The weekend of 15 Feb 08, Tracy and I headed south. I was fed up with snow and I wanted to see some bare ground. We first tried to get to the Hans Flat area of Canyonlands National Park to see if we could get to the back side of Robber’s Roost without having to cross the Dirty Devil River. But the road ended up getting too snow covered and too muddy, so I decided not to chance it…that’s just not an area where you want to get stuck. So then we headed to Bullfrog Marina on Lake Powell in the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area. Ahh…no snow…warm weather…sun…clear, blue lake…ahhh… The place was completely deserted, and we just spent some time having lunch on the shore. Then we headed out and hiked for several miles down Swett Canyon. This entire area around Hwy 276 is really pretty, with lots of slickrock and nice canyons. Swett Canyon was no exception. We had the place to ourselves and it was just a nice canyon hike. We didn’t make it all the way to the lake so I’d like to go back here. We then camped near Hite and got up on Sunday and explored the slickrock and area around White Canyon. I really liked this area, too. White Canyon runs along the highway, but it’s really, really deep in places. We were out exploring for over two hours and didn’t see a single car pass on this very remote road. We went down to the mouth of the canyon near the lake and hiked up about 3/4 of a mile, but we ran into deep water and had to turn around. We just bought wet suits, though, and I really want to go back here to explore some more. I also hiked along the canyon back towards the lake, and I’m still amazed at how low the water really is. I went about a mile and a half past where the GPS said the lake water stopped, and I never did find the lake. But it was such a nice day to be out that I was happy, nonetheless! I’ve definitely decided that this stretch of Utah between Hanksville and Blanding is my favorite part of southern Utah. It’s so incredibly remote and pretty that it just can’t be beat. I’m definitely going to spend more time down there.
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