Escalante Petrified Forest – Solo Winter Adventures in Utah (Day 2)

Two logs of petrified wood (purple, yellow, orange, and red) in the snow at the low-point of the Sleeping Rainbows Trail

Rock-hounding is strictly forbidden. Collecting petrified wood and/or rocks of any kind within the boundaries of Escalante Petrified Forest is strictly forbidden. As of 2020, there are plenty of places in Utah where you can go and respectfully collect small amounts of petrified wood for your personal collections (click here for details or check with local BLM offices), but this is not one of them.

Trip Report: Escalante Petrified State Forest

• Date: January 28, 2020
• Activity: Winter Day Hiking
• Day-Use Fee: $8, payable at self-pay station
• Trail Name(s): Petrified Forest and Sleeping Rainbows Loop (1.75 miles total)
  1. Petrified Forest Trail (1 mile loop), rapidly ascends 200 feet before winding lazily across a mesa littered with petrified wood; Trail Conditions: a muddy mess with occasional intervals of snow and ice; I recommend avoiding it on warm (above freezing) afternoons and in the spring
  2. Sleeping Rainbows Trail ( 0.75 miles) loop off of the Petrified Forest Trail at the top of the mesa; this rougher, less-trafficked trail steeply descends off of the back of the mesa to an overlook before rapidly returning to the top of the mesa and the Petrified Forest Trail. Trail Conditions: a steep snowy scramble with fresh untracked snow of variable depths (2″ and 24″) between rocks and boulders (spoiler alert: some of the boulders are petrified wood).
• Location: Southern Utah between Bryce Canyon National Park and Capital Reef National Park (Two miles northwest of the town of Escalante off State Route 12). Address: 710 N. Reservoir Road, Escalante, UT 84726
• Access and Amenities (winter): Parking lots were plowed and completely empty, roads were mostly plowed. The reservoir was completely frozen with 8″ thick ice, so I was surprised to find functioning water spigots even though the temperatures were above freezing (I hosed off my very muddy boots before returning to my car)
  • Campgrounds: Open and 100% empty ($20 per night, $28 for RVs/hook-ups);
  • Visitor Center: Closed the entire day I was there

Doggone Cold! Winter Gear List for Dogs

Here’s a list of the winter hiking and backpacking gear that M’s Seeing Eye Dog Edge used on our winter Appalachian Trail adventure in Virginia for New Year’s. This list includes the gear he used for climbing up to Mary’s Rock with wind-chills of -15℉, as well as the gear he used for his first winter overnight (with a record-breaking low of -2℉).

Trekkers Wanted! (Adventures in Peru: Part 1)

“The mountains are calling, and I must go.” – John Muir

The Andes called to me, their thunderous voices promising beauty and adventure. I listened to their Siren song, strapped inside the belly of a small airplane, my body crunched into the unnatural seated position that civilization all too often forces me into. I dreamed about stretching my long legs out and hiking thru the Andes. It was a dream that I’d visited often in the 6 months since I booked my trip to Peru, but now, from my achingly small seat in the plane, the Andes were so close it felt like I could reach out and touch them.  “Soon,” I reminded myself, “soon I’ll be hiking in these mountains!”

Real Kayakers Wear Skirts! (Part 4: Gently Down the Stream?)

Part 4 of the story of my ill-advised whitewater kayaking trip down the Penobscot river picks up with me looking like a drowned rat at the base of Big Ambejackmockamus Falls (class IV). The first three parts of the story can be found at:

• Real Kayakers Wear Skirts! Part 1: The Calm Before the Storm
• Real Kayakers Wear Skirts! Part 2: In Over My Head.
• Real Kayakers Wear Skirts! Part 3: Taking the Plunge.

“Are you ok?” the kayaker on the rocky outcropping above me shouted, noticing me for the first time. I looked up, catching a glimpse of the tip of my kayak churning around in the whirlpool right behind her.

Better than sex? Boston Fireworks Kayaking Adventure

“Boo-ooo-ooo-oom!” The first rocket launched, the sound so intense that I didn’t just hear it as it bounced off of the river and hit me, I felt it! “Hoo-ah!” I exclaimed as my startle reflex took over: my stomach tightened, my eyes widened, my heart slowed (bradycardia), and my body flooded with adrenaline and endorphins… Time stood still as my attention was pulled fully into the here and now… all thoughts, emotions, and expectations emptied from my mind to make room for my heightened senses…