Utah Adventure Journal

It was late.  Late in terms of bedtime. “Dad, where’s Maddie?” Lilly asked. “We’ll find her shortly.” I responded. Lilly asked in a sweet, “I want something,” voice.  “Can we have a campfire once we get there?” “It’s already past your bedtime.  Once we get there, we’ll setup the tent and get some rest.” “Mommy, won’t find […]

Since my first introduction to canyoneering I had been telling various friends around the country how great it was and how they should come to Utah to give it a go.  Several folks gave me a reply along the lines of “indeed, canyon hiking is great. I’ve done the Bell Canyon/Little Wild Horse canyon loop, […]

  My Dad grew up on a 2,300-acre ranch in Big Sky Country. His life was embedded in livestock, crops, and weather. On the ranch, there wasn’t the type of nature separation we experience today. Life was the elements. My Dads upbringing heavily influenced my parent’s choice when purchasing their first home. He was no […]

I cranked hard on my bike pedals through a cloudy soup of brown dust. It was a creek bottom torn up into a 4×4 farm road, and was not meant to be ridden by an old mountain bike. The track certainly wasn’t meant to be ridden by a dirtbag laden with climbing gear en route […]

What would you do to fulfill your potential and follow your dreams? In the spring of 2017 Sina Solouksaran, was fit and focused. Banished from Iran in 2011 due to religious persecution he’d endured years of uncertainty as a refugee. 2016 saw him working a fulltime job and racing in Colorado where he competed in […]

  “Morning, Ed.  Hey, what are you doing this weekend?”  I inquired over the phone. “Nothing, what’s up?”  Ed responded. “You want to head to Cedar City to mountain bike?” “Cedar City?  Mountain biking?  I didn’t know Cedar City had any riding. Mike, we live in Park City.  There’s a ton of biking here.” “I […]

  Beyond the Iron Curtain of refinery smokestacks in North Salt Lake, there lies ample opportunity for mountain bikers to explore developing trail systems and escape the crowded core of the central Wasatch.  The drive to Davis County is often performed by commuters searching for a paycheck rather than by bikers with an eye for […]

  New Brews to Keep Your Summer Tasty The mountains are green, the air is hot, and your beer better be cold. Summer is in full swing in Utah and our state’s breweries are churning out seasonal brews that are light and refreshing. Perhaps you’re tailgating at a trailhead after a long mountain bike ride. […]

  An excerpt from Luke Mehall’s upcoming book, The Desert     We had some unfinished business before we embarked on developing this new wall, way, way back in a forgotten corner of this land we call Indian Creek. There was another wall, The Dove Creek Wall that we’d been developing in the main canyon. […]

  Story and Photos by Jay Dash   There I was, fingertips gripped on the quartzite rock, heart pumping as if it wanted to burst out of my chest, climbing what felt like a straight vertical wall of rock with no end in sight. I wondered, how did I get to this no fall zone […]

  Photos by Benj Wadsworth Boating—a word that most runners loathe—it can mean everything from floating on a placid lake to an ocean-sailing crossing to a Caribbean cruise ship.  But to a runner it pretty much means one thing:  a complete lack of exercise.  As a result, runners tend to avoid watercraft at all costs […]

“I’ll fly over the landing strip to scope it out.”   “That?  It’s a dirt road!” I pointed to the weed-filled, unmaintained dirt road. “Looks good.  Let’s land.” Who was I to argue?  I had zero control over the situation at hand.  I had to trust my friend and pilot Nadim to safely land his […]

(Excerpted from The Desert, due out later this year, or next year)   I scribbled that on the back of my car, shortly after 9-11, and George W and our government started sounding the war drums in Iraq. There was little chance I’d go to war, a much bigger chance that I’d go to the […]

Photos by Chris Brown   My enthusiasm stretches beyond the car and races ahead. The cooler is filled with hummus, beer, salad, the fruits of the earth; human fuel. Behind the cockpit is carefully packed with sleeping bags, chairs, the old Coleman stove, firewood and of course lots of water. Spanish Fork is where the […]

Ed Abbey and I traveled all over the Southwest. I was a college sophomore and Desert Solitare had been in print for only four years. I kept a cheap, dog-eared copy in my red Kelty external frame backpack and everywhere I hitchhiked across the Southwest, there was Ed. We had great conversations. We hitchhiked across […]