Welcome to Desert Explorer. We are an online desert adventure resource featuring introductions to ultralight backpacking, hiking, floating the rivers and mountain biking the deserts and canyons of Utah, the Four Corners Region, and the Southwest.

Latest Blog Posts:

14 January 2012- Wilderness Mind and Powers of Observation- Helping Kids to See
04 November 2011- Human Waste Disposal in the Bush, Leave No Trace Education
02 November 2011- Thoughts About My Chacos, and Help from Leki
08 October 2011- Dams and Silt, Trash Bags, and Human Waste
5 September 2011- San Juan River Family Float
08 August 2011- Spiders, Beetles, Dalton Wells, Great Horned Owls, Escalante photos
23 July 2011- Escalante photos posted on Desert Explorer Picasa page
08 July 2011- Escalante Trek, May 2011- Geology, Rock Art, Tracking, and Poison Ivy
29 May 2011- Escalante Trek, May 2011- Gear Reviews
27 May 2011- Escalante Trek, May 2011- Moody Canyon to Coyote Gulch and Back
23 April 2011- A Few Days in Southern Arizona
21 April 2011- Utah and Arizona- March 2011

Looking for specific information, something you read a year ago?
Try searching Desert Explorer (opens in new window).

• I have reposted all my Online Field Journal posts from the 2004 archaeological field season in Belize, Central America. The server where they were archived is no longer active. They are now located at the Desert Explorer server.
• Gear Reviews pages- All our reviews in one place
• Escalante Trek Part Two- May 2011
• Arizona Sightseeing- Museums, National Monuments, and the Navajo Reservation
• PLB's and SPOT- Comparisons and Research Results
• Updated information on rattlesnakes after recent calls to the Poison Control Center and new literature searches
• Rock Art of Utah
• Tracking Pages added- blog reposts and notes from Tracking Journal
• Homemade Mosquito Shelter- photos and description on Homemade Gear page
• Gear Shop Pages - new gear recommendations added
• The Tamarisk Leaf Beetle and Native Vegetation on Western Rivers
• Going Ultralight- strategy and tips for lightening up your pack
• A deadly threat to you and I in the wilderness- the M-44 sodium cyanide capsule
• I have added a Backpacking Foods web page, outlining my methods and providing some of my recipes for meals while Ultralight backpacking
• Heat-related illness and using water from the desert are discussed
• I have posted Part Five on the Four Corners Fugitives
• Recommended books on the desert and survival on our Book Store Page

         

"...wilderness is not a luxury, but a necessity of the human spirit, and as vital to our lives as water and good bread."
                                                                - Ed Abbey, Desert Solitaire

As we travel and discover new locations of interest, new backpack trips, hikes, rides, floats and even places to stop and eat we will post this information by region and include the details you need to take advantage of it. Be sure to check back for new postings and trip guides regularly.

All feedback is greatly appreciated. If you use our guides, please let us know what you thought of them, how they worked for you, and if you had any issues with the information we provided. Click here to contact us through email. And please help support our site by supporting our advertisers- if you see a link of interest please follow it and take a look. On our Guidebooks page we have links to most of the titles we recommend. You can purchase them from Amazon.com through us, also helping support our site. Our Recommended Gear pages have some of the gear we use. Clicking on the links takes you to REI.com.

Finally, the disclaimer- all information contained in this website is for informational purposes only. We make no guarantees regarding what we present. We are not responsible for you and how you use our guides. We are not responsible for any injury, loss of property, expense incurred by you the reader, or loss of limb or life. The desert Southwest can be dangerous- people are seriously injured and die each year attempting hikes or rides or floats or drives that they should not. You are on your own once you leave our site. Good luck and enjoy! For further information on the dangers of the desert visit our Words of Caution page.

All content at Desert Explorer is copyrighted- do not reuse or reprint any site content without permission.