We were supposed to be taking it easy. After five days on horseback in the Teton Wilderness and hiking Darby Canyon Wind Cave the day before, our legs were ready for something a little less ambitious. We still wanted to explore the west side of the Tetons, though, and another hiker had recommended the trail…
We don’t normally hike the same trail twice. There are simply too many new places we want to explore. But Darby Canyon Wind Cave was different. We first hiked the trail in the spring of 2019. We made it all the way to Wind Cave, but the amount of water flowing from the cave made…
We started this hike with a mission. Somewhere in the mountains outside Dubois, Wyoming, were the remains of a World War II-era bomber, and we wanted to find them. The problem was, we really didn’t know where the wreckage was. Unlike most of our hikes, there wasn’t an AllTrails route for us to follow into…
When we started looking for hikes near Dubois, Wyoming, Lake Louise quickly caught our attention. At just under five miles round trip with about 1,000 feet of elevation gain, it looked like a good moderate hike and a perfect introduction to the mountains around Whiskey Basin. What we didn’t expect was how much variety could…
When we arrived at the Canyonlands National Park Visitor Center that November morning, we weren’t sure which hike we’d tackle. Rather than relying solely on guidebooks or AllTrails, we asked one of the park rangers for his recommendation. Without hesitation, he suggested the Syncline Loop Trail. He described it as one of the best hikes…
When we pulled into the Kyhv Peak Trailhead just before 8:00 on a cool May morning, we weren’t sure what kind of day we were going to get. The temperature hovered in the low 40s, and a blanket of gray clouds covered the sky. Looking up toward the summit, I wondered if we’d spend the…
We don’t normally begin a hike at four o’clock in the afternoon. But this wasn’t a normal day. Just twelve hours earlier, we had pulled into Big Cottonwood Canyon around 3:00 a.m. and waited for Spruces Campground to open. By seven o’clock, we were choosing a campsite, setting up Alice, and settling into what would…
Quick Answer Desolation Lake is an 8.3-mile round-trip hike in Big Cottonwood Canyon that climbs nearly 2,000 feet to a scenic alpine lake sitting just below 9,500 feet. The trail is mostly forested with occasional mountain views along the way. In late spring, hikers may still find snow around the shoreline. Although the hike is…
We weren’t originally planning to spend several days hiking around Logan Canyon, but after our Wind Cave hike earlier in the day, the dramatic cliffs across the canyon kept pulling at us. Locals call this section the Great Wall, and the Crimson Trail loop follows the top of those cliffs. The trail turned out to…
After spending a short time at Bear Lake, we headed into Logan Canyon to explore one of the area’s most popular hikes. Wind Cave Trail had been on our radar because it offered something a little different than the typical mountain viewpoint. Instead of hiking to a lake or summit, this trail leads to a…
The Popo Agie Falls Trail is one of the best hikes near Lander, Wyoming. This 3.6-mile out-and-back trail follows the Popo Agie (pronounced POH-poh SHEE-uh) River through a scenic canyon before climbing to a series of waterfalls and a natural granite water slide. With mountain views, rushing water, wildflowers, and relatively moderate effort, it is…
Few slot canyon hikes in Utah are as instantly recognizable as Zebra Slot Canyon. Located in the Grand Staircase-Escalante region near Escalante, this short desert hike is known for its striped sandstone walls, narrow squeezes, and one of the most photogenic slot canyon corridors in the Southwest. If you’re wondering where Zebra Slot Canyon is,…
Buckskin Gulch wasn’t even on our original Utah plans. A local mentioned it to us while we were on the road, and that simple recommendation led to one of the most unforgettable hikes of the entire trip. From the moment we stepped into the narrow canyon walls, we knew this was going to be something…
