Last year while I was reading A Canyon Voyage by Frederick S. Dellenbaugh about the second Powell Expedition that went down the Green and Colorado Rivers in 1871 and 1872, the text also spoke of their time spent reconnoitering and triangulating throughout the strip of land that is found north of the Grand Canyon and south of Utah state line, which is what motivated me to return to the Arizona Strip this year so I could could explore some of the peaks, plateaus and highpoints of this expansive region for myself. I also figured that this would make for a great extension of my exploration of the High Plateaus of Utah by continuing south through the Grand Staircase to the plateaus of the Grand Canyon District. So after leaving the Kaibab Plateau behind, Jared and I took off south across the Kanab Plateau from Fredonia on Monday afternoon and set out to spend the rest of the week making our way across the Arizona Strip. However, with temperatures much warmer than usual for this time of the year all over the southwest, we ended up taking it easy, relaxing in the shade at higher elevations as much as possible and having to cancel some of our hiking plans that it was just too hot for. Still, this was a great introduction of the plateaus of the Grand Canyon and I look forward to returning in the future to finish the hikes we couldn’t do this time around.
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Ashdown Gorge Wilderness & Cedar Breaks National Monument
Friday – Sunday, June 4-6, 2021
After spending last weekend wandering around the Book Cliffs, it was time to head back into Utah for one more trip before I start spending most of my time in the mountains of Colorado. It was supposed to be another hot and windy weekend across the Colorado Plateau, so I thought this would be a good time to finally hike through Ashdown Gorge near Cedar City. This hike has been on my to-do list for over ten years now, so it was time to finally do it! Last year I had tentatively planned an overnight backpacking trip through Ashdown Gorge in the early summer with Diane and Jared, but thanks again to COVID-19, those plans were cancelled. Since Diane is now too busy with school, it would just be me and Jared going, and since the hike is not too long and mostly downhill we decided to skip the backpacking this time around and just do it as a day hike.
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Arizona Strip & Southern Utah Wanderings | Day 2
Sunday, October 2, 2011
After an awesome night camping under the stars in perfect weather near Little Black Mountain, we were up early, had a little breakfast and were soon on our way back into Utah. Our ultimate destination for the day would be Toroweap on the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, but we would have a lot of exploring to do on our way there.
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