moab so I could explore some of the area between the Colorado River and the Gold Bar Rim centered around Culvert Canyon, which is also known as Cameltoe Canyon. I wanted to get in some decent elevation gain during my hike on Saturday since I am hopefully going to be hiking into a very deep canyon again in just a couple of weeks, so I thought it might be interesting to hike from the Colorado River all the way to the top of the Gold Bar Rim by following the Jeep Arch Trail and then some other rugged 4X4 routes found in the vicinity. I left home bright and early on Saturday morning and made my way over to the Culvert Canyon Trailhead to start the hike!

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Knocking Around Kane Springs Canyon

Moab Meanderings in the Fog | Saturday & Sunday, January 3-4, 2026

For the first weekend in 2026 I returned to Moab so I could spend a little time hiking and exploring around Kane Springs Canyon. Of course, similarly to last weekend I was stuck with overcast conditions again, except this time I was mostly in or under a layer of low clouds and fog. After leaving home early on Saturday morning it was a slower than usual drive to Moab since I had to drive through a thick layer of fog pretty much the entire way with the temperatures hovering around freezing. It was still foggy out when I reached the mouth of Kane Spring Canyon, so instead of going on my first hike right away I decided to continue up the canyon to Hurrah Pass to see if I could get above the fog for some photos at sunrise. This turned out to be a really good choice since I was able to get out of the fog for a little bit, until it finally enveloped the pass. Then I returned to the Amasa Back Trailhead and started hiking with hopes that the fog would burn off soon.

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White Rim Trail: Mineral Bottom to Candlestick Camp

Island in the Sky | Friday – Sunday, December 5-7, 2025

Although it’s been over three years since the last time I visited the Island in the Sky District within Canyonlands National Park, it certainly has not been for a lack of trying. Over the past few years I have booked the Candlestick Camp on the White Rim at least two or three different times since it’s the only campsite along the White Rim Trail that I have not stayed at before, but each time the weather or ice on the switchbacks of the Mineral Bottom Road made me change those plans. Over the summer I decided to try again and booked the campsite for the first weekend in December with hopes that the weather would cooperate this time, and then I invited my friend Jackson along so he could get his first taste of the White Rim with his new 4Runner. As the weekend neared there was a winter storm system that impacted the areas around Grand Junction and Moab so we weren’t sure what the road situation was going to be like when we reached the top of the switchbacks above Mineral Bottom, but after leaving work on Friday and making our way out there we were happy to find that this area had not been impacted and the switchbacks were clear and dry- so down we went!

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Junes Bottom & Moonshine Wash

Edges of the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness | Friday – Sunday, November 21-23, 2025

This weekend I didn’t want to stray too far from home but I also wanted to go somewhere where I knew the roads would be OK since we had a week full of wet stormy weather across the Colorado Plateau, so I decided to return to the Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness for the third time this year since there are still a number of hikes I want to do in the area. My main objective was to hike down to Junes Bottom since it’s been on my to-do list for a long time and I have never had the opportunity to stop there while on a river trip through Labyrinth Canyon yet. I left from work on Friday afternoon, got fuel in Green River and then made my way south to the rim above the Trin-Alcove Bend which is where I planned to watch the sunset and then spend the night.

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Tag: 4runner

Roaming The Reef: Ernie Point to Eardley Canyon

From the Colorado River to the Gold Bar Rim

Knocking Around Kane Springs Canyon

White Rim Trail: Mineral Bottom to Candlestick Camp

Junes Bottom & Moonshine Wash