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Windy Weekend in The SwellWindy Weekend in The Swell

Windy Weekend in The Swell

Saturday & Sunday, April 29-30, 2017

After staying up late the last four nights in a row to attend concerts and then getting up for work early the following mornings, it was finally time for me to sleep in on Saturday! I woke up around 9:00am (I really cannot recall the last time I slept in that late), packed my camping gear into the Jeep and started driving west to the San Rafael Swell where I would spend the rest of the day hiking in canyons and searching for rock art. It was very windy out all day, which is pretty typical of springtime weather on the Colorado Plateau, but a cold front had moved through the area and the temperature was pretty cool out, too. I could have done without the wind, but the temperature was perfect for hiking! Here are a few photos from the day…

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Jones Hole to Whirlpool CanyonJones Hole

Jones Hole to Whirlpool Canyon

Saturday & Sunday, April 22-23, 2017

I have wanted to hike into Jones Hole within Dinosaur National Monument for a long time but have always put it off since getting there is a little out of the way for me. I finally decided it was time to get up there and check it out, but instead of doing it as a day hike, I figured that I would do it as an easy overnight trip and camp along the Green River in Whirlpool Canyon. I really wish I hadn’t waited so long to visit Jones Hole because it was an amazing experience. This hike had it all- hiking through a beautiful lush green canyon along a clear and cold stream, Fremont pictographs, wildlife, a nice waterfall and an awesome campsite on a sandy beach under the shade of a cottonwood tree. What more could you ask for?

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Lower Sevenmile CanyonLower Sevenmile Canyon

Lower Sevenmile Canyon

Moab Area Rock Art XXIV | Sunday, April 16, 2017

This year for Easter I decided to head towards Moab for a day hike. I usually try to avoid the Moab area during Easter Jeep Safari week, but I figured that most people would be on their way out of town today and I was planning on hiking somewhere that doesn’t see a lot of traffic anyway. My suspicions were confirmed as I was driving south from Crescent Junction shortly after sunrise and saw a line of vehicles leaving town. This morning I would be hiking down Lower Sevenmile Canyon and into Arches National Park where I could also explore part of Upper Courthouse Wash. I’ve wanted to explore this area for a while and was hoping I’d be able to find some rock art, too.

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Little Grand CanyonLittle Grand Canyon

Little Grand Canyon

San Rafael River Gorge | Friday & Saturday, March 31 – April 1, 2017

Visiting the Little Grand Canyon in the heart of the northern San Rafael Swell has been something I have wanted to do for a long time. I’ve looked down into the gorge from the edge of The Wedge may times before and thought to myself that I needed to get down there. I had always dismissed going there on a day-hike because of it’s length and figured I would be able to catch the San Rafael River at the right time so I could take my inflatable kayak through the canyon. That has obviously never happened yet which is why I put this trip off for so long. Since there is a long local hike near my home that I’ve been thinking about doing this spring, I thought that hiking the Little Grand Canyon would be a good test to see if I was going to be up for it or not, so I finally went for it.

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Eagle ParkEagle Park

Eagle Park

Saturday, March 25, 2017

After spending the previous two weeks exploring the deserts of the southwest on our Honeymoon Adventure, it was time to get back to exploring places a little closer to home since I needed a little break from driving long distances. I wanted to go somewhere new to me and needed to get some decent hiking mileage in. It had been a while since I had done a longer hike and I was planning a very long one for the following weekend and I needed to make sure I would be up for it!

After some thought I set my sights on Eagle Park in Arches National Park. This obscure section of Arches has actually been on my radar for quite a while, but I had always wanted to do an overnight backpacking trip into this area. However, now that Arches has stopped issuing backpacking permits in the Park, I figured I might as well give it a try as a day hike.

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