Wrather Arch is located along the Paria River drainage in Northern Arizona and is within the Vermilion Cliffs National Monument. In order to hike up to and under the arch one must travel through the Paria River gorge below Buckskin Gulch, the longest slot canyon in the United States.  So needless to say seeing the arch can be difficult. However, there is a way to see the arch without the long journey down the canyon and that is from above. While you can’t easily hike down to the arch from the canyon rim it is possible to see the arch and explore the canyon along its rim. I was invited...

Sawtooth Mountain and Notch Peak, Utah Located in the west deserts of Utah, west of Delta, Utah is one of North America’s highest cliff faces.  It measures about 2,200 feet with a lower and upper cliff band and is popular among rock climbers. The official trail begins at the desert floor to the east-south east of the peak itself.   This route is about 7.6 miles round trip and begins in Sawtooth Canyon at elevation 6,879 ft. With the summit at 9,654 that is a 2,775 elevation gain/loss. This hike entails following the bottom of the canyon and one of its small tributaries to the main...

Valley of Fire State Park Located south of Interstate 15 in Southeastern Nevada just north of Lake Mead. Leave I-15 at exit to Logandale from the north and Crystal Exit from the south and follow the signs. This wonderful and colorful land has been set aside as a State Park. The area has many sandstone formations with vivid colors that change abruptly as you cross the landscape. One popular formation is the Fire Wave. I assume it gets its name from the famous Wave in northern Arizona which is called just “The Wave” this formation is smaller and is best photographed in the evening light....

Yellow Rock is located in the Grand Staircase Escalante National Monument. To get there from Kanab Utah travel east on Hwy 89 for approximately 46 miles to the intersection with gravel roads turn left on to Cottonwood Canyon road. Travel this fair weather road 17.5 miles to an intersection with a gravel road going directly east.  This portion of the route may be impassable if the road is wet. The road crosses barren blue-grey landscape for several miles first north then more westerly, after about 6 miles the Paria river drainage is reached and the road follows the river a few miles...

4th highest mountain range in Utah  Deep Creek Mountain Range Growing up in Nephi Utah I had Mount Nebo in my back yard and I learned at a young age that it was the highest peak in the Wasatch mountain range. However it was not the highest mountain in Juab County in which I lived. This title was held by a distant mountain pushed up against the Nevada border about one hundred miles west of Nephi. Back in that day getting information was a challenge. I remember finding the phone number for the BLM office in Fillmore which was about 50 miles south of Nephi. I called and asked for information...

Utah’s five Highest Mountain range summits, #5 The Wasatch Range: The Wasatch Range is the fifth highest range in the state. Growing up in Nephi, Utah was a joy with mountains close. I was always hiking in the hills first and then on to Mount Nebo which as it turns out is the highest peak in the Wasatch mountain range. At 11,928 feet it was over a mile higher than my home town. I have climbed it many time and from a few different directions. Mountain Nebo consists of three peaks North, Middle and South peaks. In my growing up years the south peak which is visible to most of Nephi was the peak...

A “Curious Slot” As part of my study of an area for future exploration and photography, I will use Google Earth to scan areas of interest. While doing this kind of “fly over” along the Paria River in Southern Utah I noticed a strange location. I was following a wash bed as it made its way through some striking white and red soils.  The funny thing about this wash was how it meandered in a series of straight spots with right angle turns and then back to straight. All this time this wash was “flowing” perpendicular to the general slope of the hillside. After a series of turning...

Tushar Mountain trip I have wanted to try out a new one-man tent that I purchased for the solo hikes I have planned. These hikes are to vantage points in different areas that I’m exploring as I gather photos for additional books. Since they are generally not to a lake, mountain summit, or other destination and not having others show any interest in coming along I decided to purchase a very lightweight tent for these trips.  My first such trip was to a mountain ridge overlooking a beautiful mountain valley in the Tushar mountain range in south central Utah east of the town of Beaver....