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Tag: happy canyon

Rambling Around Robbers Roost VI

Friday & Saturday, October 11-12, 2024

After spending a very warm week along the Arizona Strip with Jared, it was time for me to get back out exploring parts of the Colorado Plateau that are a little bit closer to home. So even though I needed to be home on Sunday, I still wanted to get outside on Saturday and decided to head over into the Robbers Roost area to get in a little canyon hiking and exploring this weekend. I left from work on Friday afternoon, grabbed dinner in town and then headed west into Utah. After topping off my gas tank in Green River I continued driving across the San Rafael Desert until I found a place to camp not far from Hans Flats shortly before sunset. Once it was dark out I finished reading a book and went to bed early so I could get an early start in the morning to beat the afternoon heat.

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Bluejohn Canyon: Rambling Around Robbers Roost III

Friday & Saturday, January 21-22, 2022

After spending last weekend Around The Needles, I decided to head over to the other side of the Green River this weekend to finally explore Bluejohn Canyon, which is a slot canyon I’ve wanted to get into for years. I actually had plans to hike into Bluejohn Canyon twice last year, but the first time I got snowed out and then the second time there were just too many people camped around the trailheads, so I never made it. I figured my best time to get the canyon to myself would be in the middle of the winter, so this weekend seemed like a good opportunity to try. Of course, when it started snowing in Grand Junction on Friday morning I was a little concerned that my plans were going to be thwarted again, but after keeping an eye on the weather all day it looked like much of the snow had most likely missed the Robbers Roost area, so I decided to still give it a go.

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The Orange Cliffs: North Trail & Millard Canyon Rim

Friday – Sunday, November 5-7, 2021

This weekend I decided to spend a little time hiking and exploring along the Orange Cliffs in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, which are the tall Wingate Sandstone cliffs located to the east of Robbers Roost and to the west of The Maze. Since I have already hiked all of the official trails that descend from the Island in the Sky and the Canyon Rims Recreation Area, I thought it was finally time to check out the North Trail which descends from North Point to Elaterite Basin. Most people that hike this trail use it to access The Maze when they don’t have a vehicle that can be driven down the Flint Trail, but since I’ve never had that problem I never really had a reason to hike it before, so I was looking forward to finally checking it out.

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Rambling Around Robbers Roost

Maze Memorial Weekend IV | Memorial Day Weekend
Friday – Monday, May 26-29, 2017

After spending the last three Memorial Day Weekends in and around The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, this year we decided to skip visiting The Maze proper and stayed on top of The Orange Cliffs in Robbers Roost country. As usual, we left home after work on Friday evening and headed west into Utah. We stopped for a quick dinner and to fuel up the Jeep in Green River and then made our way to the Hans Flat Ranger Station to pickup our permit for the weekend. The wind was pretty brutal this evening and it really took a toll on my fuel mileage during the drive. There was a lot of sand blowing across the road to Hans Flat in places, but the sky and light was pretty nice during the drive. It looked like there was a good chance for one nice sunset before the clouds disappeared for the remainder of the weekend.

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Maze Memorial Weekend III

The Doll House | Memorial Day Weekend
Thursday – Monday, May 26-30, 2016

While crowds of people were lined up to get into Arches National Park and Island in the Sky this holiday weekend, Diane and I were back in The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park where we would only see a couple other people the entire time. This is why Diane and I have kept coming back back here for the past three years over Memorial Day weekend. Make sure to check out our previous trip reports from 2014 and 2015. This year we invited our friends Marty and Dave along to spend a few days down in The Doll House and the Land of Standing Rocks. It has been a few years since I last visited this area and I was looking forward to getting back and actually spending a few nights in The Doll House.

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