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From The Maze to The Mesa, Again…From The Maze to The Mesa, Again...

From The Maze to The Mesa, Again…

Friday – Sunday, March 28-30, 2025

This weekend I met up with my friend Alan who was once again visiting the southwest from France for a couple of weeks this spring. Late last year while he was starting to plan out his trip we had made rough plans to hike together to a Barrier Canyon Style pictograph panel that is found in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, so that’s where we ended up starting our weekend off when we met up at a campsite late on Friday afternoon. After our rough drive and hike to the pictographs on Saturday morning we then made our way over to Cedar Mesa so we could explore a few sites before I headed home early on Sunday as I needed to finish getting prepared for an upcoming river trip into the Grand Canyon. Since this trip was a little reminiscent of my previous week spent exploring The Maze and The Mesa in 2011, I thought I would borrow the title again. Here are a few photos from the weekend.

CONTINUE READINGFrom The Maze to The Mesa, Again…
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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.

CONTINUE READINGReturning to Chesler Park: Shangri-La of The Needles
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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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Canyons of the San Rafael Reef IICanyons of the San Rafael Reef II

Canyons of the San Rafael Reef II

Rock Art of the San Rafael Swell XX | Saturday & Sunday, January 11-12, 2025

It’s been a few years since I spent any time exploring the canyons of the San Rafael Reef and I’ve been feeling the need to get back this winter, so I left home early on Saturday morning, drove west into Utah, and then spent the entire weekend on the Reef. Not only did I hike and explore a few unnamed canyons that have carved their way into the Reef within the San Rafael Reef Wilderness which were completely new to me, but I also revisited a few places that I hadn’t been back to in almost fifteen years, so it was nice mix of old and new. Of course, I also saw plenty of rock art throughout the weekend, too. These are some photos from my weekend on the San Rafael Reef.

CONTINUE READINGCanyons of the San Rafael Reef II
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