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The Gunnison River: Tongue Creek to Crane LandingThe Gunnison River: Tongue Creek to Crane Landing

The Gunnison River: Tongue Creek to Crane Landing

Saturday, May 30, 2026 | Average CFS: 695

This morning Jackson and I headed over to Delta so we could float the last remaining section of the Gunnison River below the Black Canyon that I had not been on yet. Although Jackson and Chris had actually floated this short section of the river a few years ago, I was unavailable the day they went and have been trying to get back ever since. While I really only needed to float the section from the Highway 65 Bridge to Confluence Park, Delta County constructed a new boat ramp a few miles further downstream just a couple of years ago and we thought it would be a good idea to extend the trip a little bit and take out there. Since this would be a pretty short and easy day trip, we decided to skip the inflatable kayaks and just bring our packrafts to make things a little easier. I met up with Jackson and his son Ken at the Crane Landing Boat Ramp by 9:00am and then we took Jackson’s car up to the put-in just below the Highway 65 Bridge.

CONTINUE READINGThe Gunnison River: Tongue Creek to Crane Landing
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Crossing Paradox: Sawtooth Ridge to Monogram MesaCrossing Paradox: Sawtooth Ridge to Monogram Mesa

Crossing Paradox: Sawtooth Ridge to Monogram Mesa

Lost in the West End | Friday – Sunday, May 22-24, 2026

After finally taking the time to drive the entire Rimrocker Trail back in 2024 I’ve wanted to return to the West End so I could explore more of the many old mining roads that are found around the Paradox Valley. I figured that the Memorial Day weekend would be a good time to finally do this trip since I was pretty sure this part of the Colorado Plateau would be considerably less busy than some of the more popular areas in the mountains. With temperatures warming up in the high desert and snow in the mountains melting quickly, I’m pretty sure that this will be my last desert trip until the fall as I start concentrating on the rivers and mountains for the next few months. After leaving work on Friday afternoon I drove through Unaweep Canyon to Gateway, topped off my gas tank and then continued up the Dolores River into the heart of the West End.

CONTINUE READINGCrossing Paradox: Sawtooth Ridge to Monogram Mesa
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The Grand Canyon: Pipe Creek to Diamond CreekThe Grand Canyon: Pipe Creek to Diamond Creek

The Grand Canyon: Pipe Creek to Diamond Creek

Wednesday – Wednesday, April 8-15, 2026 | Low CFS: 8,030 – High CFS: 8,660

Less than a week after returning from a great rafting trip through the Grand Canyon from Lees Ferry to Pipe Creek Beach at the bottom of the Bright Angel Trail last year, I called up and booked the second half of the trip for April of this year so Diane and I could finish what we had started. Although Arizona River Runners wasn’t running their usual Hiker’s Special trip this spring, their sister company Grand Canyon Whitewater was offering the same trip, so we booked with them since it’s the same company- just with a different name on the sides of the rafts. On this trip we would be hiking down the Bright Angel Trail and then following the current of the Colorado River all the way down to Diamond Creek over the course of seven days, and we were looking forward to seeing this part of the canyon! However, as I have mentioned in the previous two Trip Reports, I had been battling a pretty bad cold for the past week and a half and was finally getting over it right as we left to drive to Arizona on Wednesday, so I was a little concerned about the hike down into the canyon since I hadn’t been able to do much hiking for the past couple of weeks, but I figured it would be OK since the hiking was all downhill…

CONTINUE READINGThe Grand Canyon: Pipe Creek to Diamond Creek
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Moab Meanderings: Grandstaff Canyon & Sand FlatsMoab Meanderings: Grandstaff Canyon & Sand Flats

Moab Meanderings: Grandstaff Canyon & Sand Flats

Sand Flats Recreation Area II | Saturday & Sunday, December 27-28, 2025

Well, this is it- my final Trip Report of 2025! For this final weekend of the year I returned to the landscape surrounding Moab so I could spend my time hiking and exploring Grandstaff Canyon. While I vaguely recall hiking the popular trail from the mouth of Grandstaff Canyon to Morning Glory Bridge way back in 2010 with my friend Jackson when the canyon was known by a more racially insensitive name, for some reason I do not have any photos or even a Trip Report from that day, which is very unusual for me, so I planned to re-hike that trail early on Sunday morning to refresh my memory and take a few photos along the way. Since I would be doing that on Sunday I figured that it would be interesting to spend Saturday exploring other parts of Grandstaff Canyon so I could get a better overview of the area, and that’s what I set out to do when I left home bright and early on Saturday morning and made my way over to the Sand Flats Recreation Area.

CONTINUE READINGMoab Meanderings: Grandstaff Canyon & Sand Flats
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Christmas in Arches 2025Christmas in Arches 2025

Christmas in Arches 2025

Arches National Park | Wednesday & Thursday, December 24-25, 2025

Christmas is here again, which means that it’s time to return to Arches National Park for our annual Christmas tradition. Although Diane is still not supposed to do much hiking right now, she wanted to join me for some easier hikes in the park since she missed out on the past two years because of work, so we planned to spend the holiday hiking some of the easy and popular trails in the park that we usually pass right by. After getting out of work early on Christmas Eve, I stopped home to pick up Diane and we made our way over to Arches around noon. While we have enjoyed hiking in mild temperatures on Christmas a few times in the past, I don’t think we have ever experienced 60 degree temperatures (pushing close to 70 on Christmas Eve) like we did this year. It sure didn’t feel very much like Christmas this time!

CONTINUE READINGChristmas in Arches 2025
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