Eagle Rock Loop, take 2

Posted on January 1, 2020 by Michael R

This was my second time doing the 27-mile Eagle Rock Loop and was accompanied by RC (who was also with me 6 years ago) and first-timer TC.  I was surprised at how little of this great scenery I remembered, and think I need to make a point of doing this hike every 2 or 3 years.

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Wind River Range – a Titcomb & Indian Basins loop

Posted on August 31, 2019 by Michael R

My 5th annual trip to the Wind River Range!  This time we started in the Elkhart Park area, near Pinedale, at the Pole Creek trail head.  The target area is almost entirely within the Bridger Wilderness of the Bridger-Teton National Forest.

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Platte River Wilderness, Snowy Range, WY

Posted on July 23, 2019 by Michael R

The Platte River Wilderness covers about 23K acres of the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest in southern Wyoming’s Snowy Range and was the site of a recent 3-day trip.  Our original plan was for an area about 20 miles north near Medicine Bow Peak but a week before the trip there was still too much snow at that elevation so an alternate plan was hastily assembled.

Platte River Wilderness

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Chaco Canyon

Posted on April 18, 2019 by Michael R

Chaco Culture National Historical Park encompasses an important collection of ancient Puebloan ruins in NW New Mexico’s Chaco Canyon and a visit here has long been on my to do list.  A big difference here as opposed to places like Canyon de Chelly is that you can see the ruins up close and generally even walk through them.  I took 350 photos here over a day and a half and only 100 over 3 days at the Grand Canyon so I guess that says something.

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Canyon de Chelly

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Michael R

Canyon de Chelly (pronounced də-SHAY) National Monument in NE Arizona wasn’t on my radar when I started the trip but some folks in Kanab convinced me to consider it, and I’m glad I did.  I was headed from the Grand Canyon to Farmington NM via US160, so it was not far out of the way.

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Grand Canyon

Posted on April 15, 2019 by Michael R

I couldn’t go through the area without a trip to the Grand Canyon, could I?  In fact, a week of backpacking from the north side of the canyon was the original reason for the whole trip but stuff happened so I found other things to see and do.

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Kanab Utah & Escalante National Monument

Posted on April 12, 2019 by Michael R

I spent about 3 days in the Kanab Utah area, which has lots of stuff to see and do, and is kinda the gateway to Escalante, Bryce, Zion, and more.  Kanab’s own Visitor Center and the BLM’s Grand Staircase/Escalante Visitor Center (on the east edge of town) have useful information.  In addition, most restaurants and motels have racks of brochures.

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Glen Canyon Dam / Lake Powell

Posted on April 10, 2019 by Michael R

The Glen Canyon Dam is an impressive bit of engineering but I can’t help thinking that J. W. Powell would be ashamed to have his name associated with the lake behind it.  A big surprise for me was that the whole enterprise is operated by something called the “Bureau of Reclamation“.  I kinda think “reclamation” would be taking the dam out.

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Meteor Crater

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Michael R

Meteor Crater isn’t a hiking destination but it’s a great side-trip if you’re ever 40 miles east of Flagstaff on I-40.  It’s big – 3900′ diameter and 560′ deep – too big for me to get it all in one photo, and the force required to create it is incomprehensible.

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Petrified Forest National Park

Posted on April 9, 2019 by Michael R

Petrified Forest National Park covers an area of 230 square miles with a chunk of the Painted Desert in the north end.  A 28-mile road runs north-south, with many pull-off areas to see various sights.  There are several short hikes available but there are also 43000-acre and 7000-acre Wilderness areas – in the north and south respectively – for longer hikes and overnight stays.  Even if not venturing into the Wilderness areas you can spend most or all of a day here seeing the sights, which include desert and badland landscapes, the remains of ancient pueblos, petroglyphs, interesting geology, and more petrified wood than you can shake a stick at.

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