Rebecca M. Douglass, Author

Natural Bridges is located in SE Utah, and is (or has been) surrounded by the Bears Ears National Monument, which it predates by a good century--Natural Bridges National Monument was created by Teddy Roosevelt in 1908 (Bears Ears was protected in 2016). The heart of the monument is the White Canyon, where there are three significant bridges-- Kachina , Owachomo , and Sipapu.  My project on the May morning I was there was to hike to the Sipapu bridge, a 1.5-mile drop into the canyon and back out. What I ended up doing was a 5.75 mile loop from Sipapu to Owachomo and back up over the mesa to my car. Sun's up--time to get out of camp! 20 minutes later at the Sipapu Bridge overlook. Spot the bridge down there? You can't actually see through it from this angle. Time for another bit of pedantry. In case you are wondering, there's a reason these are called bridges, not arches. And that reason is totally tied up to their location. If you've visited Arches NP, you know y...

Well, if this isn't a bit bittersweet, revisiting Bears Ears just as the size of the monument--and of Grand Staircase-Escalante , another favorite stomping ground--is being slashed by an entity I shall not name. If you think these photos--or the others from my trips to these areas--show something special, maybe lift up your voice and let Congress know we aren't happy about this latest move. I try not to get political on this blog, but sometimes silence is not acceptable. Shrinking this monument and others in Utah is unacceptable.  Two years ago I spent a week backpacking Grand Gulch in the Bears Ears (see link above). This time I was in transit, and only had a few hours in the Monument. I made the most of them. Stop 1: Mule Canyon/House on Fire It was almost 4 p.m. when I headed up Mule Canyon on the 1 mile walk to House on Fire. The weather wasn't wholly cooperative. I almost turned back when it started to rain, but such desert showers don't usually last, and it didn...

After finishing our Gila backpack, I drove into Silver City for lunch (also because to get home, I needed to drive to Silver City first), then continued on up US 190 to Catwalk Canyon, near Glenwood, NM. I know I claimed I'd share photos from the Bears Ears today, but I'm not done with those photo edits. Bear with me :D It was hot, and I'd already hiked some 4 1/2 miles that morning, so I wasn't looking for a long outing. But I'd been told about the "catwalk," the bridges built into the side of the canyon, so I thought I'd take a look. I'd driven out from under the large rain event that had dampened our visit to the Gila Ruins (see last week's post ). The area is an official Recreation Area, so you need a Parks Pass or to pay a parking fee. I happily whipped out my NPS Geezer Pass and headed up the trail.  At first it's a stroll along the stream in the trees, with zillions of locals playing in the water. Then you move onto something more li...

Wow, where did the last week go? Anyway, here I am again with more from the Gila Wilderness. The third day of our trek was a shorter hike up the Middle Fork to the point where we would be crossing over to the West Fork.  Heading out. We'd been in no doubt that we weren't alone out there, passing many piles of bear poop on the previous days. We'd spotted a bear early in the second day's hike, as well. This morning, we found fresh tracks shortly after leaving camp. My size 9.5 (40.5) boot next to the print. The same bit of sandy trail also provided some tracks of a mountain lion (spoiler alert: we never saw any of them). We carried on, being sure to announce our presence before pushing into the brush.   We seemed to be coming out of the narrow canyon, with more and larger open spaces. That just left us more exposed to the sun, and things were heating up. "Meadow" and pointy bits of eroded rock.  Not sure about the ID--my app says Black Locust. Beautiful pink blo...