I love my truck, but sometimes the voices I keep hearing to buy a new one just sound so good. We were twenty minutes into the drive when my truck started overheating. So we pulled over on the freeway, lifted the hood and watched the steam come out. Looking around, the coolant tank was empty, so we filled it, ran the engine, and it sucked it all up - added some more, saw the temp gauge get down to normal and we took off again. We didn't have heat from the heater, so I figured the thermostat malfunctioned and wasn't letting any coolant through. It got back up into the red while we were headed to an exit, so I turned the engine off and coasted halfway up the ramp. Chilled there till the engine got cool enough to continue, and a cop told us where an auto parts store was nearby. I changed the thermostat - no dice, plus it was leaking now. So it was off to Big-O to let them deal with it. I realized it was a missing belt while they were taking it in, so they took care of the leak, put on a new belt, and we were on our way. It was a 2.5 hour side trip.
The rest of the trip went great, till we got into Page and saw the clouds South of there. I dreaded snow on the pass headed from Cameron to Flagstaff, and sure enough, we hit it. There were only a few inches on the ground, but it was fresh, and there was ice under the snow. Slow & steady got us up the road without too many problems - just some sliding towards the top. Fortunately things cleared up dramatically on the downhill, and we didn't see any further problems the rest of the way. It took 14.5 hours to get there, but we were there!
It had rained in the Phoenix area before we got there, so the Superstitions were soaking wet. The sky was overcast, and no sign of it clearing up. The air was cool...cooler than the forecast said it would be. There was water everywhere. It was flowing down every drainage, nearly from the tops. We spent the first night on the East end of the Upper La Barge Box next to a steady flowing creek. The air temps dropped quickly at night, and we awoke to frost covering everything. So much for mid-40° lows. I didn't sign up for this.
Day 2 we saw clear skys for the first time. The sun took forever to come up, and we dried a few things out, hitting the trail at a record 11 am. When I was on the trail we were on that day, two years ago, it was bone dry, and that day the water was flowing, and further downstream as more drainages joined in, it just got bigger & bigger.
We climbed up and over a ridge into a new drainage and setup camp. As soon as the sun dropped behind the ridge, the temps plummeted, and we knew it was gonna be colder than the first night. Did I mention this wasn't what I signed up for?
As soon as the sun came up, I went down to the creek in this drainage to sit in the sun and eat some breakfast. I saw sparkles here and there in the water, so I thought I'd check it out, and they were gold flakes. They were everywhere. It wasn't just this drainage, the stuff is everywhere, it's just whether or not you're looking that depends on if you'll see it. It's too much of an effort to pick up the individual flakes, they're like grains of sand and disappear into the sand when you try and pick them up.
Day 3 consisted of a climb up and over another ridge, down a steep slope, and across a river....many times.
The trip back was uneventful, just long. I'm glad to be home.
View photos from this trip
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Sunday, January 20, 2008
Zion National Park - Backcountry Stuff
I was really looking forward to getting down to Southern Utah, just hoping beyond hope that it would be kinda warm, and that I wouldn't have to see any snow until I got home. Looking at recent pics of Zion showing huge icicles, and snow galore didn't phaze me. I honestly realized it was gonna be cold part of the time, but I just psyched myself out to feel better.
To help with the cold I picked up the Kelty Light Stalker 5° sleeping bag. It's made exclusively for Sportsmans Warehouse. It's got a mummy hood, but rectangular bottom. You can unzip it all the way to make a blanket if it's warm. The one I bought was 650 down. That bag has some crazy loft. There are hardly any draft tubes for the zipper, just an inch wide flap that covers it up, but I didn't notice any exceptional problems with this. The advertised length is 80" they don't translate that into height tho. The regular size is sized for someone under 6', and the long adds the standard 6". The temps dropped to around 20° the first night. I had my light thermals, and a fleece jacket on. I ditched the jacket cause I was too hot in the bag. The bag was awesome, but my Big Agnes pad couldn't provide enough insulation against the cold - it wasn't bad, but it was enough to keep me awake. I've slept on it in colder conditions but it was in a synthetic fill bag which keeps more insulation on the bottom when it's compressed than down. So around 4am I crawled into my truck cab and shivered for 10 min till I was warm again. Just when I started to get some real sleep, the alarm went off.
The meeting time for Saturday morning was 7am. Uggghhhh. It was still dark, and Springdale was still asleep, so no real breakfast, just protein shake. It started to lighten up a bit when we started across the bridge at the trailhead. When we were approaching Walters Wiggles we heard a horrible scream...not something you want to hear when the conditions are cold & icy, and the route to Angel's Landing is straight above you. I was thinking, who would be up here this early? Seriously? I didn't even know what I was doing out that early. We met the screamer and the rest of her group a few minutes later sliding down Walter's Wiggles cause that whole section was iced over.
The route to Angel's Landing looked very forboding with the ice and snow covering the whole stretch. I didn't think anyone would dare try it without gear, but sure enough they started to later in the day. Word was that it wasn't all that bad to get to the top, but getting back down was another story. I just think ice + cliff = bad time. I'm just thinking they'd better hold onto that chain really tight, and their hands better not get cold, and if they do, I sure hope their gloves have really good grip. Well, no one is dead yet, afaik.
Back to the trip tho. We continued up the West Rim Trail into the area behind Majestic Mountain. We crossed the bridge and dropped down into a creek then up the other side, and made our way up to the start of our ascent. Keep in mind we'd been on snow or ice since Walter's Wiggles. The ascent wasn't too bad. We had to look for a decent route in a few places, but nothing bad. Just when we thought we were going to hit the top it turns out there was a big gap between where we were and the real summit. I was happy with where I'd made it. I'd seen some of the terrain I wanted to check out, plus I was tired of snow, and my asthma was acting up despite the meds, which isn't good, plus everything else. I was just done. On the way back I heard a huge crashing sound, and turned to look in the direction it came from, a second later I saw a 70' sheet of ice break off of the waterfall formed from Cabin Spring. It broke into smaller sections on the way down. When it hit the bottom the crashing sound echoed back and forth in that valley. It was really cool to watch. The next morning I found out the other guys made it to the top, but it took a while to get up & back out - like it was getting dark - so I'm glad I did what I did.
The plans for the next day fell apart, so I went solo and did some exploring in South facing canyons on the East side of Zion. I went up and did a hike called Many Pools, and indeed there were. I went up quite a ways until a slot canyon started up. I chimneyed 7' up & over a chockstone, and headed up a little ways. It looked really cool, but I figured I could spend all day exploring further, and I wanted to start driving home around noon. Looking at the map there were two canyons side by side where I was. I thought I was in the one on the East cause the features on the East matched up, but the canyon on the West had features on the West side matching up. It wasn't until I was halfway back that I realized there could be a whole other canyon to the West of me - it looked like the canyon wall I was in continued straight up, but it was possible it didn't. I climbed away from the canyon bottom maybe 100 vertical feet and sure enough there was another canyon down there, and it was deep! I followed close to the ridge between the two looking for a route down, but didn't find one until I was fairly close to the highway. Once at the bottom, there was a little used trail bypassing short stretches of impassable slot. I turned back when faced with a tight 25' scramble. I need to read up on which canyon that is, and what's up there. When I got back to the highway, I didn't know I was at the highway cause I was 25' below it. There was a steep embankment and a dark hole, which turned out to be a drainage tunnel carved out of rock the highway goes over. Through there and to the East and there was a short section of slot canyon. I went upstream a ways, and decided I needed to climb out and start looking for my truck. Conveniently enough it was right there when I got to the top.
So now I realize the vastness of opportunities to explore the terrain there, and I don't know where to start....or when I'll have the time to drive down there enough to even make a dent, but I gotta start.
View photos from this trip
To help with the cold I picked up the Kelty Light Stalker 5° sleeping bag. It's made exclusively for Sportsmans Warehouse. It's got a mummy hood, but rectangular bottom. You can unzip it all the way to make a blanket if it's warm. The one I bought was 650 down. That bag has some crazy loft. There are hardly any draft tubes for the zipper, just an inch wide flap that covers it up, but I didn't notice any exceptional problems with this. The advertised length is 80" they don't translate that into height tho. The regular size is sized for someone under 6', and the long adds the standard 6". The temps dropped to around 20° the first night. I had my light thermals, and a fleece jacket on. I ditched the jacket cause I was too hot in the bag. The bag was awesome, but my Big Agnes pad couldn't provide enough insulation against the cold - it wasn't bad, but it was enough to keep me awake. I've slept on it in colder conditions but it was in a synthetic fill bag which keeps more insulation on the bottom when it's compressed than down. So around 4am I crawled into my truck cab and shivered for 10 min till I was warm again. Just when I started to get some real sleep, the alarm went off.
The meeting time for Saturday morning was 7am. Uggghhhh. It was still dark, and Springdale was still asleep, so no real breakfast, just protein shake. It started to lighten up a bit when we started across the bridge at the trailhead. When we were approaching Walters Wiggles we heard a horrible scream...not something you want to hear when the conditions are cold & icy, and the route to Angel's Landing is straight above you. I was thinking, who would be up here this early? Seriously? I didn't even know what I was doing out that early. We met the screamer and the rest of her group a few minutes later sliding down Walter's Wiggles cause that whole section was iced over.
The route to Angel's Landing looked very forboding with the ice and snow covering the whole stretch. I didn't think anyone would dare try it without gear, but sure enough they started to later in the day. Word was that it wasn't all that bad to get to the top, but getting back down was another story. I just think ice + cliff = bad time. I'm just thinking they'd better hold onto that chain really tight, and their hands better not get cold, and if they do, I sure hope their gloves have really good grip. Well, no one is dead yet, afaik.
Back to the trip tho. We continued up the West Rim Trail into the area behind Majestic Mountain. We crossed the bridge and dropped down into a creek then up the other side, and made our way up to the start of our ascent. Keep in mind we'd been on snow or ice since Walter's Wiggles. The ascent wasn't too bad. We had to look for a decent route in a few places, but nothing bad. Just when we thought we were going to hit the top it turns out there was a big gap between where we were and the real summit. I was happy with where I'd made it. I'd seen some of the terrain I wanted to check out, plus I was tired of snow, and my asthma was acting up despite the meds, which isn't good, plus everything else. I was just done. On the way back I heard a huge crashing sound, and turned to look in the direction it came from, a second later I saw a 70' sheet of ice break off of the waterfall formed from Cabin Spring. It broke into smaller sections on the way down. When it hit the bottom the crashing sound echoed back and forth in that valley. It was really cool to watch. The next morning I found out the other guys made it to the top, but it took a while to get up & back out - like it was getting dark - so I'm glad I did what I did.
The plans for the next day fell apart, so I went solo and did some exploring in South facing canyons on the East side of Zion. I went up and did a hike called Many Pools, and indeed there were. I went up quite a ways until a slot canyon started up. I chimneyed 7' up & over a chockstone, and headed up a little ways. It looked really cool, but I figured I could spend all day exploring further, and I wanted to start driving home around noon. Looking at the map there were two canyons side by side where I was. I thought I was in the one on the East cause the features on the East matched up, but the canyon on the West had features on the West side matching up. It wasn't until I was halfway back that I realized there could be a whole other canyon to the West of me - it looked like the canyon wall I was in continued straight up, but it was possible it didn't. I climbed away from the canyon bottom maybe 100 vertical feet and sure enough there was another canyon down there, and it was deep! I followed close to the ridge between the two looking for a route down, but didn't find one until I was fairly close to the highway. Once at the bottom, there was a little used trail bypassing short stretches of impassable slot. I turned back when faced with a tight 25' scramble. I need to read up on which canyon that is, and what's up there. When I got back to the highway, I didn't know I was at the highway cause I was 25' below it. There was a steep embankment and a dark hole, which turned out to be a drainage tunnel carved out of rock the highway goes over. Through there and to the East and there was a short section of slot canyon. I went upstream a ways, and decided I needed to climb out and start looking for my truck. Conveniently enough it was right there when I got to the top.
So now I realize the vastness of opportunities to explore the terrain there, and I don't know where to start....or when I'll have the time to drive down there enough to even make a dent, but I gotta start.
View photos from this trip
Sunday, November 11, 2007
South Canyon (Grand Canyon)
This trip concludes the Fall trip series. It was fun. Especially the two weeks I didn't go on trips so I could catch up on everything I was missing all the other weekends. I'll have to remember that for future trip sprees.
South Canyon is a fun, quick trip....kind of. It starts out by dropping down to the bottom of upper South Canyon which is no easy task. The route is pretty direct,after you make your way down the crack through the upper most layer of cliffs. The trail switchbacks tightly from there down several bands of rock layers, then several hundred feet of loose rock and that ends at the top of some cliffs with a nice flat area suitable for camping. Then it's over to a gully where you drop down some trickly ledges, and make your way down to the base of a cliff, and switchback your way down to the bottom. Going down, it didn't seem all that bad, going back up things seemed more technical - it's usually the exact opposite.
The riverbed of South Canyon starts out with boulder hopping, then the slickrock begins which make things easy for a while. Boulder hopping is always intermittent though. After Bedrock Canyon hooks into South Canyon the boulder hopping gets a little more extreme. Then the terrain gets a bit hillier while taking the trail above the narrows (the narrows are impassable without a little technical gear - never read a trip report where someone went through them). The final drop to the Colorado River is slightly technical, but not bad.
Ten minutes after I got on the beach a small herd of rafters showed up on the river and one came up to see if they could crash with us. Rafters are usually good to backpackers because they usually show up after the backpackers make camp on a beach and kind of impose themselves because it's either that or try finding a beach further downriver. We got a real dinner, complete with salad and a campfire. Nice.
I visited Stanton's Cave and Vasey's Paradise the next morning. It was alright, but just seems like another giant spring in the Grand Canyon. After that 30 minutes of fun, we decided to head out a day earlier, cause what else were we going to do?
Going back seemed much easier than going down. The slickrock sections seemed longer and more frequent which was great. There was the right amount of challenging sections to this trip, but not enough that they seemed neverending like some trips.
So after climbing out the sky to the North was filled with smoke. It later became apparent that the Kaibab National Forest was on fire again - probably a maintenance fire - a big one.
One thing to note on this trip - no ringtails, no chipmunks, no mice, no squirrels.....only ravens, and they were only interested in the rafts. Did someone/thing kill them off?
View photos from this trip
South Canyon is a fun, quick trip....kind of. It starts out by dropping down to the bottom of upper South Canyon which is no easy task. The route is pretty direct,after you make your way down the crack through the upper most layer of cliffs. The trail switchbacks tightly from there down several bands of rock layers, then several hundred feet of loose rock and that ends at the top of some cliffs with a nice flat area suitable for camping. Then it's over to a gully where you drop down some trickly ledges, and make your way down to the base of a cliff, and switchback your way down to the bottom. Going down, it didn't seem all that bad, going back up things seemed more technical - it's usually the exact opposite.
The riverbed of South Canyon starts out with boulder hopping, then the slickrock begins which make things easy for a while. Boulder hopping is always intermittent though. After Bedrock Canyon hooks into South Canyon the boulder hopping gets a little more extreme. Then the terrain gets a bit hillier while taking the trail above the narrows (the narrows are impassable without a little technical gear - never read a trip report where someone went through them). The final drop to the Colorado River is slightly technical, but not bad.
Ten minutes after I got on the beach a small herd of rafters showed up on the river and one came up to see if they could crash with us. Rafters are usually good to backpackers because they usually show up after the backpackers make camp on a beach and kind of impose themselves because it's either that or try finding a beach further downriver. We got a real dinner, complete with salad and a campfire. Nice.
I visited Stanton's Cave and Vasey's Paradise the next morning. It was alright, but just seems like another giant spring in the Grand Canyon. After that 30 minutes of fun, we decided to head out a day earlier, cause what else were we going to do?
Going back seemed much easier than going down. The slickrock sections seemed longer and more frequent which was great. There was the right amount of challenging sections to this trip, but not enough that they seemed neverending like some trips.
So after climbing out the sky to the North was filled with smoke. It later became apparent that the Kaibab National Forest was on fire again - probably a maintenance fire - a big one.
One thing to note on this trip - no ringtails, no chipmunks, no mice, no squirrels.....only ravens, and they were only interested in the rafts. Did someone/thing kill them off?
View photos from this trip
Sunday, October 21, 2007
West Rim Trail - Grotto -> Campsite 6 & Back
With a new camera, I was really excited to head back to rephotograph some of the most beautiful areas I've been in. The trip got off to a great start when I pulled into the Coal Pits Wash Trailhead to camp, and while driving around to see if anyone else was camped there, I inadvertently drove into a section that had experienced flooding since I'd been there last, and there was a fresh 2 feet of sand deposited. After I hit a dead end I tried to turn around, and couldn't back out. I tried all kinds of things to get out, but ended up going off into the dark to find long straight branches to drive on. After an hour of trying the branch method, I had made it 30 ft backwards. Then I noticed a 18" hill I'd have to climb up, and knew I couldn't do it as my wheels were already frequently slipping on top of the branches instead of gripping them. So I called AAA. The tow truck was on it's way from Zion back to his shop, and I was on the way, so it didn't take long for him to show up, drive down a ways, and get stuck. He stopped short of the real sand, but was in a huge flat bed loading tow truck. He used a shovel to clear out enough sand so he was on firm ground to get going back out. I asked if I could borrow the shovel for the night, and he flat out refused. So disappointed, I camped out in the back of my stuck truck. I planned on flagging someone down the next morning, but when morning came, I decided to work out some ideas I had while trying to sleep. The problem was my rear end is too light, with a slip differential, so because there was a lean to the right side, the left wheel was slipping, so I dug out the left side a bit so it could get more weight, and with a little rocking, rolled back. Then the next step was to get my truck back far enough that I could get my truck headed straight, because I had much better driving in the sand when going forward than back. I had to push my truck with one foot while laying on the gas with the other, then I had to back up to make my final turn to get straight, then I got going, and laid on the gas, and off I went. Free!!! It was a good feeling.
Starting out on the trail, the weather was cool, but quickly warmed up. I found it odd that I was passing everyone on the trail, even though I had a full pack on. I guess I don't realize how much progress I've made in the fitness area over the years. I was surprised when I started climbing above Scout's Lookout, and there were still tons of people coming up that way. It wasn't until I got above Scout's Lookout that I broke the camera out.
After 3-4,000 feet of climbing, I made it onto the West Rim Mesa, and saw what happened with the fires this summer. The fires from the summer before made the mesa pretty ugly, but the fires from this summer finished everything off. The Telephone Canyon Trail was closed - it was part of the loop I wanted to do up there. I was disappointed with that. The weather up top was alright. There was some wind, but not much. When I made it to my campsite, I could see the clouds moving in, and the wind picked up...big time. I chose to set my tent up right next to a fallen tree that was almost as tall as my tent in case any trees decided to blow over. Two blew over while I was camped there, but not next to my tent, fortunately. I was able to get some amazing photos when the clouds were moving off of the horizon, and the sun was coming through. It made the whole trip worthwhile.
Then it got cold. Really cold. The next morning I stayed in my sleeping bag forever, but finally got the guts to get out, and throw everything in my pack. I didn't even restuff anything in their stuff sacks. Once I got onto the trail, the wind pretty much stopped. It was pretty isolated to where I was camped.
The rest of the trip was uneventful until I was closing in on Scout's Lookout, and there were six California Condors flying all over the area around Angel's Landing. I started taking photos of them, when all of a sudden, one came straight at me. I got an okay photo of it, then it buzzed my head and circled back to join the others. Condors aren't typically found in Zion, so it was a pretty cool occurrance.
View photos from this trip
Starting out on the trail, the weather was cool, but quickly warmed up. I found it odd that I was passing everyone on the trail, even though I had a full pack on. I guess I don't realize how much progress I've made in the fitness area over the years. I was surprised when I started climbing above Scout's Lookout, and there were still tons of people coming up that way. It wasn't until I got above Scout's Lookout that I broke the camera out.
After 3-4,000 feet of climbing, I made it onto the West Rim Mesa, and saw what happened with the fires this summer. The fires from the summer before made the mesa pretty ugly, but the fires from this summer finished everything off. The Telephone Canyon Trail was closed - it was part of the loop I wanted to do up there. I was disappointed with that. The weather up top was alright. There was some wind, but not much. When I made it to my campsite, I could see the clouds moving in, and the wind picked up...big time. I chose to set my tent up right next to a fallen tree that was almost as tall as my tent in case any trees decided to blow over. Two blew over while I was camped there, but not next to my tent, fortunately. I was able to get some amazing photos when the clouds were moving off of the horizon, and the sun was coming through. It made the whole trip worthwhile.
Then it got cold. Really cold. The next morning I stayed in my sleeping bag forever, but finally got the guts to get out, and throw everything in my pack. I didn't even restuff anything in their stuff sacks. Once I got onto the trail, the wind pretty much stopped. It was pretty isolated to where I was camped.
The rest of the trip was uneventful until I was closing in on Scout's Lookout, and there were six California Condors flying all over the area around Angel's Landing. I started taking photos of them, when all of a sudden, one came straight at me. I got an okay photo of it, then it buzzed my head and circled back to join the others. Condors aren't typically found in Zion, so it was a pretty cool occurrance.
View photos from this trip
Saturday, October 13, 2007
Little Wild Horse Canyon - Bell Canyon
I just got back from the San Rafael Swell - was planning on doing 4 canyons, Little Wild Horse, Bell, Ding & Dang, but only got to do the first two. There was some nasty looking weather rolling in after I got out of LWHC, so I had lunch, and waited to see if things would clear up, but they never did.
Unfortunately I started into the canyons about the same time as a group of 10 prattling high schoolers. And so it was like, well...I don't think I can accurately portray 4 conversations going on at the same time about inane babble. I'm not even going to try. When the canyons split, I went up Bell which coincidentally wasn't where the high schoolers went. Bell went by pretty quickly. LWHC took longer, but since I went the direction most people don't I ended up waiting in the narrow section for huge groups of families consisting of usually 2 adults, and 10 kids between the ages of 4 & 6. It was weird.
These seem to be canyons that most people have done, and are insanely easy to get through, but that's the kind of thing I was looking for this weekend, so it was nice.
I got to use my new Canon S5IS on its first trip, which I love!
View photos from this trip
Unfortunately I started into the canyons about the same time as a group of 10 prattling high schoolers. And so it was like, well...I don't think I can accurately portray 4 conversations going on at the same time about inane babble. I'm not even going to try. When the canyons split, I went up Bell which coincidentally wasn't where the high schoolers went. Bell went by pretty quickly. LWHC took longer, but since I went the direction most people don't I ended up waiting in the narrow section for huge groups of families consisting of usually 2 adults, and 10 kids between the ages of 4 & 6. It was weird.
These seem to be canyons that most people have done, and are insanely easy to get through, but that's the kind of thing I was looking for this weekend, so it was nice.
I got to use my new Canon S5IS on its first trip, which I love!
View photos from this trip
Monday, October 8, 2007
Wet Beaver Creek
Sure it sounds like a strip club in Tijuana, but it was a lot funner. Well, I'm guessing it's a lot more fun. In comparing Tijuana to the Creek - both were pretty hellish. The Creek was more on the fun side of hellish things. Having never been to a strip club, I really wouldn't know how that compares though. I wonder what the google searches hitting this post will be like. No, I really don't want to know. The creek was seriously fun though once I accepted a few things.
It started out with a drive from Ogden to the Sedona area. A serious dust storm closed down I-15 on the way, forcing a long detour through some tiny towns. That added some time to the trip, then getting stuck in a drive-thru line at Wendy's in Beaver for 25 minutes was even better! In total, it was over 11 hours. I spent the night in Flagstaff at a crummy hotel between I-40 and a very active railroad line which required the train to toot its horn at every intersection.
Completely exhausted, I started the backpacking trip. I had little planning for this trip, and didn't know the first 12 miles or so would be dry except for some big disgusting ponds that I don't think would be safe to drink no matter how much it was purified. So I had 1 gallon for the first day and a half. Crossing the open desert was long and boring. Nothing to talk about.
Day 2 we dropped down into a canyon that would connect us with Wet Beaver Creek. It was pretty cool. We had some down climbs, and scrambles down the sides of dryfalls between 10-30 ft drops. It was really sweet.
Middle of day 2 we hit Wet Beaver Creek - except it was completely dry, which was expected. A spring fuels the waters flow further downstream, filling all the deep cold pools we would be swimming over the next two days. I dreaded getting into the first pool, wondering if my pack would float with my water reservoirs inflated with air, and my dry bag inflated as much as possible, and float it did! Since the water was fresh from a spring, it was very cold.
I tried holding the pack out in front of me, pushing off a large rock and kicking, but after the initial inertia wore off, I went nowhere, then the wind blew me back to the start of the swim. I started swimming with one hand going too, and started moving. The next pool was definitely warmer, but that's only because being wet in the wind was much colder than being cold in the water. The next few miles were mainly boulder hopping down the creek. Looking at the GPS, we had barely covered any of the creek section. Our campsite was pretty sweet though - one of the best in the canyon with wide open spaces, plenty of sand to camp on, protection from flooding, and trees to tie lines between to hang stuff to dry. My tent was outside of a dry sack so I had to dry it off - I basically set it up hanging from the line - pretty funny looking. 
My camera had gotten wet enough that it wouldn't work, so I don't have any pictures.
Day 3 was supposed to be our final day, but as the day wore on, it became clear that wasn't going to happen. With the inevitability of swimming pools, the wind, lowering temperatures as the sun dropped behind the canyon walls, and complex terrain to navigate in the dark, it just didn't seem like a good idea. Back to the morning though, it was endless boulder hopping. It just never ended. Just boulder after boulder. Sometimes there were no boulders to hop though, so it was into the trees to thrash our way through. Sometimes we had to hop boulders on the banks, and sometimes hop boulders while thrashing through the trees! Eventually though, the pools came back. Looking at the GPS we were only half way through the canyon, and we were 1/2 way through the final scheduled day. It just seemed like we were stuck in a horrible time warp. At one point I was convinced our exit was just around every corner, and was getting disappointed every time. Eventually when the sun was getting low I had crossed a pool, and I couldn't take it any more. I was hungry, wet, cold, and didn't want to face the canyon anymore. We had no chance of making it out that night - at least not safely, and the area had a fairly decent campsite. There were a few flat spots on slickrock. I had a slab just the right size for my tent, but had a drop off onto rock of about 2.5 feet on 3 sides. With the wind gusts, it made for a tense night at times.
Early on day 4, we headed out. The sun was barely lighting the cliffs above, not quite reaching the pools. The first pool we hit was right around the corner from camp, which was a huge disappointment. I wanted to warm up a bit by boulder hopping first, but got thrown right into the swimming. There was no way around it, the water was cold. I didn't wear a shirt cause I would've just been colder for longer with it on since it would take much, much longer to dry than bare skin. The wind was seriously gusting as I got out of the first pool. I froze. The second pool was right after the first, and was still cold, but not that bad. Then the 3rd pool was right after that, and the water was starting to feel warm - physically warm. It was weird, cause I knew it was just as cold as the first, but it was definitely warmer than being in the wind. Earlier the previous day I got tired of taking off my pack to swim the pools, so I left it on, and started swimming on my back. It made it super easy to go from hopping to swimming and back. I can't remember how many pools I swam after that. It just all started blending together. I just knew I couldn't stop or I'd freeze. I still didn't know when I'd hit the trail leading out of the canyon. The banks got easier to get through, and the pools no longer required swimming. Sometime later a canyon appeared on the South side of the Creek and I knew I was there.
I was so happy to find a trail that I started heading up a good climb for a 1/4 mile only to realize that I was going up the wrong side. So back to the creek and up the other side I was on my way out. The last 4 miles flew by, and I was glad to get back to my truck so I could call everyone who was already worried we didn't check in the night before.
It was hard dealing with a never ending canyon, and some tough terrain that required a considerable amount of time to negotiate, and to just start enjoy the hopping, and the swimming of long pools of freezing water I have a huge range of feelings about this trip, but overall I think it was fun. I don't know if I'd do it again, but I definitely want to do more of the same - as long as the pools are fairly clean, you know, no stanky funk.
Only 3 good photos before the camera stopped working, so I'm just showing them in this post.
View photos from this trip
It started out with a drive from Ogden to the Sedona area. A serious dust storm closed down I-15 on the way, forcing a long detour through some tiny towns. That added some time to the trip, then getting stuck in a drive-thru line at Wendy's in Beaver for 25 minutes was even better! In total, it was over 11 hours. I spent the night in Flagstaff at a crummy hotel between I-40 and a very active railroad line which required the train to toot its horn at every intersection.
Completely exhausted, I started the backpacking trip. I had little planning for this trip, and didn't know the first 12 miles or so would be dry except for some big disgusting ponds that I don't think would be safe to drink no matter how much it was purified. So I had 1 gallon for the first day and a half. Crossing the open desert was long and boring. Nothing to talk about.
Day 2 we dropped down into a canyon that would connect us with Wet Beaver Creek. It was pretty cool. We had some down climbs, and scrambles down the sides of dryfalls between 10-30 ft drops. It was really sweet.
Middle of day 2 we hit Wet Beaver Creek - except it was completely dry, which was expected. A spring fuels the waters flow further downstream, filling all the deep cold pools we would be swimming over the next two days. I dreaded getting into the first pool, wondering if my pack would float with my water reservoirs inflated with air, and my dry bag inflated as much as possible, and float it did! Since the water was fresh from a spring, it was very cold.
I tried holding the pack out in front of me, pushing off a large rock and kicking, but after the initial inertia wore off, I went nowhere, then the wind blew me back to the start of the swim. I started swimming with one hand going too, and started moving. The next pool was definitely warmer, but that's only because being wet in the wind was much colder than being cold in the water. The next few miles were mainly boulder hopping down the creek. Looking at the GPS, we had barely covered any of the creek section. Our campsite was pretty sweet though - one of the best in the canyon with wide open spaces, plenty of sand to camp on, protection from flooding, and trees to tie lines between to hang stuff to dry. My tent was outside of a dry sack so I had to dry it off - I basically set it up hanging from the line - pretty funny looking. My camera had gotten wet enough that it wouldn't work, so I don't have any pictures.Day 3 was supposed to be our final day, but as the day wore on, it became clear that wasn't going to happen. With the inevitability of swimming pools, the wind, lowering temperatures as the sun dropped behind the canyon walls, and complex terrain to navigate in the dark, it just didn't seem like a good idea. Back to the morning though, it was endless boulder hopping. It just never ended. Just boulder after boulder. Sometimes there were no boulders to hop though, so it was into the trees to thrash our way through. Sometimes we had to hop boulders on the banks, and sometimes hop boulders while thrashing through the trees! Eventually though, the pools came back. Looking at the GPS we were only half way through the canyon, and we were 1/2 way through the final scheduled day. It just seemed like we were stuck in a horrible time warp. At one point I was convinced our exit was just around every corner, and was getting disappointed every time. Eventually when the sun was getting low I had crossed a pool, and I couldn't take it any more. I was hungry, wet, cold, and didn't want to face the canyon anymore. We had no chance of making it out that night - at least not safely, and the area had a fairly decent campsite. There were a few flat spots on slickrock. I had a slab just the right size for my tent, but had a drop off onto rock of about 2.5 feet on 3 sides. With the wind gusts, it made for a tense night at times.
Early on day 4, we headed out. The sun was barely lighting the cliffs above, not quite reaching the pools. The first pool we hit was right around the corner from camp, which was a huge disappointment. I wanted to warm up a bit by boulder hopping first, but got thrown right into the swimming. There was no way around it, the water was cold. I didn't wear a shirt cause I would've just been colder for longer with it on since it would take much, much longer to dry than bare skin. The wind was seriously gusting as I got out of the first pool. I froze. The second pool was right after the first, and was still cold, but not that bad. Then the 3rd pool was right after that, and the water was starting to feel warm - physically warm. It was weird, cause I knew it was just as cold as the first, but it was definitely warmer than being in the wind. Earlier the previous day I got tired of taking off my pack to swim the pools, so I left it on, and started swimming on my back. It made it super easy to go from hopping to swimming and back. I can't remember how many pools I swam after that. It just all started blending together. I just knew I couldn't stop or I'd freeze. I still didn't know when I'd hit the trail leading out of the canyon. The banks got easier to get through, and the pools no longer required swimming. Sometime later a canyon appeared on the South side of the Creek and I knew I was there.
I was so happy to find a trail that I started heading up a good climb for a 1/4 mile only to realize that I was going up the wrong side. So back to the creek and up the other side I was on my way out. The last 4 miles flew by, and I was glad to get back to my truck so I could call everyone who was already worried we didn't check in the night before.
It was hard dealing with a never ending canyon, and some tough terrain that required a considerable amount of time to negotiate, and to just start enjoy the hopping, and the swimming of long pools of freezing water I have a huge range of feelings about this trip, but overall I think it was fun. I don't know if I'd do it again, but I definitely want to do more of the same - as long as the pools are fairly clean, you know, no stanky funk.
Only 3 good photos before the camera stopped working, so I'm just showing them in this post.
View photos from this trip
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Channel Islands Dive Trip
It all started a little after 11 pm on a Tuesday night. I drove off to pick up a friend, then head to the dive shop to load all our gear up onto a bus. Then we were off into the night. Our driver was kind of skittish, but excelled at driving straight. As soon as corners came up it was one jerky move after another, each one jarring me awake. On the stretch of freeway between Cedar City & St. George it was like he was dodging squirrels on the freeway. Fortunately we got a new driver in St. George, and it was super easy to sleep while she was at the wheel. We stopped in Primm for breakfast where we dined to the sounds of jackhammers. That afternoon we arrived in the Santa Barbara harbor and loaded our stuff on the boat then went out to eat. We had 6 hours to kill before we left.
Overnight we headed to Catalina Island for our first dive. By morning we'd been travelling for 36 hours. We spent most of our trip off Catalina due to a storm making for rough water around the Channel Islands. That morning I hopped into the ocean for the first time. As many times as I'd been to the coasts, I'd never been in the water. All I can say is that ocean water tastes much saltier than I thought it would be. It was pretty cool to dive in that area since there is a ton of kelp to swim through, and there are tons of starfish and urchins. I only saw two horned sharks, which don't really look like sharks, and are really small, so nothing too exciting.
The boat had 3 levels, the lower being the bunks - which are basically coffins w/ a drape on the side stacked 3 high. The main level had the galley w/ the kitchen, and tables along both sides, and the diving deck. The top level was central ops for boat operation and staff quarters, with a deck to lounge on. I really didn't know what I was in for living on a small boat with close to 40 people and it rained half the time so we couldn't only occupy half of the boat, and my only escape was the water. I went a little crazy.
The last day we finally made it to an actual Channel Island - Santa Cruz, and the diving was 10x better. So many colors of urchins everywhere, same as starfish plus we had a sea lion and a seal swim around us, but only had two dives. En route between dive sites there we took the boat into what I believe was the world's largest sea cave and took the boat about 100 feet in. On the ride back to Santa Barbara we saw two blue whales fairly close, and off in the distance a killer whale.
The ride back was mainly through the night, full of restless sleep due to several army movies a few guys wanted to watch, so it was all nice and peaceful, then *BOOM* I was awake again. I got home at 10 am. Would I do that trip again? Maybe - if I flew down, and didn't stay on a boat the whole time. For the next 3 days, my world wouldn't stop rocking back and forth.
View photos from this trip
Overnight we headed to Catalina Island for our first dive. By morning we'd been travelling for 36 hours. We spent most of our trip off Catalina due to a storm making for rough water around the Channel Islands. That morning I hopped into the ocean for the first time. As many times as I'd been to the coasts, I'd never been in the water. All I can say is that ocean water tastes much saltier than I thought it would be. It was pretty cool to dive in that area since there is a ton of kelp to swim through, and there are tons of starfish and urchins. I only saw two horned sharks, which don't really look like sharks, and are really small, so nothing too exciting.
The boat had 3 levels, the lower being the bunks - which are basically coffins w/ a drape on the side stacked 3 high. The main level had the galley w/ the kitchen, and tables along both sides, and the diving deck. The top level was central ops for boat operation and staff quarters, with a deck to lounge on. I really didn't know what I was in for living on a small boat with close to 40 people and it rained half the time so we couldn't only occupy half of the boat, and my only escape was the water. I went a little crazy.
The last day we finally made it to an actual Channel Island - Santa Cruz, and the diving was 10x better. So many colors of urchins everywhere, same as starfish plus we had a sea lion and a seal swim around us, but only had two dives. En route between dive sites there we took the boat into what I believe was the world's largest sea cave and took the boat about 100 feet in. On the ride back to Santa Barbara we saw two blue whales fairly close, and off in the distance a killer whale.
The ride back was mainly through the night, full of restless sleep due to several army movies a few guys wanted to watch, so it was all nice and peaceful, then *BOOM* I was awake again. I got home at 10 am. Would I do that trip again? Maybe - if I flew down, and didn't stay on a boat the whole time. For the next 3 days, my world wouldn't stop rocking back and forth.
View photos from this trip
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