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Tag: canyonlands

Returning to Chesler Park: Shangri-La of The NeedlesReturning to Chesler Park: Shangri-La of The Needles

Returning to Chesler Park: Shangri-La of The Needles

Saturday & Sunday, March 1-2, 2025

I wanted to start the month of March off right with an easy first backpacking trip of the year, mainly so I could test out some new gear I have acquired over the past few months to help lighten my load a bit (I’ve recently purchased a new backpack, quilt and shoes- among a few other odds and ends), so at the end of January I booked a campsite in Chesler Park for the first weekend in March when Diane was also available. Back about five years ago Diane and I would typically start off our backpacking season with a trip into the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park, but it’s been a while since we did that and the last time we backpacked into Chesler Park was in 2018, so we were looking forward to a return visit and hoped that the weather would cooperate with our plans. We left from home early on Saturday morning and made it to the Elephant Hill Trailhead shortly after 9:00am to begin our hike to Chesler Park.

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Poking Around the Pockets of Horse CanyonPoking Around the Pockets of Horse Canyon

Poking Around the Pockets of Horse Canyon

Canyonlands National Park | Saturday & Sunday, February 1-2, 2025

With warmer than seasonal temperatures and overall nice weather expected across the Colorado Plateau this weekend, I thought this would be a great time to get back into the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park for the first time this year. Since we’ve had a pretty dry winter so far this season and the road into Horse Canyon was actually open, I also thought this would be a great opportunity to get back into that elusive canyon. I met up with a friend on Saturday morning and we spent the entire weekend poking around the pockets of Horse Canyon to see what we would find along the way…

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Drifting Around Indian Creek Country IVDrifting Around Indian Creek Country IV

Drifting Around Indian Creek Country IV

Friday – Sunday, December 6-8, 2024

Things didn’t quite go as I had planned this weekend. I was originally planning to spend the weekend along the western end of the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park and had reserved campsites for both Friday and Saturday nights. However, when I arrived at the top of the Mineral Bottom switchbacks on Friday afternoon I found that they were covered with ice and snow and I really wasn’t feeling like sliding down the road, so I called an audible and headed down to Indian Creek Country and The Needles instead. After making my way over to the Lockhart Basin Road and finding a campsite for the weekend, I then spent the rest of the weekend hiking some new canyons, driving a few new backroads and revisiting some rock art sites that I’ve wanted to re-photograph or that I hadn’t been back to in over a decade. Here are some photos from this unplanned weekend.

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Big Water in Cataract Canyon: The Colorado RiverBig Water in Cataract Canyon

Big Water in Cataract Canyon: The Colorado River

Utah’s Biggest Whitewater in Canyonlands National Park | Average CFS: 31,500
Friday – Sunday, May 31 – June 2, 2024

As many of you already know, I’ve spent a considerable amount of time exploring, hiking, backpacking, Jeeping and floating the rivers within Canyonlands National Park over the years. However, Cataract Canyon has been the one section of the Colorado River in Canyonlands that has eluded me over that time. Since there’s a pretty good chance I might never have the opportunity to navigate the large rapids of Cataract Canyon on a private river trip, I figured this would probably be a good place to try out a commercial river trip for the first time and see how it goes. So late last year I booked a 3-day motorized trip with Mild To Wild Rafting and then my friend Jackson did the same for his family so we could go on the trip together. Since we would be in a large raft with an experienced guide on this trip instead of in our little inflatable kayaks, we tried to time the trip to coincide with the highest water of the year that typically happens during spring runoff in late May and early June, and I think we ended up doing a pretty good job on the timing.

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The Twists and Turns of Salt Creek CanyonThe Twists and Turns of Salt Creek Canyon

The Twists and Turns of Salt Creek Canyon

Canyonlands National Park | Thursday – Monday, April 4-8, 2024

After a rugged hike around Navajo Mountain last year, Dave, Jared and I decided to return to a very familiar place in Canyonlands National Park for our annual spring backpacking trip this year as we started making plans to continue exploring the twists and turns of Salt Creek Canyon a few months ago. Although we have all hiked into Salt Creek many times over the years, I hadn’t been back to the middle section of the canyon since our first hike down the length of the canyon just about ten years ago, and I was looking forward to returning! I left from work on Thursday afternoon and made my way to Indian Creek Country for the evening where I found a campsite and watched a colorful sunset on the surrounding cliffs while waiting for Dave and Jared to arrive.

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