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Woodruff Canyon: The Canyons of Trachyte Creek V

Friday & Saturday, March 1-2, 2024

Over the past four years I have been spending one weekend in early March at the foot of the Henry Mountains exploring the Canyons of Trachyte Creek, so this weekend I headed out to hike down Woodruff Canyon, which is the final named tributary canyon on the west side of Trachyte Creek that I had not hiked yet. Although the weather forecast was calling for very strong winds this weekend, with gusts up to 65MPH, I was hoping that conditions might be a little bit better down in the canyon and decided to take my chances. I left from work on Friday afternoon and headed west into Utah. The wind wasn’t too bad until I passed through Green River and was driving across the San Rafael Desert, where I found blowing sand across the road in a couple of places, but nothing that was unusual for springtime on the Colorado Plateau. I topped off my gas tank in Hanksville and then made my way further south to search for a campsite for the night.

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Moab’s Old Mail Trail: Mill Creek to South Mesa

Moab Meanderings | Saturday & Sunday, February 24-25, 2024

After spending a couple of days searching for rock art along the Pahranagat Trail in Nevada last week, I decided to stay a little closer to home this weekend to spend some time near Moab before it really starts getting too busy around there. Earlier this month after Diane and I had hiked a short section of Moab’s Old Mail Trail along the rim of Mill Creek, I became very interested in learning more about this route and started doing some research into it. Although I wasn’t able to find very much information about it, I think I was able to find enough to try my hand at tracing this historic route from Mill Creek to South Mesa. I really didn’t have much information to go on besides some broad locations, vague newspaper articles, the segment of the existing trail and some educated guesses on my part, so I may not have gotten it all correct. But even if I am completely wrong with my guesses, this turned out to be a very nice hike and a great way to spend the day in the backcountry. That said, if anyone out there has more information about the route of the Old Mail Trail, I’d love to hear about it in the comments below!

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The Canyons of North Wash II

Butler Canyon & Marinus Canyon | Saturday & Sunday, December 2-3, 2023

This weekend I decided to make my way back down into the Canyons of North Wash so I could continue what I had started last December when I spent a weekend hiking and exploring new-to-me canyons in the area. I left from home bright and early on Saturday morning and drove west on icy roads shrouded in fog until I reached the Utah state line where conditions began to improve. After a brief stop for gas in Green River I turned south and drove across the San Rafael Desert to Hanksville and then continued on to Three Forks, where North Wash, Butler Canyon and Stair Canyon all come together. An added benefit of driving south of Hanksville on Highway 95 at sunrise is being able to watch the first light of the day strike the Henry Mountains, and they put on a great show this morning so I just had to stop for a couple photos along the way!

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Cedar Mesa Chronicles: Chapter 9

Southern Utah Wanderings | Tuesday – Thursday, October 3-5, 2023

After spending the last couple of days exploring the canyons of the Dark Canyon Plateau, it was now time for Jared and I to spend a little time in the canyons of Cedar Mesa. After grabbing dinner and replenishing our supplies in Blanding on Monday afternoon, we returned to Comb Wash and found a nice campsite to spend the night in. Then on Tuesday morning we headed up the narrow and sandy road into Arch Canyon where we planned to stay through the following day. It’s been just about fifteen years since either of us had driven into Arch Canyon and we were looking forward to some new hikes, spending the night in the canyon, and hopefully finding some ruins that we had missed on previous visits.

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Little Book Cliffs: Main Canyon to Cottonwood Canyon

Labor Day Weekend | Sunday, September 3, 2023

Last week, after cutting my trip into the High Plateaus of Utah short, I came home on Friday with the intention of heading up into the San Juan Mountains over the weekend, but instead I ended up being lazy and staying home all day Saturday. I didn’t want to stay at home the entire weekend, so on Sunday morning I got up early and headed over to the Little Book Cliffs so I could hike up Main Canyon to it’s junction with Cottonwood Canyon. I had hiked a couple miles up Main Canyon back in 2016, but was turned around by thunderstorms that evening, so I was looking forward to finishing up the rest of the trail this time.

Tag: wilderness study area

Woodruff Canyon: The Canyons of Trachyte Creek V

Moab’s Old Mail Trail: Mill Creek to South Mesa

The Canyons of North Wash II

Cedar Mesa Chronicles: Chapter 9

Little Book Cliffs: Main Canyon to Cottonwood Canyon