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Tag: westwater

Salt Wash: Lost Spring Canyon to Cordova CanyonSalt Wash: Lost Spring Canyon to Cordova Canyon

Salt Wash: Lost Spring Canyon to Cordova Canyon

Arches National Park | Saturday, April 23, 2022

Recently I realized that it’s been a while since I last explored the backcountry of Arches National Park and I was definitely overdue for a return. After a winter hike down Lower Salt Wash Canyon a couple years ago I’ve been interested in exploring the upper reaches of Salt Wash and a recent Trip Report from Dennis finally gave me the motivation I needed to get back out to that area. I was all set to leave after work on Friday afternoon like I usually do, but a storm system was moving through the area with very strong winds and rain, so I decided to stay home overnight and then leave early in the morning since I wasn’t travelling far from home this weekend. After a good night of sleep I woke up early on Saturday morning, grabbed a quick breakfast and headed west into Utah.

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Westwater Mesa LoopWestwater Mesa Loop

Westwater Mesa Loop

Sunday, December 30, 2018

Well, here it is! Our 65th and final trip report of the year and our very last hike of 2018. When we woke up on Sunday morning I had no plans scheduled for the day but I did know that I wanted to get out hiking at least one last time this year, so I looked at some maps and settled on the Westwater Mesa Loop Trail in the Utah Rims area just west of Rabbit Valley. Since it was pretty cold out this morning Diane and I waited until the the afternoon when it warmed up into the low 30’s to start our short drive to Utah and start hiking. After getting off the interstate at the Westwater exit and then following the Kokopelli Trail for a short distance we parked at the edge of Westwater Mesa and started hiking. This trail is about 7.5 miles in length and pretty much follows the rim of the mesa most of the way with views over Bitter Creek, Westwater Creek and the Colorado River. It was a nice local hike to end the year with. Here’s to a great 2019!

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Ruby – HorsethiefRuby - Horsethief

Ruby – Horsethief

Friday – Sunday, August 19-21, 2016

After spending a few days on the San Juan River for the past few years it was beginning to look like I wouldn’t be getting on the river at all this year after some possible plans had fallen through. I really wanted to get at least one river trip in this year, so a couple of month ago Jackson and I planned a weekend trip with our friend Chris on the Colorado River through Ruby and Horsethief Canyons since it’s a great float and very close to home.

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Little Hole to Westwater CanyonLittle Hole

Little Hole to Westwater Canyon

Sunday, January 18, 2015

Late this afternoon, Diane and I drove west into Utah so that we could search for some petroglyphs that are located somewhere in Little Hole, which is a short side canyon along the Colorado River in Westwater Canyon. We took the Westwater exit off of I-70 and drove south towards the boat ramp, but turned off to follow the Kokopelli Trail after crossing under the railroad tracks. After a few miles of the Kokopelli, we reached the intersection that would take us to the rim of Little Hole. While I had seen these roads in Google Earth while quickly planning this hike, I never did check to see if they were still open to travel and just hoped for the best. Luckily, most of the roads I planned to take were still open. About a half-mile from the rim of the canyon there was a fence across the old road that marked the beginning of the Westwater Wilderness Study Area. We would be hiking from here.

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Ruby – Horsethief in a DayRuby - Horsethief in a Day

Ruby – Horsethief in a Day

Sunday, June 1, 2014

I’ve always wanted to try running the Ruby – Horsethief section of the Colorado River between Loma and Westwater in a day. With the Colorado River running over 35,000cfs this weekend, Jackson and I thought it would be a good time to try it. Unfortunately, it really wasn’t as fun of a day trip as we had hoped. We learned a valuable lesson today; for us, this stretch of river is more enjoyable in an inflatable kayak as an overnight trip at lower water levels than as a day trip in fast water. While we didn’t have any issues on the river, it was a little tricky getting through Black Rocks at these water levels with the strange hydraulics and whirlpools. The water level was just too high on the banks making it difficult to stop anywhere and there was a lot of debris floating by the whole time. The current was too strong to get across river quickly and stop in time in the inflatable kayak, plus many of the nice campsites on this stretch of the river were under water. It was hot enough out that it would have been nice to jump out of the boat for a swim, but that was just too dangerous at these flows. I highly doubt I will be doing this section in my inflatable kayak at these water levels again. I am looking forward to a nice weekend float in lower water, though. Here’s a few snapshots from our day on the river.

CONTINUE READINGRuby – Horsethief in a Day
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