Dan and I took a long road trip / hiking trip to the Soutwest in early spring 2024
We hit lousy weather and spent the first few days dodging rain, sleet, and snow but still getting caught in it. We had to revise our plan more than once due to weather. We had to be in Chaco Canyon to meet our friend Bob by a certain date but that was the only inflexible date. We were snowed out of the Escalante area and far SW Utah had an ORV convention going on, plus it was raining so we drove over toward Green River where we found our first decent weather.
We tried hiking Little Wild Horse Canyon but we didn't bring water shoes and the canyons were full of cold water. Unwilling to go barefoot we backed out. But at least we had sunshine! Since we had been forced to the eastern part of the state and would pass through Moab (which I try to avoid due to the hordes of tourists) I thought Dan should see Fisher Towers. We even got lucky and found a camping spot in the tiny campground there. We had my small, Scamp camping trailer, by the way. We did the Fisher Towers out-and-back hike and the next day drove on south toward New Mexico and Chaco Canyon.
Bob was already there and we had two nice days and nights camping, (it rained again and was muddy for a bit), hiking, and exploring the ruins. The roads to Chaco are at best, terrible. Be aware. They are said to grade the north road in mid-April so you might take that into account.
From there we went to Bandelier National Monument. Bob and Dan walked the canyon trail while I just stretched out and read. We had a harrowing drive over due to poor advice from a volunteer ranger at Chaco. Bob left for home the next morning and Dan and I walked to the Tyuonyi Overlook. It's a short hike and a real treat.
After that, we had time to kill and our route took us west so we decided to see the Grand Canyon. I'd never visited the south rim. Well, it is gorgeous, spectacular, but more like Disneyland than an outdoor experience. Again, we got lucky and found a great campsite. It snowed on us again that night.
Photos follow . . . Here and in the New Mexico section below.
We tried hiking Little Wild Horse Canyon but we didn't bring water shoes and the canyons were full of cold water. Unwilling to go barefoot we backed out. But at least we had sunshine! Since we had been forced to the eastern part of the state and would pass through Moab (which I try to avoid due to the hordes of tourists) I thought Dan should see Fisher Towers. We even got lucky and found a camping spot in the tiny campground there. We had my small, Scamp camping trailer, by the way. We did the Fisher Towers out-and-back hike and the next day drove on south toward New Mexico and Chaco Canyon.
Bob was already there and we had two nice days and nights camping, (it rained again and was muddy for a bit), hiking, and exploring the ruins. The roads to Chaco are at best, terrible. Be aware. They are said to grade the north road in mid-April so you might take that into account.
From there we went to Bandelier National Monument. Bob and Dan walked the canyon trail while I just stretched out and read. We had a harrowing drive over due to poor advice from a volunteer ranger at Chaco. Bob left for home the next morning and Dan and I walked to the Tyuonyi Overlook. It's a short hike and a real treat.
After that, we had time to kill and our route took us west so we decided to see the Grand Canyon. I'd never visited the south rim. Well, it is gorgeous, spectacular, but more like Disneyland than an outdoor experience. Again, we got lucky and found a great campsite. It snowed on us again that night.
Photos follow . . . Here and in the New Mexico section below.