Category: desert

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Crack-in-the-Mountain, Havasu, AZ

trip report by site editor Rick McCharles

Crack in the Mountain is the name of a terrific hike on the city limits of Lake Havasu, Arizona.

6mi
3hrs

A fantastic slot canyon featuring a 7ft slide. Driving past, I’d have never guessed it was there. But a savvy Ranger at the Havasu BLM office recommended it.

… “The Crack,” this slot canyon is formed by a drainage that has carved its way through mountains then snaked around ridges, emptying into Lake Havasu.

… a geologic profusion of textures, colors, strata, crumbling mountain slopes, and shallow canyon walls mortared with rubble-filled conglomerate. The trail will take you through The Crack, up a ridgeline, and down to Lake Havasu. The eclectic geological brew along the trail creates some stunning scenery and fine Desert Bighorn Sheep habitat. …

read more on Desert USA

Instead of taking the slide, I used rope assistance. (Not easy with a camera in the other hand.)

I made a lollypop loop taking the Yellow trail through the canyon, returning most of the way on the higher Blue. Signage is fairly good on this day hike.

Special Activities and Recreation Area (SARA) Park is a county leased recreation area that is truly a sports lovers paradise. … 1,100 acre park offers a variety of recreational opportunities including softball and baseball fields, a raceway, hiking trails, a BMX track, an area to fly model airplanes, and a shooting range.

Balance Rock Cove.

more photos

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hiking Big Morongo, California

trip report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

A Ranger recommended this superb series of trails in the Little San Bernardino Mountains, ideal for all ability / experience levels.

… Imagine a leisurely hike through a lush, verdant canyon of willows and free flowing water. Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is truly an oasis in this transition zone between the Mojave and Sonoran deserts. The lush vegetation stands in sharp contrast to the surrounding desert slopes. More than 240 species of birds have been observed in the Preserve …

WALK the TRAILS

I did a circuit: Marsh Trail … Mesquite Trail … West Canyon Trail … part way down Canyon Trail … And then looped back Mesquite, Yucca Ridge … Desert Willow … Marsh. Perhaps 5mi altogether.

Canyon Trail

Friends of Big Morongo Canyon Preserve is a nonprofit organization supported entirely by donations and volunteers. THANKS. You are doing a terrific job.

Maps and trail signage are all high quality. Better than what you get in the National Parks. A glossy pamphlet with colour photos is available, donated by Audobon. They even provide a “Track Guide” for identifying the muddy footprints of local critters. There’s no user fee. Wow.

more photos from this day hike

Check out the Friends of Big Morongo Canyon Preserve – official website

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Canyon Hiking Guide to the Colorado Plateau

Buzz recommends this guidebook, though it’s not been revised since 1999. The author’s been called controversial.

This is a canyon hiking guide to the Colorado Plateau, which covers the southeastern half of Utah, the northern half of Arizona, the western 1/5 of Colorado, and a small part of NW New Mexico. …

Amazon

Michael R. Kelsey

… on June 9, 1970 he put a pack on his back and started traveling. Since then he has seen 223 countries, republics, islands, or island groups. When not traveling the world he is seeking out and exploring the canyon countries of the Southwest’s Colorado Plateau. All his wanderings have resulted in a very successful series of 16 self-published books. …

Michael R. Kelsey

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7 day Grand Canyon hike

Scott Cundy from The Wildand Trekking Company recommends this guided adventure for experienced hikers:

The Kanab Creek Backpacking Tour is a 7-day, 6-night North Rim hike that takes us nearly 25 miles into the Grand Canyon before we turn around and hike out.

It features spring-fed creeks, ancient pictographs, slot canyon hiking, fantastic camps, and a chance to see the Colorado River at one of its most remote points.

The trip begins with a day of hiking through the Kanab Creek Wilderness and an amazing camp with pictographs and fantastic spring water. The next day we traverse Jump Up Canyon, a 4-mile slot canyon that narrows to just 15 feet wide while towering hundreds of feet above us, and enter the Kanab Creek drainage.

The next two days we’ll continue down the Kanab Creek Drainage toward the Colorado River, passing Showerbath Spring, Whisper Falls, and other amazing desert water features along the way. After a hike to the Colorado River on day 4, we turn around and begin hiking out, soaking up the views of the famous Red Wall and the North Rim the whole way!

A final night at our first night’s camp is an opportunity to reminisce about the trip and plan our next adventure in to the world’s most famous canyon.

Details – Kanab Creek Adventure ($1495)

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Wild Backpacker – Featured Trails

Western North America:


Kalalau Trail
Buckskin Gulch
Havasupai
Coyote Gulch
Zion Narrows
Coyote Gulch

And more in California, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

… details

Here’s a sample Guide page for Escalante, Utah:

Length: 12 miles
Difficulty: 5/10; 1B VI
Season: Spring and Fall
Type: Point-to-point

Coyote Gulch is one of the most beautiful and popular hikes in the area. Though located in the remote Glen Canyon National Recreation Area of Southern Utah, Coyote Gulch is worth the time and effort required to visit, and worthy of its famed status.

Although those who enjoy the feeling of seclusion might resent the evidence of past grazing, for most the beauty of the high Navajo Sandstone canyon walls, the sparkling streams, and the three main attractions – two arches and a natural bridge – will make this hike a favorite.

The best seasons for the hike are spring (March to mid-June) and fall (September to October).

… read more

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snow in Death Valley

Jim Burnett on national parks traveler:

… the first words you read on the park website—”Hottest, Driest, Lowest“—don’t sound much like winter. That makes the park scene on January 3, 2011, a bit out of the ordinary. …

The snow level was at 2,000 feet in the hottest, driest, and lowest region in the Western Hemisphere.”

The lower elevations of Death Valley rarely get snow—only about once a decade on the valley floor—and that’s usually just a dusting. In contrast, the neighboring community of Pahrump, about 60 miles away, had four to six inches of snow from the recent storm. …

Snow-capped Mountains Offer a Different Look at Death Valley National Park

It even snowed in Vegas.

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#10 best hiking town is …

Moab, Utah

Moab is a fantastic jumping off point for outdoor adventure, a special mecca for crack climbing.

But the “strip” can be loud, ugly, hot and aggravating. Once you get away from the highway, the town’s much prettier. They have a good library and great bike trails.

Moab … in eastern Utah … is 233 miles (374 km) southeast of Salt Lake City and 354 miles (569 km) west of Denver, Colorado …

The population was 4,779 at the 2000 census. … Moab hosts a large number of tourists every year, mostly visitors of the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks, which are located close by. The town is also a popular base for mountain bikers who come to ride the extensive network of trails including the famed Slickrock Trail …

More interesting photos tagged Moab, Utah.

Arch in the Mountain, Utah

Our favourite hikes out of Moab are:

• Chesler Park
• Devil’s Garden
• Delicate Arch
• Syncline Loop
• Upper Salt Creek
• Murphy Basin
• Gooseberry-Dogleg Loop

There are many, many more. This is Edward Abbey country.

Chesler Park

Click through for more “best hikes” in the S.W. USA.

Hike here Spring and Fall. It’s HOT in the summer.

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Joshua Tree’s eight hidden palm oases

Hank Leukart tried and failed at his first two JOSHUA TREE NATIONAL PARK adventures.

Third time’s a charm.

In his journalistic trip report, Hank explains:

… I devise a plan to visit each of the Park’s eight desert oases: Mara, 49 Palms, Cottonwood Spring, Lost Palms, Victory Palms, Summit Spring, Munsen, and a final, mysterious and nameless oasis near Munsen. …

Click through to see if Hank and 3 friends succeed. … Or if he trips into the cactus (again) and ends up drinking wine, watching shooting stars.

Without Baggage – until we meet again, joshua tree.

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Desert Winds Expedition Adventure Race

Sept. 19-24th, 2010

… after a full year of training for this event, Dave Adlard will be captaining “Team Adventure Sports Week” in the Elite category of the “Desert Winds Expedition Adventure Race” beginning September 19.

Dave and his three female teammates; Dr. Jeni McNeal from Eastern Washington University, Soledad Cristiano from Argentina, and Cynthia Miranda of Carlsbad California, will be traversing nearly 300 non-stop miles across the brutal Mojave desert on foot, mountain bike, canoe, rappeling/climbing, pack rafts and orienteering, carrying their own gear, food and water in what could be the most challenging and demanding event on earth this year… 50% of the teams are expected to not finish the race, which is expected to take the teams between 90 and 120 hours to complete.

Team Adventure Sports Week

Good luck!

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Lava Flow Trail, Sunset Crater Volcano, Arizona

report by besthike editor Rick McCharles

I was a bit disappointed that you cannot hike to the “crater” of Sunset Crater near Flagstaff. It’s been off limits for decades due to erosion. The 1mi easy loop takes you only to the base.

Signage is interesting, though.

Sunset Crater Volcano was born in a series of eruptions sometime between 1040 and 1100. Powerful explosions profoundly affected the lives of local people and forever changed the landscape and ecology of the area. Lava flows and cinders still look as fresh and rugged as the day they formed. But among dramatic geologic features, you’ll find trees, wildflowers, and signs of wildlife – life returns.

NPS – Lava Flow Trail

I was first visitor early morning, keen to test my new camera / camcorder (Canon FS300). In sunlight and shade.

wildflowers at Sunset Crater, Colorado

Sunset Crater, Colorado

OK. … But not superb focus. … It’s still on all default settings.