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Tag: cottonwood canyon

White Rim Trail: Queen Anne Bottom to Taylor CanyonWhite Rim Trail: Queen Anne Bottom to Taylor Canyon

White Rim Trail: Queen Anne Bottom to Taylor Canyon

Friday – Sunday, December 10-12, 2021

Back in October, before the prices of backcountry permits in Canyonlands National Park were set to increase, I decided to grab a couple more permits over the winter for campsites along the White Rim Trail. The first permit I got was for mid-December along the western end of the White Rim Trail at the Hardscrabble Bottom and Taylor Canyon campsites. Both were campsites that I had not stayed at yet. I actually had a permit to stay at the Taylor Canyon campsite two years ago when I was working on completing all of the hiking trails in the Island in the Sky District, but a weather system moving through the area that weekend made me change those plans, so I was looking forward to another opportunity. There were also some short hikes along this section of the White Rim Trail that I wanted to check out last year while Diane and Jared were riding the White Rim, but I ended up not having time for them.

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Bring Me The MojaveBring Me The Mojave

Bring Me The Mojave

President’s Day Weekend | Friday – Monday, February 15-18, 2019

The plans for this extended weekend trip began way back in August of last year when I purchased tickets to see Bring Me The Horizon at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. Bring Me The Horizon is one of our favorite bands and we were looking forward to seeing them again since the last time we saw them was in 2017, also in Las Vegas. The concert was on Saturday evening and Monday was President’s Day, so we took Friday off from work to have a four-day weekend that we could spend exploring new parts of the Mojave Desert between St. George and Las Vegas. The plan was to spend some time around southwestern Utah and Gold Butte National Monument on our way to Las Vegas and then spend the day after the concert hiking in Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area.

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Nine Mile Canyon 2018Nine Mile Canyon 2018

Nine Mile Canyon 2018

Diane’s Birthday Weekend | Saturday & Sunday, October 20-21, 2018

Since it was Diane’s birthday was on Saturday and she wanted to spend the weekend in Nine Mile Canyon, that’s what we did! It actually worked out great since neither of us had been there yet this year and I like to try to get there at least once each year. We left home early on Saturday morning, stopped at the gas station in Wellington and then headed right into the canyon to see what we could find. There was nothing in particular that I was looking for on this trip, so we just drove slowly through the canyon and kept an eye out to see what we could find. It’s really amazing that no matter how many times I have driven through this canyon we were still able to find quite a few new petroglyphs and pictographs, and even a couple ruins. We spent all day in the canyon and then returned to Wellington where we took a little break from camping and spent the night in a hotel. Then on Sunday morning we were back in the canyon for a few more hours before heading back home. It was a great time! Here are plenty of photos from the weekend.

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West End: Roc Creek Petroglyphs & Sewemup MesaRoc Creek Petroglyphs

West End: Roc Creek Petroglyphs & Sewemup Mesa

Sunday, December 10, 2017

On Sunday morning we left home shortly after sunrise and drove through Unaweep Canyon to Gateway and then continued along the Dolores River to visit a petroglyph panel located in Roc Creek Canyon. We had actually spent some time searching for this particular panel a few years ago (I believe it was on our way back home from this trip to Paradox Valley), but were unable to find them that day while driving the road through the canyon and scanning the cliffs with our binoculars. At the time I had no clue where they were located, I only knew that there was supposed to be a panel of petroglyphs somewhere in the canyon. Then a few months ago I picked up a map from WETA (West End Trails Alliance) and was surprised to find that it showed a hiking trail right to the petroglyphs!

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Nine Mile Canyon RevisitedNine Mile Canyon Revisited

Nine Mile Canyon Revisited

Friday & Saturday, December 9-10, 2016

After attending a concert in Salt Lake City on Thursday night it was time to start heading back home on Friday morning. However, I planned to spend Friday afternoon and all day Saturday in Nine Mile Canyon before finishing the drive back to Grand Junction. I had hoped to revisit some sites lower in the canyon that I had not been to in many years plus find a few sites along the road that I had missed or not found during previous visits. I was also planning on photographing The Great Hunt Panel at sunset on Friday evening. For being December, the weather was not too cold and there was very little snow in the canyon. Friday afternoon was the nicer of the two days with temperatures in the upper 40’s and the sun was out, while Saturday was a little bit cooler with overcast skies and a cold wind that had picked up. Enjoy plenty of photos of the rock art below!

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