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Home » Archive for  Trip Planning

Category: Trip Planning

Trips ideas and how to plan you own.

The Colorado Trail “End to End” Guide

Posted onNovember 19, 2025November 19, 2025AuthorPaul Mags90 Comments

A guide for planning long hikes on The Colorado Trail. Town info, resupply, alt routes, logistics, and general info. Revised regularly and updated Nov 2025. Read More …

CategoriesQuick and Dirty Guides, Trip PlanningTagscollegiate loop, Colorado, Colorado Trail, colorado-tip, popular, resupply, thru hiking

How to plan routes

Posted onJune 28, 2023August 5, 2024AuthorPaul Mags3 Comments

Here are the steps, resouces, and ideas I use to plan out the routes I’ve done over the years. Read More …

CategoriesTrip PlanningTagstrip ideas

Arches Highlights

Posted onSeptember 20, 2022September 21, 2022AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

Here’s an ~45-mile driving tour of Arches National Park that touches upon the park’s highlights. Takes in ~5 miles or so of hiking and about 4+ hours. Read More …

CategoriesTrip PlanningTagsArches National Park, utah, utah-tips

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

Perma-camping kit: What the heck is it?

Posted onJanuary 13, 2021August 8, 2025AuthorPaul Mags12 Comments

Another way to maximize outdoor time: Having some gear pre-packed and ready to go. Read More …

CategoriesGear, Trip PlanningTagscamping, car camping, favorite, gear list, organization, time bank

How to get outdoor trip ideas

Posted onNovember 25, 2020August 5, 2024AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

How to get ideas for backcountry trips? Here’s how I do it. Updated for 2020. Read More …

CategoriesGetting Started, Trip PlanningTagsbackpacking, trip ideas

Intro to Backpacking: Part 3 – Deciding where to go: risk management & factors to consider

Posted onMay 3, 2020AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

Part 3 – Deciding where to go: risk management & factors to consider. I discuss different factors on deciding where to go. Read More …

CategoriesGetting Started, Trip PlanningTagsdiscovery, planning, safety, trip ideas, videos

Those we left behind: What to tell the people at home

Posted onOctober 22, 2019April 26, 2025AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

Here are some ideas and tips for information to leave with friends and family when you take off on a backcountry trip. Read More …

CategoriesGetting Started, Trip PlanningTagscommunication, emergencies

Quick Tip: Instagram for trail conditions

Posted onApril 18, 2019April 18, 2019AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

How to use Instagram for quick and dirty researching of trail conditions. Read More …

CategoriesGetting Started, Quick Tips, Trip PlanningTagsquick tip

Website of the week: GJ Hikes

Posted onApril 17, 2019January 3, 2021AuthorPaul Mags1 Comment

Essentially an online hiking guidebook for ~1500 hikes a few hours from Grand Junction. Including almost 200 for Moab alone. Read More …

CategoriesTrip PlanningTagscolorado-tip, utah-tip, Website of the week

A Quick and Dirty Guide to Moab

Posted onMarch 24, 2019January 16, 2023AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

A quick and dirty overview of activities, supplies, and amenities available in the Moab, UT area. Read More …

CategoriesQuick and Dirty Guides, Trip PlanningTagsMoab, quick and dirty, utah, utah-tip

Website of the week: Hiking Project

Posted onFebruary 19, 2019February 27, 2019AuthorPaul Mags5 Comments

A free and useful and alternative for AllTrails. Read More …

CategoriesTrip PlanningTagsmaps, Website of the week

Book overview: 4WD Adventures Utah

Posted onDecember 21, 2018January 13, 2021AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

An older but still useful book that works well as an adjunct to trip planning using Utah’s often rough roads for outdoor pursuits. Read More …

CategoriesBooks and Media, Trip PlanningTagsbooks, utah, utah-tip

A Quick and Dirty Guide to the GDT

Posted onSeptember 26, 2018April 25, 2025AuthorPaul Mags5 Comments

A quick and dirty overview of Canada’s Great Divide Trail. Read More …

CategoriesQuick and Dirty Guides, Trip PlanningTagscanada, Great Divide Trail, quick and dirty

More off-season backpacking ideas in Colorado

Posted onFebruary 22, 2018January 3, 2021AuthorPaul MagsLeave a comment

Additional ideas for spring or late fall shoulder season backpacking destinations in Colorado. Read More …

CategoriesTrip PlanningTagsBeaver Creek Wilderness Study Area, Black Ridge Canyon Wilderness, Colorado, Colorado Plateau, colorado-tip, Golden Gate Canyon State Park, High Plains, shoulder season, White Ranch Open Space

Tahoe Rim Trail and The Collegiate Loop

Posted onSeptember 20, 2017November 17, 2023AuthorPaul Mags2 Comments

A look at two similar “vacation” thru-hike length routes in terms of logistics, planning, red-tape, and ease of access. Read More …

CategoriesLong Walks, Trip PlanningTagscollegiate loop, Colorado Trail, colorado-tip, Tahoe Rim Trail

Ghost Trails

Posted onSeptember 19, 2017November 17, 2023AuthorPaul Mags4 Comments

Find an old trail on a map or even stumble upon it? That’s a Ghost Trail. And it is an interesting way to walk a little bit of forgotten outdoor history. Read More …

CategoriesMusings, Trip PlanningTagsGhost Trails, off trail

Collegiate Loop 2017: How the Walk Went

Posted onSeptember 15, 2017May 5, 2021AuthorPaul Mags29 Comments

Some highlights, planning information, photos, and logistic info for The Colorado Trail’s 165 mile Collegiate Loop. Read More …

CategoriesLong Walks, Trip PlanningTagscollegiate loop, Colorado Trail, colorado-tip

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A Quick Guide to Moab

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Some local hiking this weekend. I scouted a route for a possible packrafting trip later this month, and on Sunday, @ramblinghemlock and I meandered through a canyon we’ve been curious about for a while.
I can’t imagine this landscape with a wall.
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.

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      • 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
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      • Collegiate Loop
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