I ran Spry on 6/30/2022 with 4 others We had one experienced individual with us not me Previous to this I had only tagged along in Birch Hollow and Orderville canyons -- making Spry my 3rd canyoneering experience ever My three sons two teens and a tween came along -- Spry was their first canyoneering experience It took us a long time probably more than 8 hours, I didn't do a great job of timing it though It had rained the day before 6/29/2022, and the Ranger stated that Spry had flashed The Ranger stressed that we ...

Ancient Art has to be one of the most unique summits around Easily recognized, it is often photographed This is a climb you must do if you are looking for a unique and breathtaking moderate climbing experience Though the Cutler Sandstone that makes up the route is not known for its stellar free climbing, this route has been done enough to be quite clean and solid That being said, this is a serious climb that requires trad climbing experience and judgment There have been some accidents on the route from inexperience...

Ah, Sandthrax! What do you write as an introduction to a canyon that needs no introduction Well, first off, a little about the history of the canyon Steve Allen descended it back in the day, calling it Dog Gone Then, in 2001, an ill-fated group Shane Burrows, Hank Moon, and Chris Raver tried to descend the canyon They were stopped by the climbing crux, spent the night engineering a route out the side using bolts and free climbing, and reached the rim just about the time Search and Rescue were going to reach them Th...

One of the more outlandish moderate routes around Moab, Happy Turk Hoodoo is an easy aid route up a photogenic ice cream cone shaped tower It is also known as the Golf Ball for obvious reasons This one is photogenic and fun! The route is essentially a bolt ladder, C1, though some trickery might be involved in clipping the first bolt as it is a bit high, and there is a little free climbing at the top Do this one before the tower eventually falls down in a year, 10 years, 1000 years, who knows

Two things really impressed me about Pahranagat National Wildlife Refuge, near Alamo, Nevada The first is that the refuge offers free camping, with small developed sites that each offer great shoreline access to Upper Pahranagat Lake I was surprised to find free developed camping less than an hour and a half from Las Vegas, and happy to be able to find a site on Thanksgiving day though the campground filled up by the end of the day The second thing I thought was really cool was how the refuge pays tribute to and in...

Glitter Mountain, also known as the Old Gypsum Crystal Mine, is a popular spot near St George, Utah, known for its sparkling gypsum crystals It's an old mining site where gypsum was extracted, and now visitors can explore and collect some of the naturally occurring crystals Blm Site Information Glitter Mine Please Respect This Active Mining Claim History of the Glitter Mine The “Glitter Mine” is an active mining claim issued by the Bureau of Land Management BLM governed by the General Mining Act of 1872, as amended...

Though the nearby Jurassic National Monument is known for its dinosaur fossils, the road to the monument passes near a couple of excellent rock art sites One of the rock art sites is in what climbers call the Triassic Bouldering Area, while the other is in a nearby wash to the south Visiting the rock art panels is an walk suitable for most With a high clearance vehicles, both sites over very short walks In a low clearance vehicle, it is a 2-3 mile outing on easy terrain We enjoyed the rock art immensely, but also t...

Cedar Mountain, just north of the San Rafael Swell, is one of the must do overlooks for San Rafael aficionados The mountain is an uplift of conglomerate and sandstone rock that offers some of the best views in the area From the viewpoint on top, much of the northern San Rafael Swell is visible, as well as such prominent San Rafael Swell features as Window Blind Peak and Mexican Mountain Off in the distance, on a cloudless day, the La Sal Mountains about 90 miles away and the Henry Mountains about 70 miles away are ...

If you are looking for a remote section of the Needles District to visit, Davis Canyon is a good choice The canyon is situated on the eastern boundary of the park, requiring a high-clearance four-wheel drive to visit On our visit, no one had signed into the register in a month, and we saw no recent signs of visitation The canyon itself is home to the Five Faces Panel, a stunning pictograph panel It also has several ruins and granaries to visit, including Log Ruin, a unique ruin that has a large structure built out ...

Pandora's holds a special place in my heart It was one of the first canyons I explored without beta The first time we checked it out, we found no signs of passage, and fixed the first several drops Impressed by what we found, but out of rope and time, we retreated to come back and finish it another day Since then I have done the whole canyon several times, and just the upper section another 3 or 4 times It never fails to impress The canyon was done without the use of bolts Pandora's has a unique character The canyo...