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Tag: kiva

Horsin’ Around: The Return to Horse Canyon

Friday – Sunday, November 16-18, 2018

It’s been over six years since the last time I drove into Horse Canyon which is located in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. The road washed out again shortly after that trip and I don’t think it’s been open much, if at all, since then. When I noticed at the end of October that the road was actually open again, I quickly put together a last minute weekend trip with my friends Dave and Jared since I’m not sure how long it will stay open this time! Jared came along on my last trip here but this would be Dave’s first time in Horse Canyon and he was looking forward to it. I reserved a campsite for us at Peekaboo in Salt Creek Canyon on Saturday night so we could spend two full days in the canyon and not have to deal with getting day-use permits. I left work on Friday afternoon and met up with them outside of the Park along the Lockhart Basin Road where we spent the first night since we were able to have a fire here to keep warm on the cold night. On Saturday morning we got a late start since we had to wait until the Visitor Center opened at 9:00am to get the combination to the gate which wasted a couple hours of daylight on these short days. Once we had the combination we headed through the gate and spent the rest of the weekend searching for arches, ruins and rock art. We found plenty of all of them! Enjoy these photos from our weekend trip!

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A Weekend in the Bears Ears

Friday – Sunday, October 26-28, 2018

This weekend I headed down to Cedar Mesa in Bears Ears National Monument after work on Friday where I met up with my friend Alan so we could go on one hike Saturday morning before he had to drive back up to Salt Lake City to catch a plane back to France. He had spent the last two weeks in the southwest and this was his last hike before heading back home. After we parted ways I spent the rest of the weekend hiking and searching for ruins and rock art on my own. The weather was pretty nice for hiking but there was a little more humidity than I would have preferred. I guess I should also mention that this is my 900th trip report here on ADVENTR.co! Enjoy these photos I took over the weekend!

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Aztec Ruins & Angel Peak

Saturday – Monday, July 28-30, 2018

This weekend Diane and I were heading down to Albuquerque to attend a concert on Sunday evening, so we decided to split the drive up into two days and spend a night in Bloomfield, New Mexico. This way we could visit some nearby ruins and maybe catch a nice sunset without spending all day sitting in the car. We left home early on Saturday morning and took the scenic route over Lizard Head Pass and through Rico and Dolores, arriving in Aztec in the early afternoon. It had been a while since I visited Aztec Ruins National Monument on one of my trips to Chaco Canyon and Diane had never been there before, so we started out with an easy hike through this small Monument that’s located right in the middle of town.

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Grand Gulch: Bullet Canyon to The Government Trail

Grand Gulch Finale
Friday – Tuesday, April 20 – 24, 2018

Last year I had to skip my annual spring backpacking trip with Dave and Jared since I didn’t have any free time left after my wedding and Honeymoon Adventure in March. This year we decided to resume the tradition and go on a four day backpacking trip into the middle section of Grand Gulch between Bullet Canyon and the Government Trail. This is pretty much the final section of Grand Gulch (starting from under the Bears Ears near Highways 95 all the way to the San Juan River) that I have not hiked yet, so I was really looking forward to checking it out. The funny thing is, this section was supposed to be my very first backpacking trip into Grand Gulch about five years ago, but I missed out on that trip because I came down with strep throat a few days before and Dave and Jared went without me. I’m glad they were willing to repeat this section of the canyon with me this year!

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Bears Ears Lost

Thursday – Sunday, March 15-18, 2018

This weekend I headed down to Cedar Mesa and the Bears Ears area to meet up with my friend Alan for a weekend of hiking. I drove down a little early so I could pick up my Annual Cedar Mesa Hiking Pass from the Kane Gulch Ranger Station and then did a little hiking and exploring on my own before I met up with Alan. Sometimes you just need to get out and wander through a canyon by yourself! Last year all of the area we explored would have been located within Bears Ears National Monument, but after last month I’m pretty sure that everywhere we went is now outside of the new boundaries. Although, I’m not exactly sure what the status of those changes are and if they are official or not? The weather on Friday and Saturday was very nice, but I ended up having to cut my trip a day short since it started to snow and rain on Sunday morning. We definitely needed the precipitation and I had already had a few nice hikes, so it wasn’t too disappointing. Here are some photos from the weekend.

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