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Tag Archives: West Rim Trail
May 28, 2013
Ask Me: A Recommendation For a Family Backpacking Trip in Southern Utah
Michael,
Your site is fantastic. I found it while researching a trip to Spring Canyon at Capitol Reef. I live in Portland and have been packing with my two boys since they were in diapers (they are now 5 and 7). We do about three trips per year. There’s nothing better than being out there with the kids, and I’m glad your site is promoting that.
I was wondering if you have any suggestions for trips in southern Utah in June, in the 15-25 mile range? Hopefully something that has a spring somewhere along the way. I’ve been eyeing Capitol Reef and the Escalante canyons. Continue reading →
Featured Photo Gallery: Dayhiking Across Zion
You may think the idea of a 50-mile dayhike across Zion National Park is too far past sane for your taste–or that it sounds like a bit of inspired genius. Either way, this gallery of photos from a north-south traverse of Zion may inspire you to dayhike, trail run, or backpack all or part of it, and spring is an ideal time for this adventure. Read my story and watch a video about that one-day hike, or see my story, photos, and video about a family backpacking trip along part of this route.
Above Zion Canyon on the West Rim Trail, Zion National Park, Utah.
December 19, 2012
Inspiration For 2013: My Top 10 Family Adventures
At this time of year, I start pulling out maps and guidebooks and poring over my lengthy—and always growing—list of outdoor trips I want to take. (My document slugged “Trip Ideas” is now 11,855 words long.) There are two reasons: First, to make those big dream trips happen, you have to think, plan, and dream months in advance. Plus, the planning is almost as much fun as taking the trip.
Here are my 10 favorite family adventures at The Big Outside (another list that will keep growing and evolving), to help give you some ideas and inspiration for 2013. Continue reading →
July 15, 2011
Mid-Life Crisis: Hiking 50 Miles Across Zion In a Day
La Verkin Creek, swollen and bellowing with spring snowmelt, charges past us like a stampeding herd of bison—with a force and noise level that can make a reasonable person question the wisdom of stepping into its path. Deep in the Kolob Canyons in the northwest corner of Utah’s Zion National Park, it’s tearing enough dirt from its banks to turn the water muddy brown, making it impossible for us to gauge its depth. The pitch-darkness of shortly after 5 a.m. doesn’t help in that regard, either.
We need to get to the other side. Continue reading →
June 9, 2010
Pilgrimage Across Zion: Traversing a Land of Otherworldly Scenery
At the Lee Pass Trailhead in the northwest corner of southern Utah’s Zion National Park, a strong, chilling wind blasts us with air that feels more Canadian Rockies than canyon country. It’s noon on the first day of October, and while the air temperature hovers around 50° F here at just over 6,000 feet, and the sun beams down warmly from a bulletproof blue sky, we’re dressed in pants and fleece jackets.
It’s not quite what I’d expected after tracking Zion’s weather for the past week from home: Up until a few days ago, the highs were hitting the 80s up here and topping 90° F in Zion Canyon, about 2,000 feet lower than this rim. But it’s hard to worry much about wind when you’re staring at an extended forecast for sunshine and the kind of scenery greeting us at the trailhead. Fanned out before us like a royal flush of diamonds is an array of 700-foot, red and orange cliffs forming one end of the finger-like Kolob Canyons. The red hues contrast starkly against the strip of greenery tracing the stream channel in the canyon bottom and the yellow in some leaves still clinging to trees. Continue reading →