Spring, late fall and winter are the ideal times to visit nearby deserts
I did have one important advantage though. My instructor, Christopher Hagedorn, has been leading classes and expeditions in this area for upward of 10 years. His company, Get in the Wild Adventures, has thrived throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. Not surprising, I suppose. Canyoneering is by its very nature a socially distanced activity.
“I spent a good part of my life following the dream of being an astronaut,” he said the first day at our training camp, about 20 minutes’ drive from Hanksville, Utah.
“When I realized that wasn’t going to happen, I figured this was the closest I’d ever get to being on another planet.”