Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyon

The desert calls to me throughout the year. The red rock, warm sun and isolation are hard to beat; and so I find myself in the desert several times each year. Those of you who know me, know that I almost always get rained on when I go to the desert, and this trip was no exception.

In spite of ourselves

We'll end up sittin' on a rainbow

Against all odds

Honey, we're the big door prize

We're gonna spite our noses 

Right off of our faces

There won't be nothin' but big old hearts

Dancin' in our eyes

-John Prine

We camped just outside of Goblin Valley, in the rain, and we witnessed a spectacular full rainbow that made the rain entirely worth it. When the sun came out in the morning, we decided we had better take advantage of the weather window and hike the two slot canyons we had traveled to explore, Little Wild Horse and Bell Canyon.

The canyon hike makes a perfect loop full complete with excitement and adventure. I will definitely be back to explore more canyons at a later date.

Mount Garfield

Mount Garfield is an iconic desert highpoint seen from i70 on the drive to or from Grand Junction. Not knowing much about the hike, it had been on my list of adventures for a while. My husband agreed to hike it one Sunday on our way back to Carbondale.

We found the trailhead easily. Justin didn't heed the warning posted before the highway underpass; however, and we ended up driving through a pool of water that was nearly high enough to reach the van doors. He punched it through the standing water while I yelled at him (oops!); it's safe to say I was a bit shaken up upon starting the hike.

Mount Garfield is a four-mile round trip hike with 2000 feet of elevation gain. We began hiking up the STEEP spine section - pausing nearly every fifty feet to catch our breath. I felt the onset of vertigo just as we were reaching the end of the spine, thankfully. After the spine the hike is moderate with several more ups and even a couple of flat sections.

We made it to the top and enjoyed the view just as the rain clouds began rolling in. We snapped a couple of photos and headed down quickly. We made it safely across the underpass ravine again, and then we were homeward bound.

SUP Moab

"A desert is a place without expectation." - Nadine Gordimer

Another weekend, another adventure; Justin and I packed up the vansion and headed to Moab for the Back of Beyond SUP race. We arrived late Friday night, and to our surprise EVERY campsite was reserved all along 128! 

Just as it started to rain, we pulled into a final campground and a gracious host allowed us to park our van there for the night. Relieved, we set up our spot and had dinner. The campground was crowded and it wasn't long before we met some folks also in town for the race; we made new friends and learned about an awesome local (to Carbondale) SUP company, Shaboomee. 

We made the most of the stormy night dancing to funk music under the E-Z-Up with new friends. The next morning when we awoke we were relieved to find the clouds had mostly rolled out, and we could see blue sky above us.

The race began at Dewey Bridge and ended at Hittle Bottom, so we headed to Dewey Bridge after a short hike. I demoed a Lava Grande Tri-tube Shaboomee board for the race and some of my girlfriends rode on the MacDaddy Super Shaboomee board with Shaboomee owner, Shaine Ebrahimi; everyone had a great time.