Steve Scearce
Contributors
My wife and I are back from a warm and sunny weekend at Comb Ridge, Utah. We've been fans of this arching rib of sandstone since the early '90s. It's 2.5 hrs from Durango, and is our early spring destination every year. This spring, the weather didn't cooperate on the weekends we had off in March, but this past weekend was perfect: mid-70s and mostly sunny with moderate wind. We camped at the southern end of the section between Utah 163 and Utah 95, and I was able to revisit a portion of the Comb that I hadn't hiked/scrambled since 1999. Jan was able to relax and recuperate back in camp with her luxury lounge chair pointed at the Comb and a favorite book in hand.
With its regular pattern of rugged "teeth" and gaps, hiking the Comb isn't simply hiking. Forget logging the kind of daily mileage that you can do on a forest trail. There are no discernible trails on the Comb. You scan ahead, pick a route and hope it holds. Sometimes routes that appear easy from a distance are not. Sometimes the converse is true. And using a topo map doesn't alway help: a lot can happen in a 40 ft. contour interval. What is certain is that you'll be using your feet and your hands to progress.
This was our third trip in our new/used Phoenix pop-up. We're still working out the kinks, and I'm cataloging a list of summer modification projects that will make the camper more useful for our needs. One thing's for certain, we're really enjoying not sleeping in a tent on the ground!
With its regular pattern of rugged "teeth" and gaps, hiking the Comb isn't simply hiking. Forget logging the kind of daily mileage that you can do on a forest trail. There are no discernible trails on the Comb. You scan ahead, pick a route and hope it holds. Sometimes routes that appear easy from a distance are not. Sometimes the converse is true. And using a topo map doesn't alway help: a lot can happen in a 40 ft. contour interval. What is certain is that you'll be using your feet and your hands to progress.
This was our third trip in our new/used Phoenix pop-up. We're still working out the kinks, and I'm cataloging a list of summer modification projects that will make the camper more useful for our needs. One thing's for certain, we're really enjoying not sleeping in a tent on the ground!