Little Wildhorse Canyon

May 24, 2012, 8:38 pm

Little Wildhorse Canyon

We left Moab today and headed to Torrey for a couple of days in Capitol Reef National Park. On the way we stopped for a hike into Little Wild Horse Canyon, just outside of Goblin Valley State Park. This is a slot canyon. It’s not the narrowest (I didn’t have to take my day pack off), nor the most colorful, slot canyon I’ve hiked in, but it’s certainly the longest. And, it’s an easy one for the kids to navigate—only one easily bypassed dryfall.

The kids are doing great—we’ve been hiking 5 or 6 miles every day. CR (the four year-old) is having some asthma issues at night, perhaps because of the altitude and/or dry air, but he charged through the whole canyon, exploring every nook, cranny, and alcove.

Links
—Little Wildhorse Canyon 2012 photo gallery

May 24th, 2012 | Category: Outdoors | One comment

Canyonlands Needles District hike

May 23, 2012, 10:13 pm

Slick rock hiking in the Needles

Mark spent quite a bit of time looking for a scenic, 5-6 mile hike that the kids could do in the Needles district. His first suggestion was for me to take the Ridgeline 3.5 miles into Salt Creek Canyon and then hike from there. However, the road was closed due to quicksand and downed trees. I didn’t want to take my vehicle in there solo anyway—quicksand sounds scary. But, judging from the description and photos of Salt Creek Canyon (like this report), it’s worth a visit sometime.

Six mile track on Google Earth

All the loop hikes from the Elephant Hill trailhead were either too long or too short. Mark finally suggested starting from Elephant Hill and finishing at Squaw Flat campground, which we could easily do since we had two vehicles. I really enjoyed this hike, and the kids did very well—even the four year-old.

There are two loops at Squaw Flat Campground, and we parked our car at the “wrong” one. The established trail went to the other loop and there was just a use trail that climbed up over one of the slick-rock needles. That last half-mile turned out to be the most challenging part of the hike.

Links
—Canyonlands Needles District 2012 photo gallery

May 23rd, 2012 | Category: Outdoors | Leave a comment

Canyonlands Island in the Sky

May 22, 2012, 9:13 pm

Wow! Island in the Sky is an apt description.

Colorado River from Dead Horse Point


There are three distinct areas in Canyonlands NP. The one we chose to visit today was Island in the Sky, high up on the mesa rim overlooking the magnificent canyons of the Colorado and Green Rivers. We started at Dead Horse Point State Park. It is almost an isolated mesa, connected to the “mainland” by a narrow neck only 30 feet wide.

Then we moved to Island in the Sky in the national park, which was similar, although larger in area. Our hikes were quite short today, giving the kids blisters a reprieve. We wanted to check out the Upheaval Dome, but ran out of time (and the kids probably didn’t want to hike that far).

Some of the photos show the White Rim 4×4 Trail far below. Someday…

Links
—Canyonlands Island in the Sky 2012 photo gallery

May 22nd, 2012 | Category: Family, Outdoors | Leave a comment
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