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Return to Bryce Canyon National Park & Red CanyonReturn to Bryce Canyon National Park & Red Canyon

Return to Bryce Canyon National Park & Red Canyon

Edges of the Paunsaugunt Plateau | Saturday – Tuesday, November 8-11, 2025

Earlier in the year, well before she even knew she had a meningioma and would need brain surgery in October, Diane told me that she wanted to go to Bryce Canyon National Park sometime this year because she had never been there before and it was the only National Park in Utah that she hadn’t been to yet, so I planned a trip for us to visit the park over the Veterans Day holiday and weekend in early November. Of course, after her surgery in early October and the rough recovery afterwards, I wasn’t sure if we were still going to be able to go on this trip, but as the dates got closer and she continued to slowly get better every day and was no longer under any restrictions, we decided to still go, even if she would only able to visit the overlooks from the rim. Although I had initially planned to go on some longer hikes when I started making plans for this trip earlier in the year, I had no problems toning down those plans so we could experience the park together now. I thought this extended weekend might be a nice getaway for Diane who has spend most of the last month either in the hospital or at home.

CONTINUE READINGReturn to Bryce Canyon National Park & Red Canyon
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Plateau of Fire: Yellowstone National ParkPlateau of Fire: Yellowstone National Park

Plateau of Fire: Yellowstone National Park

Tuesday – Saturday, August 19-23, 2025

Up until about a week ago Diane and I were planning to spend the latter part of this week backpacking in the Wind River Range in Wyoming, however some things came up that prevented us from going on a longer backpacking trip at this time, so we decided to change course and throw together a last minute trip to Yellowstone National Park instead. Neither of us had ever been to Yellowstone before and I’ve certainly always avoided the park because of the massive crowds it attracts, but I guess it was finally time to give the world’s first National Park a shot. So late last week I reserved a site at the Bridge Bay Campground for three nights and then came up with a rough itinerary that focused on visiting some of the areas around the lower Grand Loop Road, entering the park via Cody and the East Entrance and then leaving through the South Entrance into Jackson Hole. I had never even thought about planning a trip to Yellowstone before last week or been this far north in Wyoming before, and I had to consult a lot of maps and guidebooks to help me figure out the layout of the park rather quickly so our itinerary would make some sense.

CONTINUE READINGPlateau of Fire: Yellowstone National Park
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The Sky Islands of the Chihuahuan DesertThe Sky Islands of the Chihuahuan Desert

The Sky Islands of the Chihuahuan Desert

Chiricahua National Monument to the Pedregosa Mountains and Dragoon Mountains
Arizona Winter Loop | Monday – Wednesday, January 30 – February 1, 2023

After a brief stopover in Petrified Forest National Park we continued south through Arizona on our way to the Sky Islands of the Chihuahuan Desert in the southeast corner of the state. A Sky Island is a mountain range that is separated from other mountain ranges by distance and by surrounding lowlands of a dramatically different environment. The result is a habitat island- such as a forest surrounded by desert. After leaving Holbrook we would cross the canyon of the Salt River and then follow the Gila Valley until we reached Safford and eventually Willcox later in the evening. Since I knew we would be arriving late I had booked a hotel room in town to stay at before we continued on to Chiricahua National Monument first thing in the morning.

CONTINUE READINGThe Sky Islands of the Chihuahuan Desert
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Under the Pink Cliffs: Trails of the Bryce AmphitheaterUnder the Pink Cliffs: Trails of the Bryce Amphitheater

Under the Pink Cliffs: Trails of the Bryce Amphitheater

Bryce Canyon National Park | Thursday – Sunday, December 1-4, 2022

Of Utah’s ‘Mighty Five’ National Parks, Bryce Canyon National Park is the only one that I have not done any ‘real’ hiking in before. Previously, my only visit to the park was over ten years ago and during that brief visit I only went on short walks to most of the overlooks along the rim. I was hoping to change that this year, so I made it my goal to plan an extended weekend to Bryce to hike all of the trails within and around the Bryce Amphitheater this winter. I figured that early December would be a good time to go to avoid the crowds and maybe catch a little snow on the hoodoos, too.

CONTINUE READINGUnder the Pink Cliffs: Trails of the Bryce Amphitheater
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Sunrise in Bryce and the Drive HomeSunrise in Bryce and the Drive Home

Sunrise in Bryce and the Drive Home

Las Vegas Trip 2012
Saturday, March 17, 2012

It was the last day of our trip to Las Vegas and Southern Utah and we would finally be heading back home. Of course we would be making some more stops on the way back! After another night in another hotel we were up early again to catch one more sunrise. I was looking forward to photographing Bryce Canyon at sunrise and was hoping for a good one as we drove into the park in the dark.

CONTINUE READINGSunrise in Bryce and the Drive Home
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