CA PIT OL REE F AN D TH E GR A N D ST A IR C AS E
Date: (6 days, 5 nights; Sun-Fri) Sept. 26-Oct. 1 Assembly Point: Torrey, UT (airline service to Salt Lake City; Timberline van shuttle to and from Salt Lake airport prior to and following tour) Tour Cost: $1,895 (includes all lodging, all meals, park entrance fees, van shuttles to and from Salt Lake airport, leaders, trail maps & narratives)
Of all the hiking programs that we have crafted in the course of the 17 years since we launched our first Grand Canyon Hike, none has posed a greater challenge as to content than our Capitol Reef and the Grand Staircase adventure. Our other Colorado Plateau hikes—the Grand Canyon series, Canyonlands/Arches and Bryce/Zion—provide well-delineated parameters within which to structure a program. In contrast, the vast expanse of the Grand Staircase/Escalante National Monument is daunting, to say the least and the inclusion of Capitol Reef National Park with its geographical proximity and geological affinity with the Grand Staircase, creates hiking options without limits. Creation in 1996 of the Grand Staircase/ Escalante, one of our newest national monuments, has provided a partial cloak of protection (falling well short of wilderness designation protection) over some of our nation’s most precious remaining wildlands in an area that has been a fierce battleground between developers and environmentalists. Our program assembles in Torrey, UT, at the western entrance to Capitol Reef, and we’ll provide van shuttle transportation from Salt Lake City early morning of Day 1. We’ll arrive at the Capitol Reef Resort early enough to visit the Visitors Center within the park and stretch our legs with a short hike along the Fremont River Trail that rises above the river for an outstanding view of the Fruita orchards and several of the park’s prominent formations (3 miles). Following our first of two overnights at the Capitol Reef Resort, we’ll hike to Cohab Canyon, climbing initially to a grand overlook of the Fremont River Canyon and then descending into the narrows of Cohab with its soaring sandstone walls. We’ll continue on to Cassidy Arch and through the Grand Wash (10 miles). The Rim Overlook Trail is our focus for Day 3. We’ll climb from the Fremont River, initially to Hickman Natural Bridge and then well beyond to Navajo Knobs, some 2,000 feet above the valley floor. The views from the Knobs, in a word, are incredible (10 miles). We’ll van shuttle from Capitol Reef late in the afternoon to Boulder and spend the next two evenings at the Boulder Mountain Lodge. We’re headed for the Burr Trail on Day 4 and a full day’s exploration of the intriguing Waterpocket Fold. We’ll hike Lower Muley Twist Canyon and then climb from the canyon to the crest of the Fold with its striking views of the Fold and the high peaks of the Henry Mountains to the east (10 miles). On Day 5, we’ll travel west into the Escalante to experience the remarkable slot canyon hiking for which this region is famous. We’ll spend much of the day in the Dry Fork of Coyote Gulch, scrambling, and we do mean scrambling, through slots aptly named “Spooky” and “Peekaboo” (7 miles). We’ll spend our final overnight at the Prospector Lodge in Escalante and hike to beautiful Calf Creek Falls (6 miles) prior to our return to Salt Lake.
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CA LI F ORNI A: HI G H SI E RR A/ CAS CADE S / DE SE RT
JOSHUA TREE
Dates: (6 days, 5 nights; Sun-Fri) Feb. 14-19 Assembly Point: Palm Springs, CA/Joshua Tree N.P. (airline service to Palm Springs; Timberline van shuttles between Palm Springs and Joshua Tee prior to and following tour) Tour Cost: $1,995 (includes all lodging, all meals, van shuttles between Palm Springs and Joshua Tree, park entrance fees, leaders, tour maps & narratives)
In the eyes of filmmaker Ken Burns, the creation of the national park system is America’s “Greatest Idea”. As an organization whose primary focus embraces the national parks throughout the U.S. and Canada, we are in awe of the enduring commitment to the preservation of these national treasures. Joshua Tree is a relatively new addition to our national park network. A national monument since 1936, Joshua Tree was elevated to national park protection in 1994, and for good reason. Desert, oases, mountains, slot canyons, mazes of rocks, and, of course, an abundance of the cherished Joshua trees combine to create a region of incredible diversity and, for our benefit, a hikers’ paradise. Factor in the quirky nature of the area—so close to Palm Springs, yet a world away—and the town of Twenty-Nine Palms, an incongruous blend of weird and sophistication. Twenty-Nine Palms, and the semi-famous Twenty-Nine Palms Inn, will be our home for all five nights. We’ll gather in Palm Springs early morning of Day 1 and shuttle directly to Joshua Tree. We’re headed to the Indian Cove area at the northern edge of the park on the fringe of the fascinating formations of the Wonderland of Rocks. Early into this “warm-up” hike, we’ll enter the dramatic slot of Rattlesnake Canyon as it twists its way through the Wonderland (3 miles). We’ll return to the Wonderland area on Day 2 as we skirt its western flank along the Boy Scout Trail (8 miles). Day 3, we’re off to the Cottonwood region at the park’s southern end. We’ll hike from the Visitors Center to Cottonwood Spring and then continue toward the fascinating fan palms and pools at Lost Palms Oasis in the context of a 10-mile hike that many consider to be the park’s premier day hike. Day 4, we’ll visit the Black Rock Canyon area, situated on the northwestern slopes of the Little San Bernardino Mountains. Much of the terrain in this region sits above 4,000 feet in elevation and supports a range of vegetation not found elsewhere in the park.
TIMBERLINE ADVENTURES
We’ll hike the Panorama Loop, with its optional scramble to the top of Warren Peak and its unobstructed views of the Little San Bernardino Mountains, Coachella Valley and Mt. San Jacinto (8 miles). We’ll focus on the Mojave section of the park the morning of Day 5. We’re headed for the summit of Ryan Peak, fifth tallest in the park at 5,457-feet. The good (or bad) news, depending on your personal preference, is that we begin at 4,480’ (3 miles). Later that afternoon, we’ll walk the moderate, but dramatic trail to Barker Dam (2.5 miles), and then return for our final evening in Twenty-Nine Palms. We’ll head back toward Palm Springs on our final day into the foothills surrounding the town, where Tahquitz Creek and the various tributaries of Palm Canyon Wash have carved narrow canyons containing year-round water that sustains many groves of California Fan Palms. Known collectively as Indian Canyons, we’ll meander in these gorges into the early afternoon, stop for lunch at the Trading Post and then return to Palm Springs.
DE AT H VA L LE Y
Dates: (6 days, 5 nights; Sun-Fri) Feb. 21-26 Assembly Point: Las Vegas (airline service to Las Vegas; Timberline van shuttle between Las Vegas and Death Valley prior to and following tour) Tour Cost: $1,995 (includes all lodging, all meals, van shuttle between Las Vegas and Death Valley, park entrance fees, leaders, tour maps & narratives) Death Valley has an instantaneous emotional impact on everyone who sees it. That initial view from Zabriskie Point across the vastness of the valley floor to the distant Panamint Peaks rising from the valley clad in an unmistakable mantle of snow is unlike anything that you have ever experienced. Spectacular though this view may be, it reveals nothing of the intrigue of Death Valley. Several days of hiking into just a few of the nooks and crannies of Death Valley confirmed for us why we choose to hike
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