Leader: Steven Moore / Assistant Leader: Anita B. Slicton

by Larry Harris

Our group of 12 gathered on a bright fall day in southeast Utah at the head of Woodenshoe Canyon. The leaves of aspen were brilliant yellow in the October sun. We each carried our own backpack camping gear plus about 20 pounds of food for the trip of 7 days. We began the hike walking down through forest into the canyon, but soon the terrain changed to hot sand and rock with very little water. As we soon turned into Dark Canyon, we looked up at high, narrow walls of beautiful colors and shapes, erosion that took millions of years of spring and winter flooding. Now, in the fall, it was rare to see water and hard to imagine what a powerful flood would look like. At the end of each day we camped at some spot where water was available, broke into cooking teams and with the help of our wonderful guides, produced delicious meals to replenish our tired bodies. Evening light turned the red rock canyon into fantastic shapes and colors, some of the most beautiful sights in nature. At night the stars more brilliant than one ever sees in urban areas, and the moon was so bright it was almost hard to sleep. Towards the end of our trip, the canyon deepened and widened, opening up on green and spacious campsites. But what goes down, must go up; on the last day we climbed up, sometimes hand over hand, some 1,000 feet of very hot and rocky canyon wall to reach the high desert and our trail back to civilization. We had made good friends, learned a lot about backpacking iIn the desert and came away understanding the importance of protecting this and other beautiful, unspoiled parts of our country.




TOP: Hima P. (NY), Larry H. (WA), Anita S. (CA), Lani M. (OR), Joyce F. (MA), Joanne F. (PA), Robert C. (NJ), Michael R. (NY), Wiliam L. (ME), Tom D. (NY), Nicki W. (TN), Alexis S. (TX), Steve M. (CA), Martin J. (NJ), Chris R. (CA)

BOTTOM LEFT: Hima with Joyce BOTTOM RIGHT: Hima with Larry

Top of page