Utah Adventure Journal

When you think of canyoneering in Utah, a few things probably come to mind. Aron Ralston’s arm, or rather, his lack of arm. The other, much more beautiful Wall Street. Getting sand in your shorts, and having some with lunch. That one iconic photo of the Narrows – you know – the one you’ve always planned […]

Candidate Bill Barron to Reprise Bike Ride Across Utah Two years ago, Bill Barron ran against all odds for US Senator against powerful incumbent Orrin Hatch. Though defeated, he is running for office again this year for a seat in the US Congress to represent Utah’s 2nd Congressional District. A carpenter by trade, Barron “would […]

“One of the things Utahans are notorious for is not really paying attention to the lake,” explains Greg Smoak, director of the American West Center and an associate professor of history at the University of Utah. Perhaps because the Wasatch attracts a large percentage of outdoor recreation, the 2,000-square mile lake 20 miles north of […]

It’s no secret that I love beer in equal measure with the outdoors. As a result, I’ve long held the notion that fine brews go hand-in-hand with outdoor recreation, not only because many of us who enjoy being outside are connoisseurs of fine, small batch ales, but also because nothing pairs better with a long […]

In 2011 Mikaela Shiffrin made her World Cup ski racing debut a few weeks shy of her 15th birthday, and later that year won the US National title in slalom, the youngest person to ever accomplish the feat. In the 2012 season she scored her first podium with a 3rd place result in Linz, Austria, […]

  You’ll never hear a real boater complain about low river flow, a boater will always tell you that any day on the river is better than a day at work. After spending a handful of summers in Moab, this is a common topic that pops up this time of year. High water has dropped […]

  We describe home as a permanent place of residency, identifiable by an address and a couch and a water heater and a collection of cheesy souvenir shot glasses, all gathering dust on top of a foundation that’s been cemented into the ground — as if to prove that your home and all its possessions […]

As a benefit for the San Juan Mountains Association, we had organized a canoe trip on the Green River near Moab to paddle 60 miles from Geyser Springs to Mineral Bottom.  Colorado’s Centennial Canoe Outfitters claims this is “part of the longest stretch of quiet wilderness water in the western United States.” We had plans […]

  Once you spend enough time in the desert, weird stuff will happen.  Nearly everyone has a life-changing desert story, but for me, strange is the new normal.  So here are a couple of my favorites, and before you insist my imagination has clearly run amok, know every sentence in here is true, and that […]

Cold? No, that’s just sending temps. At least that’s what you tell yourself. Shade on the wall had come a week ago and its icy grip was here until spring. As far as I knew the Good Medicine Area had never known sun but I had also only recently come to know the crag. I […]

  Giddy. There is no better way to describe how I feel in this moment other than the pure, childlike joy that forces giggles unbecoming a grown man. Yet as I bank another turn on soft dirt and feel acceleration out of the corner, another girly sound escapes my mouth. A straight section of singletrack […]

  My wife and I had been searching for a nearby crag with decent rock ever since arriving in southern Utah.  The closest we got to this wish were two hour drives to Cedar City or Brian Head.  The area where we live is in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument and the “rock” here is […]

I’ve always been anxious and tense when interacting with war veterans. I usually end up stuttering, spitting out some words like “brave” or “heroic” and thanking them for their service while trying to escape the situation as quickly as possible. This time I couldn’t sneak away. I was in Zion National Park hiking through one […]