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Tag: wilderness study area

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.

CONTINUE READINGSalt Wash: Lost Spring Canyon to Cordova Canyon
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Roubideau Creek in the Camel Back WildernessRoubideau Creek in the Camel Back Wilderness

Roubideau Creek in the Camel Back Wilderness

The Edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau | Friday & Saturday, April 15-16, 2022

This weekend I needed to stay closer to home to get some work done on my Jeep and around the house, so I turned my attention to the Camel Back Wilderness Study Area at edge of the Uncompahgre Plateau between Delta and Montrose. Last spring I had planned to hike up Roubideau Creek after visiting the Devil’s Thumb, but the water was just too high at the time, so I thought I would give that hike another try on Saturday morning. After leaving work on Friday afternoon I drove to Delta and then followed some Jeep roads to the rim of Roubideau Canyon across from the Camel Back and watched the sunset. Besides having a great view over the canyon, I could also see the Grand Mesa, West Elks and Sneffels Range on the horizons from my vantage point.

CONTINUE READINGRoubideau Creek in the Camel Back Wilderness
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Kept in The Loop at The NeedlesKept in The Loop at The Needles

Kept in The Loop at The Needles

Friday – Sunday, March 4-6, 2022

I ended up staying home last weekend because a winter storm had moved through the area during the week and dropped plenty of snow and also the temperature, so I was anxious to get back outside this weekend and thought this would be a good time to head back to The Needles once more before things start getting busy there for the spring season. Back in the late summer of 2020 when I floated the Colorado River through Meander Canyon we didn’t quite make it all the way to The Confluence like we had hoped to and ended up stopping shortly after entering The Loop. Since then I’ve wanted to get back and try exploring more of The Loop by foot and thought this weekend would be the perfect opportunity to give that a shot. As the weekend was approaching, I was keeping my eye on another storm system was that was going to be impacting the area and almost cancelled my plans again, but with conflicting forecasts I decided to take my chances and hoped that I would be able to hike around the weather this time. I’m glad I took the chance because the weather in The Needles was great for hiking and most of the storm system missed this area completely.

CONTINUE READINGKept in The Loop at The Needles
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Bluejohn Canyon: Rambling Around Robbers Roost IIIBluejohn Canyon: Rambling Around Robbers Roost III

Bluejohn Canyon: Rambling Around Robbers Roost III

Friday & Saturday, January 21-22, 2022

After spending last weekend Around The Needles, I decided to head over to the other side of the Green River this weekend to finally explore Bluejohn Canyon, which is a slot canyon I’ve wanted to get into for years. I actually had plans to hike into Bluejohn Canyon twice last year, but the first time I got snowed out and then the second time there were just too many people camped around the trailheads, so I never made it. I figured my best time to get the canyon to myself would be in the middle of the winter, so this weekend seemed like a good opportunity to try. Of course, when it started snowing in Grand Junction on Friday morning I was a little concerned that my plans were going to be thwarted again, but after keeping an eye on the weather all day it looked like much of the snow had most likely missed the Robbers Roost area, so I decided to still give it a go.

CONTINUE READINGBluejohn Canyon: Rambling Around Robbers Roost III
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Bookin’ It to the Book CliffsBookin’ It to the Book Cliffs

Bookin’ It to the Book Cliffs

Memorial Day Weekend | Friday – Monday, May 28-31, 2021

Last year Diane and I completely skipped going anywhere over the Memorial Day weekend because we didn’t want to deal with the massive COVID-crowds that were out and about at the time, but this year I wanted to get out somewhere close to home while still avoiding the crowds. After poring over maps I decided that the best place for me to go this year would be up into the Book Cliffs. Not only are the Book Cliffs close to home, but I don’t think they are a place that crowds usually flock to and I was hoping to find plenty of solitude. It’s actually been quite a while since I spent much time in the Book Cliffs so this would be a good opportunity for me to revisit some places I haven’t been to in a while and also explore some new ones! I knew it would probably be pretty warm out this weekend, so I was planning to take it easy by mostly exploring the backroads with my Jeep and only going on short hikes along the way.

CONTINUE READINGBookin’ It to the Book Cliffs
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