Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Last week I shared photos from Day 1 of a 2-night, 3-day backpack into Coyote Gulch. This was part of my larger trip with 2 friends to explore the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument back in April.  Today, we'll cover Day 2, with an 8-mile dayhike to Cliff Arch, and Day 3, the hike out. Despite the rain, hail and even snow the night before we started our trip, we were in early-rising mode to dodge the heat of the day. That country can change at the drop of a hat from cold to hot and back again. Moonset at sunrise. For a while, it's all about the reflected light. We were on the trail before 8 a.m. and soon hiking past lots of places that might have been nicer camps (but wouldn't have divided our days so neatly). I do recommend taking advantage of the wider parts of the canyon to camp away from the trail. About 35 minutes of walking took us to Swiss Cheese Falls, named for the ways the water has eroded holes into the rock. Coyote Natural Bridge was the next special f...

Welcome back for another episode of "Rebecca Rocks Out." After 2 years, I returned to Dry Fork Coyote Wash and to Peekaboo Gulch, where I broke my foot in April 2023. No injuries this time! Well, except to my camera, which finally succumbed to all the desert sand and grit halfway through the hike. I'm glad that cell phones these days have great cameras, so the trip wasn't a photographic loss. We went on from Peekaboo to Spooky Gulch, an even narrower slot canyon, though not in my opinion as pretty a one.   The hike starts with a short walk to the edge of the canyon, then a long walk along the shelf atop the sandstone. Starting the hike. Two years ago we climbed into Peekaboo from the bottom of the wash, a climb that I don't like and can't do without help. This time we hiked up alongside the slot and dropped in from the top. A bit of a search located the place we climbed out after I broke my foot. It was a less obvious route than I remembered! From there we hea...

After my trip to the Grand Canyon in mid-April, I met up with my friend Zeke and we headed to Utah, with plans for about 10 days of explorations in the canyon country and the Bears Ears National Monument. The best-laid plans and all that, but I did get some good photos. The Grand Canyon photos: Part 1 of this series was up on the South Rim . Part 2 took us down the Bright Angel trail and out the Tonto West Trail to Horn Creek . Part 3 is Monument Canyon and Granite Rapids . Part 4 took us to Hermit Creek and Hermit Rapids, where we finally saw some decent wildflowers. Part 5 was the trip up the Hermit Trail and a few extra bits.   Grand Staircase-Escalante The Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument is in the south central part of Utah, and abuts both the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area and Capitol Reef National Park. With minimal development and a maze of canyons (accessed by gravel/dirt roads/jeep trails) it's a favorite haunt of mine. In camp along the Hole In the...