Category: Utah

Glowing Cedar Mesa

Over Thanksgiving in 2023 I decided to head over to Cedar Mesa, in hopes of spending some time in unfamiliar portions of Grand Gulch. I have yet to through-hike its entire length (a bucket list dream of mine), but have explored various parts of its canyons. Before this trip I had visited the long and winding canyon system in three sections: Sheiks Canyon, Government Trail to Big Man Panel, and Collins Spring to Water Canyon. Every time I have visited Grand Gulch, I have left feeling more mystified and inspired than when I arrived. I owe it to the person who told me about this magical place – a lone hiker I met while backpacking in the Needles District of Canyonlands.

Continue reading “Bluff and Bullet Canyon” →
Views near Peekaboo Spring in the Needles District

A Change of Plans

Last autumn I made plans to return to Salt Creek Canyon, after visiting a few times in 2022. My adventures so far were limited to the lower end of the canyon, whose starting point is high on the northern flanks of the Abajo Mountains. I had completed a few out-and-back trips, going as far as Upper Jump – a waterfall situated at about the halfway point of full trail.

My goal this time was to see a rock formation called Angel Arch, and so I had reserved a few nights near this halfway point; close enough to make it to the arch during a day hike. Since I had always begun at Cathedral Butte in the past, my itinerary for this trip also had me starting here.

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Nine Mile Creek

A few weekends ago, I planned a short visit to Central Utah in search of new rock art sites. Being based in Colorado, most of my exploration has been limited to Southeast Utah near Moab, Canyonlands, and Cedar Mesa. My motivation for exploring this new area was seeing some interesting and unfamiliar pictographs in Polly Schaafsma’s The Rock Art of Utah. So I decided on making Green River, Utah a home base for the long weekend, and focusing my search beyond the reef in the San Rafael Swell region, starting in Nine Mile Canyon. My two big takeaways from this trip are that petroglyphs can be just as impressive and awe-inspiring as their pictograph counterparts, and that the rock art in Central Utah is abundant – well deserving of repeat visits.

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Holy Ghost Group, Great Gallery; Canyonlands

MotivatioN

I have admired Utah’s canyon country since first visiting Arches National Park with my brother almost six years ago. After moving to Colorado in 2017, this love deepened; I made annual trips to the Moab area for New Years, exploring new places in southern Utah, from Canyonlands to Capitol Reef. My first visit to the Needles District in Canyonlands left a big impression on me, placing the park as “number one” on my list of favorites. Something about its maze-like sandstone spires felt like an endless playground, and each time I return I am reminded of this feeling.

Continue reading “The Great Gallery, Canyonlands” →

The first adventure outing of mine during my solo stay in Cortez, Colorado was to Sheiks Canyon out in Cedar Mesa. Truthfully, this hike was a backup plan – decided upon at the very last moment. My original plans were to join a guided hike in the Needles District of Canyonlands, but a bad winter storm rolled through. I was staying in Monticello, and decided to hunker down the night before the hike in a warm hotel. When I woke up before dawn to head north on U.S. Highway 191, I found a line of semi trucks parked on slick and iced over roads. They were so icy that I almost spun out on control going only twenty or so miles per hour.

Remnants of green foliage at the bottom of the canyon
Continue reading “Sheiks Canyon, Cedar Mesa” →
View from atop SC1

After having visited Salt Creek Canyon in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park for the first time in May, I returned twice; this time in the fall. While I had expected the landscape to dull out this late into the season, I was instead met with dramatic weather, fully-grown flora, and an almost “second spring”, as new wildflowers littered the ground after the heavy rains of monsoon season. It reassured me that any time is a great time to visit this canyon, and I am grateful to have witnessed it at a later time in the year. I am on the fence as to whether spring or fall is preferable – I will admit that the weather at this time of year is much more pleasant. In May I had to start my hike early to avoid 90 degree weather later in the afternoon; in October we essentially started hiking around noon.

Continue reading “Return to Salt Creek” →
Sun shines on the chalk grey cliffs of this area during golden hour

Smokey Mountain Road

There is a road behind the town I am staying in called Smokey Mountain Road. I have a funny relationship with this road, as it calls for me when I seem to need it most, when the challenges and stresses of the “real world” distract me from my purpose and why it is that I am staying out in the middle of nowhere. I cringe at the fact that I associate the “real world” with work and a schedule, because the true world is out there – in the wilderness. But that is a topic for another time.

Continue reading “Resurrection Canyon” →

The Upper Paria River, while not as famous as its lower sibling, is just as fantastic and magical. It is an important source of sediment for the Colorado River. This canyon is only one of many that produce tributaries to the muddy waters of the Paria.

Setting out

The journey to this waterfall was one full of questions, minor missteps, and most of all – miles. I had read about these falls on a blog post, with only vague information about where to start and where to head. “Soon you will come to a junction. At this spot you will likely hear the falls to your right…” Sounds straightforward, right? While I had planned on a nine mile day, my starting at the wrong trailhead turned the day into a 16 mile one. For the majority of the hike I trod through exposed and messy terrain, with numerous river crossings and soaking cold boots.

 

Chinle Formation Sandstone and the Paria River

Getting close… right?

Once I reached the confluence about seven miles in, I knew I was getting close. All I had to do was follow this small tributary into the canyon that birthed it, and I would find my destination. When I made it to the aforementioned junction, all I found was a trickle dripping within a small alcove. “Surely this can’t be it?” I asked myself. “If it is, was this trek worth it?” I was utterly confused, yet decided to venture just a bit further into the canyon, as a quick sanity check. I quickly came to a second junction, and although I didn’t hear a waterfall, I could see that a lot of water was originating in this section. A few steps toward this direction and I finally heard it – water crashing onto sandstone, echoing about this large and intimate cove. Needless to say, my earlier question was answered. I took my boots off, found a rock in the sun, and marveled at this waterfall whose name I do not know, soaking up the feeling of pure adventure – and the water flowing between my toes.

Long exposure of the waterfall, showing its dynamics. The water was surprisingly loud, given how limited it was (compared to other falls high up in the alpine).