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Into the Dark: Canyons of the Dark Canyon Plateau

Southern Utah Wanderings | Friday – Monday, September 29 – October 2, 2023

The time had finally come to get back out into the desert on the Colorado Plateau and I was definitely ready to begin my annual trip into Southern Utah with my friend Jared. This year we decided to start out hiking and exploring a couple of canyons that cut deep into the Dark Canyon Plateau and Elk Ridge so we could continue what we had originally began during our 2021 trip around the Abajo Mountains before we were chased out of the higher country by wet and stormy weather at the time. As usual, I left from work on Friday afternoon, grabbed a quick dinner in Fruita and then drove straight through to Monticello, where I topped off my gas tank so it would last me the next couple of days in the backcountry. It had been a very windy drive, which would be just a taste of what was in store for us over the next couple of days. From Monticello I followed the Harts Draw Loop Road into Indian Creek and then headed up onto the Salt Creek Plateau where I stopped at our usual campsite in the area and waited for Jared to arrive later in the evening.

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The Green River: High Water in Labyrinth Canyon

Ruby Ranch to Mineral Bottom | Average CFS: 17,300
Thursday – Sunday, June 2-5, 2022

After spending a full week circling around the Colorado Plateau with Diane, then having two days at home to rest and two more days back at work, it was finally time to get back on the river! Although my friends and I had entered a couple river permit lotteries earlier in the year, none of us were successful at getting any, so instead we decided to do another float through Labyrinth Canyon of the Green River from Ruby Ranch to Mineral Bottom. While I typically prefer to float the Green River and Colorado River through the canyonlands region in the late summer when there are plenty of sandbars for camping on, which are some of my absolute favorite places to camp, I figured it would be interesting to see what the river was like at high water, even though I knew that it was going to be a busy place with limited campsites at this time of the year. I knew from the start that I wasn’t going to be doing much hiking and exploring on this trip, so I just planned on a relaxing float down the river with plenty of time spent in camp.

The Labyrinth Rims: Horsethief Point to Tenmile Point

Friday – Sunday, November 19-21, 2021

I was originally planning to spend this weekend on Cedar Mesa by myself, but after my issue while hiking last Friday I was a bit uncertain about hiking alone this weekend. I decided it would probably be a better idea to take it easy and stay a little closer to home. I didn’t want to do anything too strenuous alone yet, so I figured I could go back to my roots by doing some exploring and short walks from my Jeep. There are a bunch of Jeep roads north of Moab in the Labyrinth Rims area that I have never driven before, so I thought that would be a good place to go. Since I didn’t plan this trip out like I usually do, I basically just hopped in my Jeep with a map and an idea of a couple areas I wanted to explore along the way and went. I thought I would start the trip at the rim of Taylor Canyon on Horsethief Point and then make my way north along the eastern points of Labyrinth Canyon.

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The Good Gallery & Bowknot Bend Overlook

Friday – Sunday, October 22-24, 2021

This weekend I decided to stay just a little bit closer to home than I have the past couple of weekends, and headed over to the west side of the Green River so I could spend some time in the Horseshoe Canyon and Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness areas. I was hoping to check out a large Barrier Canyon Style pictograph panel that I had not been to yet and then hike to an overlook of the Bowknot Bend Saddle from Keg Point. I left right after work on Friday afternoon and headed west into Utah. I stopped for gas in Green River and then followed the Hans Flat Road until it was dark out and found a spot to spend the night. There was a pretty nice sunset during the drive, but I didn’t stop to take any photos this time. I was anticipating it to get a bit cold overnight, but surprisingly it never got down below 50 degrees and was very comfortable. On Saturday morning I was up shortly before sunrise and then made my way over to the starting point for my first hike.

Labyrinth Canyon: Ruby Ranch to Mineral Bottom

Thursday – Monday, September 20-24, 2018

I was pretty excited that it was finally time to get back on the river! I had been looking forward to this trip all summer since it’s been way too long since my last river trip and I was really missing floating through desert canyons. I’ve actually wanted to float this stretch of the Green River for a while now, and I was finally able to convince a few friends to go with me this year. I did most of the planning for this trip which would take us down about 45 miles of the Green River through Labyrinth Canyon from Ruby Ranch to Mineral Bottom. Even though it was a bad snow year in Colorado, the Wind Rivers had a pretty average snow year so the level of the Green River at 2,000cfs was pretty typical for this time of the year. There was originally supposed to be six of us in our group, but at the last minute my friend Jackson and his son had to drop out because his son got sick. This also changed our plans for the shuttle at the last minute since we wouldn’t need two vehicles at the end, so Chris ended up riding with me to Ruby Ranch after work while Steve and Nic would run the shuttle vehicle down to Mineral Bottom in the afternoon and we would all meet up in the evening.

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Into the Dark: Canyons of the Dark Canyon Plateau

The Green River: High Water in Labyrinth Canyon

The Labyrinth Rims: Horsethief Point to Tenmile Point

The Good Gallery & Bowknot Bend Overlook

Labyrinth Canyon: Ruby Ranch to Mineral Bottom