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Tag: chimney rock

Standing Up Country: Chimney Rock & The Maze

Lost in The Maze IV | Thursday – Sunday, February 26 – March 1, 2026

After taking Jackson on his first trip into The Maze about two years ago he told me that he was interested in hiking to the Harvest Scene at some point and we started thinking about plans for a future trip into the area. Although I have hiked to the Harvest Scene quite a few times before, I was interested in revisiting the loop from Chimney Rock again since that was my very first hike in The Maze and I didn’t remember it very well- plus, I wanted to hike it in the opposite direction so we would be on the Petes Mesa Route in the early morning. Last year after Jackson bought a new 4Runner Trailhunter we tentatively started making plans to drive out to Chimney Rock in late February so he could see what his new vehicle could do. At the time we initially started planning the trip I still had my Jeep and figured we could just head out there together over a long weekend since I have driven that road many times before, but then I ended up trading in my Rubicon for a 4Runner and figured that this would now be a good opportunity to see how my new vehicle would handle the road out to the Land of Standing Rocks, too.

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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.

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Kane Springs Canyon & Colorado River Corridor Trails

Moab Meanderings | Saturday & Sunday, February 3-4, 2024

This is the first weekend I would be taking my Jeep out again after having the engine repaired last month, and I didn’t want to stray too far from home or get too deep into the backcountry just yet, so I figured this would be a good opportunity for me to hike some trails along the Colorado River near Moab. Since I’ve already hiked most of the trails on and around Amasa Back, I thought it would be fun to start the weekend by hiking the Captain Ahab and HyMasa Trails, both of which did not even exist the last time I hiked the Amasa Back Trail (Cliffhanger) from Kane Springs Canyon. I left home early on Saturday morning and drove through some patchy fog along I-70 in Utah and then made my way over to the trailhead along Kane Creek before sunrise.

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The Rim Trails at Dead Horse Point State Park

Saturday, November 18, 2023

Although I originally had a different and more local trip planned for this weekend, which I’ll hopefully be able to get back to in early December, the weather forecast made me reconsider those plans on Friday since it was predicted to start raining on Saturday afternoon and continue all through Sunday. With a partly cloudy sky in the forecast for Saturday morning I decided to get up early and head on over to Dead Horse Point State Park where I would hopefully be able to catch a nice sunrise from the main overlook and then could spend the rest of the morning hiking the remainder of the trails in the park that I had not been on before, which consisted of a loop of the East Rim Trail and the West Rim Trail along with a couple of shorter spur trails leading to overlooks along the way. A few years back Diane and I had spent a nice weekend mountain biking all of the Intrepid Trails in the park and I’ve been meaning to get back to finish up the hiking trails, so I’ve been looking forward to a return visit.

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Kodachrome Flat: Land of Sand Pipes & Chimneys

Veterans Day Weekend at Kodachrome Basin State Park
Thursday – Sunday, November 9-12, 2023

Kodachrome Basin State Park is a relatively small park located in Southern Utah that is nestled into the rugged canyon country between the White Cliffs and the Pink Cliffs of the Grand Staircase and is best known for the sixty-seven towering sand pipes that dominate the desert landscape. These sedimentary pipes are believed to be found nowhere else on earth and while there are several theories that have been proposed to try to explain their formation, geologists are still unsure of the exact origin of these unusual sand spires. Over the years I have driven right past the entrance to Kodachrome Basin on numerous occasions as I have driven down the Cottonwood Road while exploring the Grand – Staircase Escalate National Monument, which practically surrounds this small reserve, and in all that time I have never stopped to check it out. This holiday weekend I finally planned to change all that by spending some quality time hiking and exploring the interesting landscape of Kodachrome Flat.

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