October

This Fall has been long and glorious on the Colorado Plateau. The incredible weather allowed us to get out a lot. The last weekend on October, River and I did a long backpack trip into the Needles District of Canyonlands NP. This trip was too long for the whole family so just the two of us went. One of my greatest joys is watching my boys enjoy being in remote wild areas. I have been taking them with me since before they could walk and they are all becoming quite comfortable in the backcountry. River is packing most of his own gear now. The plan is that he will pack all my stuff by the time he is 16. This is Druid Arch in Elephant Canyon.

Old Grandpa Cottonwood in Lost Canyon. When it's my time to leave this Earth, I hope it is under a Cottonwood Tree.

Mid October we got one more river journey in. We floated Catatract Canyon, which I had never done. It was a great trip, good water level and no mishaps (aside from the groover). I finally got to see where the two Big Rivers come together. Thanks to the Newtons for showing us the runs. The photo above is our last camp at Imperial Rapid.

I started off the month by taking a short packtrip into the Dark Canyon Wilderness on our District. This was a work trip and I went in with horses to pick up my trail crew who had been in the wilderness for a week long trip finishing up some trail work and a campsite and exotic weed inventory that we completed for the entire wilderness this summer. While the majority of my time is spent in an office writing environmental analysis, attending public meetings, being confronted at public meetings, preparing budgets, planning, and other highly exciting tasks, I actually do get to get out in the field to see the areas we mange on a fairly regular basis. I also maintain a wilderness blog about the Dark Canyon Wilderness at wilderness.net , which is an amazing website on wilderness if you are interested. The photo is of my camp in Cherry Canyon.