hikeaneer

Bear Canyon, West Clear Creek Wilderness, Arizona

In mid-May our niece, Mira Zola, spent several weeks in Scottsdale, AZ taking care of her ailing grandmother. We seized the chance to see her and get her out into the canyons for a day, so we planned a lightning weekend trip to Arizona with our new RV trailer. Eric Hardwick had just been telling us he wanted to get into some Arizona canyons so we invited him along for the weekend as well. On Friday evening after work, we set off on a five-hour drive to the West Clear Creek Wilderness in Arizona. We agreed to meet out in the middle of absolute nowhere on a Forest Service road where we were fairly certain we could park the RV for the night. Everyone was traveling by themselves. What could possibly go wrong? It was just past dusk when we arrived at the meeting point. We drove down the [...]

By |2024-09-18T02:09:58+00:00May 18, 2024|arizona, canyoneer, hikeaneer|0 Comments
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Minaret Canyon to Mineral Gulch

Continuing our hikeaneering spree in May, we explored a new route in the remote East Fork of the Virgin River near Zion NP. The goal was to walk down to Mineral Gulch, which is normally accessed via Meadow Creek and is a 16-mile round-trip hike. However, being able to descend Minaret Canyon easily turns this trek into an exciting day trip, well worth the price of admission, which involves a 4WD vehicle with good clearance. We met very early in the morning at the Elephant Cove trailhead, ready for a long day. Our adventure began with a 10-mile drive down a deep-sand and very sketchy OHV road. With each branching, the trail got more narrow and more sandy if possible. After what felt like a very bumpy eternity, but was probably about 30-40 minutes, we descended a large and very sandy hill and found the small parking pullout. Who [...]

By |2024-09-03T23:42:04+00:00May 12, 2024|canyoneer, hikeaneer, Utah|0 Comments
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Lower Death Hollow, Escalante, Utah

Lower Death Hollow is one of the most beautiful river hikes in the Escalante area featuring clear, calm water and beautiful plants. We also had some amazing wildlife encounters in the river corridor. To access this hike, you can choose to do a strenuous 3+ day backpacking route, a moderately strenuous day hike or a technical canyoneering route down to the river through Micro Death Hollow, which is what we decided to do. Most people choose the day hike option, which starts at the Micro Death Hollow trailhead and is in fact the exit route for the canyon. This in and out route is down a steep slickrock bench which involves finding an appropriate slope to descend down to the Escalante River, at which point a well-worn social trail emerges along the banks of the river. Walk upstream a short distance until you see the confluence with Death Hollow, [...]

By |2024-08-14T17:04:28+00:00May 4, 2024|hike, hikeaneer, remote canyon, Utah|0 Comments
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Fat Man’s Misery, Zion NP, Utah

Fat Man’s Misery is one of the ultimate hikeaneering adventures in Zion NP. Located just outside the park, this route features a grueling but beautiful hike into the Zion backcountry and requires decent navigation skills to get where you’re going and back out. If there was ever a route that could be considered going uphill both ways, this would be it. No permits are required for this canyon aside from the entry fee into Zion. Canyon beta is available here: Canyoneering Misery (Fat Mans) East / West Forks - Zion East Side - Road Trip Ryan It was a balmy day at the end of April when we met up early with our friend Brian Connelly at a pullout near Checkerboard Mesa in Zion NP. The weather was just right – highs around 70, which would mean we could warm up in the sunny stretches between the wet canyon [...]

By |2024-06-28T15:40:25+00:00April 28, 2024|canyoneer, hikeaneer, Utah|0 Comments
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Averett Canyon and Willis Creek Slot Canyon, Grand Staircase-Escalante NM, Utah

Water in the desert is a magical occurrence, especially if it’s fresh and flowing. One of our more pleasant local hikes on a lazy spring day is Willis Creek Slot Canyon, located right off Skutumpah Road in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. Specific information on how to find the trailhead is available here: Willis Creek Narrows | Easy Slot Canyon Hike | Visit Utah. Unlike most of our adventures, this is a family-friendly hike, appropriate for all ages, walking down a mostly flat, gently flowing creek. There are three sets of narrows to see, spanning a little over a mile each way. If you venture to the end of the third narrows, you will find yourself at the confluence with Averett Canyon, the other subject of this post. Willis Creek holds a special place in our hearts as it was the first slot canyon we ever entered, many years [...]

By |2024-06-06T03:26:41+00:00April 14, 2024|hike, hikeaneer, Utah|0 Comments
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High Spur Canyon, Utah

The next canyon in our remote canyon series is not only very remote, but also extremely beautiful and has been compared to the famous Antelope Canyon in Arizona. High Spur is barely a technical canyon, with only a couple big downclimbs and one rappel at the very end. It’s also possible to hike down most of the canyon and then hike back up, but it would be a pretty long day. Full beta is available here: High Spur Canyon - ropewiki. The road to High Spur is quite long and bumpy. The first leg is a 50-mile drive on pretty well graded roads to the Hans Flat Ranger Station in Canyonlands National Park. This is one of the most remote ranger stations in the lower 48 and the rangers seem very happy to see people! Our party for the day consisted of Shawn Bagci and Maggie Mahoney. Shawn drove [...]

By |2024-03-21T02:41:22+00:00October 24, 2023|canyoneer, hikeaneer, remote canyon, Utah|2 Comments
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