April 30, 2020:
Dear Far Out Friends,
We wish we had a more informed plan for fall travel but here’s what we’re thinking at the moment.
Far Out is “closed” for spring as you can imagine. We had a full season of bookings cancel. Commercial permits are frozen and public land is only beginning to open for any travel; San Juan County was open only to county residents until just this week.
Many of our clients have re-booked for fall 2020. We are hoping that we will be able to do our day trips and our multi-day backpack trips as scheduled however, we have concerns about social distancing and a resurgence of the virus for fall (as do the doctors). Therefore, we’re unsure.
Below you will see the permits we already have held for backpack trips. While the September 19 trip is full, there is still space to join the other dates. Some may have people already holding space while others have yet to be booked. We can have up to 11 guests on a trip although less is more typical. Also, it is possible to get permits for other dates so you can ask for some other timeframe and we can see if we can get a permit.
We would love to go backpacking with our guests. This was supposed to be Vaughn’s last year to guide before he retires and he is wavering on the idea of just retiring now in order to protect his clients, friends and himself. As we – and the world - figure out the next step we’re going to be contacting the BLM for updated information and figuring out the best plan for us all.
We hope to go as far out as we can, soon!
BE SAFE - BE HEALTHY - STAY HOME, for now. Vaughn & Marcia
Fall 2020:
Saturday Sept. 5/Wednesday Sept. 9 Collins/Grand Gulch
Saturday Sept. 19/Wednesday Sept.23 Government Trail/Grand Gulch
Saturday Sept. 26/Wednesday Sept.30 Slickhorn
Saturday Oct. 10/Wednesday Oct. 14 Slickhorn
Saturday Oct. 17/Wednesday Oct. 21 Government Trail/Grand Gulch