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Tag: ranching history

Cordova Canyon Ranch in Arches National Park

Monday, June 12, 2023

After spending the weekend along the Dolores River near Gateway, I had taken this Monday off from work so I could return to Arches National Park for another short hike into Cordova Canyon. This time I wouldn’t be hiking alone and would be joining up with the Cordova family for whom the canyon is named. Last spring I was contacted by Gabe Cordova after he had come across my recent Trip Report from Salt Wash and Cordova Canyon while researching and planning a trip for him and his family to come out and visit his great-grandparents old homestead in the canyon. After corresponding back and forth with the details, he invited me to join them on their hike and I jumped at the opportunity since I rarely ever get the chance to visit these historic places with people who actually have a connection to them and I thought it would be nice to hear some of the family history along the way.

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The Dolores River: Fisher Creek to the Colorado River

Gateway Canyon: Fisher Creek to Dewey Bridge | Average CFS: 2,170
Saturday, June 10, 2023

This weekend Jackson was only free on Saturday so we planned a day trip to float down another section of the lower Dolores River from Fisher Creek to the Dewey Bridge Campground since it’s not too far away from home. Although most people run this stretch starting from Gateway, we decided to launch closer to Fisher Creek so that we would be able to easily finish it in a day while also skipping Stateline and Rockslide Rapids. While this kind of day trip would typically require a very long shuttle that would not make it worth the effort for most, living in the middle of the shuttle made the logistics a little easier for us. After work on Friday, Jackson and I dropped off his vehicle at the Dewey Bridge Campground and then returned home for the night. Then on Saturday morning Diane rode with us down past Gateway as we looked for a spot to put-in and then she drove my Jeep back home for us. This way we wouldn’t have to return to pick it up later in the day which would have required at least an additional four hours of driving time!

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Final Trails in Dinosaur National Monument

Friday – Sunday, April 29 – May 1, 2022

It has been almost exactly one year since I started working towards my goal of finishing all of the ‘official trails‘ within Dinosaur National Monument that I had not hiked yet, and this weekend I planned to head back so I could finally complete it. Although the two trails left on my list probably wouldn’t be considered official trails by most people, I guess I’m a completist when it comes to hiking and thought they were important enough to be included. Plus, they would bring me into new parts of the park I had not explored yet, which is always an added bonus. However, they each also happened to be located on completely opposite ends of the park, so I’d have to cover a lot of ground this weekend! I left a little early from work on Friday afternoon and drove over Douglas Pass as I made my way to Island Park on the Utah side of Dinosaurland to get my weekend started.

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