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Home »2021 »August

Month: August 2021

Site steward volunteering

Posted onAugust 31, 2021August 31, 2021AuthorPaul Mags1 Comment

After a pause due to COVID in 2020, Joan and I completed our site steward training and received our site assignment at Fremont Indian State Park and Museum.0 Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsFremont, site steward, utah, volunteer

Sunday of Summer in the San Juans

Posted onAugust 30, 2021AuthorPaul Mags1 Comment

Joan and I enjoy a delightful San Juans trip during the waning days of summer. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsColorado, San Juan Mountains, san juans

A grand weekend

Posted onAugust 18, 2021August 19, 2021AuthorPaul Mags22 Comments

Joan’s back in Moab after a summer away. Then a weekend running some errands in Grand Junction we talked about previously and a trip to Grand Mesa. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsColorado, Grand Mesa

Planning Trips – All about the Air Quality Index

Posted onAugust 12, 2021August 12, 2021AuthorPaul Mags4 Comments

What’s AQI, why you should care about it, and some resources to check it when planning trips. Read More …

CategoriesTrip PlanningTagsAQI, climate change, smoke

Above the smoke in the San Juans

Posted onAugust 11, 2021AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

Another trip in the not-so-far-away San Juan mountains. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsColorado, san juans

In between the lightning

Posted onAugust 6, 2021January 27, 2026AuthorPaul Mags1 Comment

Wildflowers, butterflies, and mushrooms in our backyard mountains. Read More …

CategoriesOther Outdoor JauntsTagsLa Sals, utah

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A Quick Guide to Moab

The Squak – A readily available, $60, active-focused grid fleece hoodie from a Utah-based company. Read the review.

Women’s | Men’s | Children’s   

The Squak Camp Dress 

One of Joan’s favorites!

The Squak Alpha Fleece 

                                                                    

– 15% off coupon = PMAGS-SQUAK                                                                                                      

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Two years inside the Park Service, trying to balance trade and calling. I left in fall 2025, and I’m still making sense of it - part grief, part gratitude, and part closure.
With a brief but noticeable bit of winter this past week, we opted not to travel the muddy, snowy roads into more remote areas. Instead, we tackled some home projects on Saturday and spent Sunday revisiting a place we hadn’t seen in a while. Red rock, canyon wrens, images, and late winter desert light accompanied the day.
@ramblinghemlock and I pivoted from an original trip after much-needed rain on Friday. On Saturday, we avoided muddy roads that would have derailed our original plan and spent two nights poking around a place we could reach only because of temporary, water-filled potholes and a handy Ziploc bag that made it possible. We also revisited sights we hadn’t seen in a while. Red rock, grand views, and old images marked the unofficial long weekend kickoff of spring around Moab.
@ramblinghemlock and I finally felt better and took a long-overdue trip into the backcountry. We slept outside and enjoyed the peace of the wild places. Canyon wrens filled the canyon with song during the day, and owl calls echoed off the walls at night. We returned to places we had not seen in a while and saw places new to us. The land endures.
@ramblinghemlock and I are recovering from the flu, so we decided to keep things local this weekend.
Small, good things.

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    • Thru Hikes, Long Walks, or Routes
      • My Alphabet Soup summary
      • Vermont’s Long Trail
      • Appalachian Trail
      • Pacific Crest Trail
      • Colorado Trail
      • Continental Divide Trail
      • Ring The Peak Trail (Pike’s Peak)
      • Benton Mackaye Trail
      • Tahoe Rim Trail
      • Uinta Highline Trail
      • Collegiate Loop
      • A Walk Across Southern Utah
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