I'll probably do something very unusual, at least for me. Because I'm bringing the minivan instead of my much smaller car (because I need to haul my wife and two teenage boys back home, plus my daughter's stuff which has been in storage in Rexburg), I have all kinds of room that I don't normally have. And because I have established campsites that I can drive right to at every night that I'm not in a hotel... I'm almost certainly just going to fold down the seats, set up a bigger, more comfortable air mattress in the back of the van, put big, puffy, heavy and bulky sleeping bags over it, and sleep in the van. I don't have to carry any of this stuff, so why not? I'll be trialing this approach this weekend in a campground near Toledo, and we'll see how it goes. One interesting side effect; "breaking camp" means that I don't really have to do very much at all, do I? Pack up my camp chair (another luxury I wouldn't normally bring), scan the site to make sure I didn't inadvertently leave anything laying around, turn on the car and go. That's it!
Granted, this is an unusual trip. I normally wouldn't consider this, because normally I'd be trying to get out at least somewhere that I can't reach in a single day (I'm actually feeling just a bit constrained by that as I'm planning this trip this time) and normally I'd also not have access to a vehicle that's big enough for me to set up like this. In fact, I don't necessarily anticipate ever having access to a vehicle big enough to do that again; we're within a couple or so years striking distance of finally getting the car I want (instead of something too utilitarian for commuting to work and letting teenagers drive it) and also phasing out the need for a minivan at all. My wife will probably replace the van with something about the size of a Ford Escape or Edge, whereas I'm leaning right now towards a shorter Jeep Wrangler. I couldn't sleep in either of those things even if I wanted to, which I probably won't.
It is possible that I'll get a pickup truck instead of a Jeep, and have access to the bed, but honestly, most of those beds aren't really long enough for me to sleep in anyway—I'm a solid 6' 00" and I guess if I put the gate down, I could do it with my feet hanging out of the bed proper—but would I really ever want to cowboy camp in the bed of a pick-up truck? Actually—maybe. But that's still the plan B; I've wanted a Jeep since I was a little kid, and all of these options are now grossly overpriced compared to what they used to be even in the 90s.
Anyway, other than this, I still have one of my days where I only have about a half days worth of itinerary on my schedule. I'm having trouble finding something else to add, because I want to make sure that I don't do something too ambitious after I've already done 8.5 miles in the morning and early afternoon (and this is my last day of hiking around Grand Junction before heading to Utah) and Trying to get very far away from where I already am will also be challenging. Or rather, it will be challenging to do so without burning through too much time to allow me to actually still do anything meaningful after I get there. I may well just hang around the Monument and see more of it. There are a lot of smaller trails, only some of which I highlighted in my last post, so maybe I can do a few more of those. Or, depending on the time, maybe I'll do something a bit more ambitious like Rim Trail #8 or something. Maybe Rabbit's Ear is slightly better; big views payoff and a couple of miles shorter.
I may be stymied by road conditions. I'm actually having to go a little bit earlier than I'd prefer; later April rather than the very beginning of April would be better. Some hikes I've looked into have said outright that their trailheads aren't available by road until April 15, and even if they technically are, conditions on the road might be muddy with snowmelt. Again; what I should have done is either gone even further south (like to Big Bend National Park) in late February or early March, or gone to Grand Junction and Moab more like the last two weeks of April. I'm in a kind of uncomfortable position where conditions could be variable. And because it's been a high snow year, that means some stuff will be unavailable to me.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Friday, March 8, 2019
Backpacking vs hiking
Well, I went ahead and made my campground reservations to last for all of the nights I'll be in Colorado National Monument. I can blow off the $40 dollars I spent, get a backcountry permit and do the route described in the post below, but I'm thinking, even with relatively short distance, do I really want to climb 2,800 feet in one day? Probably not. And if I do, will I really want to keep hiking for another day and a half (or whatever it ends up being?) Again, probably not. Although, granted, if I just suck it up and do it, it's mostly all downhill after that first day, I still probably don't want to do it, and I won't actually plan on doing so after all. Rather, I'll look around for day hikes, both in the monument and the surrounding area. I'm actually a little excited to see if I can get up on the Book Cliffs a bit, or Dominguez Canyon, or some of the other areas nearby. Of course, there's more to see than I'll have time to, so I'll have to be judicious in how I spend my time, all the while making sure now to overplan too.
So what does my new itinerary look like with just day hikes?
Well, the driving days are the same, including hopefully having time on Sunday afternoon to the do the Dillon Pinnacles.
Monday: well, I actually probably am not in any particular hurry to get to camp, since I have a reservation. But I want to be sure and get in before the office closes, so I'll probably go early, then go get some lunch, and then hike the afternoon and evening. I'm actually thinking of doing the Devil's Canyon hike, which is just outside the monument, but curiously very, very close to the edge of the monument where I'll be camping. If there's still time and daylight, I'll explore some of the little minor hikes of the Monument before turning in, like Artist's Point, Coke Ovens, or the Canyon Rim trails.
Tuesday will be a big hiking day, but since I don't have to carry my backpack, and since I can turn around and head back at any point I decide I've had enough, it shouldn't be too bad. I intend to start out with Wedding Canyon and hike to Independence Monument. I'll head up the Upper canyon trail as far as I feel like, before turning back around. Probably about the time that I'm not on the canyon floor anymore and start to see that I'm climbing out, I'll quit and turn around. Then, doing a kind of inverse lollipop, at the Monument itself I'll take the Lower Monument trail instead of Wedding Canyon and do a loop back to the car. Or, I could do that lollipop in reverse. I guess I'm indifferent to the two options right now.
Anyway, this is a long day, so I'll probably tired, dirty, thirsty and hungry by the end of it, and ready to head back to camp, make some dinner and take a load off for the rest of the evening. On the off-chance that I'm not, I guess I can finish any of the small hikes I noted above that I didn't do yet.
For Wednesday, I want to hike the Bench loop. It's probably not really a full day, unless I sleep in a lot or something, but I don't yet know what I want to supplement it with. Probably something outside of the monument, but it has to be a relatively short trail, and one that I can reach quickly. I'll keep researching various ideas.
Thursday I break camp and drive into Utah. I probably have plenty of time to enjoy a scenic day of driving and stopping and even some hiking. I only have to get to the Goblin Valley State Park area by nightfall and it's a ridiculously close two hours away. Even driving from Colorado National Monument to Dead Horse Point to Goblin Valley is less than four hours. If I want to go check out the Fisher Towers, that's probably even a little bit closer. So that gives me some time to really enjoy the day; I do have to do some driving, but if it's only about four hours, I can afford a few hours of hiking and sightseeing too.
I couldn't get a camp site at Goblin Valley State Park, but here is dispersed camping in the BLM land nearby, including on the side of local rinky-dink roads, so I'm planning on doing that instead. Friday morning it's the Wild Horse/Bell Canyon loops and then drive up to SLC.
So what does my new itinerary look like with just day hikes?
Well, the driving days are the same, including hopefully having time on Sunday afternoon to the do the Dillon Pinnacles.
Monday: well, I actually probably am not in any particular hurry to get to camp, since I have a reservation. But I want to be sure and get in before the office closes, so I'll probably go early, then go get some lunch, and then hike the afternoon and evening. I'm actually thinking of doing the Devil's Canyon hike, which is just outside the monument, but curiously very, very close to the edge of the monument where I'll be camping. If there's still time and daylight, I'll explore some of the little minor hikes of the Monument before turning in, like Artist's Point, Coke Ovens, or the Canyon Rim trails.
Tuesday will be a big hiking day, but since I don't have to carry my backpack, and since I can turn around and head back at any point I decide I've had enough, it shouldn't be too bad. I intend to start out with Wedding Canyon and hike to Independence Monument. I'll head up the Upper canyon trail as far as I feel like, before turning back around. Probably about the time that I'm not on the canyon floor anymore and start to see that I'm climbing out, I'll quit and turn around. Then, doing a kind of inverse lollipop, at the Monument itself I'll take the Lower Monument trail instead of Wedding Canyon and do a loop back to the car. Or, I could do that lollipop in reverse. I guess I'm indifferent to the two options right now.
Anyway, this is a long day, so I'll probably tired, dirty, thirsty and hungry by the end of it, and ready to head back to camp, make some dinner and take a load off for the rest of the evening. On the off-chance that I'm not, I guess I can finish any of the small hikes I noted above that I didn't do yet.
For Wednesday, I want to hike the Bench loop. It's probably not really a full day, unless I sleep in a lot or something, but I don't yet know what I want to supplement it with. Probably something outside of the monument, but it has to be a relatively short trail, and one that I can reach quickly. I'll keep researching various ideas.
Thursday I break camp and drive into Utah. I probably have plenty of time to enjoy a scenic day of driving and stopping and even some hiking. I only have to get to the Goblin Valley State Park area by nightfall and it's a ridiculously close two hours away. Even driving from Colorado National Monument to Dead Horse Point to Goblin Valley is less than four hours. If I want to go check out the Fisher Towers, that's probably even a little bit closer. So that gives me some time to really enjoy the day; I do have to do some driving, but if it's only about four hours, I can afford a few hours of hiking and sightseeing too.
I couldn't get a camp site at Goblin Valley State Park, but here is dispersed camping in the BLM land nearby, including on the side of local rinky-dink roads, so I'm planning on doing that instead. Friday morning it's the Wild Horse/Bell Canyon loops and then drive up to SLC.
Monday, March 4, 2019
Colorado National Monument
While not as spectacular nor as remote as the Needles District, it is more lightly traveled by hikers and backpackers, so given my failure to get a permit for Canyonlands in time, I've decided to make Colorado National Monument my alternate destination. I'm still working on the exact itinerary, but here's my rough thoughts:
- Saturday March 30—Drive to North Platte NE. I've already got a reservation.
- Sunday March 31—Drive to the Curecanti National Recreation Area. Pick up one of the more remote first-come first served individual campsites and set up camp. Presumably there will be time to explore a bit before dark.
- Crystal Creek would be desirable, assuming snow is clear. Dillon Pinnacles is the must-do hike.
- Monday April 1—Finish exploring the recreation area. Drive to Colorado National Monument and take a site at the Saddlehorn Campground. Get my backcountry permit, but otherwise take it easy. Assuming that there's time, do some drive/short hike exploration, including possibly:
- Artists point
- Canyon View/Window Rock
- Otto's Trail
- Tuesday April 2—start of actual "backpacking". Route is a loop from Monument Canyon Trailhead through Wedding Canyon, joining Monument Canyon at Independence Monument, getting up via Coke Ovens and the CCC trail to the Black Ridge Trail heading south. Once I hit the trailhead down there, take the Liberty Cap Trail to the other side of the monument, and the Bench Trail back towards the Monument Canyon Trailhead, dropping down via Gold Star Canyon to the cliff base trail, and arriving back at my starting point. Trying to decide if I want to stretch this out via two nights so I never feel rushed... and I kinda think that I might. Although that means carrying quite a bit more water.
- Wednesday April 3—Continue backpacking.
- Thursday April 4—Continue backpacking. Arrive at car and drive to Goblin Valley State Park, where I'll spend the night one more time car camping. Any exploration of Goblin Valley that I have time to do is great; I'd prefer to do this more this evening.
- Friday April 5—Do the Little Wild Horse Canyon and Bell Canyon loop. I need to start fairly early, because this will take until lunchtime. Eat lunch and drive to Stansbury Park, or wherever my wife is staying. This is another good four hours, so I'll be arriving late afternoon; hopefully without there being any stress about being on time to help my wife turn her rental car in before it's due and she has to pay another day.
- Saturday April 6—Go to the first session of General Conference and then hit the road, hoping we get a good enough signal to at least stream the audio of the next sessions. Arrive (again) at North Platte NE
- Sunday April 7—Finish driving home.
I'd plan tentatively on camping the first night not too far from the Coke Ovens; but I'll probably make the climb up to the Black Ridge Trail and camp on the other side of the road somewhere. For the second night, I'm thinking staying in the canyon alcove somewhere after doing the Bench Trail.
The second day is quite long, and the first day is kinda short; just under 7 miles (although with a pretty steep and significant climb.) There's a good chance I'll take advantage of my fresher state and push further on the Black Ridge Trail to make a slightly more equitable mileage total between the two days.
UPDATE: I changed the route slightly; the first day now goes all the way to the western trailhead. I probably won't really walk that far, although by the time I get up to the top up there, I've already done all the climbing I'm going to do and some flat walking might be OK.
On the other hand, did you see that elevation change? Do I really want to climb the better part of three thousand feet in one day? Ugh. I'm having second thoughts about this backpacking loop portion.
The second day is quite long, and the first day is kinda short; just under 7 miles (although with a pretty steep and significant climb.) There's a good chance I'll take advantage of my fresher state and push further on the Black Ridge Trail to make a slightly more equitable mileage total between the two days.
UPDATE: I changed the route slightly; the first day now goes all the way to the western trailhead. I probably won't really walk that far, although by the time I get up to the top up there, I've already done all the climbing I'm going to do and some flat walking might be OK.
On the other hand, did you see that elevation change? Do I really want to climb the better part of three thousand feet in one day? Ugh. I'm having second thoughts about this backpacking loop portion.
Friday, March 1, 2019
Needles
Well... I didn't plan far enough ahead and now there are no camping sites available at Chessler Park, or really almost anywhere in the Needles District at all. I'll need to have a Plan B. Because it's relatively easier to do, I'm thinking of either Colorado National Monument near Grand Junction CO, or Natural Bridges National Monument near Blanding UT.
Sigh.
Sigh.
Tuesday, February 26, 2019
Dillon Pinnacles
When I drive out west to go hiking out where the scenery is really something, (which so far has mostly been in either Utah or Colorado, although Wyoming has tempted me a lot too—and one of these days I'll go even a little further and explore New Mexico, Arizona, Nevada and California) I always try to find a way to get as far out of the Great Lakes region as possible on the first day so I can take my time and enjoy the western scenery a bit more leisurely the second day of driving. For instance, on two trips to the Uintas, I've made sure that I got as far as either North Platte or even Ogallala Nebraska, and then went and spent a couple of hours at Chimney Rock and Scotts Bluff National Monument, hiking and messing around, before then enjoying scenic drives over the Medicine Bow mountains and the Flaming Gorge area. (The interstate drive across the red desert isn't nearly as bad as a lot of commuters I talk to claim it is, but interstate drives are never as good as little country roads if leisurely enjoying the scenery is your goal.) Sadly, my sister-in-law doesn't live in Vernal anymore, so that option isn't really a very good one anymore, but with a different destination and a different route, I have some new opportunities this time around.
If I'm going to start hiking in the Needles district, for instance, then I'll want to spend my second night on the road—right before I hike—in Monticello Utah, I think. It's closer to the Needles area than Moab. And that gives me an opportunity to still have the same first day of driving, but then cut through Colorado instead of Wyoming, and drive through Gunnison and some other areas that are quite on the way to where I'm going anyway.
So for my Sunday afternoon stop driving and hike around for a little while pit stop, I'm thinking of the Blue Mesa Reservoir near Gunnison with it's fabulous Dillon Pinnacles rock formation. There's a four mile round trip trail (although I think it's actually just a point to point that you backtrack on with maybe a little lollipop like loop at the end) and it's not very far out of the way at all, if it is even out of the way. And, although the season isn't as exciting as if it were summer or fall, I'll also be driving right by Mount Sneffels, which will be fun.
It always helps that I gain two time zones heading west, and also that daylight savings time will have started by the time I'm making this trip, but assuming I get to Ogallala the first day, I've only got 10½ driving hours. With the extra time zone crossing and plenty of daylight, if I get a nice early start, and have easy like Sunday morning traffic (on Sunday morning) then I should easily have a couple of hours in the early to mid-afternoon to check out the Pinnacles, hike the little trail, and just have a nice drive around the area.
Which is nice. I actually really like Scotts Bluff and Chimney Rock, but I've seen them twice already, and I'd like to see something else this time.
Next time I do southern Utah, which I'm sure I will do because I'm only seeing a fraction of the red rock paradise that I'd like to see, I may even make a couple nights stop in Grand Junction and see Colorado National Monument, camp there, and hike for a couple of days before crossing the border into Utah again. But for now, this'll be a nice way to get psyched up for the hiking trip while still driving.
If I'm going to start hiking in the Needles district, for instance, then I'll want to spend my second night on the road—right before I hike—in Monticello Utah, I think. It's closer to the Needles area than Moab. And that gives me an opportunity to still have the same first day of driving, but then cut through Colorado instead of Wyoming, and drive through Gunnison and some other areas that are quite on the way to where I'm going anyway.
So for my Sunday afternoon stop driving and hike around for a little while pit stop, I'm thinking of the Blue Mesa Reservoir near Gunnison with it's fabulous Dillon Pinnacles rock formation. There's a four mile round trip trail (although I think it's actually just a point to point that you backtrack on with maybe a little lollipop like loop at the end) and it's not very far out of the way at all, if it is even out of the way. And, although the season isn't as exciting as if it were summer or fall, I'll also be driving right by Mount Sneffels, which will be fun.
It always helps that I gain two time zones heading west, and also that daylight savings time will have started by the time I'm making this trip, but assuming I get to Ogallala the first day, I've only got 10½ driving hours. With the extra time zone crossing and plenty of daylight, if I get a nice early start, and have easy like Sunday morning traffic (on Sunday morning) then I should easily have a couple of hours in the early to mid-afternoon to check out the Pinnacles, hike the little trail, and just have a nice drive around the area.
Which is nice. I actually really like Scotts Bluff and Chimney Rock, but I've seen them twice already, and I'd like to see something else this time.
Next time I do southern Utah, which I'm sure I will do because I'm only seeing a fraction of the red rock paradise that I'd like to see, I may even make a couple nights stop in Grand Junction and see Colorado National Monument, camp there, and hike for a couple of days before crossing the border into Utah again. But for now, this'll be a nice way to get psyched up for the hiking trip while still driving.
Monday, February 25, 2019
April Desert hiking
Well, it looks like I'm going. I'll be gone the same time my wife has planned to take the boys during their spring break to Utah and Idaho, ostensibly to pick up my daughter's stuff from storage in Rexburg, visit her sister (and see her first Tabernacle Choir concert) and see General Conference while they're out there. It'll be the week before General Conference, and the plan is that I'll meet up with them on Friday sometime and go to the first Saturday morning session with them before we hit the road for home together. I'm a little disappointed that neither of the boys will be with me, and honestly, I think maybe they are too—or at least, they'd rather do that then go back to Rexburg, which for whatever reason they kinda felt was a depressing place, at least during Spring Break when it's still cold, windy, brown, etc. Maybe we'll talk about that, but I really think I can handle being on my own better than my wife can, even though I'd like to have the boys hike with me.
Anyway, as I said earlier, sadly, I have to use the weekend to travel, because that's the only thing that works out from a timing perspective, so I'll be driving Saturday and Sunday and arrive in... Monticello, I think, on Sunday evening sometime. Let's do a day by day break-down of my plans
Anyway, as I said earlier, sadly, I have to use the weekend to travel, because that's the only thing that works out from a timing perspective, so I'll be driving Saturday and Sunday and arrive in... Monticello, I think, on Sunday evening sometime. Let's do a day by day break-down of my plans
- Saturday March 30—Drive to mid-Nebraska; stay in hotel
- Sunday March 31—Drive to Monticello; stay in hotel
- Monday April 1—Go to Needles District of Canyonlands and hike into Chessler Park. Camp overnight
- Tuesday April 2—Explore Chessler Park, Druid Arch, etc. Continue camping in same place.
- Wednesday April 3—Hike out, drive to Dead Horse Point State Park, set up camp
- Thursday April 4—Explore Dead Horse Point State Park, whatever I wasn't able to see the day before. Drive to Goblin Valley State Park, set up camp
- Friday April 5—Explore Goblin Valley State Park and Little Wild Horse and Bell slot canyons. Drive to Stansbury Park, or wherever my wife is staying Friday night.
- Saturday April 6—General Conference morning session, and start driving home
- Sunday April 7—Finish driving home.
I do feel like the Dead Horse Point and Goblin Valley State parks are a little rushed, and I wish I had another day (maybe even another day each) to explore them more, but I'll probably be OK. I don't need to literally hike every single trail at each location.
Wednesday, February 20, 2019
Needles and Moab
I'm still trying to decide what I'm doing for my solo hiking trip this year. As February comes to a close, my chances of making it to Moab during the Spring season start to diminish; I still don't have a date, or even a serious plan, so how likely is it really that I'll actually be putting boots to ground in a month or even two or heck—even three? And three is already starting to lean into weather that's likely to be too hot, honestly. If I'm really serious about going, I need to nail down a schedule in April... or put it off until the fall. I can always go in October or even early November, I suppose. Although then I start to step on other commitments; Alex will be eligible to go on his mission starting late September when he turns 18, so October or early November is probably when he's leaving.
And I'm reconsidering some of what I'd planned. I do still want to do Chesler Park and camp there, maybe two nights, for a relaxed, packless exploration of the region. But I'm now starting to become increasingly convinced that the Salt Creek area should be the subject of it's own trip that focuses just on that area, and is done as a point to point with some kind of shuttle, or two cars, or something. So, I should just ditch that (for now) and look for some other stuff to do in the Moab area after doing a Chessler Park backpacking trip for... I dunno, three days and two nights or so.
Luckily, there are a lot of potential day trips or short in and out one-nighters in the area that look really good too. There's a six mile loop trail at Dead Horse State Park that few people take (because they just hang out at the drive-up lookout point and then leave, mostly) which is highly recommended: https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/east-west-rim-trails-loop
There's always more to see at Arches, although avoiding crowds can be a challenge in its own right: https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/klondike-bluffs-trail-tower-arch-hike
https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/devils-garden-primitive-trail
And there's a few other spots in Canyonlands worth taking a look: https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/horseshoe-canyon-hike
And, of course, there's plenty of BLM land that I'm curious to see more of: https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/hidden-valley/
https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/fisher-towers/
https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/negro-bill/
https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/hunter-canyon/
And this link has some of the same options listed above, but a few other ones as well: https://www.explore-mag.com/10-of-the-Best-Hiking-Trails-Near-Moab-Utah
Of course, if I do a lot of day hiking like that, I need to figure out where I'm actually staying at night; a campground somewhere? A hotel?
Either way, if anything is going to come of this, I need to get on it pretty darn fast. Now that my wife is home from her girlfriends cruise, it's time to pivot to my solo vacation (which is actually solo, unlike hers) and figure out what I'm doing. Maybe I'll even piggyback off of their trip out west to see conference and do a few other things during Spring Break in April. It'll be a little odd, because I've had the fact that I can't go with them on my mind from the get-go, due to vacation schedules, and my own requirement that I get my solo backpacking trip that I missed in 2018—so going with them to go backpacking will be weird. But maybe for the best after all.
And I'm reconsidering some of what I'd planned. I do still want to do Chesler Park and camp there, maybe two nights, for a relaxed, packless exploration of the region. But I'm now starting to become increasingly convinced that the Salt Creek area should be the subject of it's own trip that focuses just on that area, and is done as a point to point with some kind of shuttle, or two cars, or something. So, I should just ditch that (for now) and look for some other stuff to do in the Moab area after doing a Chessler Park backpacking trip for... I dunno, three days and two nights or so.
Luckily, there are a lot of potential day trips or short in and out one-nighters in the area that look really good too. There's a six mile loop trail at Dead Horse State Park that few people take (because they just hang out at the drive-up lookout point and then leave, mostly) which is highly recommended: https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/east-west-rim-trails-loop
There's always more to see at Arches, although avoiding crowds can be a challenge in its own right: https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/klondike-bluffs-trail-tower-arch-hike
https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/devils-garden-primitive-trail
And there's a few other spots in Canyonlands worth taking a look: https://www.outdoorproject.com/adventures/utah/hikes/horseshoe-canyon-hike
And, of course, there's plenty of BLM land that I'm curious to see more of: https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/hidden-valley/
https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/fisher-towers/
https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/negro-bill/
https://www.visitutah.com/things-to-do/hiking/moab-hiking/hunter-canyon/
And this link has some of the same options listed above, but a few other ones as well: https://www.explore-mag.com/10-of-the-Best-Hiking-Trails-Near-Moab-Utah
Of course, if I do a lot of day hiking like that, I need to figure out where I'm actually staying at night; a campground somewhere? A hotel?
Either way, if anything is going to come of this, I need to get on it pretty darn fast. Now that my wife is home from her girlfriends cruise, it's time to pivot to my solo vacation (which is actually solo, unlike hers) and figure out what I'm doing. Maybe I'll even piggyback off of their trip out west to see conference and do a few other things during Spring Break in April. It'll be a little odd, because I've had the fact that I can't go with them on my mind from the get-go, due to vacation schedules, and my own requirement that I get my solo backpacking trip that I missed in 2018—so going with them to go backpacking will be weird. But maybe for the best after all.
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