The Janke Family

Adventure

Yankee Doodle Hollow

Rappelling & canyoneering in Yankee Doodle Hollow = awesomeness!!!

Between Zion National Park and St. George is a wonderful adventure through Yankee Doodle Canyon, a short but fun slot. Until recently the canyon was pretty much left unexplored, but with the advent of canyoneering, and the tools and techniques that aid in the enjoyment of this relatively new sport, Yankee Doodle has become a more popular spot to visit. Located in Dixie National Forest, just west of Leeds, access is generally gentle and fast. The canyon offers the chance to practice such skills as rappelling, down climbing, anchor techniques and partner assists while navigating a beautiful slot canyon. Be certain that you have some basic climbing and canyoneering skills before attempting this canyon.

 

Birch Hollow

Imagine an impossibly narrow canyon with sinewy curved and twisted wind-swept paths, lit with mysterious shadows and hints of light, that tempt canyoneers to wiggle, slither and climb to its finish. Birch Hollow is such a canyon, yet it’s a forgotten gem in the canyoneering world, because it doesn’t hold the stigma of being within the Zion National Park boundary. Not only does Birch Hollow offer some of the best canyoneering to be had anywhere, it can be combined with two of Zion’s magnificent classic canyons, Orderville Canyon and the Zion Narrows.

Canaan Mountain

Most of us know where and what the “fours corners” are (where the corners of Utah, Colorado, Arizona, & New Mexico meet). But not many know about an amazing geological wonder that surrounds the St. George area. I guess you could call it the “three corners”. In the wilderness surrounding St. George the Colorado Plateau, Mojave Desert, and the Great Basin collide and have produced amazing areas of adventure. One place to witness this great collision is from the top of Canaan Mountain.

Degrees Minutes Seconds:
Latitude: 37-04’57” N, Longitude: 113-00’38” W

Decimal Degrees:
Latitude: 37.0824834, Longitude: -113.0104948

We joined our friends Paul & Chantra Gooch and their mules and rode up to the top of Canaan Mountain last Saturday. It was a long day in the saddle, and my body was not happy with me the day after, but I would do it all again in a heartbeat to soak in the views from the top. To the West you can see Pine Mountain, the Kolob Cliffs & the East side of Zion. To the North & East, Bryce Canyon and the Paunsaugunt Plateau. To the South the Arizona Strip and Mount Trumbull which sits on the North rim of the Grand Canyon. I regret I only had my phone to take pictures with, next time I will remember a proper camera. Here are some pictures and a short video of our adventure:

Red Mountain Trail

We explored the Red Mountain Wilderness Area a couple times the last two weekends. The Red Mountain Trail is actually a couple different trails that start just north of Diamond Valley on Highway 18 (GPS coordinates N 37ยฐ 16.784 W 113ยฐ 39.163). We first explored the trail two weekends ago with Dan & Beth in the Jeeps. You can only Jeep in about a mile on the middle trail. It is an awesome Jeep trail strewn with large boulders. From the end of the Jeep trail we hiked about a mile and half to the East Snow Canyon Overlook. It was Amazing! Then last weekend the boys and I joined our neighbors the Gooch’s to explore the North trail. We rode mules all the way to Hell’s Canyon above Kayenta (approximately 20 miles round trip). This part of the trail included the West Snow Canyon overlook & awesome red rock country. We stopped for lunch overlooking Hell’s Canyon in an area with dozens of huge water pots full of water and Triops. Henry rode a mule & Erik rode a mustang that Paul Gooch bought from the BLM wild horse adoption program. They were awesome cowboys! They are tough little men!

West Rim

I did a little exploring today in the St. George desert. I had heard of a fun Jeep trail nearby called the West Rim. This trail is part of the Winter on the Rocks off road event (it’s like the Easter Jeep Safari of St. George). Wow! It was really fun! To give some perspective, it is kind of a mix of Fins ‘n’ Things & Elephant Hill, with the views of Top of the World. The views were awesome, and the obstacles were fun and challenging. There was one casualty, I smashed my tail pipe up pretty good. Oh well, my tail pipe sees a lot of abuse ;). I made a .kmz file of the trail, so if you are interested you can download it HERE, then load it up in your GPS, Google Earth, Google Maps, etc.

On a separate note, my good buddy Mike was driving by Rice Eccles Stadium this morning and spotted some deer in the cemetery across the street from the stadium. In the herd was a giant 8 x 10 buck! He sent me a picture, this is a magnificent specimen! Here is the picture of the big Utes buck!

Moab Adventures

We recently returned from an exciting trip to Moab. We have made a tradition of heading down there the week of Erik’s birthday. This year that coincided with part of the Easter Jeep Safari. There were super wicked Jeeps everywhere! Uncle Dan and Aunt Beth joined us this trip, we really love spending time with them exploring the desert. We adventured out to Tusher Tunnel and parts of the Seven Mile Rim trail on Thursday. Determination Towers, Merrimac & Monitor Buttes are awesome sights along this trail. Aunt Beth navigated their Land Cruiser Wagon on this trail so that Mo & Maci could tag along for Maci’s first trail ride. Of course a trip to Moab is never complete without a run on Fins & Things, and Hells Revenge. Hells Revenge is an epic trail with the perfect balance of difficult butt clenching obstacles, breath taking views, and pure fun. Definitely one of our favorites! I’ve included some pictures and video from this trip below. Henry was the designated camera man this trip!

Halloween in Canyon Country

Thanks to The Discovery Channel, I have been introduced to punkin’ chunkin’, and have seen it in high definition no less (for those of you that are unfamiliar with this mostly Mid-Western past time;HERE is a link to quell your curiosities). But when I randomly discovered that a punkin’ chuckin’ festival was being held in Moab, Utah on Halloween weekend, I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to witness the spectacle first hand (it was a good excuse to go Jeepin’ too!). The Boys & I arrived on Thursday, and had made arrangements to stay in a wee cabin at the Moab Valley RV Resort. The cabin was great, and the park was perfect. We spent every night after dinner swimming in the great pool. Actually we were kicked out of the pool every night trying to push closing time “just a few more minutes…”! We spent all day Friday down in the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. There is a great new visitor center that we spent some time exploring. The boys actually became sworn in Junior Park Rangers! We hiked to Road Side Ruin, explored Cave Springs & Cowboy Camp, and hiked the trail that crosses the mesa between the two Squaw Flat campground loops. They have put a hand rail (similar to Angel’s Landing in Zion) at the top. People must have been getting to close to the edge. I know I went way past “to close” countless of times growing up. Of course you can’t make a trip to the Needles without traversing Elephant Hill! It was in the worst shape I have every seen it! It was Wicked! I queried the Ranger regarding the condition of the Hill, He said it was mostly due to having been washed out twice since the last trail maintenance was performed. It was hard work getting over & back, but some great people from Boulder driving tricked out FJ80’s gave me some great spotting help. I haven’t been down to the Needles for about 15 years, even though we have been in and around the Moab area countless times during that same time period. Of course, some things have changed. But all the sights, sounds, and smells that have filled my memories were all confirmed and reinforced in that short day. I hope my next visit is after a much shorter interval! We spent most the day Saturday at the Halloween Festival. They had two “World Champion” punkin’ chunkin’ air cannons, some trebuchets, and a couple catapults. The air cannons were the most amazing thing I have ever seen! The sound they made was incredible, but what was most unbelievable was how far they were hurling those pumpkins! The air cannons were blasting a basketball sized pumpkin 5,500 feet! Over a mile! It was so amazing to watch a pumpkin fly a mile through the air! I know it probably sounds pretty silly, but this is one event that is much more exciting to witness in person than to watch on The Discovery Channel! I hope you have enjoyed this mini travel log, we really enjoyed the adventures. I have included some pictures, including one of the the cannons!