Multi-day backpacking excursions generally require you to sacrifice comfort in return for a lighter pack. One of the first things to stay at home is the camp chair. But with the Alite Designs Monarch Chair, you don’t have to rely on fallen logs to sit around the campfire. The Monarch is super light and packs…
Category: Hiking
Hike to Ibantik Lake in the Uinta Mountains
There’s certainly no shortage of picturesque lakes to visit in Utah’s Uinta Mountains. With literally thousands of choices, it can be tough to select any one body of water for a destination. Ibantik Lake, nestled below the mighty Notch Peak ridgeline is definitely the hike. Choose this trek and you’ll enjoy a pristeen lake in…
Hiking Mineral Fork in Big Cottonwood Canyon
Mineral Fork, located in Big Cottonwood Canyon, is a hike with panoramic views where you can travel through the Wasatch’s historic mining past. A very wide, old mining road provides the trail, so navigation is super easy. Waterfalls, shady trees, and massive, alpine cirques are star attractions, but checking out the old Wasatch and Regulator…
Rafting (and hiking) Cataract Canyon
Cataract Canyon: even the name is legendary. The Powell expedition of 1869, led by John Wesley Powell, was the first to explore this very remote, uncharted section of the Colorado River, and Cataract Canyon remains remote to this day. Located in Canyonlands National Park, just below the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers, Cataract…
Hiking Broads Fork in Big Cottonwood Canyon
Broads Fork, located in Big Cottonwood Canyon in the Central Wasatch, is an excellent hike complete with a shady trail that climbs through stands of evergreens, waterfalls and creek crossings that ends at a spectacular view of high-alpine peaks in the upper basin. While the hike shares the same parking area as neighboring Lake Blanche…
Klymit Insulated Static V Lite camping pad review
Let’s face it: the worst part about backpacking is sleeping on the ground. Sure, you can pack a cushy, heavy sleeping pad to keep rocks and roots from digging into your back, but most are too heavy to carry miles into the mountains. But the good folks at Centerville-based Klymit have been offering super light…
Hike Little Death Hollow and Wolverine Slot Canyons
If it is slot canyons you seek, the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument (GSENM) has them by the dozens. We all have our favorite features in slots; some folks like the walls so tight that walking through with a pack is almost impossible, while others seek canyons that allow but a sliver of light to…
Hike the Wild Horse Narrows and Wild Horse Window
Utah’s San Rafael Swell is filled with canyons both wide and narrow, technical and non-technical. Each has its own unique beauty and individual features. Wild Horse Canyon is just one of the many options for day hiking in the Goblin Valley State Park area, and is well worth an exploration because of the two sets…
Wilderness First Responder (WFR) Courses in Utah
Accidents and injuries happen in wilderness settings everyday (just watch a good carnage video if you need convincing). Knowing what to do in these situations can not only be the difference between life or death, but more often the difference between quick and effective treatment or a time-consuming, painful, and expensive rescue. One of the…
Hiking Upper Muley Twist and the Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef National Park
The Waterpocket Fold is one of the most unique geological features in Utah. A nearly 100-mile long wrinkle in the earth’s crust, the Waterpocket Fold offers stunning views of the classic Wingate and Navajo sandstone formations. And because it’s in a remote section of a lightly-visited park, it offers great hiking without crowds, especially if you go in winter….