Backpacking began when I was a kid and continues to this day…
Mid-April 2017 was a milestone anniversary for me. In a twelve day time span I had the good fortune to backpack and day hike public lands in south-central Utah. Roughly mid-way through this incredible trip, laying in my sleeping bag under clear skies flooded with thousands of stars, listening to the song of the Canyon wren, I realized I have been backpacking and day hiking public lands for 50 years. I am fortunate!.
The trip started with a day hike to Corona Arch near Moab. I’ve come across many arches exploring southern Utah and believe Corona is one of my favorite. The arch is located on public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).
Corona Arch near Moab, UT. An easy day hike very popular with tourists.
On to backpacking Canyonlands National Park…
After the Corona Arch warm-up day hike my long-time friend and colleague Mark, and I, were off to the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. We met up with Mark’s friend Will, and Will’s friend Tom, at the visitor center, and headed to the back country of the park. Canyonlands is managed by the National Park Service (NPS).
Will and Tom are highly respected ultralight backpackers, 75 and 70 years old respectively. They carried backpacks that weighed a mere 18 and 20 pounds respectively. Mark and I , 68 and 61 years old respectively, are more traditional backpackers. We carried packs weighing 30 and 40 pounds respectively.
It was odd being the youngster on the trip and not very refreshing being the one carrying the most weight. But I learned a lot about ultralight and super ultralight backpacking. I certainly plan to downsize some of my gear. And I learned, knocking on wood, that I could have many years left to enjoy this sport.
We were out for 5 days and 4 nights. During days 2, 3 and 4 we had the back country to ourselves. We did not seeing one other person. We only saw one set of human footprints. In our solitude, we walked cross-country mile after mile through a large section of the park that contains no trails.
Needles in Canyonlands National Park
Then on to a day hike on BLM lands near Capitol Reef National Park…
After leaving Canyonlands, Mark and I drove to Torrey, UT. Torrey is the gateway community to Capitol Reef National Park. We stayed with family of Mark’s for a couple of nights.
Mark’s family members, Tom and Carol, took us on a day hike. They wanted to show us petrified wood they had come across on a previous hike. The hike was on BLM public lands adjacent to Capitol Reef.
Petrified wood on a red-rock rim near Torrey, UT and Capitol Reef National Monument.
With Tom being 90 years old and Carol being 76, I assumed we were in for an easy day, allowing my body to recover from the Canyonlands backpack. Turns out my assumption was wrong. The journey to their petrified forest was invigorating and awesome, and nothing but fun. I can only hope I have their health and energy when I reach those golden years. Thank you both for a wonderful day!
Then on to backpacking Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument…
Mark and I then left Torrey to backpack the Boulder Mail Trail in the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. After shuttling our vehicle, we ventured down the trail for 3 days and 2 nights of splendor. The trail follows the old mail route and telegraph line between Boulder and Escalante, two small towns surrrounded by the monument.
Death Hollow along the Boulder Mail Trail.
While we certainly encountered more people along this trail than we did along trails in Canyonlands National Park, we still pretty much had the area to ourselves. The drop into Death Hollow, the 9 crossings of the creek at the bottom, and the climb out of Death Hollow was awe-inspiring to say the least!
Then home to the public lands of Wyoming…
As much as I enjoy exploring OUR public lands in other States, I always savor the drive back to OUR public lands in Wyoming. For this trip, the journey home took me across vast expanses of BLM lands, south to north, in the central part of the State.
Across the Little Snake River and up Muddy Creek into the Great Divide Basin. Across the Great Divide to the Sweetwater River, with a short excursion into the North Platte River basin in between. From the Sweetwater to the Wind River Basin. Down the Wind River through Wind River Canyon, where at the north end the river name miraculously changes, at the Wedding of the Waters, to the Bighorn River.
Then up and out of the Bighorn River to a series of sub-basins that feed the Bighorn: Owl Creek, Cottonwood Creek, Grass Creek, Gooseberry Creek, Little Buffalo Creek. Then over one final pass into the Greybull River drainage and home.
With all this positive though, there is a negative – OUR public lands are still threatened…hugely threatened…incredibly threatened…
As much as I enjoyed my trip, I returned home with concern; great and perhaps grave concern. Concern that the on-going assault on OUR public lands continues and, under the Trump administration, seems to be accelerating.
Even before I had a chance to completely unpack my gear, President Trump signed an Executive Order directing Secretary Zinke to review the Antiquities Act and designations made under that Act over the last 20 years. I find this very disturbing but not unexpected.
To start, the Utah delegation, consisting of Senators Hatch and Lee, and Representatives Chaffetz and Bishop, along with Utah Governor Herbert, are the primary force behind this Executive Order. Hatch has apparently bent the ear of Trump to the point Trump now appears to be in Hatch’s back pocket.
Being in Hatch’s back pocket also means Trump is in the back pocket of the Utah theocracy, otherwise known as the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (LDS) or the Mormons. Which really brings into question the separation of church and state when it comes to management of public lands held by all Americans, not just Utahns.
Zinke, unfortunately, may now be nothing more than a pawn in Utah’s effort to gain control of public lands across that State. And if Utah gains control you can bet certain other Western states will try to follow.
Couple Hatch’s and the Church’s influence over Trump, with the influence of resource extraction industries and their desire to exploit public lands across the West with their own control over Trump, I believe the next few years are going to be very troublesome and depressing.
If you are interested in this debate I encourage you to follow the Center for Western Priorities and stay or become engaged. Engage, through letters and phone calls, with your political leaders. And not just your federal level leaders, but also your state, county, and municipal leaders.
Until next time…enjoy YOUR public lands.
Nothing short of excellent! Thank you for your insight.
If we let them take this land away, and turn it over to the oil, and gas companies, we are some kind of stupid. This land is not just for us; we are the protectors so that our children, and their children that come after us. will have the joy we have taken for granted. WAKE UP. and STAND UP.