Paul and Craig Shelley created this web site because of our passion for hiking, photography, and tinkering with computers. Paul is the computer expert, but Craig still tinkers with computers since retiring at forty seven after selling his chemistry software company, SoftShell International, Ltd. He loves art and photography. We both enjoy hiking. We live in Grand Junction Colorado, not far from the Utah border and Moab Utah.         We hike the high desert near Grand Junction, which includes the Colorado National Monument, Little Park and Bangs Canyon BLM lands east of the Monument, and Black Ridge Wilderness. We hike in the nearby Grand Mesa National Forest and Little Bookcliffs Wild-Horse Area as well. A special interest of ours is arches. Although there is much to do near Grand Junction, our state of Colorado and neighbor state of Utah are a hiker’s paradise. As we roam farther from home, we’ll share hiking information about our excursions outside our local area.         After hiking the known trails and exploring all the drainages, Craig decided he needed to backpack to see more. He loves it. A typical backpack trip is an overnighter where he packs light. Typically, he ’ll follow an abandoned dual-track (jeep) road for three to seven miles to speed up access to a remote region and then go off trail. He often hikes steep terrain with plenty of brush or crosses sandstone slickrock. MapTech Terrain Navigator and a Garmin Geko 301 GPS are essential for pre-trip planning. The GPS is essential for the trip, so he carries a Geko 201 as a backup. He often travels solo but sometimes has taken another person along.         The weather is often predictable and mainly sunny in these high desert areas. His favorite shelter is an Integral Designs Sil Poncho/Tarp with a Bozeman Mountain Works Vapr Bivy. Water isn’t as predictable. He always takes Aqua Mira for water treatment. In the winter, he uses a Coleman Xtreme stove to melt ice or snow. Sometimes, he takes a filter. He keeps track of water sources and the date found with a GPS and his computer.         Over the last couple years, he has bought and read over forty books related to hiking. He has also bought and used a large amount of gear and clothing, much of it to gain experience. Because he cannot find a commercial source for some items, he's started creating his own gear and clothing. Yes, he's a fanatic. This site is his "labor of love" and has no commercial objective.