French Spring is one of the minimal number of attractions to see along NP-633 (the road between Hans Flat and the top of the Flint Trail) in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park.* It’s one of the more difficult…
Official off-trail Views from the Blue Forest Route
After the Wilderness Route, the Blue Forest Route was my favorite hike in Petrified Forest National Park during my visit last fall. The good news? It’s much shorter and much, much easier to follow than the Wilderness Route. So as…
Courthouse Wash to Forget-Me-Not Canyon
The hike from Courthouse Wash to Forget-Me-Not Canyon isn’t exactly a route I’d recommend. It’s filled with rock scrambles, delicate Leave No Trace areas (yes, you can do it; I’ll tell you how), zero official trails, sketchy slickrock, and a…
Photos from Near the Nautilus
A few weeks ago, I posted a trip report for hiking to the Nautilus in Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. In that post, I couldn’t possibly include all of the amazing photographs that I took, not of the Nautilus itself, but…
An Off-trail Hike up Coffin Peak
There’s nothing quite like climbing Coffin Peak in the Black Mountains of Death Valley to see the Funeral Mountains. That’s just too much of a single theme if you ask me! But it’s actually a fun off-trail trek, without too…
Exploring Round Valley Draw
I only did one real slot canyon in Utah last fall (that doesn’t count Resurrection Canyon and Wiregrass Canyon, which I did earlier in the trip, but which weren’t very slot-y). Round Valley Draw was introduced to me as being…
The Painted Desert’s Wilderness Loop
My top favorite trail I did in Petrified Forest National Park last fall was the Wilderness Route Loop through the Painted Desert. Actually, it’s not a trail at all; it’s loosely connected GPS coordinates that take you to some delightful…
Thompson Peak: The Highest Point in the Sawtooths
When I visited the Sawtooth Mountains last fall, I decided that we should save our last day to climb the highest point in the range – Thompson Peak. I printed trip reports off of the internet and it sounded fairly…
Grand Canyon Views at Jicarilla Point
I’m always on the lookout for cool new hikes in my favorite national parks. So I was super excited to read about hiking to Jicarilla Point, well west of Hermit’s Rest, on the rim of the Grand Canyon. It seemed…
La Boca Arch & Harold Arch
La Boca Arch (and its neighbor, Harold Arch) is often overlooked because it’s a long distance down a dirt road well outside of the typical parks near Moab, Utah. But if you happen to be in the area (say, to…