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Tag: capitol reef

Unknown Mountains: Return to the Henry MountainsUnknown Mountains: Return to the Henry Mountains

Unknown Mountains: Return to the Henry Mountains

Laccoliths in the Desert | Friday – Saturday, June 21-22, 2024

The Henry Mountains are a laccolithic mountain range that stand high above a sea of sandstone cut by deep canyons on the Colorado Plateau and were one of the last-surveyed and last-named mountain ranges in the contiguous United States. In 1869 John Wesley Powell made note of the range during his initial voyage down the Colorado River and called them the Unknown Mountains at the time. Then in 1871 he returned to the area on his second trip down the Colorado and renamed them to the Henry Mountains after Joseph Henry, a close friend who was secretary of the Smithsonian Institution. Last year I was planning to head back up into the Henry Mountains after Jared and I had spent a nice weekend there in 2022, but other trips came up and I never made it. This year I was determined to get back early in the summer to hike a couple new peaks and highpoints and chose to go this weekend. I left from work on Friday afternoon and made my way to Hanksville, and even though there were a lot of storms throughout the area this afternoon, some which caused flash flooding around Moab and the San Juan River, I managed to miss them all- aside from the wind. It seems that it’s frequently very windy out when I stop in Hanksville, and today was no exception!

CONTINUE READINGUnknown Mountains: Return to the Henry Mountains
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Beyond The Swell: Last Chance to the South DesertBeyond The Swell: Last Chance to the South Desert

Beyond The Swell: Last Chance to the South Desert

Friday – Sunday, April 12-14, 2024

A few months ago I finally did something that I’ve been meaning to do for a long time when I signed up for a Swiftwater Rescue Training class that would be taking place on Monday and Tuesday along the Green River near Swaseys Beach at the mouth of Gray Canyon. Since I needed to be in Green River on Sunday night for the class, I figured this would be a good weekend to spend some quality time wandering around the fringes at the southwestern edge of the San Rafael Swell and into the adjacent Cathedral Valley District of Capitol Reef National Park. It feels like it’s been quite a while since I’ve spent much time out in this desolate area and I was looking forward to returning since there are plenty of new places I’ve wanted to explore with my Jeep and on foot, plus a few others that I’ve wanted to return to.

CONTINUE READINGBeyond The Swell: Last Chance to the South Desert
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Lost in the Fold: Halls Creek NarrowsLost in the Fold: Halls Creek Narrows

Lost in the Fold: Halls Creek Narrows

Canyons of the Waterpocket Fold: The Other Grand Gulch
Friday – Monday, March 18-21, 2022

This weekend I finally had the opportunity to hike into the Halls Creek Narrows which are located at the very southern tip of Capitol Reef National Park, as I continue to work my way through the many interesting Canyons of the Waterpocket Fold. This hike has been long overdue for me as I’ve tentatively planned to go here almost every year for at least the last five years, but it seems that something has always come up that made me cancel those plans- usually the weather forecast. Since Diane had a couple days off from school for a short spring break after this weekend she would also be able to join me on this three day backpacking trip. I left early from work on Friday afternoon and we made our way into Utah after Diane was finished taking her latest exam. I stopped to grab an early dinner from Stan’s in Hanksville and topped off my gas tank at $4.89 per gallon before we continued on past Trachyte Creek and Ticaboo to the Burr Trail Road where we found a great campsite overlooking Bullfrog Creek to the Henry Mountains. We set up our tent at the rim of the canyon and relaxed around camp for the remainder of the evening before going to bed early after photographing a pretty lackluster sunset.

CONTINUE READINGLost in the Fold: Halls Creek Narrows
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Weekend Wandering Along the Waterpocket Fold IIWeekend Wandering Along the Waterpocket Fold II

Weekend Wandering Along the Waterpocket Fold II

Canyons of the Waterpocket Fold | Burro Wash, Upper Muley Twist & Lower Spring Canyon
President’s Day Weekend | Friday – Sunday, February 18-20, 2022

This weekend I headed out on my annual February trek into Capitol Reef National Park to explore a couple new canyons of the Waterpocket Fold, just like I had done last year. While I usually spend my birthday weekend in Capitol Reef, this year we went to Fremont Indian State Park instead, so I pushed this trip back one week later so that it was over President’s Day Weekend and invited my friend Jared along. As usual, I left right after work on Friday afternoon and made my way through Hanksville to the park. I turned off onto the Notom Road and found a place to camp for the night just after sunset and Jared joined up with me a couple hours later. Truth be told, while waiting for Jared to arrive I fell asleep and then woke up around midnight and saw that his vehicle parked nearby, so I knew he had found me. Then I went back to sleep!

CONTINUE READINGWeekend Wandering Along the Waterpocket Fold II
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Upper – Lower Muley Twist CanyonUpper – Lower Muley Twist Canyon

Upper – Lower Muley Twist Canyon

Canyons of the Waterpocket Fold | Sunday, February 28, 2021

I guess I didn’t get enough of the Waterpocket Fold two weeks ago when I spent my birthday weekend in Capitol Reef National Park, so on Sunday morning I stopped to hike through another canyon carved into the sandstone monocline on my way home since I happened to be driving right past the trailhead along the Burr Trail. After spending Saturday around the King Bench with Dennis and Chris, I left early from camp so I could hike into the upper end of Lower Muley Twist Canyon before driving home. Diane and I had missed this section of the canyon last year since we started at The Post Cutoff Trail to make a loop. I wasn’t expecting this section of the canyon to be as nice as the lower end, and it wasn’t, but it was still much nicer than I thought it was going to be and I ended up taking a lot of photos along the way since the light was nice.

CONTINUE READINGUpper – Lower Muley Twist Canyon
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