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Utah Canyons Backpacking

With hundreds of acres of unspoiled Southwestern wilderness, Utah hiking features high plateaus, multicolored sandstone cliffs and narrow twisting canyons. After the days hike through this amazing geological landscape, we will relax with a hot meal, good stories and a night spent under the stars!

What’s Included

• 4 days/3 nights backpacking in Grand Gulch canyon (entering Kane Gulch, exiting Bullet canyon)
• 1 night at Rio Grande Inn downtown Durango prior to hike
• Backwoods Adventures guide Joe Koehly
• All transfers to and from La Plata County airport, if necessary
• All transfers to and from Cedar Mesa recreation area
• Marmot 3 season tents provided
• All group cookware, stoves/fuel, and water filtration systems provided
• Minimum 3 pre-departure information conference calls with head guide
• All meals, recreation area fees, and all guide fees

What’s not Included

• Transportation to and from Durango, Colorado
• Personal gear and clothing
• Alcoholic drinks, extra drinks and snacks
• Gratuities
• Extras; laundry, massage, Internet

With 4 days and 3 nights of backpacking and a welcome dinner and overnight in historic Durango, Colorado this 5 day Utah Canyons Backpacking Trip is a truly unique backpacking experience. We will meet in Durango on Wednesday afternoon for our trip briefing and gear shakedown, before we head to a local eatery for dinner, then a good night’s sleep before heading West to Utah!

Traveling from Durango to Cedar Mesa we will take in the beauty of the area on the drive before dropping into Kane Gulch and making our way down the Grand Gulch canyon. Our Utah Canyons Backpacking Trip is like an outdoor excursion to a natural history museum. The canyon is littered with early Pueblan Indian ruins dating between 800 to 1200 years A.D. We will have a firsthand view of petroglyphs, pictographs, and ancient kivas!

Each team member will carry their personal gear, along with group cooking gear and food distributed evenly. We will cover 5 to 8 miles a day, eating lunch on the trail and spending plenty of time enjoying our surroundings. Evenings will be spent in camp, sharing stories of the day and enjoying the stars above the beautiful canyon walls.

Meals

At Backwoods Adventures we know that well fed travelers are happy travelers! We aim to please your palate by providing great meals both in town and on the trail!

Accommodations

We will spend our first night in Historic downtown Durango and enjoy a great welcome dinner at one of our favorite local eateries. The next 3 nights will be spent under the stars, in spacious 3-person Marmot tents.

Health

Some of the activities that you may choose to participate in while in Utah are strenuous. They should not be undertaken if you have any health conditions which may put you at risk. You are strongly advised to consult your physician for a thorough medical check-up and clearance before attempting our Utah hiking. If you are over 50 years old, talk to your doctor about doing a ‘stress EKG’. Should you require any medication whatsoever, you must provide your own and be able to administer it yourself.

 

 

Trip Dates: 
April 10-14, 2013
Or, book a custom adventure trip.

Total Days: 5

Pricing:
8 or more – $1,199
5 to 7 – $1,449
1 to 4 – Custom pricing

Activities: Backpacking

Accommodations:
Downtown Durango hotel, 1 night; Canyons camp, 3 nights
 
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Area Facts and Details

    • The name “Utah” comes from the Native American “Ute” tribe and means people of the mountains.
    • Utah peaks, on average, are the tallest in the country. The average elevation of the tallest peaks in each of Utah’s counties is 11,222 feet higher than the same average in any other state.
    • The Uinta mountain range, named after the Ute Indians who lived in the basin, is one of the only East-West axis mountains in North America.
    • Utah has seven national monuments
    • Cedar Breaks, Natural Bridges, Dinosaur, Rainbow Bridge, Grand Staircase-Escalante, Timpanogos Cave and Hovenweep. Utah is a great vacationland with 11,000 miles of fishing streams and 147,000 acres of lakes and reservoirs.
    • The biggest dinosaur footprints in the world are in Utah. The prints belonged to a hadrosaurid (duckbill). The Cleveland-Lloyd Dinosaur Quarry is one of the world’s foremost dinosaur fossil sources. Includes more than 30 complete skeletons, several thousand individual bones, intact dinosaur eggs, and tons of other remains.
    • The controversy surrounding the construction of the Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell is often cited as the beginning of the modern-day environmental movement.
    • Kanab is called “Park Central” because it is located only minutes away from a grand array of three (3) national parks, three (3) national monuments, one (1) national recreation area and two (2) state parks. Two (2) national forests and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wilderness areas also surround Kanab. It is also known as Utah’s Little Hollywood because of the large number of motion pictures that are filmed in the area. .
    • Because of the state’s inland location Utah’s snow is unusually dry. Earning it the reputation of having the world’s greatest powder. 14 Alpine ski resorts operate in Utah.
 
 

Something Life Changing Is Just One Adventure Away!

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  • "My general comments are…this was THE BEST trip of my life, by far(and I have been places). The group, Joe, the supporting company, the hike, the safari, the whole overall experience was absolutely amazing and I would recommend it to anybody who loves Nature, adventure and physical challenges.

    Carlos Q. – Kilimanjaro 2011

  • "This trip far exceeded my expectations. I knew it would be beautiful, but it was more beautiful than I expected. I knew the good would be good, but it was better. I knew Joe would be good, but then there was Beatrice and Caroline. I knew the group would be good and fun loving…but it was even more fun than I thought!"

    Rich C. – Mont Blanc 2011

  • "Great success overall. Definitely and experience I will remember for a long long time. The flexibility offered on the trip was greatly appreciated. Great call on gear list and was able to get all the appropriate gear at Backwoods."

    Dan M. – Costa Rica 2011

  • "The Salkantay/Machu Picchu trip was amazing. The icing on the cake was Joe's fantastic sense of humor, patience and unassuming nature. Backwoods Adventures was exceptionally well represented by Joe on this trip. Thank you for giving me the opportunity to fulfill a life list goal."

    Pam C. – Machu Picchu 2008

  • "Once again the Backwoods Adventures guides provided a well- planned, professional and entertaining outdoor experience. Great knowledge of the trail, the environment and culture of the canyon kept the trip interesting and engaging. Looking forward to my next trip!"

    Jim R. – Utah Canyons 2011

  • "I’m speechless. Having just returned from this very trip all I can say is – can I do it all over again? This trip is absolutely unbelievable at every level. The accommodations, the food, the people, the ruins, the hiking-I find I have to pinch myself while reviewing my pictures in order to believe that I was actually there!"

    - C. Blaise `2008

  • " Thank you to Joe for being our trip leader. His sense of humor and patience played a huge part in the success of the trip. It was a great experience that was planned well!"

    - R. & M. Hall `2009

  • "Not only was the food good, but the variety & impulsiveness was fun... keep it up. The lunch at Silencio was pleasantly unique, as were the roadside stops and new foods. I traveled with Backwoods as the positive result of a previous Backwoods trip and would be pleased to do so again."

    - J. Rogers `2008

  • "The whole Backwoods Adventure, from the slideshow, to the advice/shopping at the Norman store to the conference calls to the actual trip itself was fantastic. I hope to continue these trips as they provide a lot of value for the cost!"

    - Terry B `2011



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