IntrepidXJ's Adventure Blog

Saturday, May 5, 2012

On Saturday morning I set out early to drive down to The Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. One of my goals for 2012 was to spend more time hiking and exploring in this amazing area. Unfortunately, because of circumstances earlier this year I was unable to make it down here until now, so I’m getting a later start than I had originally planned. Better late than never, I guess. I’ve still got plenty of time this year to return a few more times 😉

When I made it to the park I headed straight for the Squaw Flat Campground and started hiking the Lost Canyon and Squaw Canyon loop trail. It was a beautiful morning that was perfect for hiking. I made it to Lost Canyon in no time.

The well-used trail to Squaw Canyon, Lost Canyon and eventually Peekaboo.

Trail Ahead by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Crossing the sandstone of the Squaw – Lost Canyon Divide

Lost Canyon Divide by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Following the cairns.

Lost Canyon Trail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

Shiprock, New Mexico
May 20, 2012

After spending Saturday exploring North Coyote Buttes and then Sunday morning with a short hike to Buckskin Gulch from Wire Pass we drove over to Shiprock in New Mexico so that we could watch and photograph the Annular Solar Eclipse. It was an amazing experience that I will never forget.

I assembled this collage from some of the many photos of the eclipse I took in different stages. Look closely and you can even see a few sunspots.

Here’s a photo I quickly processed this morning from the Annular Solar Eclipse that happened yesterday evening. The sun was almost completely blocked by our moon except for a small outer ring. It was very cool to watch, and I’m glad we had stayed down near Shiprock, New Mexico to experience it. Of course, that meant we didn’t get home until 2am this morning and now I need to get to work. When I have some time, I will post more photos from this solar eclipse.

Saturday & Sunday, April 28-29, 2012

I’m proud to say that I have finally gone on my very first backpacking trip. I’ve been collecting gear for the past few months and finally scheduled a trip with my friend Jackson and his dad. Since this was my first time, I wanted to keep the trip shorter and closer to home…kind of like a trial run to see how it all went. I’m happy to report that everything went well, and I’m looking forward to my next backpacking trip in the future.

Overall, I think I made some good choices when I was selecting gear over the past few months, but I’m sure I’ll be making some changes here and there to try and get the weight down further. With my pack loaded up with camping gear, food, water and camera gear, I was carrying just under 40lbs (with my camera around my neck, the weight on my back dropped to 35lbs). I’d like to get that number closer to 30lbs in the future, but it’s probably going to take some trial and error.

Since I was looking for a destination close to home and with not too long of a hike, we settled on Big Dominguez Canyon. It’s only about 20 miles from my house and was supposed to be about 7 miles in length. I have day-hiked the canyon from Bridgeport a few times before, but never gone more than a few miles in. This time we would be starting from the Cactus Park trailhead and descending down the canyon to Bridgeport.

After dropping off a truck at Bridgeport on Saturday morning, we loaded up my Jeep and drove up to Cactus Park. We were expecting to be able to drive to the rim of Dominguez Canyon and then hike down into the canyon, but that’s not quite how it worked out. What we found was a pretty new gate across the road about two miles from the canyon. Apparently, when this area became an official wilderness back in 2009, they must have extended the boundaries or removed the cherry-stem for this road and closed it. So, right from the start our planned hike was going to be two miles longer. We got our packs on our backs and started hiking down the closed road.

An old sign indicating the way to Dominguez Canyon found along the old closed road. The Wilderness Study Area sign is a bit outdated since this area is officially a Wilderness now.

Dominguez Canyon Trail by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Jackson and his dad are birders, so they frequently stopped to find and identify birds they heard along the way.

Bird Watching by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

When we finally reached the rim, we had a difficult time locating the trail down into the canyon. We ended up walking the rim looking for a way down the wrong way at first and then had to retrace our path and hike the other way. We did finally manage to find the steep route into the canyon, but it ended up adding a few more miles to our hike.

A great view from the rim of the canyon with Triangle Mesa and the Grand Mesa in the distance.

Big Dominguez Canyon & Triangle Mesa by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr

Jackson’s dad on the rim of the canyon as we tried to figure out the way down.

On the Edge by IntrepidXJ, on Flickr
 

It’s been a while since I visited the arches in Rattlesnake Canyon and I’ve wanted to return to get some better photos. So after work on Tuesday I headed up there for a nice sunset hike. I made this photo of East Rim Arch, which is also known as Akiti Arch and Centennial Arch, shortly before the sun dipped below the horizon. The golden light on the arch was nice, but I sure would have liked a few puffy white clouds in the sky behind it!