Bogley

kris · Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 57

Hello, I have been lurking on the site for a while, and this is my first time posting.

Anyways, I am looking for a good moderate/technical three day hike somewhere in southern Utah. I have read up on a few on various sites, and even in some books. Yet the choices seem overwhelming. I fight fires during the summer months, so I need to get out before the season gets busy. I am aiming for the 23-26 of March. I will have another experienced hiker with me. Ideally we would like something in the 30-40 mile trip, if they are out there.

I am not new to hiking, or long pushes, and neither is my friend. But would prefer something where climbing gear is minimal.

Any tips would be great.

Summit42 · Joined: 03 Aug 2006 Posts: 1937 Location: 127.0.0.1

Well what did you have in mind? Escalante, Zion, Canyonlands, The Swell or just any where in Southern Utah?
If i had 3 days I would head down to The Maze, There has been a lot of talk about it on this thread.
http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5232

there is plenty of room out there.....

stefan · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 4092 Location: somewhere

kris wrote: Hello, I have been lurking on the site for a while, and this is my first time posting.

Anyways, I am looking for a good moderate/technical three day hike somewhere in southern Utah. I have read up on a few on various sites, and even in some books. Yet the choices seem overwhelming. I fight fires during the summer months, so I need to get out before the season gets busy. I am aiming for the 23-26 of March. I will have another experienced hiker with me. Ideally we would like something in the 30-40 mile trip, if they are out there.

I am not new to hiking, or long pushes, and neither is my friend. But would prefer something where climbing gear is minimal.

Any tips would be great.

steve allen's books canyoneering 2 & 3 have some good ideas, though many of his might take longer than 3 days of course, but you can get ideas for shorter trips.

i agree with summit, it helps if you had a particular area or couple areas in mind. what areas have you been to?

not technical at all, but quite moderate and enjoyable is a loop made between fish and owl creek in cedar mesa (near grand gulch). though since it's after march 1 you'll need to make sure you can get a permit. have you been in coyote gulch? supermellow but a wonderful canyon.

or are you looking for a more rugged wild experience? i usually find these are better with more days to walk, but there are many possibilities. having an area or two in mind helps to trigger suggestions.

tanya · Joined: 18 Oct 2005 Posts: 5638 Location: Ivins, UT

kris wrote: Hello, I have been lurking on the site for a while, and this is my first time posting.

Anyways, I am looking for a good moderate/technical three day hike somewhere in southern Utah. I have read up on a few on various sites, and even in some books. Yet the choices seem overwhelming. I fight fires during the summer months, so I need to get out before the season gets busy. I am aiming for the 23-26 of March. I will have another experienced hiker with me. Ideally we would like something in the 30-40 mile trip, if they are out there.

I am not new to hiking, or long pushes, and neither is my friend. But would prefer something where climbing gear is minimal.

Any tips would be great.

Bo and Jeff do the 52 mile - across Zion hike if you want a spectacular one! They do it in one day though. It would be much more enjoyable as a 3 day trek.
Bo's Story
http://zion-national-park.blogspot.com/2007/01/getting-ready-to-hike-across-zion-in.html

http://zion-national-park.blogspot.com/2006/05/hiking-across-zion-national-park-in.html

I would love to hear more from Jeff (eriel --- ladies that is him behind Bo. Handsome man!) -- hint hint

Last leg... they are about to do the East Rim and finish their 52 mile trek in a day.

kris · Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 57

Summit42 wrote: Well what did you have in mind? Escalante, Zion, Canyonlands, The Swell or just any where in Southern Utah?
If i had 3 days I would head down to The Maze, There has been a lot of talk about it on this thread.
http://uutah.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5232

there is plenty of room out there.....

Wow, looks to be an awesome, secluded area.

As for particular areas, just south is where we have started looking. I have been down Grand Gulch several years with my dad, but hardly remember much of it. My dad does a few hikes a year down south, but they are all during my busy season.

Scott P · Joined: 14 Dec 2005 Posts: 1626

Some top picks for that time of year and with three days to spare:

Larry or Robbers Roost Canyon
Ticaboo area
Hackberry Canyon
Cedar Mesa (many choices)
Coyote Gulch
Harris Wash
Upper Coalpits

PS, don't drive all the way out to the Maze unless you know the Flint Trail is open. It is often closed at this time of year. You can drive in from Hite, but you still need to pick up a camping permit.

denaliguide · Joined: 12 Feb 2007 Posts: 606 Location: new zealand/alaska

3 day trips:

cedar mesa: fish & owl creek
slickhorn canyon
grand gulch (lots of options, and people)

escalante: it's in steve allen's book loop hikes in the escalante.
navajo canyon and around to llewelln and cottonwood canyons.
i did it as a solo trip a few years back and it was a good
moderate challenge with a 5.4 exit out of navajo canyon. this one had some good distance to it. and only needed a 100' of rope for one rap into the slot in navajo. the navajo slot is a big wide deep beautiful place.

many other possibilites. just use your imagination.

canyonlands: definitely the maze.

there are some nice and moderate routes to be done
around the needles district. just avoid lost canyon.
it's very popular.

other miscellaneous: dark canyon, bowdie canyon,

no matter where you go you can be sure to have a good time. just depends what you are really looking for. slots, views, rock art , ruins, technical, or whatever.

have fun and let everyone know how it went.

Scott P · Joined: 14 Dec 2005 Posts: 1626

Oops, I missed that it was supposed to be technical (the ones I listed are definately not). In that case, you can come in one of the Robbers Roost Forks or do Gem Canyon. Exploring the forks of Gem Canyon and out Dizzy Trail could easily take three days:

http://www.summitpost.org/canyon/152117/Gem-Canyon-West-Fork.html

http://www.summitpost.org/canyon/152456/gem-canyon-middle-fork.html

For something a bit easier, looping Little Death Hollow with Silver Falls may fit the bill.

One caution about the Maze since you mention technical gear. All techical routes in the Maze must be done without leaving bolts or slings. Canyonlands is strict and you are looking at some serious fines and probably arrest if you do something like bolt something or leave a sling behind and get caught.

kris · Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 57

Thanks for all the replies. They have given me some great ideas for future hiking.

We have decided to do some hiking in The Maze area the end of this month.

stefan · Joined: 09 Jan 2006 Posts: 4092 Location: somewhere

Scott Patterson wrote:
For something a bit easier, looping Little Death Hollow with Silver Falls may fit the bill.

kris, so as scott mentions little death hollow there are two possibilities. the shorter is doing little death hollow looping back with wolverine. this makes for a shorter trip and you can do some exploring down to the escalante river and/or up horse canyon. the longer would be a loop with silverfalls canyon a ways to the south. this is a longer trip, but since you're into LONG pushes, this could be interesting. keep in mind that there was some major flooding in october and that along the escalante river much of the vegetation has been pushed over and may slow progress and that the return from silver falls to LDH is a fair bit longer than with wolverine.

LDH is a neat set of narrows, technical in the sense of some downclimbing, but quite mellow on the tech side. below LDH you can explore to the river or up horse cyn.

scott makes a good point with robbers roost cyn, since the upper reaches of the canyon are wonderful and there are a couple of exits up there. descending one fork could place you in the upper canyon to explore some for day 2, then exit and return. alternately descend south fork. any trip would be shorter with a car shuttle, but with sufficient time, loops can be made. [a nice nontech trip also is exploring all the forks from the bottom up to falls.]

some really good overnight/multinight tech routes in zion, but perhaps not the ideal time.

more often than not, folks tend to do tech canyons as day trips ... one benefit is carrying much less gear.