Syncline Loop: Canyonlands

In preparing for Spring Break, I was conflicted. I wanted to go to the desert, and I wanted to backpack. In the end, my mother-in-law agreed to backpack the Syncline Loop in Canyonlands. The loop drops down into the bottom of a canyon, circles some interesting geological formations then climbs right back out to the top of the canyon. The trip does require a permit, because it is in the Island in the Sky section of Canyonlands. There's reliable water near the campsite, too. 

Yep! My mother-in-law is pretty rad!

Morning Glory

As October was nearing an end, we loaded up the vansion for one last desert "hoorah" before winter. We drove into Moab and found a campsite nestled in among ancient dinosaur bones and history.

We decided to hike to Morning Glory Natural Bridge, well, us and at least a hundred of our closest friends. The hike was absurdly busy, as most hikes in Moab are these days, but still lovely. There was an abundance of water, which the dogs were happy about. The trail follows a creek for a good while with several crossings.

We made it to Morning Glory Natural Bridge just in time to see a group repelling down from above. Although it wasn't the most peaceful hike and a feeling of solitude was seemingly nonexistent, it was still a great way to celebrate the changing season and soak up the last bit of warmth the desert had to offered.

The Sandy Juan

Somehow we scored a permit for the busiest week on the San Juan river (from Mexican Hat to Clay Hills), in mid-June. Run-off was fierce throughout Colorado, and everyday we checked the flow of the old San Juan. We watched as the river rose all the way up to 6,800 CFS on the day of our launch.

Having run this stretch of the San Juan at a typical 400-1000 CFS several times, I was both nervous and excited for the big flow. I had planned on taking my Shaboomee paddle board down the San Juan, and with limited boat space, I decided not to chicken out because of high water, instead I borrowed a helmet and headed for Utah.

It rained all day, and as we began shuttling the cars, I started worrying about Clay Hills Road. It was, as I suspected, in rough shape. We had to rally our cars down to the takeout and back to the put-in. It was touch-and-go in spots, but in the end we made it back to the put-in - not without a few hiccups, however. The Subaru that was taking us all back to Mexican Hat overheated from the clay and stopped us about 45 minutes outside of Bluff. We were stranded for three hours; the car refused to start.

It was a Sunday, and when the ranger stopped by he told us the nearest auto repair shop was in Blanding, and they weren't open until Monday. With that, we decided there was no point in waiting around or missing our trip, so we left the car on the side of the road (knowing we could deal with it when got off the river) and two kind and generous rangers drove us all the way to Mexican Hat.

We launched and made quick time to our first campsite. The river was exciting at 6,800 CFS. A new rapid formed from a flash flood at Twin Canyons; it felt even bigger than Government, but that may just have been because it caught me by surprise on my paddle board. It was wonderful, but then the storms began rolling in. Slickhorn Canyon flashed in the morning while we were packing up, and Grand Gulch was pouring out water when we passed by; I've never seen so much water in the canyon. on the final night there was a torrential storm; we were camped at Oljeto - a known flash flood site. Just as I had fallen asleep, hurricane-like wind picked me up in my tent and the sky opened up with a torrential downpour. Luckily, we made camp on a high ledge and everyone was safe.

It was a San Juan trip unlike any other I had done before. I missed the calm serenity of that stretch of river, but the high water and unpredictable weather gave new life to that canyon and showed me a side, which I appreciate in it's own light.

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.

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. 

Rafting Ruby-Horsethief

Summer is coming to an end, and when I got the opportunity to raft Ruby-Horsethief on the Colorado River, I didn't hesitate to say "YES!" Ruby-Horsethief is a mellow float down the Colorado River between Loma and Westwater.

There are virtually no rapids, so my sister and I decided to paddle duckies (inflatable kayaks) down the river. We all met at the put-in around 5:30 pm and quickly rigged boats while three people in our group shuttled cars to the takeout.

We launched around 7:00 pm, and expected a 45 minute float to our campsite. The sky turned pink as the sun went behind the canyon wall, and I realized it was going to get dark - fast! We had missed our night-one campsite, which was supposed to be Bull Draw!

We continued on until 10:00 pm working hard to stay close together and listening to beavers splash in the water all around us. Just as I began to get a tiny bit panicked, we found a spot to camp for the night. It wasn't a great spot, but I was relieved to be off the dark water.

The next day we continued on and found our second campsite at Black Rocks without any trouble. We pulled up, made camp and settled in for the night. A few people from our group hiked down to the "jumping rock" for a bit of added excitement. The rest of us cooled off by floating in the calm water right in front of our campsite.

On Sunday we headed out early and made good time to the take-out. The weather remained beautiful for the entirety of our trip, and we all packed up our gear with big smiles and sunburns!

Christmas in Moablandia

My mom and sister live in Durango, and I live in Carbondale, which means it take approximately 3 hours of driving for all of us to meet in Moab, UT (one of my favorite desert towns)! We decided to meet in the middle this Christmas for a little desert solitaire (one of my favorite Ed Abbey books)!

I try to make it to Moab twice a year to camp and hike, but on this trip we had a room at the Gonzo Inn, which was a nice treat. It gave us time to explore the town, which was completely dead because it turns out nobody goes to Moab in the winter. We didn't mind though. We walked around town until we found a restaurant that was open for dinner before heading back to the Gonzo to settle in for the night.

In the morning we went to Arches National Park to see the sights. Neither my mom nor my sister had ever been to Arches to my surprise. We begun by hiking out to Delicate Arch. There was more snow on the ground than I had anticipated, and there were lots of icy spots on the trail, too. We trudged on nonetheless and made it to Delicate Arch in good time.

My mom was thrilled to have made it to Delicate Arch, but she was even more thrilled to find the car and the heater. We drove around the park a while longer checking out several more arches before heading back into Moab for lunch.

After lunch, we went our separate ways, and vowed to meet in the middle again next year for a second round at desert solitaire. Until then...

Desert Adventures

I love the mountains, but sometimes my soul just craves the desert. And because of that craving, my husband and I usually find ourselves in Fruita or Moab at least twice a year. On this particular trip to the desert we met our friends Steve and Mel from Durango and hiked Fisher Towers together.

Fisher Towers is a popular Moab hiking and climbing destination, and it's obvious why! We hiked for about an hour and a half then stopped for a lunch and beer break. The crisp wintery Euphoria (Ska Brewing) went down smooth on that warm fall afternoon in the desert. And it paired with peanut butter and jelly sandwiches surprisingly well, too!

After our hike, we said goodbye to Steve and Mel and went searching for the perfect camping spot. Moab has become such a popular destination that camping can be hard to find at times. We lucked out finding a great spot out of the way several miles past the Amasa Back Trailhead.

The next day we decided to explore Dragonfly Canyon (aka Culvert Canyon) down Potash Road in Moab. It proved to be a spectacular hike with pools or water, high canyon walls and even an arch near the end of our hike. My Utah Hiking book does explain of the trail, "I can't tell you exactly how to get there. I can only point you in the right direction and enthusiastically suggest you go!"

The trail is not well marked in all spots, and we seemed to have done a lot of meandering before finding our way up to Jeep Arch. It was truly a spectacular hike, and we plan to make our way back there in the near future.