Fall Trek '23
Written by: Ari and Etta
After 15 days of trekking, romping, and hardcore adventuring in Utah’s canyon, we have returned to our hostel in Leadville — exhausted and with countless stories of this once in a lifetime experience. We started with an eight day adventure in Dark Canyon which proved to be mind blowing, strenuous, and transformative for each of us. It all began with a descent down the Sundance Trail into the bottom of Dark Canyon, which is half the depth of Grand Canyon.
We spent the next three days of hiking in the bottom of the canyon, where we appreciated the dramatic landscape and geology, swam in the canyon creek, and even came upon Ancestral Puebloan petroglyphs carved into the canyon walls. We then moved to complete a loop by ascending up through Youngs Canyon and making our way over to the top of Lean-To Canyon. These next few days involved up to eleven hour hiking days where we had to route find our way around boulders, up canyon walls, and through thick swaths of reeds and willows.
The following descent back to Dark Canyon through Lean-To Canyon was just as challenging. Making our way down this canyon proved to be a constant puzzle of route finding. In these days, we all had to come together to support and hold one another up, making it an extremely bonding trip for our community. We were all in awe of the beauty and wildness of Dark Canyon, and we cannot articulate the pride and accomplishment we felt as we made our way back up the Sundance Trail and to the van.
For the remainder of our expedition, we spent our time in and around the canyons of the Jacob’s Chair area. We treated ourselves to a quick “vacation”, staying in one campsite for a multitude of nights. There, we celebrated Abby’s birthday, performed karaoke, spent solo time in the canyons, and did a day hike to Jacob’s Chair. This was followed with more days of fun as we all got dressed up for Halloween in tutus, fairy wings, headbands, and more pizzazz. Libbey led us in spooky yoga, Alex taught us about the ancient history of the landscape, and Sydney enlightened us with a lesson on language and communication. On this eventful Halloween day, we also explored a breathtaking slot canyon and topped the night off with a talent show.
As the expedition came to an end, we were all sad to wave goodbye to the Utah landscape, but were exhilarated for our next adventures in Patagonia! We can’t wait to update you all on the extraordinary adventures that are waiting for us in Chile.
Sending all of our love,
Ari + Etta + Fall Trek