You will have fun. Don’t be too set on climbing it to the top though. I have climbed it once and attempted it twice. The second time it was just too icy (and I think we were there early July), for my wife. But weather can also prevent a summit. Was kinda a bummer, because we were about 30 minutes from the summit.
The second attempt in which we turned back, I also got some nasty altitude sickness. I was having a hard time holding it in on both ends.
According to Alltrails all the ice is basically gone, so that’s good. I have been reading about the weather and how quick it can change. We will be trying to reach summit and be off the summit before noon-ish.
Definitely not scared to turn around! Looking for fun not death lol
I’ve only been to 11,000ft and inwasnt there long nor was I doing physical things. Hoping I don’t get sick
If only you could get your hands on some Coca leaf tea…
Longs Peak is awesome - it’s a grunt but a great experience!!! Start SUPER early - like 2 or 3 am and watch the clouds. The weather can change fast! I would also recommend assessing how you’re feeling at the Boulder Field and then again at the Keyhole - if you’re tired there, turn around and maybe hit up Chasm Lake instead. It’s also a great destination.
The 3 Rules of 14er Climbing:
Have a great time and know that I’m super jealous and can’t wait to hear about your adventure!
Been to Colorado monument and arches so far. Driving has eaten up a lot of time. Headed to Bryce now and from there will decide on what to do tomorrow.
First night dispersed camping was an adventure 
Best trip of my life. Can’t wait to go back out west again!!!
We went to Colorado national monument, arches, Capitol reef, grand Escalante, Bryce, Rocky Mountain national park and who knows where else.
Camped every night but 1, hiked a little over 50 miles, summited Longs Peak in Colorado, and had the best time ever living like desert hippies!
Any idea where we should go next? Going in September but it’ll be a little shorter trip at 4 nights. We really love the desert type landscape
San Rafael Swell. Crack Canyon Wilderness (Between a Rock and a Hard Place area). Check out the Cathredral Valley and Red’s Canyon Loop. Both easy, graded dirt drives. Black Dragon Canyon, if you have time to go north of I-70.
I can provide maps and camp spots if you want. It is all backcountry/dispearsed.
You hit some fantastic spots on the last trip!
Thanks for the tips! Any recommendations outside of Utah? I haven’t had a chance to search all your recommendations but I know a few of those are in Utah.
We really did hit some great spots! We love Utah and the vibe. Colorado was cool but it just didn’t have that small town feel. Scenic drives, mom and pop stores, no touristy feel and the desert sun is where it’s at for sure!!
Tempted to hit up Arizona but kinda don’t want too lol
You could check out some of the stuff south of Denver. I’ve been to a few spots that fit the description of what you are looking for. Garden of the Gods was pretty cool, but not something for more than a day IMO.
Sand dunes national park is cool too.
I rented a “sand” board out there. Some of the dunes are pretty big and steep. I will say the lack of any method other than hiking up the dunes kinda makes the sand boarding lose it’s appeal really quickly. Steep dune, no traction, thin air results in me nearly dying on the way up.
This picture does well at showing misery of going up the dune. You can see that person way way down the dune.
I struggle with AZ too. Went to Sedona and Flagstaff over Memorial Day weekend, spent one night in Sedona then drove back to Glen Canyon/Escalante area because we were disapointed. You can drive on dirt from Lake Powell to Escalante all on dirt too. Fantastic drive.
Last weekend we did most of the Alpine Loop in CO. Ophir Pass, Animas Forks to Cinnamon Pass, (accidently got caught at 12500 overnight in a thunderstorm) and Engineer Pass. Could easy add on Hope Lake, Mt Snuffles and Blue Lakes for hikes. You hit Silverton, Lake City and Ouray. Great small CO towns.
Surprising, but Minnesota has a bit or sorta desert landscape. Blue Mounds area.
They have these little bastards there.
One of them got me while I was playing around on the cliffs.
Not nearly as nice as anything in Utah though haha.
@unicornsandrainbows (or anyone else) do you know of any desert areas that you can swim/camp/hike all close together? I was really excited about lower calf creek falls but it was FRIGID! Like 40* frigid lol is everything out there gonna be that cold?
If you go the right time of year, that sand dunes place has swimming / tubing.
I did some swimming at Zion. Was a lot of fun until another hiker got a little stupid. It was in the narrows, and there was a big boulder sticking out of the river and on one side it was deep in some spots. He did a flip off the boulder and landed on another smaller boulder (not a deep spot). One of the worst compound fractures I have seen.
I’ll have to look in to that!
Damn that sounds disgusting!!! I might actually skip Zion. We had plans to go but when i found out you can’t drive inside the park I decided to skip it. I like getting to the park really early before the crowds and fees and craziness start and apparently you can’t do that in Zion. I was worried if I drove in at 4/5am and parked they’d tow my car or something. Plus I really didn’t care for Bryce and o have a feeling Zion is even more touristy than Bryce.
The shuttle service is actually pretty good. I remember doing a really long hike, that was a little more out of the way. They had vans that dropped us off. I think they picked us up at like 6 am.
I’ll say Zion was a lot cooler than Bryce IMO.
You will have to deal with tourists, but IME, even the busiest parks aren’t bad if you actually like hiking. Glacier / grand teatons were the same way. Super busy. The think is that most tourists (and I mean 90+%) don’t go more than 0.5 miles on a trail. Basically, you will get off at a stop at Zion, it will be super busy (the stops are usually near a by the road attraction), you hike for 15 minutes and it starts clearing out. By an hour in, you are basically alone aside from a few hikers here and there. A few hikes that are super popular don’t clear out as much. There are always pretty much going to be a few people in the narrows. But really even that after a mile it isn’t a nuisance or anything.
That water is painfully cold!
Utah/Az - Lake Powell is a given here. Reflection Canyon, Coyote Gultch, Broken Bow Arch for hiking. Camping in abundance on north side.
St. George (biggest city near Zion) has 3 reservoirs and more hiking than I can list. Super touristy though. Not exactly backcountry.
Idaho - Red Fish Lake. Not desert, but one of my favorite mountain lakes. Tons of camping around. Nice hikes, plenty of 10k peaks to bag.
@unicornsandrainbows whelp. We booked flights in September for vegas. We enjoyed southern utah so much we are going back lol
Going to be using your recommendations to find some places! Camp spot recommendations would be cool if you know any!
Hell yes! I understand the bias completely.
Did you want St. George/Zion area? Or more Eastern/Central backcountry stuff?
