Solo multi-day in Bears Ears - Fish and Owl Canyon Loop

In 2015, the Inter Tribal Coalition proposed that the Bears Ears located in remote south eastern Utah become an official conservation area. In 2016, Obama declared Bears Ears a National Monument protecting 1.35 million acres of land. In 2017, Trump eviscerated the monument by reducing the protected land by 85 percent leaving only 202,000 acres to be conserved. In 2021, Biden restored the Bears Ears to the previous Obama monument. And now, in 2026, the argument over what is to become of this pristine wilderness comprising of spectacular canyons, wooded mesas, majestic buttes, wild open basins, critical waterways, and over 100,000 prehistoric Ancestral Puebloan sites rages on. For native Americans, this land is, indeed, sacred. For cattlemen, the land is excellent for grazing. Miners see potential for successful mining operations. For me, the idea that places like this could be lost forever is unimaginable. I see our wilderness areas such as the Bears Ears as part of our collective identity as Americans. And to lose one's identity is to lose everything. I hope this video of my solo backpacking trip through Fish and Owl canyons captures a small sliver of the incredible beauty and wonder of this still wild, rugged, and irreplaceable landscape. I hope it inspires you to visit Bears Ears with the same sense of awe that I did. And to conserve, respect, and protect this place so that it can be enjoyed, studied, photographed, and revisited by outdoor enthusiasts as well as those whose history and beliefs are embedded here for future generations to come. A partial gear list: Tarptent Aeon Li tent Gossamer Gear Gorilla backback Zenbivy sleep pad and quilt system Nemo Fillow pillow Platypus Quickdraw water filter Senchi Designs Alpha Direct fleece hoodie Dirty Girl ultralight gaiters Toaks titanium pots Nitecore NU25 Headlamp Fuji XT-4 camera Fuji 16-55 f2.8 lens Tamron 11-20mm f/2.8 Di III-A RXD Lens Freewell ND/Polarizer filter Peak Designs carbon fiber tripod DJI Osmo Pocket 3 camera and Mic 2 Garmin In Reach Mini Opening/closing music by Jesse Waldman All music licensed from UppBeat