Emily's 3rd Cover Photo!

Emily's 3rd Falcon Guide cover photo will grace the cover of Best Easy Day Hikes St. Louis.  Due out April 1st.  Take a look!

JD and Arnie's best sides.

Purgatory Creek

We are trying to get settled into our "grown-up" jobs here in NM and still get some playtime in.  Last weekend we hit the road and drove up to Durango.  We took a little hike down the Purgatory Creek Trail just north of Durango.

After hiking about a half mile down to Purgatory Creek we decided to take the trail less traveled.  We bushwhacked our way north up the canyon and then west to hook back up with trail.  We saw a ton of wildlife and Arnie and Aspen were in heaven.

Emily and Aspen at the trailhead.

JD and Arnie near a secluded lake.

Emily and Aspen pose for a pic.

The Little Grand Canyon!!!

Today we hiked down into southern Illinois' Little Grand Canyon. This wasn't one for the hiking guide we are working on, it was just for fun. A 3 mile loop trail that takes you down a nice long ridge until you hit a switchback, which leads into the canyon. The canyon was pretty cluttered with debris from the "in-land hurricane" that blew through last year, but still quite nice.

You can see the Big Muddy river behind Emily and Aspen.

Descending into the canyon.

The debris cluttered trail.

White Oaks Trail

Today we hit up the 4.4 mile White Oaks Trail in Hawn State Park. Another perfect day for hiking! As usual, Arnie and Aspen really enjoyed the hike. We're gonna return later and hike the Whispering Pines trail also.

JD at the trailhead.

Arnie, blazing the trail.

Breaktime!

Broken Bow Arch

We hiked about 4 miles today in Glen Canyon National Recreation Area into Willow Gulch, which led to this arch.  Broken Bow Arch is enormous and amazing.  A long drive, but well worth the easy hike.

Broken Bow Arch

Arnie enjoyed the hike too, but enjoyed break time even more.

The Adventures of Arnie Continue

As Arnie continues to travel throughout Southern Utah, he wanted to take a few minutes of your time to show you some proper travel technique in the backcountry.

#1 - Climbing ladders that may have been placed on trails by land managers.

#2 - Crossing icy rivers in the backcountry

Stay tuned as Arnie continues to report on his amazing adventures.

Adventures of Arnie

This post is for all the Arnie fans out there.  For those of you who haven't had the fortunate experience to meet Arnold, he is our distinguished (and generously proportioned) beagle mix.  He's had a bit of a rough year...first he hurt his doggie ACL, then the vet had the nerve to tell him he needed to lose 15lbs (which is particularly hard when you're 12 years old and built fairly low to the ground).  Anyway, he's been hitting the trails for just over a week and is progressing nicely.  Here are a few photos for anyone needing their Arnie fix!

Arnie has been trying to make better dietary choices.  Lately he's been snacking on snow instead of fattening doggie treats.

He's a big fan of the slickrock routes!

He has no problem letting us know when he needs a rest.