besthike.com - the blog

The independent Zion National Park website has added an attractive blog.
This endorsement by Bo for a slot canyon walk caught my eye:

Parunuweap Canyon “is my favorite hike of all times. After hiking just about everything in Zion and nearby and doing this one several times using different ways in and out, I can […]

The Four Corners is the wild convergence of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah.
It’s mostly Indian land.
Last year I hiked out of Page, Arizona. This year Moab, Utah.
In Utah, the best site I’ve found on hiking is Utah.com — concise, well organized, easy-to-read.
If you’ve never been to the Four Corners, the best reference […]

Click on the thumbnail for a larger version of the map.
I’m not sure I’m man enough for this monster, invented and laid out by Joe Mitchell and Mike Coronella over an 8-year span.
It starts in Arches National Park. Finishes in Zion.
Named after a character from Edward Abbey’s The Monkey Wrench Gang, […]

It’s just a movie invention.
That’s what I thought until I stumbled into quicksand in Paria Canyon, Utah.

It sucked.
I had no problem getting out. Moving slowly, trying to float. But cattle regularly get trapped and die in the American canyon country.
More information:
Quicksand - wikipedia
Quicksand - How Stuff Works
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So you want to start getting into the sport of Canyoneering? Well this month I’d like to give you some info to point you in the right direction. I’ll include links to websites with lots of detailed information about starting in the sport, but this should give you a place to start. I’ve also included […]

My legs ached with cold, like a swarm of angry hornets had stung me with freezing venom they throbbed. Jen sobbed as our weary group of five sloshed through the turbid Paria River on the start of day 3. I stretched a nervous hand behind to feel how much the holes abraded by […]

Of the long list of the world’s best hikes, Paria Canyon was close to the top of my personal to-do list.
I finally got there though I needed to rent a car for a week. Public transport is terrible in the SW USA.

Paria is a river walk, normally 37.5mi (60.4km) from White House trailhead […]

I was surprised and happy to get one of 10 available hiking permits available through an in-person lottery for the famous day hike in southern Utah known as The Wave.
I slept in my car at the BLM (not BoweL Movement, rather Bureau of Land Management) office that distributes hiking permits so I would not miss […]

That is the big hazard with a hike through Paria Canyon on the Utah - Arizona border.
Just organizing for Paria, I’m going end of October as there is a lower risk of flash flood.
Yikes!
I just learned that Utah suffered a massive rain storm already this season. Two hikers survived flooding on the Escalante river to […]

Wow. A wiki dedicated to the wonderful but still somewhat obscure sport of canyoneering … or canyoning. (The use of these words and what they mean is still being debated.)
The best trips involves abseiling down through waterfalls.
But canyoning can also involve hiking, scrambling, climbing, jumping, swimming and “li-loing” (using an inflatable air mattress).
Check out […]