In Zion National Park, we can hike on designated trails, scramble across the slickrock, or we can canyoneer on technical (or non-technical) routes. Technical routes require equipment to get down the drop-offs when going down a canyon route from top to bottom. We picked Fat Man’s Misery and the Subway on our last trip to the area. Fat Man’s starts … Continue reading…
While snowshoeing and hiking in the middle of winter, we find ourselves in low-light minimal-chromatic environments. White snowbanks, brown-grey trunks, green-grey conifers, and dull skies await us. On a sunny day, the blue skies and reflected light brings out a greater range of colors, but also harsher contrasts of light and shadow. The low sun, though, can be used to … Continue reading…
Snow Canyon State Park near St. George, Utah is a great place for outdoor-minded people. It has paved trails, hiking trails, and many rugged areas to explore. It also has some very interesting slickrock scrambling opportunities. We were lucky enough to be guided by a local hiker (Susan) up an unlikely route onto the flanks of Red Mountain. The word … Continue reading…
When snows blanket the hills, we can still hike. In fact, it is a good time to explore new areas, especially rarely-visited hills, grasslands, and open-forested slopes. With low winter light and frequent cloud cover, slow progress in the snow, and limited access to viewpoints, we can reset our objectives. An interesting choice is to hunt out dead standing trees … Continue reading…
Our favorite (official) hiking trail in Zion National Park is the West Rim Trail. We have not chosen to do it from the top down (one way) yet, but it is on our list. We went from the bottom up to the rim, then did a loop on top of the mesa and back down, about 15 miles of hiking … Continue reading…
The trail to the top of Sugarloaf Hill is a good one for shoulder season. We usually wait and do the hike on a bit of snow in December. The route starts off the Sugarloaf Ranch Road as a double track. We stay right at the first junctions and are soon hiking past a frozen pond, then on a slope … Continue reading…
The Many Pools route is not a designated trail in Zion National Park, but it is an interesting route that is easy to follow. The start is at a pullout on the East Zion Road about 0.8 miles east of the small tunnel. Walk along the road and look for an informal trail dropping into the drainage/wash on the north … Continue reading…
The route down The Narrows from the top is a 15.4 mile trek in the Virgin River Canyon to Zion Canyon. A backcountry permit is needed to do the route and hikers should expect to take from 8 to 10 hours. At least half of the hike is wading in the river on slippery rocks. An early … Continue reading…
The Barnes Lake Trail system was developed by a horse riders group in the Barnhartvale area, but these are fine hiking trails for all seasons. There are 4 separate trailheads and for this late fall day, we chose to start at the most remote one, the Back Gate. To find the back gate, take the Scuitto Lake Road for 1.1km … Continue reading…
In Kamloops we are surrounded by hills that offer an opportunity to snowshoe, but few people know where to go or how to make the best of these areas. Some basics on equipment, strategies, and routes are offered in a series of articles. Snowshoes Today’s snowshoes are light and strong, but there are also a wide range in features. any … Continue reading…
The trails of the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park can be combined in many ways to create loops. We chose to follow these trails – Lost Canyon > Squaw Canyon > Big Springs Canyon. To get into or out of any of the canyons, hikers have to climb up over slickrock routes, then descend down into the sandy wash. … Continue reading…
Chesler Park is a 600 acre open area of grass and sand dunes inside the towers, fins, pinnacles, cliffs, and spires of the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park. All hikes into or through Chesler Park are between 10 to 13 miles, depending on the route chosen. Our trail started at Elephant Hill and looped through the southern end of … Continue reading…
The Mt. Hilliam trail system is a network of old backroads on the south-facing slopes overlooking Skimikin Lake. The trailhead can be accessed by going through Turtle Valley from the west or from the Skimikin Road from the Trans Canada Highway. Park at the campsite on the west end of Skimikin Lake and cross the road to pick up the … Continue reading…
In the maze of trails within the Needles District in Canyonlands National Park is a 2 mile trail worth the effort to get out there (at least 9 miles, depending on your route). We hiked over from the Chesler Loop Trail. From a rugged trail on rock, we dropped down steps into a cleft between cliffs and followed the slot … Continue reading…
The Druid Arch Trail in the Needles District (Canyonlands National Park) may be Kamloops Trails best trail of 2014 (of about 200 outdoor routes completed this year). National Geographic includes it as one of the best 20 hikes in the National Parks. In reality, any one of several trails in Needles could have been chosen, but Druid Arch itself stands … Continue reading…
We hike the Grasslands community Trail every year, but we vary the route each time. The upper end of the trail starts by going along the south edge of the McQueen Lake property. While students are on the property, we go around the fenceline past Clay Lake and then we meet up on the east side of the Environmental Center … Continue reading…
