Don’t let the recent 90-degree days in the Salt Lake Valley fool you: autumn is here. Over the next few weeks fall colors will dazzle those who seek them out. The east coast strongholds like Vermont and Appalachia might be the first places that come to mind for leaf watching, but Utah has numerous spots…
Author: Ryan Malavolta
Backpacking Yellow Creek in Bryce Canyon National Park
Backpacking in Bryce Canyon NP is a hybrid experience. It’s not quite a desert, and not quite a pine forest. And to be completely fair, Bryce Canyon really isn’t a canyon at all. It’s more like a handful of canyons with similar terrain. Hybrid, indeed. The fact that Bryce can’t be easily summed up only…
Hiking Bryce Canyon: Queens Garden/Navajo Trail Loop
There’s no two ways about it: Bryce Canyon is incredible. Located in the high desert of southern Utah, Bryce is a place where your imagination can run wild. A Paiute Indian tale explains how the hoodoos of the canyon came to be: “Before there were any Indians, the Legend People… lived in that place. There…
Hike Mount Agassiz
Summer is almost over, and we all want to send it out on a high note. One last big banger to put an exclamation point on the season. Maybe you’ve already done Kings Peak, or maybe you just want something with less crowds. Either way, hiking Mount Agassiz in the High Uintas Wilderness is a…
Hike the Honeycomb Cliffs
The Honeycombs Cliffs are a popular spot for backcountry skiers to find fresh lines when the resorts are tracked out. The cliffs tower over the boundary line between Solitude and Brighton ski resorts, and make a great summer destination as well. The high altitude starting point translates to moderate temperatures; when the valley is still…
Osprey HydraForm 3L Reservoir review
Minimalists may shun them, but for the average hiker and backpacker, bladders are the order of the day. It is tough to beat the convenience of storing all the water you need for the day in one place, and sipping it through a handy tube that hangs off your shoulder. The biggest gripe for those…
Hiking Deseret Peak
So you want to bag a big peak, but the crowds in Big and Little Cottonwood are just too much. Or perhaps you want to get above 11,000′ but aren’t quite ready for the Class 3-4 scrambles that many Utah mountains require. What if I told you that there was a gorgeous summit just 50…
Hidden Lake revealed in the Uinta Mountains
The dilemma: you want to backpack somewhere close to home in a beautiful mountain setting, and have the place to yourself. Sounds like just the kind of tall order that most hikers dream up every weekend. The answer: Hidden Lake in the western Uintas. This serene alpine lake delivers on all three of those demands…
Hike Mount Raymond
Mount Raymond is a classic Wasatch Mountain hike; the pyramid-shaped summit can be viewed from many points both in the Salt Lake Valley and from high in the Cottonwood Canyons. Rising to 10,241 feet, Raymond’s peak is a lofty perch that provides spectacular views of the surrounding summits. The best part about it? All that…
“The Wildest Dream: Conquest of Everest” showing at Clark Planetarium
If you think about the rich history of Mount Everest, many names come to mind. Of those names, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine are two that are steeped in history and legend. The two men set out in 1924 to become the first to summit the world’s highest mountain; they never returned. Now, eight decades…