Hiking Trails and Trips
Trips
This is a short (1.5 mile) hike to a lovely limestone arch in Great Basin National Park. The arch is reported to be six stories tall. The views are excellent.
An out-and-back hike to a pretty mountain lake. This can also be done as a loop hike with Johnson Lake; however, an impassable snowfield was blocking the trail on the divide between the lakes.
Wheeler Peak (13,063') in Great Basin National Park is the second highest peak in Nevada. The trailhead is at 10,100' on the Wheeler Peak Road in the park. The trail is a straightforward 8.4 mile round trip on a good trail; the upper 1000' feet of elevation is a bit steeper and rockier. The 360-degree views from the summit are superb.
The Ash Canyon trail is a short (1 mile or so) trail that runs from the campground at Echo Canyon State Park, through Ash Canyon, to the Meadow Valley Road. It can be done as an out-and-back, or as a loop by walking back along the road. We added a little bit of distance and elevation gain by hiking up to the top of a nearby ridge.Ash Canyon has some very rugged...
Ride the Sabino Canyon tram (bus) all the way to the end, Stop #9. From there it is a lovely out-and-back hike to Hutch's Pool in the West Fork of Sabino Canyon.
A ten-mile round trip dayhike to an Indian ruin in Horse Canyon, in the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. Tower Ruin is the largest of the ruins in Horse Canyon, and was probably occupied by a single family unit.
A long-ish dayhike in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. Spectacular scenery!
A out-of-the-way hike in the BLM Canyon Rims Recreation Area. Expansive views at the top, and some nice springs at the canyon bottom. The first mile and a half is easy walking on a well-cairned trail across open terrain; the next mile is a steep descent through a large rockfall area.
This is a popular canyon in the San Rafael Swell. It has some nice narrows sections.
Two very pretty slot canyons in the San Rafael Swell; a fairly easy dayhike. The guidebook I had recommended going up Ding and down Dang Canyon, and having two or more people to assist each other at one difficult spot in Dang Canyon. I was solo, couldn't manage the difficult spot by myself, so went back up Dang, out Ding, and partway up Dang from the bottom. I left about a quarter-mile...
The upper 4 miles of Lower Muley Twist Canyon, from the trailhead on the Burr Trail Road to the junction with The Post cutoff trail.
A short out-and-back hike in a narrow canyon on the east side of the Waterpocket Fold.
A short, easy out-and-back hike into a really nice little slot canyon.
A fairly easy out-and-back hike from the Cedar Mesa campground. There are some interesting rocks here.
A long dayhike (or a nice overnight) in a remote area of Capitol Reef National Park
Hmm, this one might be my new favorite of the washes and gulches on the east side of Capitol Reef. The first mile or so is wide open desert wash, then it gets narrower and more interesting. There is an interesting arch about 3.5 miles back in. I saw quite a lot of petrified wood in here as well. One can go quite a bit further if you are a good climber,...
A dayhike in Haleakala National Park on the island of Maui, from the Kapalaoa backcountry cabin up to the summit and back. Most people would be more likely to do this in reverse, since you can drive a car to the summit.
We started from Dry Henderson Canyon because we wanted to scout some territory in there on the way up. It is a lot shorter and easier to just go in from the Patterson Creek trailhead. The trails up high are in poor condition from trail bike use, deeply rutted with lots of loose small rock.
A day hike to check out the views and the fireweed, which is blooming quite nicely right now.
