Needing a break and some solitude I headed back out to the West Desert to a great little camping spot. Weather was in the 60's, blue skies, forecast said there'd be a little wind, and possibly some snow in the morning. Looking at the weather satellite images it looked like the storm would miss my camp by a ways so I wasn't worried. I tried a new way to get to my camping spot in the Devil's Playground. I took Immigrant Rd at mile marker 33 (on highway 30) down to the turn off. I think entering from mile 33 or 24 is about the same driving time. So no matter. The night was going great, but then there were a couple drops, then it stopped. I decided to move into the tent anyway. 30 minutes later it started drizzling, but nothing bad. Then the wind picked up. My camp was in a little alcove of rocks so I was sheltered for the most part from the wind in the direction it was blowing, then it changed direction and things went downhill. The rain was horizontal. I reinforced my tent by putting a couple more stakes in at different angles and using some guy lines to tie it down. But it was no use. The wind gusts were just too much. In a brazen move I packed everything into my pillowcase, loosely rolled up my bag and darted to my truck with them so they wouldn't get wet. By now the rain had turned to horizontal freezing rain. I dropped the tent poles and collapsed it sideways and stuffed it under my pickup bed cover and turned in for the night. It got cold, and the wind never stopped. The condensation on the inside of my windows froze and just built up thicker and thicker as the night wore on. My back window was caked with 1/2" of ice, and every couple minutes there would be a thud as a chunk of ice that had built up on a tree landed on my roof. I had planned on spending 2 nights, but my tent was a frozen brick that would probably take 4-5 hours to thaw out, and then it wouldn't dry enough to be usable, and I didn't know if any other fun weather would be coming my way, so after some pics in the morning I took off. I only had trouble in one spot on the way out, it's a steep 15 foot climb followed by a steep 25 foot climb. I made it to the top of the first fairly well, just spinning out a bit towards the top, had a little trouble getting up enough speed to make the 25 footer, and lost it right at the top. It took about 6 tries, but I managed to get up the rest of the way without having to back down and charge it again. The wind coming back was insane. There was a stretch of highway where the tumbleweeds were dancing across the road by the hundreds, just floating over the barbed wire fences on both sides. It was a sight to see. Curious to find out just how fast the wind was gusting I looked up the weather station that's just outside the Devil's Playground area and it said 81 MPH top gust. Wow. I believe it though. It was insane.
View photos from this trip
Sunday, March 26, 2006
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Grand Canyon II
This trip I went down the South Kaibab Trail, spent 2 nights at Bright Angel CG, did a day trip up Phantom Canyon, and returned via the Bright Angel Trail. The weather forecast was sketchy at best. It was constantly changing, and never looked very appealing, but there's nothing you can do about that. The weather turned out to be very nice. Highs in the mid 60's and lows in the 40's. It only rained the 2nd night, but even then it was only a few sprinkles a couple times throughout the night. The next morning the skies were blue and partially cloudy again. I was trying out a bandanna dealie from Buff, and I loved it. You'll see it in pretty much every picture. I was also sporting a new pack, the Kelty Shadow 4500, and a new bag, a 25° Kelty Lightyear 650 down. Both of those were great. With those two new additions to my backpacking arsenal my full pack weight (water, food and all) for a 3 day trip is 35 lbs.
The South Kaibab Trail is one steady descent. Looking at the vertical profile of my track on my Explorist 600 it's almost a smooth 45° angle from start to finish. The views are great. A mountain goat was spotted on the way down. Mileage: 7.6. As soon as I got my pack off at the BAC (Bright Angel Campground) I went down to the creek to find a nice pool of water to sit in for a nice ice bath (it's good for the muscles). A father & his two sons were washing their feet off nearby and they could barely stand to put just their feet in, and here I was trudging across the creek and comfortably sitting down in a pool & cooling off. A couple scouts were walking back to their site and they stopped to gawk at me. It was hilarious watching these people get so worked up over it. Sure it was freezing, but that was the point. The air temp was probably around 50-55°
Phantom Canyon isn't marked or really mentioned in any GC lit, but it's got some pretty cool waterfalls just out of view from the North Kaibab Trail, and it requires wading to get to them. After about a mile there's a really deep pool that I didn't want to go through since getting wet and cold in that canyon, a good ways from dry clothes would've been a really bad idea. On the way back some guys who had been past that said that it just opens up into a clearing around the corner and there's nothing to see.
The BAT was pretty much the same as last time, except this time I made it out in 4 hours and 50 minutes. That last mile is the real killer. Looking at the vertical profile of the BAT it's a gradual rise up until a mile past Indian Gardens and then it gets really steep, gaining twice as much elevation in half the distance (just a guess).
View photos from this trip
The South Kaibab Trail is one steady descent. Looking at the vertical profile of my track on my Explorist 600 it's almost a smooth 45° angle from start to finish. The views are great. A mountain goat was spotted on the way down. Mileage: 7.6. As soon as I got my pack off at the BAC (Bright Angel Campground) I went down to the creek to find a nice pool of water to sit in for a nice ice bath (it's good for the muscles). A father & his two sons were washing their feet off nearby and they could barely stand to put just their feet in, and here I was trudging across the creek and comfortably sitting down in a pool & cooling off. A couple scouts were walking back to their site and they stopped to gawk at me. It was hilarious watching these people get so worked up over it. Sure it was freezing, but that was the point. The air temp was probably around 50-55°
Phantom Canyon isn't marked or really mentioned in any GC lit, but it's got some pretty cool waterfalls just out of view from the North Kaibab Trail, and it requires wading to get to them. After about a mile there's a really deep pool that I didn't want to go through since getting wet and cold in that canyon, a good ways from dry clothes would've been a really bad idea. On the way back some guys who had been past that said that it just opens up into a clearing around the corner and there's nothing to see.
The BAT was pretty much the same as last time, except this time I made it out in 4 hours and 50 minutes. That last mile is the real killer. Looking at the vertical profile of the BAT it's a gradual rise up until a mile past Indian Gardens and then it gets really steep, gaining twice as much elevation in half the distance (just a guess).
View photos from this trip
Monday, November 7, 2005
Zions / Biking St. George
What a great trip! I took off on Wednesday to avoid some of the incoming storms. I didn't like driving for endless hours through rainy, cold weather on my last trip, so skipping it for this one was nice. I headed to Mesquite NV to stay at one of the casino hotels down there -- cheap rooms. Next day I woke up and went outside just after sunrise and it was at least 70° & sunny -- I liked it. It was 30° colder back home and rainy. I went down to Overton to look at some land. It's a cool location, right next to Valley of Fire State Park, and Lake Mead a couple miles away. Though it's kind of in the middle of nowhere, and the entire area is prone to flash floods, so I decided to pass. I headed back through Mesquite to Littlefield to look at some more land. It's equally as warm there as Overton, but the landscape is just bleak mountains to one side, and endless sagebrush on the other. I think I'd rather have less land and more view up around Hurricane than more land but nothing to look at.
I headed up to Zions NP to hike Angel's Landing. Everyone says it's a cool hike, and it is, but a lot of people also say it's scary, and stuff. It's really not. One of the guide books I have says you have to cross a knife's edge with no chains in one section. The knife's edge is like 20 feet wide, you can't even classify that as a butter knife edge. At times you're kind of close to the edge, but if that makes you nervous you have tons of chain anchored to the rock to hold on to. One of the guys I chatted with at the bottom of the Grand Canyon who had climbed Angel's Landing the week before said there was some crazy old guy hanging off the chains for pictures, and how crazy that was. Wuss. It's a great, easy, quick hike that everyone but little kids and those who freak themselves out easily should do sometime in their life. I came to the realization while I was up there that I'm way past this mainstream kind of stuff. Just to convince myself of it I later did the Emerald Pools hike. It was like a symphony of disappointment. We had the endless droves of tourists making the music, infants making a solo debut with their screams echoing off the canyon walls, parents doing the ooey-cooey-gooey baby talk making up the melody, endless footsteps making up the percussion, and this was at nightfall when most everyone's left the park already. I'd hate to see what it's like up there in the middle of July when the tourism is at its peak. i don't know why, but NOBODY went to the middle pool. I guess they thought that tiny trickle of water they hopped over was the middle pool. It was nice to have that all to myself. It's seriously a 25 ft trek down a side trail to get to it. I thought it was funny that the NPS put up signs saying the water was contaminated so people shouldn't play in it. Contaminated with what? Didn't matter, it kept people out of it. They'll ignore the please don't swim in the pool signs, but say it's contaminated and no one goes near it. Good job, NPS! (I'm serious) The water is so much cleaner than most reservoirs.
2nd day I biked part of the Guacamole Trail, just NW of Virgin on a mesa. It's a combination of sandstone and dirt connectors, and a lot of fun. It's fairly new, and still under development. It's marked with cairns on the sandstone stretches, and at times it's just impossible to find. It's kind of narrow with unforgiving brush, so I was dripping blood in a couple spots when I got back to my truck. There was some quarrying going on just off the dirt road you take to get up to the trailhead, and on the way out I was blocked in by a couple large rocks that rolled onto the road. So I had to park my truck & get out to help the guys roll them out of the way. While parked this huge rock started crashing down the cliff headed towards my truck. Luckily it stopped about 20 ft short, otherwise I'd probably be in the market for a new truck. I have conflicted feelings on that. I'd like a new truck, but it's really nice not to have payments. I wasn't in the truck so it's not like I could've moved it.
That night I wanted to get another quick ride in, so I hunted for the Green Valley Trail. I got to where I thought I was supposed to be, but I didn't see any signs or anything, so I checked my GPS for the trailhead waypoint and I was right on it, so I went down a hill and started climbing another one where I saw some other bikers going up. At the top I read the description and it was talking about riding in a sandstone canyon, and there was a little canyon to my left, so I checked it out, and it looked like there was a trail going through it. So I rode down, went into the canyon and figured out that it wasn't a trail at all. I wasn't going to ride back up what I had just ridden down, especially when I could drive it, so I rode back up the other hill to my truck and drove up the way I was first going on my bike. Turns out the real trailhead and parking lot were a little further up the road. So I took off from there for a ways. Only problem was the sun had already set, so I was riding on borrowed light. I went up for 15 minutes and turned around after a geologic feature called the lions paw, it's a series of steep downhills down what would be the fingers of a lion's paw.
3rd day I biked the north rim of gooseberry mesa. That was a ton of fun. It's pretty fast paced with plenty of stuff to ride off, and a couple challenging climbs up slickrock. There are a lot more sections of gooseberry to ride that I'll hit next time I'm down there.
Last day I checked out the Kolob Canyons section of Zions NP on my way home. I wasn't that impressed, but that comes along the same lines of another realization that I had on this trip while driving at a snails pace behind tourists from Florida, Ohio, California, and all the other places tourists come from every day I was down there. I'm thinking it's 35 MPH through the park, come on and do at least 30! But no, 15-20 was the norm among those types. I'm thinking this is a cool place, and just wanting to drive through. The pace cars, they're just totally enthralled with everything. I've seen big ol' sandstone cliffs a gazillion times, I've climbed them, rappelled them, hiked through their narrows, rode over their tops, navigated their labryinths, cooled off in their natural air conditioners, and more. I have a playground, another destination for me to get to, and I want to get there and play. I know the cooler sights are hidden within the walls of these areas, not what's visible from the car window. Maybe a permit trip only policy is in order here, you know, not going to go anywhere or do anything near a national park unless it requires a permit that severely limits the number of people that can go there. It means several things, no "tourists", more like-minded people, but not enough to ruin it, it's gonna be cool enough that a ton of people want to do it, but they can't unless they plan it, and stuff like that.
Anyway, a Grand Canyon raft trip, Cataract Canyon raft trip, Narrows trip, a Grand Teton climb, and Telescope Peak from Death Valley to the summit (4th longest continuous mountain ascent in the US, exceeded only by Rainier, Fairweather, and McKinley) are on the list. I want to do Telescope Peak from the very bottom, probably in a 3 day trip. Day 1 climbing up to a campground around 8,000 where gear for 2 nights would be stashed, Day 2 summiting and returning to base camp, Day 3 returning to the bottom with all the gear to avoid a return trip to the stashed gear.
View photos from this trip
I headed up to Zions NP to hike Angel's Landing. Everyone says it's a cool hike, and it is, but a lot of people also say it's scary, and stuff. It's really not. One of the guide books I have says you have to cross a knife's edge with no chains in one section. The knife's edge is like 20 feet wide, you can't even classify that as a butter knife edge. At times you're kind of close to the edge, but if that makes you nervous you have tons of chain anchored to the rock to hold on to. One of the guys I chatted with at the bottom of the Grand Canyon who had climbed Angel's Landing the week before said there was some crazy old guy hanging off the chains for pictures, and how crazy that was. Wuss. It's a great, easy, quick hike that everyone but little kids and those who freak themselves out easily should do sometime in their life. I came to the realization while I was up there that I'm way past this mainstream kind of stuff. Just to convince myself of it I later did the Emerald Pools hike. It was like a symphony of disappointment. We had the endless droves of tourists making the music, infants making a solo debut with their screams echoing off the canyon walls, parents doing the ooey-cooey-gooey baby talk making up the melody, endless footsteps making up the percussion, and this was at nightfall when most everyone's left the park already. I'd hate to see what it's like up there in the middle of July when the tourism is at its peak. i don't know why, but NOBODY went to the middle pool. I guess they thought that tiny trickle of water they hopped over was the middle pool. It was nice to have that all to myself. It's seriously a 25 ft trek down a side trail to get to it. I thought it was funny that the NPS put up signs saying the water was contaminated so people shouldn't play in it. Contaminated with what? Didn't matter, it kept people out of it. They'll ignore the please don't swim in the pool signs, but say it's contaminated and no one goes near it. Good job, NPS! (I'm serious) The water is so much cleaner than most reservoirs.
2nd day I biked part of the Guacamole Trail, just NW of Virgin on a mesa. It's a combination of sandstone and dirt connectors, and a lot of fun. It's fairly new, and still under development. It's marked with cairns on the sandstone stretches, and at times it's just impossible to find. It's kind of narrow with unforgiving brush, so I was dripping blood in a couple spots when I got back to my truck. There was some quarrying going on just off the dirt road you take to get up to the trailhead, and on the way out I was blocked in by a couple large rocks that rolled onto the road. So I had to park my truck & get out to help the guys roll them out of the way. While parked this huge rock started crashing down the cliff headed towards my truck. Luckily it stopped about 20 ft short, otherwise I'd probably be in the market for a new truck. I have conflicted feelings on that. I'd like a new truck, but it's really nice not to have payments. I wasn't in the truck so it's not like I could've moved it.
That night I wanted to get another quick ride in, so I hunted for the Green Valley Trail. I got to where I thought I was supposed to be, but I didn't see any signs or anything, so I checked my GPS for the trailhead waypoint and I was right on it, so I went down a hill and started climbing another one where I saw some other bikers going up. At the top I read the description and it was talking about riding in a sandstone canyon, and there was a little canyon to my left, so I checked it out, and it looked like there was a trail going through it. So I rode down, went into the canyon and figured out that it wasn't a trail at all. I wasn't going to ride back up what I had just ridden down, especially when I could drive it, so I rode back up the other hill to my truck and drove up the way I was first going on my bike. Turns out the real trailhead and parking lot were a little further up the road. So I took off from there for a ways. Only problem was the sun had already set, so I was riding on borrowed light. I went up for 15 minutes and turned around after a geologic feature called the lions paw, it's a series of steep downhills down what would be the fingers of a lion's paw.
3rd day I biked the north rim of gooseberry mesa. That was a ton of fun. It's pretty fast paced with plenty of stuff to ride off, and a couple challenging climbs up slickrock. There are a lot more sections of gooseberry to ride that I'll hit next time I'm down there.
Last day I checked out the Kolob Canyons section of Zions NP on my way home. I wasn't that impressed, but that comes along the same lines of another realization that I had on this trip while driving at a snails pace behind tourists from Florida, Ohio, California, and all the other places tourists come from every day I was down there. I'm thinking it's 35 MPH through the park, come on and do at least 30! But no, 15-20 was the norm among those types. I'm thinking this is a cool place, and just wanting to drive through. The pace cars, they're just totally enthralled with everything. I've seen big ol' sandstone cliffs a gazillion times, I've climbed them, rappelled them, hiked through their narrows, rode over their tops, navigated their labryinths, cooled off in their natural air conditioners, and more. I have a playground, another destination for me to get to, and I want to get there and play. I know the cooler sights are hidden within the walls of these areas, not what's visible from the car window. Maybe a permit trip only policy is in order here, you know, not going to go anywhere or do anything near a national park unless it requires a permit that severely limits the number of people that can go there. It means several things, no "tourists", more like-minded people, but not enough to ruin it, it's gonna be cool enough that a ton of people want to do it, but they can't unless they plan it, and stuff like that.
Anyway, a Grand Canyon raft trip, Cataract Canyon raft trip, Narrows trip, a Grand Teton climb, and Telescope Peak from Death Valley to the summit (4th longest continuous mountain ascent in the US, exceeded only by Rainier, Fairweather, and McKinley) are on the list. I want to do Telescope Peak from the very bottom, probably in a 3 day trip. Day 1 climbing up to a campground around 8,000 where gear for 2 nights would be stashed, Day 2 summiting and returning to base camp, Day 3 returning to the bottom with all the gear to avoid a return trip to the stashed gear.
View photos from this trip
Monday, October 10, 2005
Grand Canyon -- North to South Rim
I was up at 8 despite my best efforts to get more sleep. I was awake. After trying my pack on, I realized it wasn't going to work for this trip, so I moved evrything to my larger pack, and after a couple more delays I was on the road at 10.
The weather was pouring rain for at least 4 hours on the road. Whatever storm was coming through was nasty. My first real problem, howevre was my gas gauge. Normally when it's on E, it still has at least two gallons left, this time, however I got the tell-tell first sign of running out by the brief scent of gas coming through the air system, then a minute later as I was approaching an exit I got an engine stutter & finally when I came to a stop at the end of the exit ramp, it died. Fortune was on my side since there was a gas station a couple hundred feet away. A couple turns of the engine and I was able to get out of the way. Gas can in hand, I waltzed across the street and filled it up & went on my way. I had to eat anyway, so I drove off to a Maverick to get it topped off & a bite to eat from the mall.
Next stop on the trip was Bryce Canyon. It was my first time, and I probably shouldn't have gone in retrospect due to the amount of time it really took to get there & back on my route, but it was a fun, quick little stop. I think I'll try to plan a trip there next May or June to backpack it. It was freezing up there, and it was crowded, so it's not really the kind of place I want to be in. It's probably a lot better once you get off the viewpoints. I only went to the first one, so we'll see when I go there again how it really is elsewhere.
The sun was low in the sky as I entered Fredonia, AZ, and I began climbing into the old forests of Kaibab National Forest. I had an inkling that deer and other animals would be coming out, so I watched for them. Unforutnately that wasn't good enough. Out of nowhere (that's how it always goes) a herd of about 10 small deer appeared just off my side of the road. I braked and one jumped in front of me, so I swerved, but it wasn't enough. The deer was small enough that it didn't seem to do any major damage. The truck drove well, so I just headed for some lights down the road so I could inspect the damage.. Bent hood, cracked grill, dented sides, no right headlight & the spot where the parking light was, is now just a nice crushed looking mess, and the bumper is jacked & the plastic covering the wheel wells now rubs the tire whern I turn or brake & the hood won't close all the way unless I make some special adjustments & the windshield wiper fluid cap is MIA. With one headlight I managed to make it to the lodge and then on to the campsite.
I knew the North Rim would be in a forest up around 8000 ft, but the pines are just awesome. They're very old, thick, tall, and nothing grows on the forest floor below them.
My new Kelty Crestone 1 is nice. I could use a couple more inches of headroom, especially when I'm sitting on my pad, but in he end it's just shelter, and it does that well. I especially like that it's lightweight, and the amount of air circulation it provides is really nice. The Big Agnes 3" inflatable sleeping pad is sweet & comfy beyond expectations.
Day 2: It was freezing, literally. I'm glad I decided to bring some pants, a fleece & a zip-up hoody cause it was really, really cold in the morning. Breakfast was 2 really good cinnamon rolls from the deli & we were on our way. The North Kaibab Trail is awesome. You're either surrounded by trees, or walking in the shade of a cliff. The quadriped poop situation is pretty bad, but better than I thought it would be. There are tons of pics of the trail & the sights, so check those out, it's best left seen. I had a lot of fun taking those.
At about mile 6 you see a waterfall gushing out of the cliff & running down the canyon side. It eventually gets bigger, but remains temptingly out of reach until you get to the Cottonwood Campground which incidentally takes 1.5 more miles to get to than all the signs say. I'll trust my GPS, thank you. That water was flesh numbingly cold, but was totally worth getting completely soaked just to get the trail dirt & sweat off. The campground is pretty nice. Some sites have really good shade, the latrines dont stink, water's on tap, and you have the creek to serenade you to sleep at night.
I planned for a 35 lb max on my bckpack & somehow it's closer to 50. My upper back is feeling the load. Probably because the pack is pulling my back into a more proper alignment.
So dusk falls and out comes this army of fearless mice. No respect for the superiority of mankind. Yelling didn't work, nor stomping. Rocks helped divert their direction of attack, but they still came. It was only after they had inspected our site for food, and waited to see if their presence would be rewarded by handouts that they left, presumably to the next site.
The temps at 4000 ft were perfect that night. No clouds in the sky. The stars out in full show. I was able to watch the rotation of the earth as the sliver of moon moved behind a cliff in less than a minute.
Day 3: The morning brought an undeniable chill, even though the sun was up, it wouldn't shine on our camp until just before we left.
The trail out of camp was your typical desert terrain, unlike the majority of the previous day's hike where we enjoyed the trees & the shade while hiking atop the cliffs.
We were on our way to Ribbon Falls. I had only seen bad pictures of them on the internet, so I was anxious to see them in person & I was glad that it was only a quick side trip. I had fun with a lot of th ephotos. Again the water was freezing cold, but it felt greeat just the way it was because I knew in another 30 minutes I'd be hiking in the sun again, and sweating like none other. The water temps of the streams & creeks in the canyon are supposed to be around 45 degrees since they're all spring fed this time of year and don't have any rain or snowmelt to supplement the flow. The next couple miles were unremarkable, then we entered a narrow canyon where the sun only occasionally reached the canyon floor. It was very comfortable to hike through all that shade, even though it was moderately warm.
Phantom Ranch awaited us outside the canyon. It was a lot more rustic than I thought it would be. All the activity hovers around the canteen which is where everyone eats and socializes. It only holds 48 diners, so when they say you have to be staying at the ranch, or have a reservation, they mean it.
The night here is really warm. There's a cool breeze coming through, but it's not expected to drop below 61 degrees. Our high was 91. Our campsite is the most secluded of the 21 sites here. I'm using 2 rocks & a string to secure my tent, It's quicker & easier & more adjustable than stakes are. The ground is just too hard to drive them in without bending some of them.
Day 4: This was the rest day, and it was really, really nice not to do any hiking with a pack on. We took a hike on the River Trail which connects the Black Bridge to the Silver Bridge. The river is Mountain Dew green from the amount of algae that can grow in the clearer waters. All the silt from the Colorado in Utah & Colorado settles in Lake powell, so it can't block the light that algae needs to grow.
Day 5: The rest day was just what we needed. The muscles were still a little sore, but nothing like they were on previous mornings. We started hiking at dawn in some warm temperatures, but it was still nice. I was expecting to have a much harder time getting out, but I guess the rest day worked it's magic. Even after laying down at the top for a couple minutes, getting up didn't make my muscles scream. A nice pizza at We Make Pizza & Pasta was really, really good & well deserved.
Back at the North Rim it was raining and hailing as we setup camp in the dark again, but at least showers were available. The breakfast buffet was pretty good.
After camp was packed up I headed to Zions National Park to check it out. I was planning on spending the night at the Lava Point Campground (or whatever it's called) When I got up there, and this is after a long drive into a remote corner of the park, I couldn't get into the campground since there were 3 cars parked in the entrance blocking it. When I got out to talk to the people I realized these weren't ordinary camping/tourist folks. They looked like Amish with technology, at least the women & children. The guys were dressed normally. So, given the Arizona license plates, I'm guessing they were polygamists. The guys were cutting up firewood or something left over from the forest revitalization project going on in the area, and the women & kids were left in the cars the whole time I was there. The wood was piled like it was going to be loaded up & sold in typical logging fashion by the NPS, & those guys up there were just taking advantage of the situation to stockpile some wood for themselves. There were 12 tents, count them, 12 that were exactly the same, and looked like they had been frequently used due to the UV bleaching of the fabric. There was nobody else in the campground, and the occupants of the 3 sites filled with those tents hadn't bothered to sign in to the register The wind was blowing hard, this was up around 8000 ft again, and was cold, and given the really, really weird circumstances up there, I decided just to leave. On my way out I passed more trucks & cars with AZ plates, and guessed that those were the occupants of some of the other tents & that it was one big group of them taking the wood. It makes sense that they would do this on a Sunday to avoid all the real workers up there.
I went back down to the main area of the park, and hopped on the shuttle that goes around the park to do some recconnaissance for future visits. After 90 minutes I was back at the parking lot and on my way home. 6 hours later I was home again.
View photos from this trip
The weather was pouring rain for at least 4 hours on the road. Whatever storm was coming through was nasty. My first real problem, howevre was my gas gauge. Normally when it's on E, it still has at least two gallons left, this time, however I got the tell-tell first sign of running out by the brief scent of gas coming through the air system, then a minute later as I was approaching an exit I got an engine stutter & finally when I came to a stop at the end of the exit ramp, it died. Fortune was on my side since there was a gas station a couple hundred feet away. A couple turns of the engine and I was able to get out of the way. Gas can in hand, I waltzed across the street and filled it up & went on my way. I had to eat anyway, so I drove off to a Maverick to get it topped off & a bite to eat from the mall.
Next stop on the trip was Bryce Canyon. It was my first time, and I probably shouldn't have gone in retrospect due to the amount of time it really took to get there & back on my route, but it was a fun, quick little stop. I think I'll try to plan a trip there next May or June to backpack it. It was freezing up there, and it was crowded, so it's not really the kind of place I want to be in. It's probably a lot better once you get off the viewpoints. I only went to the first one, so we'll see when I go there again how it really is elsewhere.
The sun was low in the sky as I entered Fredonia, AZ, and I began climbing into the old forests of Kaibab National Forest. I had an inkling that deer and other animals would be coming out, so I watched for them. Unforutnately that wasn't good enough. Out of nowhere (that's how it always goes) a herd of about 10 small deer appeared just off my side of the road. I braked and one jumped in front of me, so I swerved, but it wasn't enough. The deer was small enough that it didn't seem to do any major damage. The truck drove well, so I just headed for some lights down the road so I could inspect the damage.. Bent hood, cracked grill, dented sides, no right headlight & the spot where the parking light was, is now just a nice crushed looking mess, and the bumper is jacked & the plastic covering the wheel wells now rubs the tire whern I turn or brake & the hood won't close all the way unless I make some special adjustments & the windshield wiper fluid cap is MIA. With one headlight I managed to make it to the lodge and then on to the campsite.
I knew the North Rim would be in a forest up around 8000 ft, but the pines are just awesome. They're very old, thick, tall, and nothing grows on the forest floor below them.
My new Kelty Crestone 1 is nice. I could use a couple more inches of headroom, especially when I'm sitting on my pad, but in he end it's just shelter, and it does that well. I especially like that it's lightweight, and the amount of air circulation it provides is really nice. The Big Agnes 3" inflatable sleeping pad is sweet & comfy beyond expectations.
Day 2: It was freezing, literally. I'm glad I decided to bring some pants, a fleece & a zip-up hoody cause it was really, really cold in the morning. Breakfast was 2 really good cinnamon rolls from the deli & we were on our way. The North Kaibab Trail is awesome. You're either surrounded by trees, or walking in the shade of a cliff. The quadriped poop situation is pretty bad, but better than I thought it would be. There are tons of pics of the trail & the sights, so check those out, it's best left seen. I had a lot of fun taking those.
At about mile 6 you see a waterfall gushing out of the cliff & running down the canyon side. It eventually gets bigger, but remains temptingly out of reach until you get to the Cottonwood Campground which incidentally takes 1.5 more miles to get to than all the signs say. I'll trust my GPS, thank you. That water was flesh numbingly cold, but was totally worth getting completely soaked just to get the trail dirt & sweat off. The campground is pretty nice. Some sites have really good shade, the latrines dont stink, water's on tap, and you have the creek to serenade you to sleep at night.
I planned for a 35 lb max on my bckpack & somehow it's closer to 50. My upper back is feeling the load. Probably because the pack is pulling my back into a more proper alignment.
So dusk falls and out comes this army of fearless mice. No respect for the superiority of mankind. Yelling didn't work, nor stomping. Rocks helped divert their direction of attack, but they still came. It was only after they had inspected our site for food, and waited to see if their presence would be rewarded by handouts that they left, presumably to the next site.
The temps at 4000 ft were perfect that night. No clouds in the sky. The stars out in full show. I was able to watch the rotation of the earth as the sliver of moon moved behind a cliff in less than a minute.
Day 3: The morning brought an undeniable chill, even though the sun was up, it wouldn't shine on our camp until just before we left.
The trail out of camp was your typical desert terrain, unlike the majority of the previous day's hike where we enjoyed the trees & the shade while hiking atop the cliffs.
We were on our way to Ribbon Falls. I had only seen bad pictures of them on the internet, so I was anxious to see them in person & I was glad that it was only a quick side trip. I had fun with a lot of th ephotos. Again the water was freezing cold, but it felt greeat just the way it was because I knew in another 30 minutes I'd be hiking in the sun again, and sweating like none other. The water temps of the streams & creeks in the canyon are supposed to be around 45 degrees since they're all spring fed this time of year and don't have any rain or snowmelt to supplement the flow. The next couple miles were unremarkable, then we entered a narrow canyon where the sun only occasionally reached the canyon floor. It was very comfortable to hike through all that shade, even though it was moderately warm.
Phantom Ranch awaited us outside the canyon. It was a lot more rustic than I thought it would be. All the activity hovers around the canteen which is where everyone eats and socializes. It only holds 48 diners, so when they say you have to be staying at the ranch, or have a reservation, they mean it.
The night here is really warm. There's a cool breeze coming through, but it's not expected to drop below 61 degrees. Our high was 91. Our campsite is the most secluded of the 21 sites here. I'm using 2 rocks & a string to secure my tent, It's quicker & easier & more adjustable than stakes are. The ground is just too hard to drive them in without bending some of them.
Day 4: This was the rest day, and it was really, really nice not to do any hiking with a pack on. We took a hike on the River Trail which connects the Black Bridge to the Silver Bridge. The river is Mountain Dew green from the amount of algae that can grow in the clearer waters. All the silt from the Colorado in Utah & Colorado settles in Lake powell, so it can't block the light that algae needs to grow.
Day 5: The rest day was just what we needed. The muscles were still a little sore, but nothing like they were on previous mornings. We started hiking at dawn in some warm temperatures, but it was still nice. I was expecting to have a much harder time getting out, but I guess the rest day worked it's magic. Even after laying down at the top for a couple minutes, getting up didn't make my muscles scream. A nice pizza at We Make Pizza & Pasta was really, really good & well deserved.
Back at the North Rim it was raining and hailing as we setup camp in the dark again, but at least showers were available. The breakfast buffet was pretty good.
After camp was packed up I headed to Zions National Park to check it out. I was planning on spending the night at the Lava Point Campground (or whatever it's called) When I got up there, and this is after a long drive into a remote corner of the park, I couldn't get into the campground since there were 3 cars parked in the entrance blocking it. When I got out to talk to the people I realized these weren't ordinary camping/tourist folks. They looked like Amish with technology, at least the women & children. The guys were dressed normally. So, given the Arizona license plates, I'm guessing they were polygamists. The guys were cutting up firewood or something left over from the forest revitalization project going on in the area, and the women & kids were left in the cars the whole time I was there. The wood was piled like it was going to be loaded up & sold in typical logging fashion by the NPS, & those guys up there were just taking advantage of the situation to stockpile some wood for themselves. There were 12 tents, count them, 12 that were exactly the same, and looked like they had been frequently used due to the UV bleaching of the fabric. There was nobody else in the campground, and the occupants of the 3 sites filled with those tents hadn't bothered to sign in to the register The wind was blowing hard, this was up around 8000 ft again, and was cold, and given the really, really weird circumstances up there, I decided just to leave. On my way out I passed more trucks & cars with AZ plates, and guessed that those were the occupants of some of the other tents & that it was one big group of them taking the wood. It makes sense that they would do this on a Sunday to avoid all the real workers up there.
I went back down to the main area of the park, and hopped on the shuttle that goes around the park to do some recconnaissance for future visits. After 90 minutes I was back at the parking lot and on my way home. 6 hours later I was home again.
View photos from this trip
Monday, October 3, 2005
Fall at Snowbasin
Saturday was the last day I could use my season pass at Snowbasin. It's kind of sad that my summer's now officially over. Bad weather's here, and the trails are all muddy as of this morning, thanks to a nice little storm coming through. Tomorrow all the trails I rode this weekend will be covered in 6-12" of snow. So, so sad. There were more people up there than I've ever seen the entire summer. I had to park in the 3rd parking lot section since the others were completely full. While I was getting my bike ready to go I noticed my rear wheel curvier than Cali's 101. While I was working on it, one spoke just turned & turned & wouldn't tighten. I wasn't paying that much attention since the car next to mine had some people getting ready as well. They were putting on more and more crash armor. When I thought they were done, they brought out more. "Hey Julie, I've got some extra leg gear, you want to put it on?", "No, I've got my own.", "Okay, just want to make sure". Now, I know the trails are in bad condition in spots, and others have more rocks on the trail than on the mountain, but come on. I only see guys that bomb mountains in races and total newbs don gear like that. They were of the newb sort. Anyway, back to the spoke, one little tug confirmed it was broken. I would've ridden like that anyway, just have a couple spokes over torqued to compensate for the missing one, but I thought I'd try the rental shop & they had one that fit perfectly -- it's now one black spoke in the midst of an all silver wheel.
The Fall colors peaked earlier this week. By the time I got up there the trees were half bare from the high winds tearing across the mountain. Even with the winds though, it was relatively warm at the top. It was also Oktoberfest at the resort. So they had a German band in liederhosen jamming up the classic beer drinking tunes. There were tons of bikes all around the Needles Lodge, but on the trail, I didn't see another biker -- going down at least. There were a couple coming up. At the top some guy asked me if I had ridden up from the bottom -- I didn't even have a drop of sweat on me, and I was coming from the direction of the gondola, so I don't know what he was thinking. I told him I climbed up from the bottom once and it nearly killed me. I find it hard to understand where some people are coming from. In this case, I think the guy was so in awe that people even rode from the bottom to the top because it's something he would never do in his lifetime unless by some miracle he started by getting himself fit enough to just make it around the block, and worked hard from there to come back from decades of idleness. Something weird though, I passed a couple hikers carrying a pair of skis, one was going down from the top, another coming up from the bottom, what? I should've asked them what they were doing.
So it was enjoyable. I like having more people on the mountain, it makes it a bit livelier. I took my riding way, way easy so I wouldn't crash and jack myself up. I've got a Grand Canyon trip I've been planning for the last 4 months, and I didn't want anything to get in the way of it. It's unfortunate though, because on Porcupine they built a fun little 15 foot path to the side of the trail out of boulders, and I wanted to ride it, but I didn't want to risk a screw up that would've sent me falling of the side. I don't think I'll get a season pass up there again. I might go back up a couple times next summer if they put some new trails in, or just work on my climbing during the week. On my list next year is to scope out the resorts around Park City and see what they've done for their trails. I hear PC has some welll groomed trails. Probably a much greater variety of trails as well.
It's going to be a long winter. Hopefully the trails in the foothills will stay relatively clear of snow.
View photos
The Fall colors peaked earlier this week. By the time I got up there the trees were half bare from the high winds tearing across the mountain. Even with the winds though, it was relatively warm at the top. It was also Oktoberfest at the resort. So they had a German band in liederhosen jamming up the classic beer drinking tunes. There were tons of bikes all around the Needles Lodge, but on the trail, I didn't see another biker -- going down at least. There were a couple coming up. At the top some guy asked me if I had ridden up from the bottom -- I didn't even have a drop of sweat on me, and I was coming from the direction of the gondola, so I don't know what he was thinking. I told him I climbed up from the bottom once and it nearly killed me. I find it hard to understand where some people are coming from. In this case, I think the guy was so in awe that people even rode from the bottom to the top because it's something he would never do in his lifetime unless by some miracle he started by getting himself fit enough to just make it around the block, and worked hard from there to come back from decades of idleness. Something weird though, I passed a couple hikers carrying a pair of skis, one was going down from the top, another coming up from the bottom, what? I should've asked them what they were doing.
So it was enjoyable. I like having more people on the mountain, it makes it a bit livelier. I took my riding way, way easy so I wouldn't crash and jack myself up. I've got a Grand Canyon trip I've been planning for the last 4 months, and I didn't want anything to get in the way of it. It's unfortunate though, because on Porcupine they built a fun little 15 foot path to the side of the trail out of boulders, and I wanted to ride it, but I didn't want to risk a screw up that would've sent me falling of the side. I don't think I'll get a season pass up there again. I might go back up a couple times next summer if they put some new trails in, or just work on my climbing during the week. On my list next year is to scope out the resorts around Park City and see what they've done for their trails. I hear PC has some welll groomed trails. Probably a much greater variety of trails as well.
It's going to be a long winter. Hopefully the trails in the foothills will stay relatively clear of snow.
View photos
Monday, September 5, 2005
Ben Lomond Peak via North Skyline Trail
I've hiked up the North Skyline Trail several times about 2 miles to the same point, even biked it once, but I've never made it to Ben Lomond via that route before, mainly because I didn't want to hike 16 miles, but since I have a Grand Canyon backpacking trip coming up I figured it's time to get some long hikes with significant elevation gains in them. The trail is pretty nice except towards the beginning where there are serious problems with erosion, and damage from motorcycles which result in a trail with a V shaped rutt. The trail is shared by hikers, mountain bikers, quadriped pooping machines, and motorcycles. The North Skyline Trail is also part of the Great Western Trail. Looking at the ridgeline going across from the North Ogden Divide to Ben Lomond you would assume that the trail just climbs to the ridge and flattens out until you get to the final ascent of Ben Lomond, but that's not the case, you're steadily climbing almost the entire time as you'll see in the elevation profile included with the images. Sure it's flat for some sections, but there's not a 5 mile section of flat. Being Labor Day there were plenty of hikers up there and fortunately few of the aforementioned quadripeds. There were several mountain bikers, but I didn't see any past the 1500 ft elevation gain and 2.5 mile mark. I decided to wear a Falke performance compression shirt I was given to test out last Spring, and it's probably the first time I've worn it that it actually regulated my temperature better than not wearing it at all. The other times, it either made me overheat, or made me freeze. I wore it under a Nike poly tee.
So the trail can be broken down into a couple different sections:
Mile 0-2 Climbing the canyon side of the N.O. Divide
Mile 2-4 Climbing the Eastern side of the ridge overlooking the Ogden Valley (Eden/Huntsville)
Mile 4-6.5 Hiking along the Western side of the ridge
Mile 6.5-7.5 Climbing the Eastern side of B.L.
In all it was 15.5 miles and 3,850 ft in elevation climbed
View photos of the trail
So the trail can be broken down into a couple different sections:
Mile 0-2 Climbing the canyon side of the N.O. Divide
Mile 2-4 Climbing the Eastern side of the ridge overlooking the Ogden Valley (Eden/Huntsville)
Mile 4-6.5 Hiking along the Western side of the ridge
Mile 6.5-7.5 Climbing the Eastern side of B.L.
In all it was 15.5 miles and 3,850 ft in elevation climbed
View photos of the trail
Saturday, August 27, 2005
Willard Peak
With Willard Peak under my belt, I've now climbed 7 Utah county high points, and have 19 left. I took the dirt road that climbs up to Inspiration Point (it's on Willard Mountain). The road had become much rougher since last year when I last went up there, but it was still very doable in lil' red. There were a ton of ATV'ers up there. It truly is the best way to get around on those roads. It's certainly much faster than having to negotiate all the obstacles. The starting point for the hike is at the spring that flows onto the road in Willard Basin. This trail heads up to an alpine lake right below the peak -- well, about 800 feet below the peak. There are two trails from here, one heading East around the lake onto the ridge, and one heading West onto the ridge. They meet up, so either direction is fine. The trail heading East is nicer to hike on. Once you're close to the ridge, there's a trail that climbs the North side of the ridge, overlooking the lake, and eventually leads you to the bare rocks that make up the peak. From that point, you're on your own. The granite on the peak gives great traction. Close to the top there's a giant crack in the mountain. I'm not sure how deep it is, at one point all you can see is black, and it's so narrow that light only gets down there for a couple minutes a day, but it is long, and it's hard to miss. On top there are 3 potential high points. I think the one in the middle is the actual highest. It consists of a chunk of rock jutting up. The GPS said they were all the same height, so the coolest spot was chosen as the high point. The actual trail to the peak is all fine and dandy, but you can get up there by going down the trail towards Ben Lomond Peak for a ways, and then at your chosen spot just start climbing up the rock. It's a good way to go if you can't find the trail, which was my case. There were some mountain goats that we crossed paths with on the way up. Some motorcyclists on the trail to B.L.P. stopped to check them out as well. From the loud conversation overhead halfway up the peak, the goats we're freakin' sweet. Willard Peak is by far the most geologically interesting peak I've been on. You can see for yourself in the pictures.
In All, it was 1,524 ft climbed over 4 miles.
View photos of the trail
In All, it was 1,524 ft climbed over 4 miles.
View photos of the trail
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