|
The southern
half of America's Intermountain West is called the Colorado Plateau; an
immense and astonishing geological area taking in parts of five states
- Utah, Colorado, Arizona, New Mexico and Nevada. This incredible Canyon
Country was created by the monumental uplifting of massive beds of sedimentary
rock, which was then cut by water to form a dramatic and colourful landscape
of buttes, mesas, plateaux and canyons.
Our guides,
led by Bob Helmes, owner of Passage to Utah, take us off the beaten track
and along little known trails, explaining local history, geology and the
story of the Native Americans. All walks are day treks without the hindrance
of large rucksacks, pack animals or porters, returning to the comfort
of good quality three-star equivalent hotels each day with dinner parties
in local restaurants or hotels in the evenings. We travel in comfortable
15-seater air-conditioned mini-buses driven by the guides.
Ancient traditions
We will learn about the harsh realities of human adaption in an incredibly
beautiful yet inhospitable landscape. We will wonder at the mystery of
the Anasazi, prehistoric people whose culture bloomed in the desert. They
evolved, built roads and cities of stone only to suddenly abandon them
at the beginning of the 13th Century. We will also learn about the archaic
peoples about whom little is known and who came before the Anasazi, and
left many mysteries behind them. Today's tribes include the Navajo and
Paiute who came into the plateau country in the 15th Century to be followed
by the Mormon pioneers in 1847.
Spectacular walks
Hikes are through incredibly diverse countryside formed by time, weather and the mysterious touch of peoples from an unknown past. Some of the walks will be on trails famous throughout the southwest while others will be an adventure along old trails, known only to our guides and few others. You will be taken to old outlaw haunts and forgotten places and into a landscape dominated by silence and distance.
The areas
where we walk and travel vary from wilderness to thinly populated and
have the undeniable feel of the old wild west and where cowboy ways still
prevail. Although the overall grading of walks on this holiday is moderate,
some of the walks can be altered to easy or hard, depending on the wishes
of the group.
Meals
Breakfast is served in the hotel or local restaurant each day. Picnic
lunches will be available for the walking programme, and dinner each night
will either be in the hotel or more usually a local restaurant.
Weather
The
holiday takes place at this time of year in order to take advantage of
the ideal climate for walking, with temperatures ranging between 90°F
during the day and 50°F at night. This is the big deep-blue sky time
of the year with little chance of rain , mosquitoes and other bugs. Watch
out for rattlesnakes and unruly cowboys! |
|
Day
1 - Friday 18th September 2009 - Travel to USA - Grand Junction,
Colorado, Moab, Utah
Fly from the UK to Grand Junction, Colorado and met on arrival by our agents and transfer to the hotel. Welcome Reception and dinner in local restaurant. Next three nights at Canyonlands Inn, Moab, Utah. D
Day
2 - Saturday 19th September 2009 - Arches National Park, Moab
This first walk begins in nearby Arches NP with a little known backdoor
route to iconic Delicate Arch, a picnic lunch afterwards, then more hikes
to a few more of the known two thousand arches in the park. Dinner in
Moab, then crawl into bed. Grade: Easy/moderate. Overnight at the Canyonlands
Inn, Moab. BLD
Day
3 - Sunday 20th September 2009 - Negro Bill Canyon, Moab
We're off early, hiking up lush creek-fed Negro Bill Canyon with its towering
red walls to Morning Glory Arch. Next comes a drive to Dead Horse Point
State Park with breathtaking vistas of red rock wilderness cut by the
Colorado River far below. Dinner, once again, back in Moab. Grade: Less
than hard, just about right.
Overnight at the Canyonlands Inn, Moab. BLD
Day 4 - Monday 21st September 2009 - Canyonlands National
Park, Bluff
This will be a long fine day. After packing the bedrolls and wagons, we
wend our way south to Newspaper Rock State Park for head scratching speculations
about what all these peck-in ancient drawings in stone mean. Nearby Navajo
craftsmen (and women) will tempt your wallets. The Needles District of
Canyonlands NP is next...legs be ready. This extraordinary place offers
endless trails. We
will likely have dinner along the way to our next four nights lodging
at the Desert Rose Inn in Bluff, Utah. Grade: Easy/moderate but all you
want. You get to sleep in. Dinner in local restaurant. Overnight at the
Desert Rose Inn, Bluff, for the next four nights. BLD
Day 5 - Tuesday 22nd September 2009 - Wilderness hiking,
Bluff
Today, two
closeby walks...one down Butler Wash to the San Juan River passing 'Rock
Art' and ruins...the other up the massive monocline of Comb Ridge to a
fortified prehistoric pass with its mysteries intact. Dinner in Bluff.
Grade: Easy/moderate and spectacular. Overnight at the Desert Rose Inn,
Bluff. BLD
Day 6 - Wednesday 23rd September 2009 - Natural Bridges
National Monument, Bluff
We'll start with a Museum, the Edge of the Cedars State Park and Ruins
complex, a Federal repository for regional native artifacts, some road
side attractions, and then down into a deep white stone canyon in Natural
Bridges National Monument. We will walk under three of the most massive
stone bridges on earth. Dinner in Bluff. Grade: Moderate, and once again,
spectacular. Overnight at the Desert Rose Inn, Bluff. BLD
Day
7 - Thursday 24th September 2009 - Wilderness walking, Bluff
Not another
day of walking? Yep. This canyon may not have a name. All day. Ruins,
'rock art', blue sky, solitude, mysteries. You will remember this day.
A short visit to Goosenecks of San Juan River State Park. Grade: Moderate
but all day. Dinner in local restaurant. Overnight at the Desert Rose
Inn, Bluff. BLD
Day
8 - Friday 25th September 2009 - Grand Canyon, Arizona
Leave Bluff and drive through Monument Valley and the Navajo Nation, the
largest of all Native American reservations, we spend a night in Page,
Arizona, but only after a few short walks and a visit to the huge Glen
Canyon Dam, which confines 180 miles of Colorado River-filled Glen Canyon.
Dinner in Page. Lodging at the Holiday Inn. Grade: Short interesting strolls.
BD
Day
9 - Saturday 26th September 2009 - Grand Canyon, Arizona
In the morning we cross the historic Marble Canyon Bridge on foot, some
of us not wanting to look down, a huffy hike and a look around the famous
Colorado River Crossing, Lee's Ferry, ending the day at 8,000ft on the
edge of the Grand Canyon at the North Rim Lodge. Dinner at the Lodge.
Grade: Easy/moderate (you choose). Overnight
at the North Rim Lodge. BD
Day
10 - Sunday 27th September 2009 - Grand Canyon, Arizona
After a big breakfast, a 10 mile out and back hike with a picnic lunch
through forest on the Widforss Trail of the Grand Canyon. In mid-afternoon
we'll drive tired legs to Cape Royal with its spectacular views of the
'Canyon'. Dinner is once again at the elegant old stone lodge. Grade:
Moderate. Overnight
at the North Rim Lodge. BLD
Day
11 - Monday 28th September 2009 - Bryce Canyon and Zion National
Park
Up early,
coffee along the way to the sublime Bryce Canyon National Park. Two walks
here. Sunset Point to Sunrise Point, a wildly colorful hike through amazingly
eroded limestone shapes called hoodoo's and a rim walk from Bryce Point
to the old Bryce Canyon Lodge. By bedtime we'll be in Springdale, Utah,
gateway to Zion National Park for the next three nights at the Canyon
Ranch. Grade: Easy/moderate. Dinner in local restaurant. Overnight at
the Canyon Ranch, Springdale. BLD
Day
12 - Tuesday 29th September 2009 - Zion National Park
A Zion Canyon early start with a three mile canyon overlook walk called
the Watchman, then up the canyon beneath 4,000ft walls beside the tree
lined Virgin River to hike the Emerald Pools trail. And of course we'll
stroll the famed two-mile Narrows walkway which ends in river, wall to
wall. There are more walks like the one to Weeping Rock, if we have time.
Some free time in the afternoon. Dinner in Springdale. Grade: Easy/moderate. Overnight
at the Canyon Ranch, Springdale. BLD
Day
13 - Tuesday 30th September 2009 - Zion National Park
David gets the credit/grumbles for this 14 mile, 4500ft drop, Kolob to
the Grotto, West Rim Trail day. We drive to Lava Point, and it's mostly
long views and downhill all day, with the trail, at times, cut out of
sheer walls; horny toads, rattlesnakes and blisters, perfect. Dinner in
Springdale. Grade: ask David. Dinner in local restaurant. Overnight at
the Canyon Ranch, Springdale. BLD
Day
14 - Wednesday 1st October 2009 - Las Vegas
An easy morning then cowboy up for the quick hard ride, and shocking transition,
into planet Las Vegas with its own weather and place-your-bets ground
rules. Transfer
to The Flamingo where we stay for our last night. Free time in Las Vegas. Farewell dinner
party. Overnight at The Flamingo. BD
Day
15 - Thursday 2nd October 2009 - Return flight to UK
Transfer to
the airport by shuttle transport provided by the hotel. Return flight
to the UK, arriving next day, Friday 3rd October.
B
= breakfast. L = lunch. D = dinner. |
