A beautiful morning in Poison Spring Canyon. Delighted by pictographs and the contrast of green cottonwood trees with red Navajo sandstone. We amused ourselves walking up the canyon.  We also talked about our degriming game plan for ourselves and our gear. Ten days since our last laundry and a proper shower. The dust, sand, and … Continue reading Time to degrime

It was a windy night. I'd wake up every now and then to the tent flapping and feel a new layer of sand on my face and sleeping bag. In the morning we had sand in our teeth. Chilly and windy, we layered up and started winding our way around The Block to and through … Continue reading Sand, wind, and the Dirty Devil

Cache day. Kinda like a town day but without a shower, laundry, and the hope of fresh vegetables. Still, caching keeps our packs light and lets us create a water source in dry places. We have four caches along the route. Our one first hidden away in the rocks along Highway 95 in the vicinity of … Continue reading A cache and a chimney

Last night Gabriel dreamed of the produce section of a grocery store. Signs we've been away from modern conveniences for a little while. Our seaweed, dried veggies, spirulina tabs, and powdered green juice aren't quite adding up to our normal intake of fresh leafy greens. Still, the trade off of fresh kale for this morning … Continue reading The sidewalks of Dark Canyon

Since about December 28th I've been looking forward to this day: walking into the center of the newly designated (but not safely protected yet... drat politics) Bears Ears National Monument! (December 28, 2016 is when President Obama designated Bears Ears National Monument, which was more than a decade in the establishing.) We have skirted in … Continue reading Into the heart of Bears Ears National Monument

Up early on a very cold morning (mid 20s F), we enjoyed the last miles along Salt Creek. More cliff dwellings and Kirk's cabin delighted us. Frost on plants and ice on the water, kept us moving. Soon enough we were out of the park onto the cross country and road walking mix of terrain … Continue reading Tracking Daybreaker

Wow! This area, I want to return once I have learned more about the people who lived along Salt Creek and can better appreciate the history and cultural significance of this place. It's beautiful in it's own right, but there is so much more to it. Gabriel and I had ambitious goals for the day. … Continue reading A day along Salt Creek is not enough

A beautiful sunrise, pretty scenery along Indian Creek, and an easy walk into Needles Outpost. We got into Needles Outpost, took care of our resupply, bought extra food, got a campsite and shower tokens. Even had a delicious dinner of veggie-piled street tacos scheduled for 6 pm. We thought we were all set, save for … Continue reading Hayduke chess and tacos

We woke up in the wash reminded that camping in a wash can mean condensation. Damp sleeping bags. Not a big deal, but it's still the first week of service for my new Enlightened Equipment 10 degree F down quilt. I wasn't ready for it to suffer. We'll just need to remember to stop and … Continue reading For the sake of food and water security

A fresh, crisp, clear morning after last night's hard rain. All the new water has us intrigued to find and understand the landscape's potential for potholes. Such depressions in the slickrock, be they a few centimeters or a few feet deep are beneficial. They also minimize how much water we must pick up when we … Continue reading Road meandering and pothole scavenging