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North Soda Trail: Adobe Creek to PT 7412

North Soda Trail
Sunday, November 20, 2016

This afternoon I headed back into the Book Cliffs to hike to the summit of an unnamed peak above the Grand Valley. I’ve been trying to spend more time in the Book Cliffs this year (Mount Lincoln, Main Canyon, Tellerico Trail) and wanted to try and get back there one last time before the winter weather really sets in for the season. While the trail I hiked is most commonly referred to as the North Soda Trail (it eventually connects to the North Soda Road on top), I’m going to refer to it as the Adobe Creek Trail since it follows the creek for over a mile and then stays completely in the Adobe Creek drainage as it climbs to the top of the mesa.

Jouflas Horse Trail

Sunday, November 6, 2016

Back at the end of September I hiked part of the Jouflas Horse Trail to an overlook of Ruby Canyon after hiking to the nearby summit of PT 5239, but I was short on time that day and was unable to complete the entire loop. This afternoon Diane and I headed back to Rabbit Valley to finish hiking the Jouflas Horse Trail from the other side. We started at the McDonald Creek Trailhead and followed the trail to the Black Rocks Overlook (which is where I stopped in September) and then returned back the way we had come. It was a pretty easy hike and a nice way to spend a couple of hours on a Sunday afternoon.

Knowles Canyon

Saturday & Sunday, October 29-30, 2016

After taking last weekend off to stay home and relax a little, this weekend Diane and I headed deep into the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness on an overnight backpacking trip into Knowles Canyon. We were in search of a few rock art sites thought to be hidden in the canyon, but unfortunately we would come up empty handed locating any of those on this trip. Instead, we would find a beautiful canyon with plenty of solitude only 20 miles from home. It’s nice to know that this kind of solitude can easily be found such a short distance from our home. Here are a few photos from the weekend.

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PT 5239 in Rabbit Valley

Saturday, September 24, 2016

I was originally planning this hike for Thursday after work, but the weather made me change my plans that day. Since we ended up staying close to home this weekend because of the weather, I decided to head back out to Rabbit Valley after the rain stopped late in the morning and hiked up to the summit of PT 5239. I’ve been trying to explore more of Rabbit Valley lately and this short summit away from the more popular trails looked like a good place to check out.

Lower Main Canyon in the Little Book Cliffs

Wednesday, September 14, 2016

I was originally planning to hike to another summit in the Book Cliffs after work this evening, but based on the weather forecast I decided to change my plans and went hiking through Main Canyon within the Little Book Cliffs Wild Horse Area instead. This turned out to be a good choice since I got caught in a couple of fast-moving storms that produced plenty of lightning while I was in the canyon. I ended up hiking almost 4 miles up Main Canyon from the trailhead and then returned the same way, making it back to my Jeep shortly after sunset. I will definitely have to return to finish up the last mile or so in the canyon some other time.