The Flowing West

  • Aspen or Bust: The Eleventh Hour

    Four days out. Zero percent packed. One hundred percent optimistic. Kemmerer, WY DEPARTURE: T-Minus 4 Days HUGO: Ready As Always The time is nigh to start packing for…

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    4 min read

  • Island In The Sky

    An Elevation-Driven Ecosystem What makes the Paunsaugunt ecosystem special is that it functions as a “sky island.” Because the plateau rises between 7,000 and over 9,000 feet above…

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    4 min read

  • True Darkness as a Habitat

    True Darkness as a Habitat

    For generations, darkness was the default state of the American West. Today, natural darkness is an endangered resource, fractured by urban light pollution. Bryce Canyon is a certified…

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    4 min read

  • Beyond the Gold Tier: Why We Stopped Ranking the Stars

    Beyond the Gold Tier: Why We Stopped Ranking the Stars

    For years, the ultimate badge of honor for any remote national park or desert reserve was securing a “Gold Tier” designation from DarkSky International. It was the astronomical…

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    4 min read

  • The Jurassic Logjam

    The Jurassic Logjam

    Reading the Wall of Bones at Carnegie Quarry I. Discovery: The Man Who Followed the Bones On a bright August morning in 1909, a Carnegie Museum paleontologist named…

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    4 min read

  • Into the Swell: Exploring Utah’s Best-Kept Secret

    Into the Swell: Exploring Utah’s Best-Kept Secret

    Welcome to the San Rafael Swell. Whether you’re a Fossil Buff, a Geo Buff , a History Buff, or just someone looking to escape into a striking desert…

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    4 min read