Trip Reports from around Robbers Roost, the Dirty Devil River, Horseshoe Canyon and the San Rafael Desert.
Goblin Valley State Park | Friday – Sunday, December 3-5, 2021
Last year we had such a great time riding all of the Intrepid Trails at Dead Horse State Park that this year we thought it was time to do the same thing at Goblin Valley State Park so we could ride all of the Wild Horse Trails. Back in August I booked the same yurt at Goblin Valley that we had stayed in almost two years ago for the first weekend in December and hoped that the weather would cooperate with our plans again this year. Of course, with ...
Friday – Sunday, October 22-24, 2021
This weekend I decided to stay just a little bit closer to home than I have the past couple of weekends, and headed over to the west side of the Green River so I could spend some time in the Horseshoe Canyon and Labyrinth Canyon Wilderness areas. I was hoping to check out a large Barrier Canyon Style pictograph panel that I had not been to yet and then hike to an overlook of the Bowknot Bend Saddle from Keg Point. I left right after work on Friday afternoon and headed west into Utah ...
Friday – Sunday, April 16-18, 2021
What a crazy two weeks it’s been! At the end of last week I got sick and missed two days of work and then for the first time this year I did not get outdoors on a weekend! Then earlier this week I noticed the ball joints on the front drivers-side axle of my Jeep were dangerously loose, so I had to replace those one evening after work this week before I felt safe driving it on the highway again. Plus, I’m currently changing jobs at work, so I’ve been dealing with the details ...
Friday – Sunday, March 12-14, 2021
This weekend I thought I would stick a little bit closer to home in hopes that I would be able to explore a pair of canyons in the Robbers Roost area that I had not been in before. While I knew there was a chance I would have to change my plans because a storm system was supposed to be moving through the area overnight and into Saturday, I was hoping it would miss this area and I would be able to carry on with my plans as normal. But unfortunately the storm did ...
Snow in the Valley of the Goblins
Friday – Sunday, December 27-29, 2019
Well, here it is, my last trip report of the year and of the decade! After spending one night in a fire lookout tower over the summer I thought it might be nice to try planning a trip to a yurt since neither of us had stayed in a yurt before. So back in August I booked a yurt at Goblin Valley State Park for the last weekend of the year between Christmas and New Years. While I have visited Goblin Valley a couple of times over ...
Friday – Saturday, March 2-3, 2018
I left after work on Friday and made my way west into Utah where I stopped in Green River for dinner and fuel. I continued south towards Hanksville in the dark and then took the familiar left turn onto the road to Hans Flat. It had been pretty windy all day and was supposed to stay that way overnight and through Saturday. This meant there were a few sections of the road that were completely covered with sand dunes, so I had to be careful not to hit them going too fast. After I ...
Maze Memorial Weekend IV | Memorial Day Weekend
Friday – Monday, May 26-29, 2017
After spending the last three Memorial Day Weekends in and around The Maze District of Canyonlands National Park, this year we decided to skip visiting The Maze proper and stayed on top of The Orange Cliffs in Robbers Roost country. As usual, we left home after work on Friday evening and headed west into Utah. We stopped for a quick dinner and to fuel up the Jeep in Green River and then made our way to the Hans Flat Ranger Station to pickup our permit for ...
Monday, January 2, 2017
Since I stayed close to home the past two days, I decided that wanted to venture over the state line into Utah today, but I still didn’t want to travel too far. It’s a pretty short and easy drive from Grand Junction to Green River, so I thought I’d head south from there on the Green River Road to revisit some sites I haven’t been to in many years and also try to stop at a few new ones. I contacted Marty on Saturday evening to see if he was free, and then we made plans ...
Saturday, April 4, 2015
Today I headed back into Utah so I could visit Moonshine Wash in the San Rafael Desert which has been on my list of places to visit for way too long, especially since it’s not too far away from home! Moonshine Wash received it’s name from the moonshiners who were active here during prohibition. While I didn’t have a chance to visit the cement tanks near Moonshine Spring that were used to make the moonshine, I was finally able to visit and photograph the narrow slot that makes up part of this canyon.
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Saturday, October 22, 2011
I’ve wanted to return to Horseshoe Canyon and the Great Gallery all year, but I decided to put it off until October when I knew the weather would be nice and the cottonwoods would be changing colors. When I found out that my friend Lisa was trying to put together a trip there for the Flickr Rock Art Group this weekend, I marked it on my calendar. This was also the last weekend of the year that there would be a ranger guided hike into the canyon which I wanted to attend so that I could ...
