SW Utah Canyoneering – Fall 2023 Deb and I we able to pack up the Raven (camper van) and head to the war SW Utah for some much-needed adventure. We spent 3-days technical canyoneering, and 2-days backpacking, and 5-days driving…which…
Waldo Lake Kayak Camp… Every year we like to camp on the shore of Waldo Lake…weather permitting. This year the weather was beautiful…the smoke was a different story. We had planned to hike on Saturday, but due to the smoke…
Sacajawea Matterhorn Traverse – Wallowa Mountains We came here specifically for the ridge between Sacajawea and Matterhorn, but got so much more. A pretty steep huff to get to camp, in a beautiful meadow, in the Thorp Creek drainage. The…
Twin Peaks – Wallowa Mountains – Eagle Cap Wilderness Still just getting to know the Wallowas. Twin Peaks is a nice objective, giving us great views of the Wallowas and all the peaks, valleys, and ridges…plus the quick scramble to…
Yocum Ridge Backpack This is one of Deb’s favorite places, she shared with me first back in 2018. Since then, we come up here at least once or twice a year, sometimes for a night or two. It really is…
Diamond Peak – East Ridge Scramble I’ve had this route in mind since the first time I summitted Diamond Peak back in 2007. Since then I’ve come up to Diamond Peak a couple times with no intentions of doing the…
Angora Grand Tour Another run up to Angora Peak, this time for the “Grand Tour”. It includes scrambling two pinnacles and circumnavigating one other. Always a nice day up there. Always lots of wildlife too. Today I saw two separate…
Sardine Mountain Loop – Solo I haven’t been up to Sardine Mountain since before the 2020 Beachie fire. I started at Hwy 22, across from Big Cliff Reservoir, and walked the now gated road up to Knutsen Saddle, then huffed…
Mount Beachie – Battle Ax Loop We found a nice camp spot at Elk Lake. Each morning started with an early kayak trip around the lake to watch the nights fog layer succumb to the rising sun. While we were…
Rhododendron Ridge – Hawk Mountain Trailhead to Graham Pass Thought this one was going to be an easy one… It was pretty easy up to Hawk Mountain, but after we continued along Rhody Ridge, we entered the 2021 burn area.…
Clatsop Towers Area Explore… Another trip into the Clatsop Tower area in search of a large pinnacle we spotted a few years ago coming back from South Sugarloaf. Unfortunately, we were not able to locate this time due to time…
Dome Rock via Staley Ridge Looked easy on the map. Hard to believe there is no information on the internet about this rock. The summit was the site of a fire lookout in the 1930’s. We parked near the beginning…
Needle Point Loop – Wallowa Mountains (Eagle Cap Wilderness) Originally headed to the Honeycombs on the shore of Lake Owyhee, but the weather forecast was calling for upper 90’s, so we changed our plans to the Wallowa Mountains where the…
Paria Canyon via Buckskin Gulch (Wire Pass Trailhead to Lees Ferry) 6 years later, after Deb and I did the route, Alex and Dan joined me for my second time down this canyon. Just like in 2017, we did this…
Pechuck Lookout from The Old Bridge Trailhead (High Ridge) Did this hike last Friday, first rainy day in a long time… Mostly a continuous light drizzle all day. The vegetation loved it. It looked very happy. I was glad I…
Stafford Creek Canyoneer… 8th time running this creek, although it has been 4 years since the last. Today the flow was at Moderate Low, perfect to just enjoy being outside in this beautiful drainage. Today’s wildlife observations were Swallowtail Butterflies…
West Onion Peak… West Onion Peak…what the hell. I have been atop of most other peaks in this county, might as well tag this one. Same road in as you would take to climb Onion Peak, except you will cross-country…
Angora Grand Tour… Deb and I did the Angora Grand Tour today. It’s been over a year since either one of us has been up there. It was good to get back up there. The weather was perfect…Cool temps, sunny,…
Cummins Creek Loop… Did a nice hike in the coastal range, just north of Florence, OR. Had a little rain, but not too much. This hike is a loop, up one ridge and down another, finishing on a small portion…
Heading back to the PNW from southern Arizona, thought I’d pull through southern Utah for a nice hike. I found one on the eastern border of Capitol Reef NP called the Lower Muley Twist Canyon loop. 2-mile up and over…