TR: Little Wild Horse and Goblin Valley

[Udink]

After seeing tmartenst's trip report from last weekend, a friend and I decided to camp out Friday night and hit Little Wild Horse Canyon and Goblin Valley the next day. We were able to get there early enough to set up camp before it got dark, and spent the evening around the campfire listening to coyotes howl and brushing off the snow that was accumulating on us and our tents. It was about 36 degrees inside my tent all night, and in the morning we woke up to about three inches of new snow (on top of the three or four inches already on the ground). The new snow was very light and fluffy, and it compressed down to about an inch once it started warming up.

Our camp late Friday afternoon


Hanging out around the fire


More snow falling


Camp on Saturday morning


Panorama of the campsite


We ate breakfast and took down camp, then drove a couple of miles to the Little Wild Horse trailhead. It was about 10:00 AM when we started the hike, and it was starting to snow again pretty good. We hiked all the way to the end of the narrows (about two miles) before turning back and returning the way we'd come. The wide areas of the canyon had a well-traveled path through the old snow, so we only had to hike through the new snow that had fallen overnight. Some of the narrows had very little snow because they had overhanging cliffs above, but other narrow sections had tall, steep walls that funneled the snow down into the bottom, and in some places it was 10-12 feet deep. I got dumped on several times by little snow avalanches (that acted like waterfalls). It seems that the noise of us hiking through tended to trigger them.

At the trailhead


Cottonwoods in the lower canyon


Junction with Bell Canyon


Beginning to narrow up




Not much snow here


Some deepish snow piled up


Some snow falling off the walls into the bottom


Another tiny avalanche


Ice on the canyon walls


Nicely sculpted canyon floor


Stemming over the slush


Heading high over more slush


Looking down from atop one of the bigger snow piles


It took us a little over three hours to get to the end of the narrows and back. After a quick lunch, we headed to Goblin Valley and played in the snow and mud. There was a lot of flowing water from the melting snow, and it was treacherous trying to walk places that were remotely steep.



Muddy footprints


Running water












I shot a bit of video in LWHC and Goblin Valley of all the melting snow:



And I also got a funny clip of my friend trying to grab a geocache at Goblin Valley:



After Goblin Valley, I headed home the long way, across I-70 and up UT-10.

San Rafael Reef


San Rafael Reef


Knobby formations near Iron Wash


Morrison Formation hills


The Reef north of I-70


Snowy hills near South Salt Wash


Sunset


There are a lot more photos here:

[IntrepidXJ]

Great report as usual :)

[jman]

awesome! great pics and TR.
One of my favorite places in Utah is Goblin Valley. I was introduced to it when I was like 6 or 7 and I head there every year since 2002.

I liked your snowmelt video. It shows the awesome contrast of this dry desert. We live in a State full of weather extremes, and that will lead to beautiful places such as this!

[Scott P]

Nice photos. I especially like the campfire one and the fresh snow pics at Goblin. It looks like you still had fun.

This sure has been one weird winter. It keeps snowing and snowing in Southern Utah. Here in Northwest Colorado, where we usually get dumped on, we

[offpiste]

Indeed one of the coolest GV LWH Tr's I've seen and read!

[shaggy125]

[quote=Scott P]This sure has been one weird winter. It keeps snowing and snowing in Southern Utah. Here in Northwest Colorado, where we usually get dumped on, we

[Don]

Nice! Love the snowy camp pics!! Thanks!

[lisa]

Love the campfire pic. Looks like a good time in the snow! I am headed to S Utah in a week and am hoping some of the snow goes away to make canyoneering a bit easier.

Nice trip report, thanks for sharing.

[tmartenst]

Awesome. Looks a little warmer than when we were there with all the water flowing. There was a bit of that but not to that effect. I almost went back down to S. Utah this past weekend but boarding at Solitude got the best of me.

[Sun Dance]

Great stuff. Never been in the snow. Looks like a fun time.

[Jaxx]

Dang. That is alot of snow. Canyons are going to be WET this spring! Thanks for the pics.

[accadacca]

What a great Trip! Thanks for sharing...

[asdf]

this TR scares the crap out of me.... whens all this snow going to melt?

[Udink]

this TR scares the crap out of me.... whens all this snow going to melt?

It's been melting pretty steadily over the past couple of days, and the forecast calls for more warmish temps in the coming week. Can't wait for all that mud!

[Chungy22]

Did Southern Utah get as much snow or any from this storm that is reaking havick on the Wasatch Front?

[Udink]

Did Southern Utah get as much snow or any from this storm that is reaking havick on the Wasatch Front?

I don't know about far-southern Utah, but Price (and probably the Swell) got about two inches of snow, and it's melting off quickly today. I'm heading to St. George today, and I'm looking forward to seeing the snow diminish as I drive south!

[Chungy22]

Yeah, There is pretty much no more snow up North until you get up into the mountains. I can imagine that it is pretty warm down South this week! I just hope that this means that was the last of the snow here!

[Scott P]

I just hope that this means that was the last of the snow here!

Aprils without snow in northern Utah are very rare, even on the valley floors. I'm willing to bet that Northern Utah will have a few good snowstorms yet.

[Chungy22]

That Sucks! I would like snow if it wasnt't cold!