The Pristine Zone

Just Me and My Dad

2011-09-12T14:06:00.001-06:00

I went hiking just me and my Dad. I wore a hat because it was too sunny.I let Daddy carry me in the backpack so that he could keep up with me. We went to a place called the Toadstools. The rocks were very weird there. Daddy let me run around near the Toadstools for a while. My favorite thing was the dirt and rocks.Some people took a picture of just me and my Dad. Aren't we a good looking pair?Later we hiked up a canyon. I think Dad got lost.

Me and my dad stopped in a shady place and had lunch. I liked the milk the best.On the way back to the car, I fell asleep from having too much fun hiking with just me and my Dad.

Signal Peak

2011-08-29T16:14:00.004-06:00

Rising over 10000 feet in the Pine Valley Mountains, I see Signal Peak every time I drive the road from Zion down the hill. Eric Lassance and I had attempted it a couple of years back, but did not leave enough time to complete it. This time, I was bound and determined to get an early enough start to accomplish it. I was lucky enough to have a couple of friends visiting that were willing to come with me on a trip up a somewhat obscure peak in Southern Utah. Brad, who worked at Zion all the years that I was there, now was living in Alaska and working there. He was down to Zion for some rest and relaxation after the summer season was over for his job. Amber is a friend I met while working trail crew at Rocky Mountain National Park. She and her sister Sarah were visiting on their way out to Yosemite where Amber works during the school year. We drove out to the trailhead at the Oak Grove Campground arriving at 8am and got an early enough start. I prepared everyone telling them it was a big climb and to bring lots of water. Still they were not exactly prepared for the 4000 vertical feet we were going to have to climb. It was switchback after switchback in exposed high desert environment. We kept a fairly good pace as we went up the hill, but were not moving entirely quickly. We were definitely drinking a bunch of our water as the sunshine was warming it up to 90+ in the hot sun. These were some of the hottest days we had during the summer coming right near the end. Eventually we got into some bigger trees until we hit the saddle and topped out. After the saddle it was smooth sailing. We actually went downhill for a bit before crossing into a couple of meadows, one which was referred to as Further Water. There was water, so we would have the chance to refill the coffers, but kept on hiking to the top of the peak. It was a rather undramatic peak in general, but hiking through the forest to the top which ended up just being a pile of rocks with a walk to a viewpoint where we could see Veyo and Snow Canyon. I was pleased to be here though as this was on my list of peaks and places that I wanted to visit. We enjoyed a bite to eat and then decided to go down. Going down we were taking it slowly. It was nice to have some time chatting with my friends as both Amber and Brad were people I was lucky to get to see once a year. It is funny how when people are your friends, you can just pick up where you left off. Both of these two, I had spent enough time with to know their personalities and enjoy their company almost immediately. The hike down was taking nearly as long as the hike up, which was a bit frustrating. We passed Further Water without obtaining further water for our supply. This caused us a slight problem as we went down slower than expected. There was a point that I got a little snippy because of it, but felt it was necessary to keep the group focused enough when we were hiking in the desert. It all worked out fine as we drank the last of our bottles rather close to the Xterra and were able to stop at the Maverick to fill our gullets with a cold beverage. Leaving the Maverick, we were planning an evening of hanging out. What I ended up doing was getting a call from Jacqueline and finding out that her car broke. I had to go pick her up from work and got to check out the ugly sight. Somehow the control arm of her front left tire had rusted and broke, which helped to bend her axle. This required a tow truck that was coming by the time I got there. A couple of hundred bucks later and it was fixed, but definitely an inconvenience during the summer busy season. Not the way you want to end a fun hiking day, but I still was in a good mood from a great hike up Signal Peak.

Full Left Fork

2011-08-24T13:50:00.000-06:00

There is the Left Fork of North Creek which is referred to by most people as the Subway. Then there is Das Boot which has some story behind it of someone losing a boot in February in the canyon, thus the name which means the boat in German. And then there is the relatively unknown section of the canyon above Das Boot, which is only referred to as the Full Left Fork. I had wanted to get into this canyon for years and never had the opportunity. Annette wanted to do a canyon with Seth and I since we were her new term employees this year. I figured with so many qualified personnel, we should do something big. Why not go through a canyon that truly should have some wilderness to it? So we chose the Full Left Fork. Will from Plateau District LE was going with us. We were happy to have him along as he had quite a large amount of skills to contribute. We took along the Michael Kelsey description which had us starting at the Wildcat Trailhead. There were at least two choices to this route and we chose the more adventurous of the hiking routes. This lead us on the typical Das Boot route where we just continued on the slickrock ramp. It was interesting to notice that no one except me really knew the Das Boot route well or at least how to approach it. I convinced the team of the right route and we headed up to the slickrock bench. From high above, we were able to get some amazing views of the North and South Guardian Angel from above, which is a view most people don't get. The slickrock ramp continued until it didn't and we were left with a dilemma. The hot sun was blazing at 100 degrees and with us carrying wetsuits, we did not want to spend too much time. It was either find a way down or hike back. Luckily, we had Will with us who was courageous and found a steep slickrock ramp. We went down this slowly as it would be easy to somersault and roll away. When we got to the bottom, we were on yet another slickrock ramp. We crossed a few canyons and fought some manzanita, which took us to steep sandy hill. We caused a slight bit of erosion as we went down the sandy slope that led into the canyon. We found a dry canyon which was about 30 degrees cooler than the air temperature above. We decided this was a good spot for some lunch. After lunch I wandered upstream for less than five minutes to confirm our location. There I found the famous seeps and determined that we were indeed in the Upper Left Fork. We wetsuited up and were into the canyon. The canyon started with an ominous yet fun beginning with what Will called a bathtub slide. He was ahead of us as we heard him splash in. When we got there, we realize the safest and most fun way of getting into this was to slide it like a water slide. Splash! and the canyon had begun. The only spot we found an anchor was an orange piece of webbing at the first rap. After that, it was completely clean except for some old slings laying on the ground. There were log jams galor, beautiful narrows with green algae growing all over the rocks, and about a half dozen rappels with the longest being only about 40 feet. There were definitely some downclimbing skills to be used including cramming ourselves in between logs and over perilous drops. The wetsuits were coming in handy as even when most other places in the canyon were dealing with drier than typical conditions, we had some swimming to do in the Upper Left Fork. We even had an arch, though small in a place where we could escape the canyon if needed. The rappels ended but the canyon was not done. We walked for quite a long time through a more open and typical Zion canyon, similar to the canyons we would see on the east side. I always wondered if you could walk upstream from Das Boot and check out the Upper Left Fork and the answer is no! Because there was the last rappel, though short, of the Upper Left Fork right before the walk-in entrance to Das Boot. We continued down Das Boot which unsurprisingly was very similar to the Upper Left Fork. Lots of log jams, water, and short drops to rap. If you do not like to downclimb, do not attempt this canyon. There was a lot less water than typical for Das Boot having only wading sections rather than swimming sections. I used a farmer john with a jacket, but for most of the time the jacket was off. This was a bad idea as in one section I got extreme rock rash from trying to slow down on my downclimb. Will and I were surprised to find a large elk skull complete with antlers in the canyon. Annette and Seth told us the story of the trapped elk in the canyon which had to be put down last year. This was the remnants. With the last rappel of the worst anchor in the park into the pool above the walk-in entrance of the Subway complete, we had a conference and determined that hiking out would be the best choice at this point. I honestly think that it is the same amount of time either way, but no one in the group except me wanted to give it a go. So we went up out of the Subway. It took quite some time, but we made it back to the car right before dark. The canyon took about 11 hours and 13 hours if you include the driving. That is quite a commitment for a day of canyoneering. Seeing the narrows above in pristine shape was well worth the experience and I would love to do the Full Left Fork again sometime soon.

Trail to Teewinot

2011-08-14T07:32:00.000-06:00

Summers working for the Park Service can be rather busy, so I was lucky to get a couple of days off to travel up to Gardiner, Montana right outside Yellowstone National Park to go to our friends John & Mindy's wedding. Unfortunately, Jacqueline was not able to come and neither was Zyla. Jacqueline had been swamped the entire summer with work and it would just have been too long of a trip for Zyla. I left after work on Wednesday driving as far north as Salt Lake to stay with Jacqueline's brother Paul. I continued the next day with a drive into Yellowstone. I had to argue with the entrance lady to get it for free and then drove an hour or so out of my way toward where John and the bachelor party group were fishing. I never caught up with them and instead met them at John's house where everyone was already drinking. It was great to see a bunch of people that I had not seen in quite a while. John had a lot of fun that night and still had the energy to get up the next day and get to the rehearsal. We spent the whole next day doing wedding stuff mainly just hanging out and socializing. The morning of the wedding, we played a little b-ball and then John and Mindy tied the knot in what was one of the quickest ceremonies I have ever been a part of. We took some pictures after the ceremony and then we headed out to the reception. I got to hang with my other good friends, Brian and Angela Hays. They worked in Tetons, so they were able to bring their daughter Liesel along. Hanging out with a family makes you miss your own and I was wishing that Jacqueline and Zyla could be along while we partied at the reception. I was glad they did not have to try to follow me around as we did all the pre-wedding stuff, but post wedding I would have loved to dance and have fun with the wife. It was fun to see Liesel because it is hard sometimes to remember how quickly your kid grows up. Zyla was just a few months older than Liesel, but so much more active specifically because of the age difference. The next day, I left John and Mindy Hender to their wedded bliss and left with the Hays' family. We took a slow tour through Yellowstone visiting some of the hot spots. We could not do any major hikes or climbs because it was the Sabbath Day and Brian and Angela are LDS. We could do short strolls though, which is what we did. We took a short walk out to Tower Falls. Lots of water was pouring down there, but nothing compared to our next walk out to Yellowstone Falls in the Canyon District of Yellowstone. It was fun to revisit many of these places as my dad worked at Yellowstone for a few years, so I got a lot of visiting in during those years. Still it is quite amazing just to see how vast and incredible Yellowstone truly is. We had ourselves a picnic lunch and then went out to the mudpots. Those were always my favorite geyser feature liking them even more than the big ones like Old Faithful. We continued the drive to the southern portion of the park transitioning without warning into Tetons. We stopped and had a quick dinner by a lake with a great view of the Tetons, then headed into the park. Brian and Angela were still able to make church and I went at their suggestion to a mountain called Teewinot to hike the trail to the base of it. I started my hike at the hour when most people were getting off of the trail. It had been a couple of days without much physical activity, though, so I was chomping at the bit. I just went as fast as I could and amazingly when it is not 105 degrees, you can move pretty quick even uphill. It just shows how good of shape we are actually in at Zion because going uphill is such a challenge in the heat. Here though, I seem to be moving effortlessly barely sweating as I went. I was amazed that this trail was in such good shape because it was not on the map. The views were great as I got great looks at the Snake River and Jenny Lake down below. My goal was to try to make it to treeline and I almost got there. I had to time it all out, so I finished with a bit of daylight left. I got up very high with a good view of the peak to finish out my highest point. My body still wanted to keep going but the waning light and my long drive the next day would not allow me. I turned around reluctantly to enjoy the views on the way down. I had a good evening hanging out with the Hays' family arriving to their home about the same time they got back from church. They had a cabin that was perfect for the three of them. I wondered if they would be able to do it the next year once Liesel was getting into everything. I spent the night there and then in the morning began my 11 hour drive back arriving back to the 100 degree heat of the evening. I was glad to have a break to see some good friends and enjoy the cool of the mountains in the height of summer.

Trying Out the Big Backpack

2011-08-06T07:59:00.000-06:00

Our last hiking trip with Zyla had not been incredibly successful. When in Great Basin, she had a difficult time sleeping in her Kelty backpack. Luckily, we had a state of the art best baby backpack money could buy Deuter Kid Comfort III. So far, Z had been too small to fit in this comfortably. Now that she was too big for the Kelty pack, we figured we had to move on to the Deuter. She looked like a little princess sitting in a chair in that thing as we parked right next to the visitor center and began a hike up the Watchman trail. The hike was one that we had done numerous times, so it would be a fair evaluation of the backpacks performance. We left just before naptime giving Zyla a much better shot to fall asleep. As we began the hike, the eyes got heavier. Soon she was zonked out as we talked to another couple with the exact same backpack. Everyone we saw made some sort of comment about how good she had it. She definitely did as the sleeping beauty missed most of this 2 mile roundtrip trail sleeping away. This was very encouraging as now we had taken Zyla successfully camping and found a backpack that she could sleep comfortably in. We finished the day with a trip to the Virgin River where Zyla played in the sand. We are lucky to live in a beautiful place that we can enjoy with all members of the family.

Overnightin' in the Narrows

2011-07-22T15:51:00.000-06:00

Occasionally, I get to stay in the backcountry for work. This rare event was occurring and I was going to be spending the night in the Narrows. The Zion Narrows is one of the most unique places on earth. There are other similar places, but nothing with as amazing of vertical walls with a swift flowing river from wall to wall. I always appreciate my overnight trips in the Narrows and would not even really want to do it as a day hike all the way through because staying in there is half the adventure. This trip would be alone which was fine with me. I left the trailhead around 11am after Andie dropped me off. I talked with some folks there and I knew it was going to be interesting because it was a full house. The first part of the hike, I was able to stay dry out of the water. I was making really good time. Having done this many times before actually helped out because I could just move. I ran into some people and I was very pleased because everyone I met so far was enjoyable company. I made it to my campsite which was up in Deep Creek. I had to take an admin campsite since all the other sites were taken. I set up my camp and went down to filter some water. After about half an hour, I gave up on the water filter. Someone had taken it apart and now it was not working. I decided to go check on the condition of the campsites. I was surprised when getting to them that there were not people in camp yet. I questioned whether the Narrows was truly going to fill up. I only found one campfire (bad!) as I hiked all the way down to campsite #9. On the way back up, I began seeing lots of people. I talked to many of them and there were many fun and interesting people. I got to my campsite at about 7pm, made myself some dinner, read a book, and then got some extra rest. I awoke early in the morning. I wanted to get going to see the people in camp. The river was very cold! I was chilly most of the morning. The people in camp were very pleasant. The only interesting ones were the group from site #12. They got into camp rather late after following a trail way up the side of the cliffs from site #11. They were in good spirits about it and even helped me disperse the campfire that someone had left in there site. Why do people need to build a campfire in the desert? Just doesn't make sense to me. Past Big Spring, it was slow going. The river was deep and cold. There were a couple of spots of chest deep water to wade through. It was definitely taking me longer than typical this winter. I got to seeing a couple of folks, then a couple more, until finally it was full on busy. It made it slower going as I had to answer lots of questions. In all, it took me six hours to get out, which was a lot longer than normal. In 2011, the typical 12 hours was a rather accurate prediction.

Steven

2011-07-16T17:32:00.000-06:00

Steven and his girlfriend Amanda came to visit us. They were up for only a day and a half, so I had to make it worth Steve's while. I decided to take him through Keyhole since that would give him the most bang for his buck. So we got our wetsuits from the cache and headed up to the trailhead. After climbing the hill and dropping into the canyon, we started to do the most difficult part of canyoneering, putting on our wetsuits. I accidentally let Steve put on his entire wetsuit the wrong way. He had to take it off and put it back on and by the time he got it on he was sweating like crazy. He got to take the 6.5 mm wetsuit through, so he had no choice but to sweat it out. Sometimes we get a little overboard with staying warm when it definitely would not be so bad to be at least a little chilly. The 6.5 mm would make him very warm and not a bit cold. We went through the middle part with a bit of water, but not more than waist deep. Soon we were putting on our harnesses and getting ready to go into the canyon. Sweaty Steve was happy to go first. I told him to keep his butt down. He did a great job of that on the first rappel, but his butt kept moving but not his feet. He had to pull himself back up and try again. Second time around, he did great. I could tell he was a bit nervous. This is the friend that called me every name in the book until I sucked it up and rappelled for the first time 11 years earlier. Funny how our lives take us different directions and this day would be a piece of cake for me. We ran into some other folks in the canyon. They let us go around them, even using their rope. I thought that was really kind of them. The wetsuits finally came in handy as we did have the swim. We were both happy to take off the wetsuit when the canyon was over. We went back to the house to a sick child. Three days earlier, our 14 month old was on her hands and knees puking on the kitchen floor. So scary and difficult for a parent to watch. We were up most of the night with her. I was a little worried that Steve and Amanda would not come visit us because of the danger of getting sick. They showed some courage and came out to Zion. Zyla had been doing good lately, so we decided to try to go up the KT road and out to Cave Valley. It did not work out so hot. As we were going up the hill, puke comes out. We had nothing left to do but go back home. By this time, Jacqueline is not doing so well. She decides to stay home with Z, while Steve, Amanda, and I rode the shuttle to hike the trail between the Court of the Patriarchs. I wanted to hike this because I knew it would be quiet. We saw some turkeys, avoided some mule poop, and made it to the lodge where we got some ice cream and hung out for a while. Steve was happy Amanda was able to do the hike because she had not hiked much. She seemed fine with the entire experience even toughing out the mule poop. We went back to the house to find a rather healthy baby, but an increasingly sickening mommy. We spent the rest of the night hanging out, yet Jacqueline spent a good chunk of it throwing up. I felt horrible for my lovely wife, but I was hoping that the rest of us would not get it. Luckily we did not get sick and we were very happy that my good friend could come out to visit.

Takin' Zyla Camping

2011-07-09T09:11:00.002-06:00

We wanted to take Zyla camping, but with so much to do having a 1 year old, we had to wait until July to do it. We definitely wanted to take her to one of our favorite spots in Great Basin National Park. We left after work on Friday knowing that it was at least a three hour drive. It felt longer, though as we had to stop a couple times to break it up for Zyla. By the time that we got into Great Basin, it was already dark. So we went to Baker Campground which was the lowest elevation. We drove around the entire campground and found zero available sites. We were pushing 9pm at this point without too much of an option. So I decided to break the rules. We went down to Grey Cliffs which was a group campground. We camped in the A loop with other campers who seemed to be doing the same thing. Jacqueline wasn't sure about it, but with a 1 year old, I was ready to take whatever punishment to get her some sleep. I got the tent set up and the ladies went into the tent. Zyla slept in her pack and play which took up over half of our 3 person tent. Once we were all settled in Zyla, fell fast asleep. Her tired parents followed her quickly. We awoke in the morning to a smiley face who rolled over happy to see her parents there. We were a bit weary from an uncomfortable night crammed in the corner of the tent. Mom got Zyla some food while Dad got us prepared for the day. We drove a short distance up the rest of the road to the parking lot as we wanted to hike to Baker Lake. It was a long trip, though, so we did not know if we were going to be able to make it. Zyla was able to tell us pretty quick that we were not going to make it as she was not enjoying the backpack. She tried really hard to sleep, but could not with the design of the backpack. After a while she got frustrated and was not enjoying the scenery much until we gave her part of a leaf. We were able to make it about 2 miles before we had to turn around, but it was too bad Zyla would not cooperate because the green trees, flowing creek, and perfect temperature was very enjoyable. We got back to the car and drove up the road. This gave Zyla a good chance to sleep. After having lunch at the Wheeler Peak Trailhead, we went up the trail. Jacqueline wanted to go to a lake and Stella Lake was the closest one. Zyla was so much happier this time around, especially when we filled her hands with leaves from trees. The lake was only a mile, so needless to say, we did not have it to ourselves which we would have if we would have made it to Baker Lake. Still Zyla liked playing by the lake, but not getting in the lake water. We had to head back, though, as Jacqueline had to work the following day. This time Z would be able to get a much longer nap as the 3 hour plus ride back to Zion would be ample. We learned some valuable lessons from this trip. The first was that we needed an alternative to the pack and play. We found it with the pea pod. The next was that we needed to use the super expensive backpack rather than the Kelty pack so Z could sleep. The transition would be made in the future, but the first time around was definitely a complete success.

Narrows Opens

2011-07-01T07:42:00.000-06:00

It had been a heavy snow year for Southern Utah, so it was now the first of July and the Narrows were finally open for the season. The cfs had finally dropped below 140 allowing people to hike up from the bottom. The top down route was still closed. I almost ended up hiking the top down route, but we had decided to just let tomorrow's group go through instead. I was a bit relieved because I had been having some nagging neck pain that would not go away. I was not sure how it would do with the full 16 miles. Instead, I needed to go in from the bottom up. We have trail counters that count the number of people on a certain trail. This year we were putting them up in the Narrows. I got an early start to beat the people traffic. There was barely a soul on the shuttle bus at 7:00am. I got myself moving and into the Narrows with only a couple others. The first counter was put up between the Riverside Walk and Mystery Falls. I found what I thought to be a good spot. It was so peaceful in there during the chilly morning. I even saw a deer come wandering by. Get out while you can buddy, the crowds are coming. The river was both deep and swift. I actually used a stick to help with balance as the current made it a slow, slow trip. It probably took me about double time to get up to
Orderville. I don't usually post videos on the blog, but the Virgin River looked and felt like an actual river. To show that, the only way is to see and hear it. I was hugging the walls with my stick along with many others. I found a spot for the other trail counter just past Orderville. I figured both of these trail counters were in great hiding spots. When I went back a week later, though, one was thrown to the side, the other had disappeared. I guess that is what happens when thousands of people are in there on a single day. It just takes one person to screw with something to ruin it and it is sad that sort of thing goes on in such an amazing spot. I wish people could hike in the river instead of creating social trails, carry out their trash, and keep an eye on the weather too. This is such a unique place and I hope others care enough to protect it. The trip was nearly a full day just to go slightly above Orderville and back. Definitely a different experience from the low days of September in there.

An Old Favorite

2011-06-22T06:25:00.001-06:00

Keyhole Canyon is an old favorite of mine and it is quick to figure out why. An incredibly deep slot canyon filled with water, a few short rappels, deep dark narrows, and incredible light shows. A shorter day on the schedule lead to Seth Walker and I tackling Keyhole. We did a bit of work on some access issues as the trail to avoid the middle slot lost its sign. The rest of the day was just fun, though with three small rappels. It is good for us to go in these canyons to get reports on water conditions and it was still cold in there. We had wetsuits so that made the canyon much more fun. I think I could do Keyhole every single day and never get sick of it. It was my first Zion canyon and I would not mind doing it again and again.

Yovimpa Pass

2011-06-11T11:03:00.000-06:00

Jacqueline, Zyla, and I wanted to take a trip so we chose Bryce Canyon for the day. It was only a couple hours drive and I chance to hike during the day with some cool weather. Jacqueline wanted to drive to the end of the road because she figured there would be less people. It doesn’t actually ever work that way in National Parks as most people decide to drive and then only get out of their cars when there is nowhere else to go. I was happy to hike from there though, as there are still quite a few trails in Bryce that I am yet to do. The two points of Rainbow and Yovimpa are grouped together. We found the Riggs Spring trail and headed out from there. I had never been on this trail and it immediately left the road and started dropping downhill. It would have been hard to go uphill as we were at the highest point in Bryce. The trail took us through the trees, where we had to deal with lots of downed lumber. With Zyla on my back, it was tricky. I decided that Jacqueline could not get away with not carrying a pack next time as Zyla and all our stuff was quite a load. Eventually the trail popped out of the trees where we were hiking on some ridges with views of the cliffs of Bryce. We gave Zyla a break for some time out of the backpack, but she was still enjoying herself. We were concerned that she was not going to be able to sleep, though, as this smaller pack gave her no neck support. After our break, Jacqueline took over for a little bit carrying the pack. It was nice to share the load, but I didn’t want to make Jacqueline carry it for too long. Luckily, our hike would not end up being very long. We only hiked what I would estimate to be around a mile and a half to Yovimpa Pass. From there, we turned around as it was already afternoon and Zyla would most likely miss that afternoon nap.I took over the duties again and almost immediately Zyla started to get slap happy. She thought her mom was just about the funniest comedian ever. Zyla’s laugh is contagious and soon she had all three of us rolling with laughter hiking along on the trail. We were going for a good 10-15 minutes and frankly if you want to be in good mood, just laugh for a while cause we were all having a good old time. Once that stopped, it wasn’t long before we had a sleeping child. I had a lot of dead weight on my right side. This could not be very comfortable for little Z, but she was resilient. We made it back to the trailhead with her still sleeping. We decided we would have ourselves a little dinner at Ruby’s Inn, then had back to ZIon. All in all, a great day out with the family on a quiet trail in Bryce Canyon.

First Canyon in a Couple of Years

2011-06-07T12:12:00.000-06:00

Only a week into my term position, I was getting into a canyon. The trip of the day was Spry. It had been a few years since I had been in Spry, but I realized that this was probably my fifth trip through Spry. The weather was in the 90s, but with the heavy snow year and the Narrows still being closed, we had little options for canyons. Spry starts with a hike up upper Pine Creek and then a thousand feet of slickrock climbing. Seth and I got off route at a difficult spot and ended up doing some fifth class scrambling instead. It worked out fine and after a while, we had done the most difficult part of the trip. It is crazy looking up at Deertrap Mountain on the approach looking so high, then looking at it again when you have hit your high point and it is only a few hundred feet to the top. The canyoneering portion of the day went well. The first drop was the biggest, but least scary. When we got to the second drop that somehow disappeared. Not the drop, of course, but all of the anchors. So after investigating for a little while, we realized that it would be easy to climb around. My leg took a beating through the scrub oak, but it was easy scrambling back to the drainage again. Then there were a series of multiple drops including the difficult anchor that overhangs the drop. Seth helped me out with that one, but the main concern in Spry is not getting your rope stuck. There was one big drop where we were having a challenging time getting our rope out. Luckily, there was a group behind us that helped untwist for us. There was a group of six behind us that was a friendly group. We never know if people are going to hate us just because we are Park Service, but this group seemed to not have a bunch of hate for the government. That’s always nice. I was a little more nervous, not with the rappelling, but with my footwear. This was the first time I wore these shoes in a long time, so I had a tough time trusting them. We were done by 4:30 taking it at a rather normal leisurely pace. Happy to get back into a canyon and it was fun to do it with Seth. It is good to know the person you are doing a canyon with is very knowledgeable. It makes the day seem easy when you just have to worry about yourself. Spry is definitely a favorite of mine and would love to do it again sometime soon.

Back to Zion!

2011-06-03T19:56:00.000-06:00

Well, my time in Norwood was now over and almost immediately, I was back to work in Zion. After a couple of days of office/desk time, I finally had my first field day. Will, the new Lava Point ranger, wanted to do a canyon. I was not up for it on my first day in the backcountry. Instead, I wanted to go to my favorite day hiking area, Right Fork. We had Andie with us who was our volunteer in backcountry for the year. I was intrigued by Seth’s description of a rock slide creating a large lake with a new dam. He said it was waist deep water when he went there early in the season. We got to the trailhead where the cheatgrass was thicker than I ever saw it. We had a tough time finding the way down, but I was lucky enough to see a chuckwalla dive under one of the hot lava rocks. It was brutally hot on the approach down. It was crazy going two weeks earlier from Norwood where it was snowing on me to the 100 degree summer June days of Zion. Luckily it was not as hot as usual, but with the black rock, it made it a bit hotter. The nice part was that we would be hiking in the creek the rest of the day. We were quick to find our way to the rock slide that was about a mile up the creek. It was rather massive with some big boulders to climb up around. Looking up from where we were we could see that the main culprit in all this erosion was water. I think people that doubt that water can erode in the desert just don’t know how it works. It slowly eats away until boom it all comes crashing down. We could look up and see this tiny little spring doing all this major damage. Past it though, was something more interesting. A big lake. Zion seems to have a lot of impermanent lakes that eventually fill with sediment. (Bad news Glen Canyon) This was another one causing us to get very wet. Without thinking twice about it, I plunged in at where I thought was the most shallow section. It ended up being neck deep on me requiring me to almost have to swim. Andie and Will were not so lucky. Being less than six feet tall, they were stuck swimming through part of this lake. I always love it when something new appears. This would definitely be one the best swimming holes in the park if it was more accessible. After that the canyon became more predictable. I was excited by the amount of growth that had returned from the fire of 2008. This area is so pristine and I just love the remote feeling of Right Fork, though it was right next to the Left Fork. We only saw two people in the canyon the whole day, which was a full patrol day of hiking. I was determined to make it to Double Falls wondering the whole time if the crew I was hiking with was just as determined. They did not complain, though, Andie was learning the hard way that I like to move on a patrol day to cover the most ground. We ran into some poison ivy and a lot of canyon before finally hitting Double Falls for lunch. With all the talk of high water in the Left Fork with it being closed, you sure could not tell it from Double Falls. It looked pretty much like normal. No raging river here. We ate quickly and began our trip back. It was uneventful until we swam the lake and hit the rockslide. After we crossed the lake, I was just finishing crossing the rock slide when I heard some rumbling and looked up. There were some large rocks coming down. My immediate thought was Andie and I just yelled to get the hell outta there. She moved swiftly and was quickly out of the way of the big rocks. Pretty exciting to learn that the reason it was a lot deeper than when Seth came through was that this slide was still active. Ahhh, the RIght Fork. It was a great day in the wilderness of Zion. I am so happy to be back. When I moved here the first time, one of my favorite songs by Death Cab said, “I want to live where soul meets body. And let the sun wrap its arms around me. Bathe my skin in water cool and cleansing and feel what its like to be real.” Sounds exactly like Zion to me.

Ketchump Trail

2011-05-08T15:04:00.000-06:00

What makes someone stop just an hour from home to hike a trail that 99.99999% of the population does not know exists? The answer to that question has to be something similar to George Mallory’s, “Because it’s there.” Truly, I have been seeing the Ketchump Trail show up on maps I have owned for 2 years living in Norwood. Knowing that this could very well be my last hiking trip near Norwood, I pulled over and parked just across the Dolores River in the town of Bedrock. I was not sure where the trail was as it was not hiked often, but after wandering through a century old cemetary into a wash, I located it above the wash. It was in pretty good shape. I knew from the road that it was going to go up quick, but I was not prepared for how well defined it would be. It was in good shape, very easy to follow. Along the way the view of Paradox Valley opened up more and more with each switchback. The view was very similar to the one I saw up on Nyswonger Mesa with a great view of the beautfiul valley. In a little over a half an hour, I had reached the mesa top and was able to look down and still locate the Xterra right below me. The trail wound around the edge of the Mesa. I decided that I would hike it until I ran into the road that the trail connected to. I did, even though there is always the urge to continue on the road. I knew it continued for many miles though, so there was no use trying to get somewhere else. I had only been hiking for forty-five minutes, but I turned around to enjoy the wonderful view for one more trip down. West-central Colorado had been a beautiful place to live in. I was happy for the experience and will have a warm place in my heart for the people and places I had a chance to interact with in Norwood in the 2 years we spent there.

Goblin Valley

2011-05-07T13:03:00.000-06:00

Jacqueline and Zyla met me for the Mother’s Day weekend in Green River. They took the brunt of it having a 4.5 hour drive while I got a measly three hours. We stayed at the Comfort Inn Friday and Saturday night and were able to celebrate Mother’s Day as a family on Sunday. I figured this would be a good opportunity to go to a place that I had driven past many times on my way to Hite to visit my dad when he lived there, but I never actually took the turn. Goblin Valley which from Green River was only about an hour’s trip. The weather was nearly perfect out when we arrived. It was a little hotter out than we had been experiencing, but we needed to warm up a little bit. The parking lot was nearly full at the viewpoint. We looked down and saw many people scrambling around on the rocks. This looked like a ten year olds dream when it came to Parks. Goblin Valley is a state park and people take sure advantage of the laid back policy about scrambling around on the rocks. There is virtually no vegetation to destroy as hundreds of hoodoos stick up to be scrambled around upon. We were not being very courageous as I had a small infant on my back. Zyla was good for the first bit, but she soon got hungry. Jacqueline fed her in the shade of a big rock as I scrambled around. We basically just spent our time wandering around as there was definitely no goal for this expedition. We were out for only a couple of hours, but felt like we had the experience and would only return again if Zyla was not with us and we could do one of the longer hikes or once Zyla gets older and can enjoy scrambling around on the rocks.

South Mountain

2011-05-01T18:54:00.000-06:00

I had been wanting to get into the La Sals for quite some time. Now that the move from Norwood was only weeks away, I would probably never be this close again. I had a good chance for unseasonably cold weather on the weekend which could make for good spring conditions as the snow might actually stay hard for a while. I did not get up very early, only rising at 7am and out the door by 7:30am. An hour and a half later, I was driving on a dirt road and eventually stopping where the ice started to appear all over the road. I knew that this would be mud when I came back as it was 30 degrees when I left the car, quite chilly for a May day. A few surprising details had entered into my thoughts on climbing South Mountain, the one peak all off on its lonesome in the La Sals. First, there was a trailhead that I could not reach and was most likely covered in spring snow. Second, there was a trailhead right next to where I had parked. This was on my map, but it looked like it went in a direction I did not want to go as it head toward the north side of the peak which was more than likely covered in snow. I made my way toward the southern side which I knew lay mostly free of snow. I tried to keep myself from going uphill as I knew there to be a false summit on the ridge I was leaving from. Still the draw to push uphill was there and eventually my body dragged my mind into believing I would be alright going uphill. At first I chose the best route to avoid the scrub oak. Eventually, I chose the best route that would allow me to move through the scrub oak. It was so thick that I knew I was wasting a lot of energy fighting it while also going uphill. It became exhausting, so much so that when I finally found some boulders it was a welcome relief. The views finally opened up after a bit and I could see the Abajos off to the southwest. The terrain began to open up also as the scrub oak gave way to aspens. I was starting to catch up with the snow also. First it was hard and I did not need my showshoes, but after a while I gave up and put them on. I was carrying them anyway. It made traction much better as I marched my way uphill. It was a beautiful day though cold as I went back and forth from having my down jacket on to not having my down jacket on. The gloves and the hat would not leave my body, though and I also got to try out my new gaiters too. The ridge was so inviting to stay on, but I knew it went to a false summit about 600 feet below the actual summit. So eventually I made my way to the south side of the peak. It was too late, though, I was now so high up that it became seriously steep to traverse. I looked over and saw another summit lower than mine. Could it be that I had gone too far? No, but frankly traversing swiftly was not happening as I already allowed myself to get too high. So I decided to make my way back up to the ridge and the false summit. I knew this would likely be the death of my trip and a no for the summit bid, but my current choice did not seem to be happening either. I pulled out Sharad (my ice axe) and actually used it to dig in to get me up the steep, softening snow. As I was approaching the ridge, I constantly had to stop and give myself a breather, then aim for the next tree 25 feet up. Finally, I hit the ridge again. From there it was an easy walk up to South Mountain’s other summit of 600 feet lower. When I got here, I was spent. Hungry and exhausted from four hours of going uphill in cold weather with difficult terrain. I looked over to the actual summit and knew that I did not have it in me to go down 300 feet and climb nearly 1000 feet back up. To add to my tiredness, the weather was not looking particularly good as storm clouds were to the south and north from the peak. It felt good to go downhill and the slope seemed even more gradual than before. I was definitely sticking to the ridge on the downhill and I would also be aiming to the north to get into more snow to avoid as much scrub oak as possible. I took out the camera to get a picture of the beautiful ridge I had to go down. Just after I put it away, in a group of rocks, a big head peaked out at me. Hello Mr. Bear! or misses, not quite sure, but it definitely was a bear. I had been seeing tracks all day and now I had seen the beast itself. It was confirmed by the shear number of tracks around this area and I assumed as it did not run away in any direction, that this was its den. I did not get close enough to investigate, but as I was whooping and hollering, I snapped a photo a good distance below its lair. Then I continued downhill, turning off my music now for a little while and looking over my shoulder for a short distance until I was far enough away. This was the first bear that I ever saw in Utah. From here the ridge got steeper and steeper until I was switchbacking between trees to make sure I did not go slip sliding away. Sharad was doing his duty here as an ice axe gave me a little bit of extra support. I knew I was varying from my original route quite a bit, but with the snowshoes on, this route down seemed like the more economical approach to the car. That was just the one worry was whether I would be able to actually find the car parking randomly on the road. Just when the route stopped being steep and the snow showed its first sign of letting up, I looked up to see what appeared to be a trail. I took off the snowshoes for the first time in a few hours and began to follow this trail. I was hoping and soon realized, that yes this probably was the trail that I had parked near on the way up. I made a few wise choices at junctions and eventually popped out at the Xterra. I was extremely pleased to both avoid the scrub oak and not have to wander around looking for the car. I felt very content as I drove away. My body was tired and I had a great day in the mountains. The fact I did not summit bothered me a little, but all and all I was extremely happy with my choice of adventures on this day. Looking back to see Peale and Tuk, I knew I would be back, hopefully sooner rather than later to stand on top of their awesome peak tops.

To the River and Back

2011-04-16T17:15:00.000-06:00

Reliving an old favorite of mine, I hiked to the Colorado River and back. This was something that I enjoyed doing when I lived in Grand Canyon, but now living in Norwood this could be a rather easy task. I could drive to Moab and take a swim if I so chose. So I made sure to made it a little bit more challenging on myself as I drove the Xterra up to Elephant Hill in the Needles district of Canyonlands National Park. It is a good haul from the house, about 3 hours to get there. Along the way, I saw an old friend, Alice, who was working at the entrance gate. Alice and I worked together at Zion where she volunteered for backcountry. I started about 10:30am which was a bit later than I would have chosen, but I just did not have the motivation to go camp there on Friday night. My hike started up a four wheel drive road which would have been insane to take a car on. I would have struggled with a mountain bike let alone a car. The first 3.5 miles was on this dirt/rock road. In the first fifteen minutes, I met up with some park service employees who informed me that it was like a “little Grand Canyon” below. I doubted that it would compare, but I had a pleasant conversation with them. The route did not take long to get be to where I was able to see the interesting rock formations that the Needles had to offer. After four miles of road, I finally broke away to where the trail went across one of the many broad valleys. It managed to find its way up the side of the cliff and I began what I would do for the rest of the day. I would hike up a bluff area, hike back down it, and end up in a nice large valley. It seemed these were probably ancient lakes similar to the fjords of Norway or New Zealand being long, skinny, and right next to each other. Someone else probably thought that too, because the last of these was called Red Lake Canyon. Once in this valley, I followed it a bit then did the last of the bluff climbs. This lead me to the top of the very largest of the canyons I would descend into. This must be where the parkie told me that it was like a little Grand Canyon. Okay, I could see it, but I knew the gulf below would not be so treacherous as descending into the belly of the best that the Grand had to offer. Still it was a beautiful view and I took the chance to shade up for a bit before descending. It was great to have the sun beating down on me worrying about things like do I have enough water instead of how many papers I have to get graded. There is a transition that a body goes through to get used to hiking in the desert and I could tell my body was not used to it yet. I descended down to a nice sandy wash, which would change my day as now the next broad valley would have a big brown muddy mess of Colorado River water in it. I tried to make good time and was down to the river’s edge by 1:35pm. That was what I was hoping for the little over 9 mile hike there. After fighting through the forest of tamarisk, I could see across the river to the Dollhouse in the Maze District. I hastily ate some lunch having a succulent apple which is so amazing when thirst is grabbing you. I dirtied my filter a bit with some river water, but I was glad to have an extra quart to help me make it back to the Xterra. I started back up the same trail at two knowing that the big climb was ahead of me. Though it was a good 75-80 out, the heat was not as big of an issue as the sun. Being exposed to the sun all day was the part that my body was not used to as I had to shade up for two or three minutes twice on the way out. It went smooth as I enjoyed listening to my new iPod classic as I hiked. Keeping all my music, I had many choices to entertain me. The hike out I finally saw my only other folks near two junctions. Once the trail junction with the road, I saw to younger guys who definitely were not hiking all day by the happy looks on their faces. They were heading to Cyclone Canyon which I should have told them looked exactly like the canyon they were currently in. But that was for them to discover. I also ran into the only 4 wheel drive vehicle at the junction of where I went back on the road. They were pleasant enough. I just had the road to hike back and by the last couple miles I was feeling the thrill of seeing the car as my last excitement on this day. I churned away the miles and made it back to the vehicle a bit after five o’clock. It took me a small bit longer on the hike out. It was funny, though, as without Jacqueline or Zyla with me, I just threw my pack in the front seat and was off. It felt odd and I thought about it for a second, but no I did not have to do anything else. Just car to car hiking with short breaks in between. The total trip was a bit over 18 miles and it sure felt good to put some miles on my legs as my body sure enjoyed it. Back to school for the week on Monday, but I will soon be doing this for work once again which I am looking forward to as a return to Zion is coming soon.

Nyswonger Mesa

2011-04-10T15:04:00.000-06:00

Having moved Jacqueline and Zyla out to Zion, I was going to have a few lonely weeks before seeing them again. Jeff, the music teacher at Norwood, was down to go for a hike on the weekend. I finally figured out something fun to do after contemplating it for quite some time. We decided to head out to Nyswonger Mesa in Paradox Valley leaving right from the “town” of Bedrock. The trail had no signage and was rather inconspicuous, though we were able to pick it up from the road. It was an old jeep road but would take a rather hearty jeeper to make it up this steep road. The trail climbed immediately gaining 1600 feet in the first 1.5 miles. We were both feeling pretty good and moving well. We were rewarded with a good view of Paradox Valley. We had been fighting weather the whole weekend, but luckily on this day we just had some good shade from the clouds without any moisture. We flattened out after the initial uphill where a series of roads were to lead to a good view. The mesa was very open going from juniper forest to sagebrush. The road was well defined, though we could tell that no one had been there in a while. We had great views of the La Sals as the clouds hung around their summits. Following the road eventually lead us to the corner of the mesa where we could see La Sal Creek and the Dolores River confluence. The end of the road was a good view, but seeing the little point that was slightly higher, we decided to scramble on over. It was not too much work and soon we had a clear view down to the Dolores River canyon. I climbed up on a rock where I could get a good picture as you could see the whole area where Jacqueline, Zyla and I hiked a couple of months ago. We soaked in the view as I looked at the steep slope below thinking that I could make it down to the river. Now it was time to head back. There were still things to find even though we were just returning on the same route that we had come from. There was a lot of old junk. We had already found a bunch of old Prince Albert tobacco cans from the “do you have Prince Albert in a can?” fame. We found some petrified wood also, which Jeff was rather stoked about having not come upon it much. We also found two Pepsi bottles from the 40s indicated by the date on the bottom. I thought about taking them with me, but I decided not to. It was a wise decision as they could only be worth a few pennies. Too many old people who don’t throw anything away. We returned down the steep climb up the mesa to Jeff’s car. Turned out to be a pretty good short hike for a cloudy Sunday that we did not have to drive too far to get to.

Valentine's Day by the Dolores River

2011-02-14T20:58:00.001-07:00

We had not been out in such a long time that when we finally got one day to get out, we took up the opportunity. So even though my beautiful wife may have usually preferred a traditional Valentine's date, we decided this would be our best chance to get out. Wanting to avoid snow and get out in the sunshine a bit, we headed down in elevation to Bedrock and back to the Dolores River. This time we drove all the way to the big parking area and walked from there. Instead of a pregnant wife, we had a nine month old baby. We were trying out the baby backpack given to us by John and Mindy. We appreciate it and so did Zyla as she looked pretty comfy in there. Jacqueline got the fun of seeing the cute baby the whole time and I got the job of mule. Zyla's new favorite thing she learned on this hike was that there are many different trees out there with lots of different textures. She wanted to grab every branch we went passed after I showed her some for the first time. We had a fairly warm day as it felt good to be in just a fleece. The trail was nothing new as we followed the same route as last time heading down by the river at first, then getting away from it, and eventually coming back. My main goal was just to make it farther than we did the previous time we hiked the trail and we did. Once the wind started to pick up, Jacqueline was a bit worried about how Zyla would handle it. Zyla seemed as unconcerned as normal, but we did finally stop and let her get out of the backpack for a while. We did not make it once again to the dino tracks or to the confluence of La Sal Creek, but this time we made it up onto the higher point to get a view. On the way back Zyla checked out some trees until it was all too much for her. She fell asleep and suddenly one side of my backpack was a lot heavier than the other. We let her sleep and consider ourselves lucky to have such an easy baby who tends to live in the now with her environment and just deal with what is in front of her. We look forward to many more jaunts with little Z and the family.

Wilson Mountain

2010-11-27T11:30:00.005-07:00

Having the entire week off for Thanksgiving, Jacqueline, Zyla and I went down to Sedona to have Thanksgiving with Jacqueline's aunt Kris. It is a close enough drive so as not to put the baby in the car for too long. We arrived on Tuesday and on Wednesday we went for our first hike. We took the Boynton Canyon trail that left from the end of the Dry Creek Road. The weather was not looking too hot, in fact it was looking cold. We bundled up the baby and ventured out. It followed a resort community for a while and then we got away from it. Along the way we talked to a couple on the trail. There were a lot of people out on the trail for such a chilly day. It began to hail or snow or sleet, we couldn't tell, so we high tailed it out of there to make sure the baby didn't get too cold. The big hike of the trip, though, was Wilson Mountain. I looked through the guidebooks for the most strenuous hike and found that one, which also happened to be the highest mountain in Sedona. I got up super early on Saturday to make the 30 minute drive from Jacqueline's aunt's house in Cornville to the trailhead, just across the bridge going up Oak Creek Canyon. There was one other car at the trailhead as I started up the trail. The weather was chilly. The trail climbed steadily above Wilson Canyon named after a man who was killed by a grizzly bear there in the late 1800s. The views were great and while I was going uphill, it was nowhere near difficult. This was definitely one that could be called a mountain hike instead of a mountain climb. I could see where the trail was going but sometimes in Arizona it seems there are too many options for where to put a trail. Eventually though I got to where the trail came up to a plateau. From there I could choose which way to go and I continued to climb up. The trail was in its worst condition here, a little muddy and grown over with a few trees down, but eventually I came up to where I was close to the top of the mountain. I saw some white tail deer running away to one summit, but the other one said Sedona view, so I took that one. As I was heading there, I saw another hiker, first of the day, coming back from the summit. He was running and looked a little younger than me. Good for him as I continued to the summit and got a few pictures before I started back down the way I came. I was hustling because we still had to drive all the way home to Norwood, because we were trying to beat a storm. It is a little funny to hike so far and still be able to see where you started as the bridge was always in my view on the hike. The hike was somewhere around eleven miles, but I was able to get to the top before ten and back to the car before noon. When I was leaving the trailhead, there was major competition for a parking spot. It made me glad that I did rise and shine so early, so we could get back and avoid the long drive through winter weather. I really enjoyed the hike as Sedona has puzzled me in the past for a spot for recreation, but this was a great choice for a Saturday in late November.

Cashin Mine

2010-10-29T07:38:00.000-06:00

My wife and baby were in Michigan going to Jacqueline's high school reunion. They left me all alone in Norwood, so I talked to the music teacher at the school and he was down for a weekend hike. We both had Friday off of school, so I called him up early in the morning to see if he was game. He said he was and there was an area I had been wanting to check out. On the drive to Moab from Norwood, there is a canyon that cuts through the scenery and winds its way down to the Dolores River. This seemed like an excellent trip. After doing some research online, I learned that there were some old mines in that area. Seemed interesting, so we went for that. It was about an hour's drive from Norwood to where we parked the car at a big pulloff. We could see a road below us and the terrain did not look too crazy so I asked him if he wanted to just start from here. Jeff looked a little apprehensive, but we slowly picked our way down running into very few obstacles until we hit the road. You have heard the expression "Alpine Start" well this was a desert start. From that point we just followed the road. Almost immediately we ran into a waterfall. We never got a good picture of it though, as it was obscured by vegetation and we did not want to cross the little creek we were following. Jeff was very impressed by the canyon country and all the rock. It was not long before we began running into mines. We saw the first one up the hill, so we climbed up to it. I was amazed that it was actually big enough for us to stand up in. We were not able to go very far back because neither of us had a flashlight, but we went as far back using what we could muster for light. I did not have a camera either, so I relied on Jeff to take some pictures. We did not have to go far to run into our next prospect and we could start to see why this area was hit so hard. With all the multi-colored rocks, we knew there were copper like material coming out of it along with probably much more stuff that you would have to be a mineralogist to know about. We were just appreciating the history that was in this area knowing that it must have been a much more thriving area when the mines were active here. Continuing down the road we ran into the first of the big mines which was the Cliff Dweller Mine. But the big one was at the end of the road and that was the Cashin Mine. There were dozens of buildings to house miners, many prospects, and a large mill that was still standing. We walked through the middle of it which was a little creepy. I figured if it could stand up in a Norwood windstorm, it would make it through a beautiful sunny October day. We climbed up on the cliff side to explore another prospect and you could tell that this one was the mother lode. It still had tracks running through it and we walked over to where there was a big vertical shaft. We were only able to go so far, but were glad we made it that far. As we came out, we walked over to the mill. I was not going to walk the tracks over to it, though, as that would have been foolish. I climbed up a steeper slope to where there was another prospect. Jeff had started calling me Bear from that guy Bear Grills on the Discovery Channel. This last one was not very exciting, so we went back down to explore some of the old falling down buildings. From there we headed back enjoying the stream and the beautiful fall colors. I thought about taking Jacqueline and Zyla back to this area. It would be a good off season hike. The hike back proved to be a lot quicker without all of the stops along the way. The climb out was not too bad either and we were left with much time to enjoy the rest of a much needed day off from teaching.

Paul Bunyan's Potty

2010-10-16T18:52:00.000-06:00

Jacqueline's dad Tom and her brother Paul came down to visit. We met them in Monticello to hang out for the weekend. They had already been doing a little bit of exploring of their own before we came. We went out to dinner on Friday night with the whole crew and had a good meal. The next day we were off to Canyonlands National Park for a trip I had wanted to take for quite some time to go see Paul Bunyan's Potty. We had about an hour drive to get to the trailhead. I was a little bit nervous about the road so we parked at the beginning of the road, but realized later that we could have driven it and saved ourselves 20 minutes. Oh well. The hike was down an old road that was now no longer used for driving. So needless to say that even though it was a beautiful Saturday in October, we only saw one other group of people. The wash that the road followed and eventually would enter was either really sandy making walking difficult or wet. I got to carry Zyla and she was having so much fun. We had not heard her talk so much but she was so happy and making so many loud noises. We did not move incredibly fast because of the sand, the heavy baby, and the good company. We were all enjoying it as we walked under the cliffs that soon became bigger until we felt like we were in a small canyon even though it was so open. We hiked for a couple of hours and then stopped for lunch. We knew we were close to the arch, but we did not know how close. Jacqueline did not want to stay out too long with Zyla, so after lunch her and Tom headed back while Paul and I went to Paul Bunyan's Potty. It turned out to be only about a half an hour away. When we got to it we knew what we had found as it did look like a giant toilet seat. We spent a few minutes checking out the ruins beneath it, but the best part was finding a way to climb up on the cliffs to get closer to the arch. We had to take a long way around, but eventually found a way up to the cliffs right beneath the arch. I spent a little bit of time there and then Paul followed behind me. He was taking a lot more pictures as he was enjoying the different scenery in Southern Utah compared to where he lived up north in Salt Lake. I climbed on down and hung out in the shade waiting for Paul. He took quite some time and I realized he was having trouble finding the way down, so I finally pointed out the way down. From there we hustled on back knowing that Jacqueline was wanting to get back by a certain time to keep Zyla on her schedule. It was fun hiking with Paul as it was good to spend some time with him. Jacqueline really does have a great family and I am lucky to have such good people to be related to. When Paul and I made it back to the car, the Tom, Jacqueline and Zyla were nowhere to be found. They left a note, though and we found them in the shade under a big rock. We headed out back to Monticello for some good food and to watch UW when a late night game over Oregon State before it was back to Norwood and the work week.

Anniversary Weekend in Ophir

2010-10-02T20:01:00.001-06:00

Well two years has honestly flown by. In that two years we had a great honeymoon, a big move to Colorado, and a new edition to the family. In those years we also had many great hikes. So I thought we could return to the place where I hiked on my first trip out to Colorado near the tiny town of Ophir. The first issue was finding it. We were lucky to have a GPS because even though it was fairly close to Telluride, there were absolutely no road signs for it. Then once we got to the town, there were absolutely no signs for trailheads. We were lucky enough to park and find a trailhead. After feeding the little one, I strapped her on and we were ready for a hike. The trail took us first across a little creek and then up an old road. Zyla was so happy to be hiking and had a giant grin on her toothless face. She really loves to go hiking. There were quite a few people out considering there were no signs for this random trail. The trail took us uphill through some aspen forest which was very nice at this time of year. I wanted to take Jacqueline out here because how much she loved the fall color and I just knew that this place would be full of at least some yellows. We were almost a little bit too late as some of the leaves were gone on some of the trees. Eventually the trail popped us out above the trees, but it also popped us into some private land. There were no trespassing signs up, so we thought that we would obey them. There were quite a few junctions, so eventually we found the right one that took us up the hillside to the other side of the valley. From there we had some good views and we also had to take some time out of our day to feed the baby again since we had been hiking for a while and she was getting hungry again. We found a nice place to sit and enjoy the perfect weather outside. We knew it would not be too long before t-shirts would be exchanged for the down jacket. We kept running into the same couple who were trying to make a full day out of this hike. They talked to another group that said the trail we were on headed toward the post office. Almost immediately we said that we did not want to go down that way, but after thinking about it, I figured we could make a loop out of it. When I realized later that the post office was a long way down the road, I was happy we chose to turn around. We still had excellent views down towards the mountains of Ophir. We could see the road coming down from Ophir Pass, the crazy road that scared me when my dad drove it 13 years ago. Once back to the car, we headed down the road to the town of Rico. We stayed at the Rico Hotel, which I would not recommend because the place was rickety and you could hear everything that was going on in the place. We had a good dinner, the baby was awesome, but I did not get great sleep. Still I had a fun weekend with the wife who I know I could not do it here without. She has been an amazing mother and wife, I could not ask for more. I know there will be many more anniversary trips to look forward to in the coming years.

Navajo Lake

2010-09-25T12:11:00.002-06:00

Jacqueline and Zyla were planning to come for a hike with me, but the night before they decided it might be a little too much for Zyla. So I had to go by myself instead. I had wanted to return to the Navajo Lake area since we went up there a year earlier. It was a beautiful fall day out, so this seemed like the perfect time for the undertaking. I left early in the morning and drove up to the Woods Lake Trailhead. I saw my best fall colors of the day at the trailhead because where I was going hiking was going to be above the aspens. I knew Jacqueline would be missing the colors, but not the cold as it was a chilly 34 degrees out. I had to wear my fleece for most of the morning as I would be hiking uphill through the trees in the shade. There were a lot more switchbacks then I remembered as the trail just kept climbing and climbing. As I was getting to near treeline, there was an old cabin. I refused to take a picture of it because there is nothing like a picture of an old cabin coming up on your computer to say boring, but it was very neat to see when I was there. Popping out above treeline, I finally got one of those great views that make living through the windy cold winter worthwhile. There was a great view of the mountains we could see from our house in Norwood, just on the other side. Dolores, Middle, Dunn, Flattop, and Little Cone still remained free of snow, though we had a little dusting earlier in the week on the peaks. I could see the remnants of it as I continued on the ridge that would take me to Navajo Lake. It had been a quiet day thus far as I think my early morning had kept the trail to myself. Finally I made it to the spot where Jacqueline and I had turned around a year previous because of impending weather moving in. It was probably the best view of the whole hike as I could see the peaks that rose above El Diente and Mt. Wilson, both gnarly looking 14ers. I could also see the valley that held my final destination Navajo Lake. I started my descent to the lake, which was a little different then the constant climb. I did not want to go too far downhill because I knew I would have to come back up. It did not go down for long before I hit the trail junction with the trail that came in from Dolores. Even though that trail is in the 100 Classic Hikes in Colorado, I was still glad I took the one I did because of the views along the way. After the junction, the trail climbed slowly back up until I was at the lake. I went to the far shore where I found a nice rock to sit on and have some lunch. I wanted to keep going as the trail was not done, but we did not have very much food in the house when I left so I would not have had enough calories to keep me going. So I turned around. On the way back, I ran into a few groups who were friendly and all seemed to be enjoying themselves. One was a couple overnighting at the lake, while another was some mid-40s ladies debating whether they could make it to the lake. I tried to encourage them as one was all for it and the other was a little hesitant. All and all it was a good day with a finish just a bit after noon. I would love to come back to that spot someday with Jacqueline and Z to do a little backpacking of our own.

Middle Fork of the Cimarron River

2010-09-05T06:58:00.000-06:00

I debated whether going on this hike for many days. Eric Lassance, a good friend from Zion, was going to be in the area for a couple of days to do a trip with a friend that lived in Wisconsin and another who lived near Gunnison. He invited me along on the trip, but since they were finishing their trip after I was supposed to teach, I knew I would not get to go on the whole thing. I did figure that I could go for the day with them since it was Labor Day weekend and still have enough time to make it back to prepare for the week. I finally decided to go even though I knew it was going to be mostly driving. So up at 6:30am, I was on the road and down to meet them in Ridgway by 8. We got a little food and then took a convoy of 4 cars for 4 people up to the trailhead. This seemed a bit ridiculous, but whatever. The dust we created was amazing as we drove up the road to Owl Creek Pass. We left three cars at the East Fork trailhead and then I drove them the rest of the way to the Middle Fork trailhead. We finally hit the trail around 10:30am. I knew that I was not going to get in much of a day since the drive back to Norwood would be close to two and a half hours, but I figured I could hit the trail for about 3 hours before I had to turn around. The trail started out gradually climbing by the river. It took us mainly through forested areas. It was nice to be the only one without a heavy backpack on. The valley we were walking in was not particularly wide and we could see the massive peaks rising up above us. There were such peaks to look at as Dunsinane Mountain and Precipice Peak. The rock on these peaks was very crumbly which made for some impressive summits. My hiking partners were all good guys and it was good to get out with some people other than just me or the wife and baby for something different. We had not met many people in Norwood that enjoyed getting out at all, so this was nice to hike with some others. As we got further up the valley, we could tell that Eric's friend Josh from Wisconsin was starting to have issues with the altitude. He was struggling to make it up the valley even though the gradient was nothing incredibly steep. Adam, who had planned the trip, was hanging back with Josh, as I hiked ahead with Eric. We ran into a few other people including a huge group that must have been from Chicago area because they asked if the White Sox won yesterday. Well, we were soon approaching the Cinderella hour and I was bargaining to save some extra time. I hiked all the way up to the trail junction where I could see such peaks as Redcliff, Coxcomb, and the ridge leading up to a 14er, Wetterhorn Peak. The group was off to find a good camping spot for the night and then would continue with an ascent of the Matterhorn the next day. I was very jealous as climbing the Matterhorn had been something that I wanted to do since before I first visited Colorado. There is just something in the name that makes it worthwhile climbing. The hike down went swiftly as it was easy to go downhill with a light pack. Since near the end we were not moving particularly fast, I made it back to the car in under 2 hours, close to an hour and a half. I saw a cop at the trailhead with a flat tire and thought about offering him help, but what could I really do that he couldn't. I made the long drive home, but knew I would have to return to that area with all the recreational opportunities that waited.

Blue Lakes

2010-09-04T18:32:00.001-06:00

I wanted to take Jacqueline to the Blue Lakes ever since I went and climbed Mt. Sneffels while passing them by. We finally found the time to do it, though it was the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. We figured that the trail would be busy. It was a bit of a drive taking over an hour to get to the trailhead. The roads were good and we made sure to fill up the tires before we went. The trailhead was rather crowded with lots of vehicles there, such that we had to park a little away from it. We got little Z fed and then were on the trail. I got the duty of carrying her. I did not realize how much uphill was on the hike until I was carrying a 12 pound baby on my front side. I still did not quite know how to put the Baby Bjorn on properly so that it would fit more comfortably, so that was also an issue. She seemed happy, though and was just looking around at everything. Jacqueline was a little nervous about the hike since she had not been hiking much and was stuck with the duty of carrying the heavy pack loaded down with Zyla's accessories, almost all of which we knew that she was not going to need. Still we would rather be more prepared then less prepared. The trail started out in the trees by a river, but after a couple of good uphill miles it started to open up. We could see the mountains across the valley including Mt. Sneffels that I had climbed almost exactly a year ago. On this day we were not as ambitious and actually had to stop and take a break a little over halfway through to give Zyla a break outside of the Baby Bjorn. We got a lot of positive comments from passing hikers about getting our baby out when she was so young. We even saw another couple with a baby, but I don't think they made it to the lake because we passed them and never saw them on the way down. I knew that we were getting close as the views opened up a little bit. I was happy to be back here because the last time I did it in the dawn's early light, so my pictures were less than stellar. I even was able to get a picture of the waterfall that poured down the rocky cliffs near exit from the lake. Getting that picture was great because I knew we were very close and around the next bend was the junction for the upper lakes and the campsites. I was none too happy to see the lake because carrying a baby in the Bjorn was more work than carrying a 30 pound pack on your back. The water looked amazingly blue on this day and Jacqueline was also happy that she went through the effort of hiking to the lakes. I was stoked because Zyla had done such a good job. We had already hiked 3.3 miles and she was still in good spirits, though you could tell it was about eating time. The hard part was that once we found a nice private spot for her to feed, she just was not having it. She would eat for a little bit, but did not want to eat much. We even tried to give her the instant formula also and all we could get her to eat was an ounce or two. That was a little concerning because she had been so regular, but we figured no use arguing with the happy baby as she seemed just fine when we put her back in the Bjorn to hike back down the hill. We considered going to the Upper Blue Lakes until she did not want to feed and then thought we should get down. Plus we were both feeling good with this. We got to enjoy the way down with Zyla not having to do as much work and soaking in the awesome views. We still were getting lots of comments on the awesome little baby from all the late day hikers. The way down was definitely faster, but we were still spending a full day with all the effort it takes to just get out the door in the morning with the little one. We were happy that we made it to the lake and would just have to make another trip someday so that Jacqueline could see the upper two. I know they are not going anywhere, so they will always be there for us to explore.

Dead Horse State Park

2010-08-28T17:21:00.000-06:00

Well, we made the long drive back down to Norwood in time for school to get going once again. Time for the summer tan and the days of spending time with wife and baby to diminish to instead spend the time drilling mathematics into the minds of those who would rather talk about the Hangover. But we were lucky enough to have my mom and Carl come down to visit us during that first week. They were able to hang out with Jacqueline and Zyla during the day and then me in the evening. We got the fine idea to take a trip to Moab on the weekend. Carl wanted to go check out Dead Horse State Park. They drove their trailer out to our house and this would cut off part of their drive. It was a 2-3 hour drive for us, which was not much of a big deal after the long trip we had just been through. Mom and Carl left early, but they only beat us by just a bit. Once we had settled into our campsite, we decided to go for a walk. Carl drove out to Dead Horse Point, while Mom, Jacqueline, Zyla and I decided to take the trail that would take us past Shafer Overlook and Meander Overlook. The trail took off right from the campground which made it easy. The trail bounced back and forth from viewpoints, to desert, to slickrock. It was not too bad of a trail being mostly flat since it was on the edge of a huge abyss. We skipped over going out to Big Horn Overlook because the ladies were not feeling it. Zyla was doing great and was awake for much of the hike looking around. She was really fitting into the Bjorn a lot better now so that she could look around and drool all over it. The best view of the whole hike was Meander Overlook where we could see the Colorado down below taking a big trip around a butte with a nice fin of rock on top of it. We continued the rest of the hike which took us out to the point. The view there was awesome with cliffs and you could see the entire La Sal Range. We hung out there for a bit, but honestly it was rather windy out there and we headed back to camp. We had some good food and played some games together. Mainly we looked at the cute baby and enjoyed the time together. Once the sun was getting ready to go down, we decided to drive to the point and see the sunset. Unfortunately, Jacqueline and Zyla were not able to go with us because it was getting too close to the little ones bedtime. This was going to be a brand new experience for Zyla as it was the first time camping out. We figured this would be a good place because the temperature would be warm at night. We decided to put her in her changing box with pillows around it in the front seat of the Xterra and see how it goes. The sunset by the way was great. It was almost like we got there a little late because it was tough to get a good picture. We left there and Mom and I walked back to hang out with Jacqueline. Carl went to the interpretive program which was less then exciting. We slept great that night and Zyla did better than even at home. It left us with promise that we would have a hiker/camper/backpacker on our hands. We ate breakfast with everyone, then went our seperate ways preparing for the long school year ahead in Norwood.

Zyla's First Mountain

2010-08-10T17:44:00.001-06:00

We were feeling a bit tired and the goal of going for a good hike did not come to fruition. Instead we chose a casual drive up to Deer Park, which was right up the road that my dad lived on. I wanted to take a drive up there for a while and it was the first time I had been up there since my cousin Ian and I camped up there when I moved back to Washington state in 2000. I remembered the drive as being narrow and scary. I remembered correctly as Jacqueline was a bit nervous of us driving the Subaru up there. We made it fine and it was a beautiful day. The afternoon clouds were slowly lifting and we were able to enjoy the view. We drove all the way up to the Blue Mountain trailhead. We went on a short 1/2 mile walk that took us to the top of the mountain. It was Zyla's first mountain ascent so I made sure to let her stand on the summit even if she was held tightly in the Baby Bjorn. The hike was short but packed a lot of vistas in a short walk. We even got a bonus with some jeweled dew collected on the plants that were near the mountain top. A good survival weapon in the summertime when Washington does actually dry out quite a bit. I wished we had gotten up the energy to do a descently long hike on this day, but as a consolation prize, it was still nice to take the easy way out and get the benefits without the cause for too hard of work.

Hole in the Wall

2010-08-09T08:54:00.000-06:00

Back in Port Angeles, we took a day to relax and play some pickleball, then it was out again the next day. We drove the hour and a half out to Rialto Beach to take Zyla to the Pacific Ocean. Dad came with us and got to deal with all the fun of having a little baby. As soon as we got there, Jacqueline had to feed Zyla so we went out to the beach. This was not one of the nicer days in Washington, but we were going to make due. It was in the mid-60s and a little bit breezy. We walked some driftwood logs to get that out of our system since I wouldn't be doing it with the baby. We got the ladies when they were done feeding and once again I got to carry the little one. I enjoyed doing this, though, it was definitely more of a workout then normal. She seemed pretty happy in her Bjorn and we were off to hike down the beach. We had no itinerary, but knew that Hole in the Wall was only a mile and a half away. This was a new experience for Jacqueline also as she had never been to a Northwest beach as far as I knew. I always think back to the Henry Weinhard's commercial where a bunch of guys are sitting by a big driftwood log. They see a lady walking far away very bundled up. They throw a beach ball her way as the wind takes it for a ride. Then the announcer says, "Nothing like a Northwest beach to keep the Henry's cold." It is a perfect example of what it was like. We had fun walking around near the driftwood, through the sand, avoiding the waves and sometime getting hit by them when my oblivious wife was not paying attention and I would run into her. There was quite a large number of people out from various different recreation interests. There were campers, backpackers, casual hikers like us, and people who looked like they had not hiked in many years. It was cool for Jacqueline to see all the durable rock that stood out in the ocean waters. I am still impressed that years of the waves pounding on these rocks still have not taken them down. Well we made it to Hole in the Wall. We could not go farther because the tide was in making it only possible to go farther if we went up and around. That was not going to happen with the little baby attached to me. The way back was much cooler. We were now walking into the wind and it seemed the temperature dropped about ten degrees. Jacqueline forgot to bring much of Zyla's gear with us, so she was hungry and probably in need of a diaper change. By the end of the hike back she got fussy which made her parents concern. But back in the warm car and a good feeding put her in a better mood for the long ride home. We were happy that we got to bring Zyla to the Pacific Ocean even if it was a little bit too cold for her to take a dip in the water on this day. There would be plenty of time for her in the future, though.

Over and Out - Day Five and Six

2010-08-07T07:00:00.001-06:00

As we awoke, it was time to leave Marmot Lake. It had been a great camping site with many beautiful views from our awesome campsite. We got a good early start and for the morning it was all downhill. The route was taking us down the Duckabush to where we would hit a trail junction at the Upper Duckabush camp. Along the way, we kept running into the same couple from Seattle. They were hiking faster than us, so first they passed us and then we ran into them at a stream crossing. We had to ford the river and almost went in when there was a hole we did not know was there. Along the way we saw some nice waterfalls pouring into the Duck giving it its large amount of flow that would quickly pour into Hood Canal. That was the unfortunate and well I guess fortunate part too about the Olympics is that a lot of that fresh water was just dumped almost immediately back into the larger bodies of water whether it be the Pacific, the Strait, or Hood Canal. Oh well, we got to enjoy it from where we were. We hit the cut-off for the Upper Duckabush camp where we ran into that couple again and wished them a good rest of their trip. From here it was uphill for to First Divide. It was our last uphill of the trip and near the top, I have to admit I threw on the iPod for a little extra motivation. Dad and I had not been chatting much on the uphill anyway, so this gave me an opportunity to not think about how tiring it was. It worked well as the pass came quickly. We took lunch up there and talked to another group. They had been out even longer than we had, but seemed to be taking their sweet time. It was now all downhill from here. We enjoyed our mountain views for the last time as we knew from here on out, we would just have big trees to look at. The flowers were out here in the alpine environment and I was surprised at how many I could remember. Not nearly as many as Dad of course, because he was an expert in a way that I did not have the discipline to become. That is why it is nice that I chose hiking partners like him and Jacqueline, who can get into that stuff so they can continue to educate me. We were now following the Skokomish River out and it must not have been too impressive to us because there are no pictures of it. On day 5, we just followed it to Nine Stream. O'neil's party had been very creative naming creeks with numbers. Below us was Seven Stream and Six Ridge. The big event at camp this night was to finish out the cribbage tourney. It went down to the last game and we ended up in a tie. We could not leave it that way, so we had a best of three playoff. I was skunked first game, thus ending it right there. That was frustrating. I went down to the river to throw rocks at things for a while to get out my frustration. I also finished my book on this night. I did not entirely finish it, but 700 pages of 6 point font on the Penal system in Australia had finally taken its toll. The next morning we finished out the hike. It was a little drizzly in parts, but nothing bad. I had hiked the trail when I went up to Six Ridge eight years ago, so this was not entirely new. It did not look too familiar, though, as I remember crossing the bridge, but not much more. We were out before 11am and I was relieved to not have the backpack on my back for a while. All in all it was a very successful trip. We did not do as many sidetrips as I had hoped or see as many wild animals, but the flowers, mountains, and streams were incredible. Also the companionship was great as it is so nice for my dad and I to have a common interest like backpacking where we can get out and truly enjoy the world together. Back at Dad's home waiting for me was my beautiful wife, lovely daughter, and many games of pickleball to played.

Marmot Lake

2010-08-05T16:28:00.000-06:00

Gettin' going has its perks as we caught a bear on its breakfast run as we were on the trail up to O'neil Pass. He was not a big bear and also did not look much like a scary bear as we crossed the trail below him. Today the trail was full of patchy snow with still beautiful views to be had. It would take us over across one high drainage and then another all the time hitting the patchy snow in the middle. We had talked about taking the short cut route into Lake Lacrosse that would bring us over to Marmot Lake, but with the snow as plentiful as it was, I would imagine that it would not be a short cut. So we followed the trail and ran into a group below the pass. They told us that there was plentiful snow on the other side of the pass also. We hit O'neil Pass at lunch time and ran into the exact same group that we saw at Lacrosse Pass. We took their picture up there and I swear we asked them to take ours, but their seems to be no record of that picture remaining. So we found ourselves a dry spot and ate some lunch. Those bagel sandwiches were tasting real good at this point in the trip as the packs started to get lighter, but our reserves started to deplete also. From the pass it was a short drop into Marmot Lake where we freed ourselves from the snow. We were the first ones there, so had our pick of the campsites. We both were a little bit choosy, but finally decided on one with an excellent view. We set up the tent, relaxed for a bit, and then took our one and only side trip hike of the trip. There were two lakes above Marmot Lake and I was bound and determined to see both. It was so much easier hiking without those heavy packs on that going uphill really did not seem like as much work. At the junction, Dad decided to go to Hart Lake and I would go to Lake Lacrosse, but meet him at Hart Lake. I tried to hike as fast as I could so that he did not have to wait long. The trail was intermittently hidden by snow, but I picked the best route I could because I could see the lake from far away. When I got there, I could not cross over to the lake because of the large stream in the way. So I went to one side and called it good. I could see the pack of the Irish guy that we kept running into. He said that he was going to camp up there. I hustled down the trail to Hart Lake. It was a longer hike then I was expecting as the trail took us up around the sides of the cliffs. When I got there, I saw the lake was much like Lake Lacrosse, more ice and snow then actual water showing. Dad was sitting high on a knoll overlooking the lake. I went up to meet him, threw some rocks in the lake and called it good. We hiked back down to camp where I summoned up the energy to take a dip in the icy lake. When you have four days of nastiness growing all over you, a dip in the lake, no matter how cold it is, was a pretty good option. I waded out and did get underwater. I attempted to make it out to the little island, but I lost the courage once the water went over my head. I did not want to get too chilly. Of course, as soon as I got out of the lake the big thunderstorm clouds started to roll in. We had been blessed with some good weather on this trip, but knew this storm was coming. We could see lightning striking the tall peaks around us and the big gray rain clouds pouring on opposite summits like Mt. Duckabush. Finally the storm hit us and we dove into the tiny tent. Dad has had the same tent for 20 years and it did not take long for the condensation to build up. I suggest he buys a new one because Jacqueline and I were in Tasmania with the rain just ripping down and we did not know it until we got out in the morning. The rain stayed for about 15 minutes and then we continued to watch the clouds and lightning. We enjoyed the evening with our excellent view. Ranger Cliff showed back up who we met at Honeymoon Meadows. He was a good guy with an excellent job. We talked with a couple of other groups who were also backpacking and were camping near us. But mostly we just did the normal of playing some cribbage and reading our books. The cribbage match was very close and was set up for a showdown for all the marbles the following night. Until then we had just one more day in the high Olympics and we enjoyed the evening.

Above Enchanted Valley - Day 3

2010-08-04T17:40:00.000-06:00

We got another early start and were gone from our site before the Rangers were up. Our goal today was to take it easy. After talking to the park service folks, we learned that there was a good campsite along White Creek. We were pretty interested in occupying that. Until then, the hike took us uphill once again to our second pass of the trip, Anderson Pass. Both Dad and I had been to Anderson Pass before. Actually Dad had been on every trail in the Olympics so it was more like revisiting his old haunts rather than something entirely new. I was getting excited though, because it was bringing back a bunch of fond memories for me of my November trip into Enchanted Valley way back in 2001. My friend Larson and I had made it all the way to Anderson Pass, battling snowy conditions on a nice November day. On this day we were approaching it from the other side, going up the Dose until we hit the headwaters of the Quinault. We passed a ranger cabin along the way, ran into some other hikers, and saw the first bear of the trip. I was the only one who saw him as he quickly hopped behind a bush after I spotted him. We lost the people here as they stayed to try to track him down again. We topped out at the pass and began our descent down the Quinault. I kept trying to spot the trail on the south side of the cliffs. I remembered pieces of the trail we were now on, but most of it looked different nine years later without snow on it. The views were awesome as we could see down into Enchanted Valley and could see all the peaks rising up above the valley. One of these included West Peak, where my dad broke his neck back in 1980 when his climbing partner whom he was roped to fell and pulled him off the mountain. There were others also with Mt. Anderson highlighting some gorgeous massifs. Chimney peak was a local favorite with its almost reddish appearance. It just showed that we had to come back some time when we did not have to make such a rushed trip out of it. Eventually we hit the trail junction that would take us up toward O'neil Pass. White Creek was a short uphill climb from here, but we were unfortunately dismayed to find out when we got there that there was but two campsites and they were both occupied by most likely the same group. It was still only 11:30am, though, so it was not like we were burning daylight to find a campsite. Dad just wanted to have a day to recharge and the longer that we drug that out, the less chance that that would actually happen. So we sat down and ate some lunch while we looked at the map. It did not seem like there was going to be much opportunity on the trail ahead as it slowly climbed on one side of the mountainside. I was a little bummed because from White Creek, there seemed to be quite a bit of exploring opportunity if we continued to follow the creek upstream. Where we would end up would probably not have much hope for side trips. We continued hiking and after less than an hour, we found ourselves a little nook off the trail behind some big trees with a large flat space between two snowfields with an ample water source. All this added up to a good campsite where we could chill out and enjoy the rest of the day. We had still put in six miles and gained 2200 feet in elevation. We played some cards, listened to some podcasts, but mostly spent a lot of time reading our books. I was sucked in to the life of a 19th century prisoner in Van Diemen's Land living in Macquerie Harbor. Let me tell you, I am glad that I was not born in England in the late 18th, early 19th century and then shipped to Australia because from all the stories of the penal colony, it was not much fun. I could have picked something more upbeat like Neanderthals, but I am a nonfiction kind of guy. In the evening, the light got very good and we were able to snap some great photos looking back toward Mt. Anderson. The people who were camping at White Creek wandered by also, I believe completely oblivious to our presence on the other side of the trail. We had a good evening and I think we were able to get recharged for the next day.

Over to the Dose - Day 2

2010-08-03T18:11:00.001-06:00

We awoke a little before 7 and were on the trail before eight. Today would involve the continuation of following the Duckabush over to the junction, then going up 4000 feet in elevation, then going down until we hit the Dosewallips at Honeymoon Meadows after 13 miles of hiking. It was a slow climb up the Duck through the forest occasionally getting good views of the river as it plunged through some narrow canyons including some small cataracts. Dad was betting on getting by with his one water bottle on the trip, but he ran into trouble as we were approaching the junction with Lacrosse Pass trail. We ran out of streams even in the Olympics during summer. So once we hit the junction, Dad had to keep going on the hike and get some water. I just chilled out and waited for the climb. I was feeling pretty good today despite the soreness in my clavicles from the heavy backpack. The climb was steep with a plethora of switchbacks. Dad's plan to attack it was to keep track of elevation and take a break every 500 feet. That seemed to go well with both of us happy to take some breaks. It was a good idea to get some water, because it was rather dry. We had a little bit of wet near the bottom, but the rest was just a forest of fir. We climbed and climbed and eventually popped out above the big trees and got an impressive view. We could see Mt. Steel and O'Neil Peak. We also could see First Divide which would be the last pass to go over. But at 2:30pm, we still had not made it to the top of Lacrosse Pass. We saw a group of people right near the top of the Pass. We talked to them about the trail and snow conditions. They were only the second group we saw all day. We saw another guy near the junction and he seemed like he had his stuff together. This group seemed strong being about six people all doing fairly well. A little before 3pm we found our way to the top of the pass . It was nice for both of us to chill out and relax for a bit. I threw on the sunglasses because there sure was a lot of snow. We even pulled out the ice axes. The crampons stayed in the pack as the snow was nice and soft. We had thought about climbing one of the peaks when we were sitting in the comfort of my dad's home in Port Angeles. Once we were up at the pass, we looked over to White Mountain and said, yeah right. The snow conditions were not great, but it was more the shear work of going to the top of a peak after we had put in the effort to get to the top of the pass. Luckily we had some footprints to follow off the pass and make our way down. We still had a good 4-5 miles to travel down the hill to get to our destination. When we were above the thick trees, we were dealing with snow and I would say that the ice axes were actually helpful. Once we got back in the thick trees, the snow melted away and we could just pound our way down the hill. As we were getting close to pulling into camp around 5pm, we ran into a river with no bridge. So we had to take off the shoes and throw on the sandles. As we crossed, we realized that we were now at the campsite near Honeymoon Meadows. We took a look around and realized that we were going to be camping near some park service people. Dad knew one of them and we talked to them a bunch. They shared some info on the routes that we were going on since they both went different ways, but had good info. Mainly it was that up high we were going to get some snow. We settled in for the evening and actually had a few bugs on this night. It did not bother us as we got some cribbage in and played some golf too. We could now relax and enjoy the fruits of our labor; a nice comfortable campsite in a beautiful place. Of course there was work to do like making dinner and pumping water, but it was nice to do it without a heavy pack on the back.

Up the Duck - Day 1

2010-08-02T10:30:00.001-06:00

I was completely stoked for the outdoor adventure of the summer. My dad and I had been planning a backpack for a couple of months. We were hoping to do the Bailey Range traverse, but snow conditions in Early August forced us to come up with another plan. We chose a five day trip starting up the Duckabush, over to Dosewallips, and then coming out in Staircase. It was an ambitious project that would take us 6 days over 60 miles. We first had to deal with the vehicles. We drove out to Staircase and left a car, then went over to the trailhead for the Duckabush. We started out the hike in the Brothers Wilderness. It would be about four miles before we got into Olympic National Park. Throwing on the backpack for the first time was like wooh, this thing is a lot heavier than a daypack. With food and gear for six days including ice axe and crampons for the snow, we were in for a heavy haul. On this day we had two minor obstacles, first the Little Hump, then the Big Hump. The hiking was good especially since it was like a giant fruit salad. Huckleberries, salmon berries, blackberries, thimbleberries, blueberries were all on the menu today. Also we would catch glimpses of the river that was flowing by at a swift pace. Since Dad was now at the ripe old age of 60, we took the hike at a more relaxed pace. We made sure to stop every hour and take a short break. I did not say it, but I was always relieved when these breaks came around because the pack was a lot lighter when it was sitting on the ground next to me rather than on my back. As far as the humps went, Little Hump was no big deal and we rolled right by it. We saw our only party actually hiking near the top. Big Hump was more work and was made more troublesome by the fact that I was a bit overdressed wearing long pants and a long sleeve shirt. I was sweating like crazy, but just had to go with it on this day by rolling up the shirt sleeves. The trail up until Big Hump looked like it was most likely an old road cut, but I could see why they could not continue their road as it ran into issues with the steep rock that we needed to climb to go up Big Hump. We made it, though and soon were entering the park. We passed the first campsite which was named Five Mile. You can guess why it was named that. From there, the forest showed the signs of forest fire. Dad soon remembered that last year the Duck was closed for some time because of forest fire, which we could tell since it looked pretty fresh. Our hike took us near the river, above the river, away from the river, and eventually back to the river where we wandered into our camp for the night Tenmile at about 5pm. Once again, take a wild guess why it was named that. We had climbed 1500 feet over 10 miles. When we rolled in there was another party camped there. They were a larger party with a few adults and a few kids and about four tents. We went over and talked to them initially. They were not particularly friendly, but we learned that this was their second day out already. I found us a campsite on the other side of the big, open wooded area behind a big dead log. We proceeded to get about camp business of getting dinner cooked, water pumped, and a nightly cribbage competition. As we were playing cribbage, someone from the group came over to let us know that they did not want to be unneighborly, but down the trail aways there were some good campsites with fire rings. Dad's response to that was to say that we do not need a fire ring. The guy was like okay, but we figured out later that they were trying to be unneighborly. It was odd because usually in the wilderness, people are so friendly, but we determined they must have had internal combustion within the group causing them to have problems with each other and thus deflecting those to try to get rid of us. It was silly, though, because the river was so loud in camp we could not hear them and I am sure they could not hear us. We relaxed for the evening as I read my novel about the prison system in colonial Australia. Heavy reading, while Dad chose a science fiction novel about Neanderthals. We settled into the tent for a good sleep preparing to get up and hike another ten miles the next day.

Hugo Peak

2010-07-30T17:45:00.000-06:00

I never see many old friends in Washington because I am so busy hanging out with the family. I did get to see my friends Accee. Accee and I got to be friends by being first lab partners in Chemistry, poor swimmers in swimming class, and playing basketball against a bunch of Mormons. Also we played trivial pursuit and dropped in on friends' weddings together. On this day though, we decided to take a hike to the tallest peak in Pack Forest. Hugo Peak, one that both Accee and I had done before, him as a boy scout and me as a before dinner workout. It was located only about 15 minutes from where my mom and Carl lived. The trail was nicely built which shockingly took us through the forest. Accee was a bit aprehensive about the hike because he had not been hiking in quite some time. He did fine though as we hiked at a comfortable pace. The trail popped us out onto a road which we followed to the summit. The summit was just as disappointing as the last time with a slight view, but mainly just a big flat spot. We hiked back, but were able to catch up on the hike. It was good to see a good friend, but he had to go after the short hike to go be a best man in his friend's wedding.

Glacier View

2010-07-28T20:01:00.000-06:00

My beautiful wife and I were finally able to get a bit of free time together. My mom was taking care of the baby so that we could go for a hike together. Carl recommended going up the road near Mt. Beljica. We took his advice and drove up the road. This was the same road that Jacqueline and I took to hike to Lake Christine back in 2006. This time we continued past that trailhead and went to the end of the road. The road dead ended at the trailhead. We parked and as soon as we got out of the car, we were immediately attacked by mosquitoes. I thought that they would go away once we started hiking, but I was wrong. We spent a large amount of our hiking time killing bugs. Jacqueline's solution to this problem was to wear my fleece the whole time. I could not do that and would have been sweating a ridiculous amount. Right near the trailhead, the trail split into two trails, one going to Goat Lake and the other going to the high point of the Glacier View wilderness. We chose to head toward the high point. The trail was in good shape and it headed slowly uphill. It was nice to be in the Northwest with all the greenery around us. As we neared the high point, the trail became steeper until eventually we popped out with an amazing view of Mt. Rainier. It is hard to put into words just how massive Rainier is, but from our viewpoint that was still rather far away, it took four pictures to put together to make one picture that would have the whole mountain in it. We enjoyed the view from a spot that obviously used to be an old fire lookout. There was a big flat spot with some old supports, nails, wood, up on top. It was long gone, but made a fine spot to enjoy a lunch while we tried to keep the mosquitoes at bay. We could have just called it good and head on back to our little baby, but Jacqueline wanted to keep going and I was always ready. So we actually started heading downhill when we came to a trail junction. There were many switchbacks and this was starting to look more like Washington hiking. Jacqueline was a bit concerned about coming back up, but I encouraged her and eventually we were at our goal, Lake West. There were two lakes in this area and we only made it to the smaller one. When I took out the camera, it was feeding time for the mosquitoes. I barely got a picture in and you could really tell that this was a breeding ground. If it had not been for the bugs, we may have kept going. Instead we turned around and went back uphill. Jacqueline had an easier time with the uphill than she thought. We contemplated making the turn for Goat Lake instead, but the bugs were just too much. All in all we probably did eight or nine miles, but the hiking was not as tiring as the constant attention to what was biting us. Just part of the fun when hiking in the Pacific Northwest on a beautiful summer day.

When in Washington

2010-07-25T17:50:00.001-06:00

We left Salt Lake and had our longest day of the whole trip. Zyla and her father were both getting grumpy by the time we pulled into Richland, WA. My cousin Lindsay lived out here so once we got settled in to the hotel and ordered some pizza, I gave her a call. She and her husband Bryson came over to see us and meet the baby. They were extra interested in the baby since Lindsay and Bryson were expecting a baby. We visited for a bit, then fit in some time for swimming. The next day we were driving again, this time across the state until we finally arrived in Port Angeles where my dad lived. We only had a couple of days here with Tom and then we were heading to my mom's house in Eatonville. We spent the first day going up to Hurricane Ridge. The ladies stayed behind, but the dads all went up to check it out. We did a short loop walk where we got followed by a deer. The mountains were still full of snow. I wish we could have done more with Tom while in Washington, but I figured this was at least good to hit some tourist spots. When we got back down, we rallied the crews to go out on the town. There was a sand castle carving competition, Dad and Laura wanted us to check out. It was all science fiction based. The most interesting part of Port Angeles was going out on the spit. Dad and I played battleship like when I was a kid and we even got Zyla's feet into the Strait of Juan de Fuca. It was a comfortable temperature out and it was good to be outside. We hung out there for a bit and then drove back to the house for some dinner and pickleball. The next day after visiting with Dad's friends Don and Val Martinson, we took off for Eatonville. We spent the evening hanging out with my mom, Carl, and the Wickanders who lived next door. The next day we had to get Tom to the other most popular National Park site in Washington; Paradise at Mount Rainier. I could not believe how busy and snowy it was. Jacqueline wore the baby on the hike today. We first checked out the visitor center and then hiked around on some of the paved trails until they got too snowy. Jacqueline and my mom bowed out while Tom and I continued hiking. We soon ran out of trail after a while and did not want to have to blaze too much of a trail, so we made a loop out of it and eventually ended up back at the visitor center. With still time to kill, I suggested that we head to Reflection Lake. This was a good pick as there is a great view of Mount Rainier from here. I held up the little one with the massive mountain in the background. We headed back to home which was only an hour away. That evening, Jacqueline and I drove Tom to the airport and he flew back to Michigan. We sure appreciated having him along on the trip. I think everyone felt like we could handle any interesting situations that could come up with the baby with another helping hand. We tried our best to show Tom the highlights of what beautiful Washington state had to offer. Jacqueline and I still had another couple weeks to chill before we had to go back to Colorado, though, so we were sure going to enjoy it.

Lake Solitude

2010-07-20T16:24:00.001-06:00

Well, the trip to Arizona was a slight detour from a route that would take us to Washington, but it put us in position to go through some familiar spots in Utah. First of all was our old home in Springdale to spend the evening chilling with friends while Tom babysat. We did not get to spend much time in Zion. Just enough to stop by to see a few people and take a picture with Zyla at her parents old home. We were off to Salt Lake to spend some time hanging with Jacqueline's bro Paul. The driving had been interesting. Getting to Zion, we hit 113 degrees in Marble Canyon. We had to plan feeding stops around elevation and places for Tom and I to hang out while Jacqueline fed. It took longer than it needed to, but by the evening we were hanging out in Salt Lake. The next day we just so happened to go for a hike. I did not even encourage it or push for it, but everyone was up for it. We went to Silver Lake up at the Solitude ski area. The plan was to do a short hike up to Lake Solitude. I got to carry the little one. This was the first instance of using the Baby Bjorn. It worked well, though Zyla still could not hold her head up so she faced inward toward my chest. That is a bit nerve racking when hiking and I continued to check to make sure the little gremlin was still breathing. She just slept as she enjoyed the bouncing of the hike. We were not hiking incredibly quickly because of the baby and we did not have much of an agenda. The lake was as far as we really wanted to go and it was just a mile and a half. The trail went first around Silver Lake which was all boardwalk. There were a bunch of families with a million little kids. Then it split off and climbed uphill past ski runs that in the summer time were turned into frisbee golf courses. The trail did become steep in places, but we all handled it fine. I felt pretty in shape by this point in the summer with all the running, lifting, and hiking that I was trying to do. Eventually we popped out at the lake. The weather looked iffy and I could only imagine what it would be like to get caught in a t-storm with a little one. Still we wandered around the lake to see if there was another trail to make a loop out of it. When I took a look at it, I thought that there was no way and from the map I saw before I did not think that there was one. Paul and Tom thought so and Jacqueline did not care. Finally I made the executive decision that we should just go back the way that we came because I did not want to take any risks with the baby. By myself, I would have just picked a route over the mountains and gone for it. Everyone was fine with going back down the same way and low and behold it did begin to sprinkle a little bit. It was not enough to concern me, though. We made it back fine, making a loop out of the hike going all the way around Silver Lake to finish it off. We plopped the baby back in her car seat and then we drove down Big Cottonwood Canyon to go to dinner. I think each and every one of us was hungry, except Zyla who fed every few hours. We ended up going out to dinner at an Asian restaurant near where Paul lives. They had outdoor space that we could all sit in. We were worried because it was a nice place, but the baby was great. She spent some of the time in the car seat and some of the time sleeping on my lap. We had good food and a good environment to propel us into our next couple days which would be a bit of driving before getting into Washington state.

Humphreys

2010-07-17T07:10:00.000-06:00

We finally hit the road for our month long summer road trip. Our first stop was to go to Arizona for Brad and Sharon's wedding. The wedding gave us a chance to stay with Aunt Kris and see some other family and friends. Kris was so excited to meet Zyla and took to her right away. Their personalities fit because they are both rather laid back. We got in later in the evening but Zyla did so well in the car, but was so tired and fell asleep. We were ready for some sleep too. The next day there was a lot of people coming by to meet Zyla. The first to show up were Steven and his girlfriend Amanda. Steve was good with babies since he was already an uncle. The problem was that Zyla would cry every time he would hold her. It was not his fault, though, she was just hungry often. We went for a walk around the neighborhood and played some euchre before Bob, Bobbi, and Tom showed up. Uncle Bob and Aunt Bobbi had picked up Grandpa Tom in Phoenix and drove up to see the baby. They were a lot of fun. Jacqueline was happy to ask Bobbie some questions about the baby since she used to be a nurse for many years. She gave Jacqueline a lot of good answers and I was glad that Jacqueline was smart enough to think of some questions. The boys came to, meaning the dogs Bailey and Jasper. They loved babies and went nuts whenever they saw Zyla. Zyla seemed pretty comfortable with Bob too. We all went out to dinner together in Cottonwood. It was a big table because we had to fit nine people at it for dinner. We had a good time and the food was good. Afterward it was back to Kris's house and everyone went their seperate ways. Bob and Bobbi went back to Phoenix, while Steve and Amanda also left. Tom stayed with us as he was going to travel with us up to Washington State to see where my parents live as they had invited him to come see Washington. We still had one more engagement, though, before we could accomplish that. We drove up to Flagstaff where the wedding was being held. Brad and Sharon met at college at NAU, so this was a perfect spot for them to chose to tie the knot. The wedding was in a big old church, but was short and sweet with a clergyman with a sense of humor. We were excited to see a bunch of our old friends from Zion there including Annette and Greg, Eric and Izzy, and Eric Richmond, along with Brad and Sharon. After the wedding we drove up to Snowbowl. We were able to stay out for a while because we had a couple of good babysitters back at Aunt Kris's place. The reception was fun, we did a little dancing and mainly just enjoying ourselves. Eric, Izzy, and I made plans to go up Mt. Humphreys the next day. Having to drive up from Cornville where Kris lived, I did not get there incredibly early in the morning, but was able to meet Eric and Izzy on the southern end of Flagstaff. They were both pretty tired because the place they were staying was not exactly well ventilated. Eric drove us up the rest of the way and we hit the trail a little after eight. It had been a long time for me since I had hiked the trail, probably about a dozen years. Still I had probably been up Mt. Humphreys a half dozen times, usually during winter or when it has snow on it to make it fun. The trail switchbacked quite a bit, but it was a gradual climb for a mountain. We were all equally in pretty decent shape, so we moved well being able to talk while hiking and not having to take a lot of breaks. It was fun to have some friends to hike with and it made all the uphill a lot easier. Before long, we were popping out above the trees and on to the ridge. There were so many people on the trail. I guess that is what happens when you have the one cool hike near a larger city. The views were awesome once we got on the ridge. It was fun to see all the places that I had hiked Mt. Humphreys from so many different sides and ridges. False summit after false summit finally led us to the top. There were a bunch of people and dogs on top so we found our own quiet little niche. There were all sorts of weird shells on top and I wondered if they were natural or if someone had planted them there. Either way, we stayed long enough to take some pictures and then were heading back down. Going down the trail took longer than necessary because of all the switchbacks. I proposed a law that if you saw a dog off of a leash on a trail, you could shoot it because it was a wild animal. I get so sick of people leaving their dogs off of a leash. I also saw someone with a baby just one month older than Zyla hiking with his baby. I asked him about it and knew she was on her way to doing interesting hikes soon. Well, we parted ways, but I hoped to do some hikes with Eric again soon. Tomorow it was north as our destination was Washington State on this trip.

Sneffels High Line

2010-07-09T16:38:00.000-06:00

I wanted to get out for a hike, but the weather did not look so hot. There was a 60% chance of thunderstorms after noon, so I decided as long as I was not hiking after noon, I would be okay. So I got up at 4:30am and left home by 5am. I got to the trailhead which was in the town of Telluride by 5:45am. I wanted to do the Sneffels High Line trail which was a 14 mile loop that would lead me back to my vehicle. When I got out of the Xterra I was immediately shivering. It was 39 degrees in the middle of summer and my thin blood was not used to it. I was a little confused by the signage for the trail, but eventually I found my way according to the GPS. Moving helped me to warm up. Then the trail split again and it took me a while, but by 6:30 I hit my only cut-off with a sign that said I was going the right way with a single track leading me up the mountain. From there, I climbed steeply up into the mountains through the trees. Occasionally the trees would lighten up and I would get an excellent view looking back toward the ski area in Telluride and the mountains beyond it. I spent time following a stream, then broke away to go switchbacking up a ridge until I popped out in a wide open cirque. I was finally above the trees and this was a beautiful green area with a large mine right at the top of the cirque. The trail lead me past this and up until I reached the high point of the day. I was above 12000 ft and it was still only 8:30am. I looked over the saddle and the view was amazing. From the way I came, I could see back to the Wilson Range and all the peaks around Telluride. But looking to my new vista I could see Mill Basin and over to Dallas Peak. It was really quite a spectacle of peaks. Dark rock with patchy snow still left in some of the crevices. The valley below was so green with a meandering stream running through it. As I started down the steep rocky switchbacks, I looked a little closer at the brown dots I saw below me. Amazingly, it was a massive herd of elk. There had to be close to 200 head in this group. I could hear them making noise below in a way that you usually only hear around the rut. They noticed me too and were maneuvering away from me. I was just impressed and continued to watch them just move so gracefully in this beautiful valley. The valley was amazing and the trail lead me right through it. Eventually it started to drop down and I was thinking I was making some great time. It lead me to a waterfall and I was thinking wow look at how quick I am. Just then, I was shocked to see someone running behind me. Wow, you gotta be in good shape to run a trail like this. The trail continued past the waterfall and I assumed it would start leading me down, but instead it kept me at high elevation traversing around and below these mountain peaks. I got a good view of Dallas Peak, one that looked impressive from Dallas Divide and I figured this side would be the one to climb it from. I was wrong, though, because this side seemed just as impossible as the other. There was probably some way to get up it from this side, but I did not see a way to do it myself. I eventually got in the mood to be a clock watcher while I constantly was a cloud watcher. I made goals to be at certain elevations by certain times to keep myself out of danger. The way the trail was going though, I was still far too high by my goal of being below 10000 by 10:00am. But it was not soon after that I was hiking down through the aspens and to the junction with the Deep Creek trail that would lead me back to Telluride. From here on, the scenery was not too impressive, just kind of a mountain biking trail through the trees. I was impressed when I got back to the car before noon and had my whole hiking day done so I could go back home, stay out of the afternoon thunderstorms, and enjoy the time with my brand new daughter. I loved the hike and would do it again. The scenery was comparable to any trail in this region and I was able to soak it all in on this day.

Box Canon Falls

2010-06-30T07:28:00.000-06:00

Back to Norwood for some new visitors. Jacqueline's dad Tom and her uncle Bill were out exploring the west and mainly were wanting to meet their new granddaughter and grandniece. We spent time at home playing with Zyla, but they were wanting to get out a little bit and we weren't ones to object, so Jacqueline and I took them up to Ouray. We drove to a trailhead by the campground where we stopped. Bill, Tom and I walked the short Baby Bathtubs Trail while we waited for Jacqueline to feed. It was not really worth it to tell the truth. After Jacqueline was done, we got on the Portland Trail. This trail was very similar to the Cheif Ouray Mine trail being many switchbacks, but not as steep. We were hiking slower with little baby Zyla in her wrap. We did not make it incredibly far before Jacqueline was ready to turn around. We were able to get some excellent views, but we wanted to go to Box Canon Falls before lunch. This place, Jacqueline and I had actually tried to go there a week before Zyla popped out. They closed down right as we arrived. You had to pay an entrance fee of about 4 dollars to see the falls. While I was not entirely thrilled about charging just to see something, it was worth it to do it once. It was a short hike to get to where the falls came out. I was surprised by the shear power of the water. It was really pouring down at an incredible rate. It went through such a small opening that you would think some erosion would take place. Fortunately no, but it was tough to even get a good picture of the falls with all the rock that stood in the way. There was a big platform built out over the falls so you could see it and it also led down into the river, but no one would be crazy enough to actually step foot in that powerful river. We stayed there for a bit and then went back. There was one more section of trail to hike that took you to a bridge overlooking where the falls poured down. Jacqueline hiked the first part with us, but then retreated as the trail became steeper. It was good that she did, but she missed a great view. There was a view on both sides of the bridge. The first was the narrow canyon and the rolling whitewater rushing downstream to make the plunge over the falls. The second was the beautiful town of Ouray where much adventure awaited. We decided to hit the town after finishing our hike. We found a nice Mexican restaurant with a bunch of dollar bills on the ceiling. The food was really good and the baby did wonderful, just sleeping her way through everything. We went back to Norwood to spend a few more weeks before embarking on our summer tour.

Bear Peak

2010-06-26T16:40:00.000-06:00

Revisiting an old favorite, I decided on Saturday morning in Boulder to go climb Bear Peak. We were staying with Jacqueline's friends Melissa and EJ. I woke up early and was on the trail at the NOAA Research Center up on the hill above Table Mesa. It was a big parking lot, but was already starting to fill up. I saw a lot of people on the trail, but for the whole trip I ended up hiking behind the same guy. He set a good pace and I did not want to go too fast. I was sweating like crazy, though and forgot just how straight up this trail was. It went from about 5700 feet to over 8000 in a little over 3 miles. I passed quite a few people and enjoyed the view. It made me appreciate my time in Boulder a bit more because of all the fun opportunities located in one small city. I got to the ridge by 9am and was on the summit by 9:30am feeling good about my push up that whole way in only an hour and a half. I talked to the guy I was following up there on the summit. He was a good guy and he said he was doing that hike every week training for a race up Pikes' Peak. I got him to take my picture and even was able to get a panoramic picture of the mountains from Bear Peak that were always hard to see in all my other pictures because they were just far enough away to not get a good picture. I remembered how much I liked that hike and how gnarly the summit truly was. I flew down in record time and going down I did not have a companion to hike with me. I recalled my other efforts where I would take short breaks every 45 minutes to change the CD on my discman. Now with the Ipod, I could just keep moving. I was back to our friends house by lunch time and ready to sit on the couch for the rest of the day watching soccer. So great to have such a wonderful peak so close to a fun city.

Zyla's First Hike is a Dream

2010-06-23T12:40:00.000-06:00

Wanting to take a little preemptive trip before our big long trip in July and August, we decided to go visit some friends in the Front Range. We drove the first day from Norwood to Kremmling and stayed in a hotel that night. Zyla did very well with the drive considering we had stops in Telluride and Montrose that slowed down the trip. The next day we drove into Rocky Mountain National Park through the West side entrance. We ran into road construction, but eventually made it to the East side of the park to the house of Mark and Tamara Nydell. Mark and Tamara worked with me at Zion during my first season there. They have two little girls, Grace and Ava, almost 4 and 2. They were very cute and excited to see the brand new little baby. We went out to lunch and then got ourselves packed up for a short hike. We drove up to Bear Lake and started from there. Our goal was Dream Lake, a place that I had spent much time back in my trail crew days when I worked at Rocky. We got Zyla packed into the wrap and she was comfortable and soon fast asleep in her own little dreamworld. Jacqueline carried her and we had a short one mile hike to get there. Along the way, we stopped at Nymph Lake and took a family picture. Mark carried little Ava and Grace bounced back and forth from being carried to walking. We moved slow at the pace of people with three kids. Zyla got lots of comments from people, especially about how tiny she was. The trail climbed uphill through an excellently built trail until we ran into Dream Lake. We stopped there for family photos. It really was an amazing spot. We were happy that we made it that far, but I wanted to go a little bit farther to see some of my trail crew work. The problem was that we were starting to run into snow as we made our way around the lake. We only made it as far as my little platform I built, but did not get to see a lot of my major trail work. It would be fun to go back, but on a day like today, it was not about ambition, but catching up with old friends. It was fun to be around other parents near our age with little girls. We could tell that Mark and Tamara were excellent parents. They had a happy home and invited us to crash with them for the night. We took them up on it and Zyla was so good. We really enjoyed staying in Estes Park and it was Jacqueline's first taste of a place that I called home for a couple summers.

I Saw a Mountain Lion!

2010-06-20T16:45:00.000-06:00

Leaving my pretty little daughter and her pretty little mother, I went out for a hike. Having some maps to go off of now, I found a trailhead rather near our house. It was up the Deep Creek road on the way to Telluride. It was only 35 minutes away to get to the road and then another few miles up that road. I wanted to go to the trailhead on my map, but the sign said no trespassing. So I continued up the road to where it looked like another trailhead was and that still said no trespassing and that the other trailhead was a 1/4 of a mile up the road. I drove a 1/2 mile and was still not there so I got a little worried. Finally I was able to find the trailhead. There was one other family there getting geared up for the trip and also one other vehicle that I figured out was connected to the tent out in the field. I got ahead of the other family not wanting to get stuck behind some kids and not be able to pass them. The view even from the meadow by the trailhead was excellent. The trail climbed up toward an old road that would lead me to the Iron Mountain trail that I was originally hoping to hike. As I was walking down this road, I saw a large animal in front of me. My brain went through the choices: dog, no too big, bear, no too skinny, large tail, slender body. Oh my lord, that is a mountain lion. He had not seen me yet. I was only about a hundred feet behind him and he had no idea I was there. I watched him not wanting to lose sight of him, but not wanting to get too close so that he thought that I was dinner. I grabbed the camera and just started randomly aiming it in his direction. Just then, a mountain biker showed up. I got him to stop and I pointed out the lion to him. He decided to not go further, so that he did not become dinner. Then he decided to go back and warn the family behind us. I watched him look over the side of the hill then go to the stream running behind the trail and get a drink. That is when he looked up, looked right at me, and took off up the hill. I was sad to see him go, but glad that he was not interested in having me for brunch. I was nervous to cross the path where he climbed up, but by that time, the biker was back and we crossed together. He took off riding after that and soon the family showed up. Of course, instead of being worried about the lion, they were wanting to catch a glimpse. I showed them what I could on my camera. They were a nice family and used to live around this area. I hiked with them for a little while and then continued on my way. It is always nice to catch a glimpse of something awesome because the rest of the hike was just bonus. I took my trail that lead down to a small river that I had to cross. From there it followed the river upstream until it began to switchback. I looked on my GPS and it seemed that the Iron Mountain trail that I was looking for was actually above me. I decided to go ahead and bushwhack my way to the trail I wanted, not knowing if the one that I was on would get me there. It was a steep trip as I had to pick some routes where I grabbed the trees to pull me up, but it landed me smack dab on the trail that I was looking for. I followed it through the trees and soon I was far above the river. I could look down off the trail and see many waterfalls though as I knew my trail was leading me right into a big basin. The thought of climbing one of the mountains was toying around in my mind, but a good long hike seemed just as nice today. As I got closer to my final destination the mountains continued to open up and I could see them on all sides of me. The trail was in fairly good shape considering that it was not maintained. There were trees across it in places, but it was still very nice. By the end I was hiking in just the rocks going in and out of small stands of trees. I was not too surprised to find that the end of the line was actually at a mine. That was the way it was in southwestern Colorado. This one went right into the hillside where a small creek came right out of the wall. I was glad I had enough water at this point because I am sure that water was tainted. There was much mining equipment around and a big flat terrace to stand on from the tailings. The trail looked like it continued from my GPS, but it didn't because I tried to find it. I know it would have been easy to just head down to the creek and continue hiking, but I figured this was as good a finishing point as any. On the way down, I was able to find an easier exit from my trail to the one that I came in on. This time it was not so steep. I looked for my feline friend on the way back, but I did not find him. I did find the strange fellow at the trailhead who was camping in the field. When I got home, I was happy to see that the wrap that we purchased to take little Zyla hiking had arrived. I even threw it on knowing that Jacqueline was not too thrilled about it. Zyla liked it and it gave me hope that we would soon be able to go hiking as a family.

Upper Cascade Falls

2010-06-15T19:41:00.001-06:00

Wanting to take Zyla on a hike turned to waiting to take Zyla on a hike. We put her in the Baby Bjorn and frankly, she still needed to wait. She was far too tiny for it. We wondered if she would be big enough ever and if Jacqueline would be able to get her in it so that she could get out too. We ordered a wrap to see if that could work. So instead, I went off for a hike on my own. I wanted to get up to Ouray and do a hike up there. So I chose the hike to Cheif Ouray Mine. I got on the trail pretty early and parked right on the streets of Ouray. The trail climbed steeply right away and soon I was crossing the road and hitting the switchbacks. The view was great and you could see the tops of the peaks with snow still on them. I was making good time and really hauling away trying to do this trip as quick as possible. I only saw one person on the trail going up and they were only on the lower part. So I felt like I had the trail to myself. The switchbacks became so steep near the top. It was definitely a place to not push my speed because I did not want to get in a somersault and end up back down in Ouray that I could see over a 1000 feet below me. The switchbacks gave way to a flatter trail that curved around and took me toward the mine. I could hear the water and then I could see the Upper Cascade Falls. It was a good waterfall or two and I could also see the mine across the falls on the other side. I looked at the crossing and decided that it probably was not a good idea to cross it since I was alone and the river was moving pretty good. A misstep would mean that I would end up going off the falls and I was definitely not in the mood for that. It was a beautiful day and I turned around from there. The trip back down was so quick as the total hike was only about 6.5 miles. It was only an hour to get back to the car. I was home to help with the baby just a bit after noon. It was nice to have a close hike but it was quite a bit of a drive for a short hike. I felt like I could have made the mine, but it honestly was not much of a disappointment. Colorado is packed full of old mines and I am sure that I would have some old mines to visit in my future.

Groundhog Mountain

2010-06-07T19:41:00.000-06:00

Somebody said to me today, they said Pete if there is anywhere in the world that you would want to be, where would it be. I would say on Groundhog Mountain. Dad was up for a visit to meet his first grandchild and we had to get out and climb a mountain. I figured there was no better mountain then Groundhog Mountain which was just on the other side of Lone Cone. We did not know much about it but we knew that there was not any hill or mountain we can't climb. People who know me well know that Groundhog Day is my favorite movie and my dad and I love to quote lines from the movie. We had a long drive to get to the mountain though because there was no straight shot from Norwood. We were able to see the peak from the drive and it did not look too treacherous. We checked the weather before we left and saw that all the moisture was pushing off to the east where it would hit Altoona, so we knew that we were safe. We drove on a long series of dirt roads until we ran into some snow. Unfortunately, I forgot my booties, but it was not that cold out, but it still was not Miami Beach. We walked a dirt road until we hit a ridge and we began to follow that up through the trees. Looking up at the peak, it looked a bit more difficult then we had originally thought. We had to hit a ridge and go up from there or else we would run into a big wall and be stuck. There was enough snow to make picking a route not so easy. Looking up we had to ask ourselves "Does Pete and Roger feel lucky?" Well, we were lucky as we were able to pick a route and get up to the ridge.For quite some time, the ridge was nearly flat. It then began to narrow out and we had to pick a good route. Then we hit the last wall to the summit. It was steep and the rock was very crummy. My dad finally dropped his ski pole and I told him to just put that anywhere pal. You could tell that Groundhog Mountain was not a very desirable summit even though it was over 12000 feet. So every rock we stepped on gave the sign of not having been stepped on before. The summit top was very small with dropoffs on both sides with a steep approach. It was one of those places where I sat and ate very precariously not wanting to move around too much. The view was great and we could see all those mountains that we see from our window in Norwood, just looking across rather than up to them. It made me think, I wish we could all live in the mountains at high altitude, that's where I see myself in five years. As we got ready to go down, it was still time to be cautious. We had to especially watch out for that first step, it's a doozy. Truthfully the first step off the summit was loose rock with a big dropoff on both sides. We carefully made our way down until we were on the flat stuff. My dad wanted to make a more straight shot to the car. I vetoed one route, but he talked me into another one. The old man still has quite a bit of guts and steam as he kicked my butt down the steep stuff as I was constantly making sure that I did not get any velocity going. But it was quicker for sure and we were back to the car. As we drove back, I asked my dad who else could go for some flapjacks right now. But he said it was too early for flapjacks. Well, if I woke up and had to climb Groundhog Mountain every day, I would not be too upset about it. It is always fun to get out and explore with my dad. I had a beautiful baby at home and a beautiful wife. So what if there was no tomorrow, you know, there wasn't one today. This is one of those times where a blog fails to capture the true excitement of a couple of guys climbing a mountain. From Norwood, Colorado this is Pete.

Little Cone

2010-06-02T22:09:00.000-06:00

With the addition of Zyla to our lives, the summer started with a bang. Mom and Carl came out to visit almost immediately and gave Jacqueline and I some much needed baby advice. They helped with the meals and also got lots of grandparent time. They stayed until Memorial Day weekend and then were off to go back to Washington. With the baby to ourself we began getting her on a schedule so that we could sleep. I quickly learned that I would be getting more sleep then Jacqueline. There just was not a ton that I could do in the middle of the night. Zyla was such a good baby as she only seemed to cry when she was hungry. While that was frequently, she needed to grow as she was so amazingly tiny. It had been a week of baby management and no school and I needed to get out for a hike. The thought of climbing Little Cone had been interesting to me since I saw it last fall. So I got up early and drove toward the mountain on the Fall River Road. I did not know exactly where to park, but following my GPS, I saw that it was at the bottom of a private road. There were lots of no trespassing signs up, but I figured that if I was just walking the road it would not be considered no trespassing. Still I moved quickly uphill on the road until I got to a nice big open meadow, where I ducked off the road and back onto National Forest property. The view from this spot was absolutely fantastic as I could look back toward the Wilson Range and see the still snow covered peaks rising out of the bright green all around me. I wondered if I would run into snow. At this point it was just picking a route with the GPS as a guide to get to the base of the mountain. The route was steep, but without much resistance even though there was no discernable trail. I was definitely in worse shape at this point in the summer than the previous summers, though I was not missing my backcountry job yet. It was fun to be in the mountains for some time. As I got to higher elevation, the snow started to show up. Soon my route was chosen based on where the snow was not. Eventually it was chosen by where the snow was least until it was chosen by a straight line that minimized the amount of dampness entering my shoes. In the middle of this, I found a seasonal snow melt lake that looked pretty with the reflections of the green trees. From here the route became steeper until I was out of the snow, out of the trees, and looking up toward the summit of Little Cone. From far away, it looked like a gradual climb to the top, but when I looked at it from nearby it was blocky toward the top. I thought I would be swinging right and going up a ridge, but heading straight on looked like a bettter option. I could follow some trees to a saddle. It started out gradually steep, but right where I found a dead deer, it started to get steeper. I didn't feel like I was in big fall danger, but I was definitely in break ankle danger, which out here where no one goes, would mean trouble. So I was careful as I did use some hands and feet in places. Eventually I hit the saddle and with some tricky route decisions to avoid the patches of snow near the top, I was climbing my way up the loose rock to the top. It was a three hour trip from car to summit as I hit the top a little before 11am. The view was awesome with peaks all around me. I knew others had been there, but you could tell that it was not too often. I was thinking that maybe I could descend a different way, but after circumnavigating the summit, I realized that it was not going to be possible. It was down the same way with all its loose rock. I took it slowly and could relax when I was standing looking up at the peak once again. This time I flew down the snowy parts as it was much easier to go down then up. It took about half the time to get back to the car, which just showed how good of shape I was in. I returned home and saw both my beauties had a good workout on the day also. It was a good day that gave me a chance to look forward to further summer visitors and further summer adventures.

The Birth of Zyla Virginia Drake

2010-05-26T18:46:00.000-06:00

Quoting John Prine for many months now had been a fun experience - seems like the little woman is getting bigger every day - but the most important day was steadily approaching. I was relieved when school ended on Friday, but less excited when a huge windstorm and a fire made the weekend a little less fun. We were relieved to see that the road was still open, but the large plume of smoke and the winds ripping away all weekend made us wonder if it would continue to be open. As the rain came down, Jacqueline awoke at 3:30am for one of her many bathroom breaks. She then said to me, I think my water broke. I did not believe her until the flood actually began. Then I was suddenly going a mile a minute gathering things together for our trip to the hospital. I threw as much as I could into a bag and we both made the trip to the hospital. It was pouring down rain as we hit Norwood Hill. As we drove through San Miguel Canyon, we could see the fire up on the cliff above us. This little girl was determined, so it did not matter to her that even though it was May 24th it was snowing on Dallas Divide, rather hard also. As we went down the pass to Ridgway, my speed increased and I flew through Ridgway. I was going much faster than the speed limit at times, not wanting to be the one to deliver the baby. I pulled into the hospital at a little after 5 am, happy to hand my wife off to the medical professionals. They got her all set up in a nice spacious room. Her contractions were not bad at first, but by 8am, they were getting worse. She tried many different techniques like walking around, sitting on a birthing ball, getting in the bath, deep breathing, etc... but soon the pain was so intense. She asked me what she should do and I told her that she could do whatever she needed, meaning that she was wanting some pain medicine. She tried some pain medicine that wore off after thirty minutes and finally she got an epidural. I was happy to see her more relaxed and in less pain as it is hard to watch her in pain without being able to do anything about it. After the epidural, though, you could see that our little baby was wanting to come. At 2:30 pm, Jacqueline began pushing. You could tell that this was a painful process even with the drugs. The amazing thing about it was that the doctor did not show up until less than half an hour from when the baby was born. All I could do was encourage Jacqueline by telling her that she could do it and how exciting it was to see our little baby's head coming out. Eventually she got enough of a push and the doctor was able to pull this little head out and the rest came sliding with her. She was born at 3:44 on 5/24, which I thought was cool because I was born at 5:44 on 3/24. The nurses immediately took her away and Dad immediately grabbed his camera to get the first photos of his daughter. She did not give one of those big cries when she came out, but was making little cries. She had been in the birth canal for a while, but it did make her cry when the nurse checking her out whacked her in the head with her stethoscope. They checked her out and then took her back to her mommy, so that she got to hold her for the first time. We already loved her more than anything and you could tell by the way her mom was looking at her. Those first few minutes with your baby are so special, but soon it was time to do the learning. Jacqueline had to feed little Zyla Virginia Drake, which we finally had the courage to name her. We both wanted to see her first and we decided it fit. We knew that feeding was going to be a challenge as we could tell that Zyla was going to be stubborn about it at times. They gave us a few minutes with her, but you could tell they had an agenda as they moved us into another room within the hour. This room had a big chair for me to sleep in and a television. Jacqueline and I slept very little that night, waking with every noise that Zyla made hoping that every time that she closed her eyes that she would continue breathing. Zyla was also feeding very frequently and we had no idea that she was hungry every time she cried, but we would soon learn that we had an awesome baby that seemed to only cry when she was hungry. We ended up spending a whole other day in the hospital learning how to be parents. In the two nights that we slept at the hospital, I think we both got less than 5 hours total of sleep. So when the day came to take Zyla home, we were nervous about the hour and a half drive back to Norwood just from shear exhaustion. We got her situated in her car seat and she looked so amazingly cute and tiny. We could not believe how tiny she was, especially since the doctors were telling us for so long just how big she was. She did not like getting in the car seat, but once she was in she was zonked out. I was such a proud papa carrying her from the hospital to the Xterra. As we drove home, we worried about her because we could not see her since she was facing the seat. The amazing part was that she just slept the whole time. We even tried to feed her once considering that she was feeding every hour and a half rather regularly. She did not want it though and we were able to step foot in our house with our baby for the first time and share our life with her. She is so precious and we were just so excited to spend the summer and the future with little lovely Zyla.

Druid Arch

2010-04-25T18:34:00.001-06:00

Sometimes it just takes a place upon a map that sounds interesting for a great hike to happen. Wanting to escape the cold of Norwood, Jacqueline and I packed up the Xterra for a long day hiking in Canyonlands. Knowing that with her nearly eight months pregnant, we would not have much of a shot at hiking together in this rugged landscape, she was prepared for a boring day while I got to get my last hurrah on before settling in to wait for the baby to be born. I saw Druid Arch on the map and decided that would be an interesting destination. We drove the long drive of over two hours to get to the Needles District of Canyonlands before taking a dirt road to Elephant Hill. Jacqueline was afraid once again for the health of the baby on the dirt road, but I assured her that it would be alright. Nervous about being away from my wife for so long, I promised to be back by 4pm, giving me just about five hours to do a 14 mile hike in rugged terrain. I knew I had to put the jets on. The beginning of the hike was mainly flat, but with some vistas. I could see the rising spires of the Needles coming ever so much closer. I saw a family walking with a baby in a backpack and hoped that that could be Jacqueline and I a year from now. Soon the flat open terrain was giving way to the less open and more canyon like terrain. I took a series of turns that led me through the canyon country. I began going downhill instead of uphill. After a quick stop for lunch and to change from pants into shorts, I was going down some steep sections of trail to hit a canyon bottom that I would follow for quite some time. The difference in the cliffs above me was that now what I was looking across at was now what I was looking up at and looking up made it so much more impressive. I was surprised how many people were out. I guess it was a warmer day in spring and they were all chomping at the bit to get their season started to. I saw a park service volunteer who asked me where I was going. It is good to see at least the volunteers getting out. At that point I had made my last turn and was following the canyon that would lead me to Druid Arch. At one point, I had to hop out of the canyon in order to avoid a big pour-off. There was a drop-off on my right side that kept me honest, but nothing too bad. When I got to the place right before the arch, the climbing got a bit steeper including the first ladder of the day. No problem and I soon popped out at the spot across from the arch itself. Man, was it impressive. It was probably the most impressive arch that I ever saw. Just the size, shape, absolutely impressive. There was a couple up there which I got to take my picture. They were soaking it all in, but I only stayed long enough to really enjoy it. I had a deadline to meet without the knowledge if I could actually live up to that deadline. I headed back down the way I came at first, but instead of turning left at the junction, I turned right. This led me towards Squaw Canyon, though it would not be that simple. At first it was just easy canyon walking, but this canyon was soon to run out, so the trail headed toward the cliffs. A long ladder was my only option. It makes you worry when you are so far away from the trailhead and you know the park service budget, to see a ladder out in the wilderness. It turned out to be fine and so did the other one that lead me down off the rocky slickrock pass. I was now hiking on the edge of a canyon, high on the rocks. I came to a junction, both of which led back to the trailhead I was heading towards. One went toward Big Spring Canyon, while the other continued to Squaw Canyon. I thought about Big Spring since it was shorter, but since I had trouble seeing the route even from the junction, decided to stick to Big Spring. This was a good idea because even though it was longer, I managed to hit my last ladder and drop into the canyon bottom. Looking at my watch, I thought that there was no way I could make it unless I really stepped on it. Now that it was flat, easy canyon hiking, I even ran for short stretches. In this area, I was away from other people most of the time only seeing one other person. I could sense that I was getting closer to the trailhead, but time was running out. Soon the parties started to increase and I passed a big group who had been out backpacking and looked worse for the wear. Amazingly, I could see the trailhead with only a few minutes to spare. I stepped on it and made it to the trailhead right as my watch struck 4pm. Proud of myself I looked around for my pregnant wife. She was nowhere to be found. Turns out she went to the other trailhead over the rocks on the other side of the campground. I reluctantly took my weary self and climbed over the rocks to find her content at the other trailhead, unconcerned that I was now twenty minutes late. I was proud of her as even though she was carrying a bunch of extra weight, she found the time to go for a few short hikes on her own. Unfortunately the day was now over though, as far as hiking would go, and I was now forced to settle down and weight for the birth of our baby girl.

Back to Hovenweep

2010-04-11T19:44:00.000-06:00

We enjoyed camping in Hovenweep so much that we went back. This time I was determined to hike the section of trail to the Holly ruins. So as soon as we got to our same campsite that we had last trip, I left Jacqueline and her belly to go for a hike. It was the same for the first half an hour and I actually was able to hike in a t-shirt which I had not been outside in for quite some time. I passed the point where Jacqueline and I had been before and the trail was similar. Desert landscape, first hiking up a wash, and then in a more open valley. Along the way there were some ruins with no water nearby. You could see how all the Anasazi ruins in the Southwest were just one big series of migratory farming camps. They could not have stayed in the same place year long because one area would not have produced enough food to feed many people. Continuing on the trail was rather flat so I was able to make excellent time. Eventually I reached the Holly ruins. These were much more massive than I originally thought that they were going to be. They were very similar to the Square Tower ruins, just without as many people. It always feels weird when the finish of a trail is another trailhead and a road. I could have continued on another 3 miles to the Hackberry Ruins, but I asked the first people I saw that day who were coming back from it if it was worth it. They said it was more of the same, so I took some pics and headed back to my pregnant wife. I made a quick detour to see some petroglyphs that were not very impressive as I had to stand on a rock overlooking them. I could have gone down closer, but did not want to break the rules. I saw a few folks on the way back including the couple that came back from Hackberry, who were going rather slow up the steep hike out. I used my ingenuity and created a new route climbing up the slickrock and popping out before them on the rocks leading to the campsite. Jacqueline had an adventure while I was away. She managed to lock her keys in the car, so had to get a ranger to get her out. That took up most of the time that I was away doing the ten mile hike. We played some cards and made an early dinner, then went for an evening hike around the Square Tower Group like we did last time. The pregnant lady did pretty good again and it was really good for us to get out. This time the weather stayed good for the drive back and we had nothing but a smooth enjoyable camping trip on the border of Utah and Colorado. I am sure that we will return to Hovenweep again to enjoy its comfortable, quiet setting.

Walnut Canyon

2010-04-02T16:40:00.001-06:00

Sit back and let me tell you the story of how four intrepid explorers managed to conquer all the trails in Walnut Canyon National Monument in the course of one afternoon. Jacqueline and I were staying in Cornville with her Aunt Kris and her dad was down to join us also. We drove up to Walnut Canyon for the day for something to do. We did not know that we would be accomplishing an impressive feat. We toured the visitor center when arriving and visited the facilities. Then we were off on our journey on the Island Trail. Our first obstacle was 185 feet of downhill over well groomed trails. There were details in the visitor center of a big rockfall, but that was long since past. After that we went in a counter-clockwise direction along a loop. This lead us to many ruins built right into the cliffs. As we looked out over the valley, we saw many more ruins in cliffs high above with very difficult access. Who could imagine what life was like in this part of the world to have to live in such an environment? I guess they chose it because of the water access. Unfortunately, there was no water access left because of the dam on Lake Mary upstream. Oops. We continued around our "island" with many ruins and other intrepid explorers. Soon we made the whole loop and were back to the climb up the stairs. Without problems our group made the climb slowly and surely. When we reached the top, I wanted to hike the trail to the ruins on the rim. Jacqueline wanted to make the trek to the bathroom once again. So we split our party where when thinking about it, I am the only one who actually completed all the trails. Hmm, because everyone else met me on the shorter loop at the ruins after a bathroom visit. With only about an hour spent (okay it wasn't that intrepid of us), we had finished all the trails in Walnut Canyon and were off to the Brewery for lunch in Flagstaff.

Spring Break

2010-03-28T14:12:00.000-06:00

Spring Break! Could I have needed a break any more, I am not sure, but with basketball and teaching we escaped to Phoenix. We were staying with Jacqueline's Uncle Bob and Aunt Bobbi at their house in Scottsdale. It was a big beautiful house with an excellent view. We spent some time soaking up the sun, shopping, and trying to go to a spring training game, but of course we had to get out for a hike. So we took a drive to Tonto National Monument, a couple hours away from Phoenix. It was right near a very big lake, Lake Roosevelt, and the greenery in Arizona this time of year was a sight to see after the white of winter we had been seeing every day in Norwood. Today we had a large contingent of people to enjoy the day with. Along with Bob and Bobbi, Jacqueline's Aunt Kris, Jacqueline's dad Tom, Bobbi's sister Wendy, and the two dogs Bailey and Jasper joined Jacqueline and I. The temperature was perfect in the low 80s and there was only one hike to do in Tonto National Monument without a guide, so we took it. It was a paved path from the visitor center up to a set of ruins from the Salt River Valley Salado Indians. We were very ruin happy lately, but these were different because instead of being Anasazi Indians, these were a different group of cliff dwellers. Their home was high in the cliffs, so we had a short uphill hike to get there. The desert scenery was great with big saguaro cacti and other cacti to line our path. Everyone was doing fine with the hike and the pregnant lady was happy because she had the camera. She took many pictures. The other neat thing near the ruins was the Africanized bee hive. It was to the left of the ruins and they were very active. After seeing Discovery channel shows on Africanized bees, I was going to steer clear of annoying them. We checked out the ruins and laughed at the dogs doing silly stuff. We had to head down the same way to drive back into town and get some lunch. Everyone was happy that they got out and enjoyed the Arizona sun on a beautiful day.

Monument Valley

2010-03-13T14:50:00.001-07:00

It was the weekend again and this time Jacqueline was being very ambitious. She had so much fun camping the last weekend that she wanted to get out of town almost immediately. So we got everything packed and were out of town Friday night. The problem with that in the spring, or even late winter you could call it, was that we rolled into the Sand Island Campground outside of Bluff, Utah, after dark. We found an area that would be all to ourselves except one vehicle. Jacqueline found it creepy though so we went to the other part of the campground where there were people and found a campsite in the dark. Jacqueline was not as pleased with this experience. It is definitely different to roll in after dark. When we awoke, though, we had some good stuff to check out. Sand Island has some neat petroglyphs. There is actually a huge panel unknown to most out there unless they manage to surf the internet looking for a campground near Bluff. We walked a short trail and took quite a few pictures. It was looking like it was going to be a good day to be out and this was just the beginning. We got in the Xterra and drove toward Monument Valley. Along the way, we took a small detour to see Mexican Hat. I drove by Mexican Hat probably a half dozen times but never found the time to get out of the car and take an actual picture. We kept on driving because our destination on this day was Monument Valley. Jacqueline had never been and always wanted to go, so we went. We got to the visitor center nice and early. They were still working on opening it, but the pregnant lady had to use the facilities, so she was glad that it was open. We decided that we wanted to take the scenic drive, which this time of year, personal vehicles could take. The last time I went, it was only for guided trips. The road was a lot rougher than Jacqueline expected. Soon she was getting rather worried about how all the shaking was impacting the baby. First the baby was really active and then she wasn't. I reassured her that if all it took was a little shaking in a car on a dirt road to hurt a baby, we probably would not have as many healthy people out there. But there is not much you can say to a worried soon to be mother to calm her and she began to feel more and more sick to her stomach, most likely from worry. We continued the drive though and the cliffs were really beautiful. It was not quite our style though as we were not the dirt road driving enthusiasts. We were both happy when it was over and we could get out on the trail and do a little hike. The only trail in Monument Valley is the Wildcat Trail. This one left from right by the campground. We figured that with all the people there we could not get lost trying to find the trail, but instead of going right at the beginning, we went left and got ourselves all backwards and had to backtrack back to the trailhead to find the actual trail. It was a pretty hike that took us first downhill and then to a junction where we went right around the loop. Jacqueline was doing great with the hike being so pregnant, though we were moving slower and taking more breaks, it was still fun to be out. She was still paranoid about the baby having not felt her. She had been feeling her so frequently that this was different. I told her that it was from all the motion, but she was starting to make me worried. I assumed it would be fine, though, as we continued the hike getting great views of the buttes and the large mesa we were circling around. The weekend was supposed to continue when we got back to the car with another night of camping, but we saw the weather changing, knew there was weather coming in, and had a meeting deciding to bag the night of camping. Good thing, because we got hit with about a foot of snow overnight. We were really enjoying being weekend warriors, though, and were looking forward to the days we could share these wonderful sights with our little one. By the way, she was kicking again by that evening and mom was reassured once again that we would be blessed with a healthy, happy little girl.

Hovenweep

2010-03-07T10:16:00.000-07:00

It had been a long basketball season. We finished 8-15, but making it to Regionals which felt good. The experience was trying to say the least. The angry parents and long bus trips took me away from spending time with my wife and getting out in the backcountry. At this point, I was not sure if I could stomach it for another season. There was just too much work and not enough free time for me during the season. So the season finished Tuesday and on Saturday we were on our way to Hovenweep National Monument for a camping trip. Neither of us had ever been there before so this would be a new experience. We made the drive longer than necessary going through Blanding, but it was a beautiful trip. We arrived, went to the visitor center, paid our fee, got some information, got a campsite, and were off on a hike. According to the SCA working the visitor center, the monument only had one trail so that must be the one near our campsite. It was a loop that went by all the ruins. The ruins were fairly well preserved for their age. The trail was flat most of the way going around the mesa above the canyon where all the ruins were so my rapidly expanding wife could continue to keep hiking. We went out to all of the viewpoints to see all of the different houses and towers. The trail did take a small dip when it went into the canyon. The pregnant lady handled it rather easily, though, as the loop trip took us a little under an hour. I was wishing that there would be more hiking time for me, but it was easy to just sit back in our campsite and enjoy the day. We played cards and liked the fact that we could actually have short sleeves on for a time. As the evening approached, we went for a short walk around the campground. What we discovered was another trailhead. Hmm, definitely got some misinformation at the visitor center. We decided to go ahead and walk this section of trail. It was a bit more challenging for Jacqueline being that it started out almost immediately going steeply downhill. It took us through some narrow crevices, but then flattened out as we hit the canyon bottom. We walked on this one for nearly an hour until we realized that we were going to have to get some dinner in before it got too dark. Back for some high sodium camping food, more games, and just some general relaxation for once. The t-shirts were traded for the Fargo hat in the evening which I brought on a whim, but was now becoming very useful. We climbed in the Xterra for the evening once it got dark with our little speaker for music and headlamps for light to keep the wilderness game night going. As we slept, we could hear the weather changing. Rain began to pound down on our home for the evening and when I awoke to make some breakfast, it had to be done in a windy, rainy mess. It made me dread the drive home and for good reason. We went the shorter way this time and visibility was really poor. Until we got on the highway to Dove Creek, I was wondering if we were going to get stuck out there since no one was driving that road. As took the road from Dove Creek to Norwood, we finally got out of the wet, thick snow as we went down the hill to the Dolores River. Norwood had a little snow, but not much when we got there. The weekend was fantastic, though, and it made us long for the next Saturday when we could do the same thing all over again.

Dolores River

2010-01-17T19:26:00.000-07:00

Three day weekend! Which with basketball and school meant that I had a one day weekend! Oh man was my time really taken away from everything else. You really got to be obsessed to be a head coach because it was completely sapping me of my strength. I needed to get out for a hike. Found a place on the map at lower elevation to get us out of the freezing temps and the piles of snow at home. I could not believe how cold it was every morning. Sub-zero temps to get out to work. Jacqueline and I were now commuting since she was doing her student teaching. This was good for her to get out also as she was a workaholic as usual putting in very long days and then having to come out to my games in the evening. The Dolores River seemed like a good place to break away to. When we got to Bedrock, it definitely was not snow free, but there was a lot less. We parked and began walking the road. Almost immediately, we had a bunch of dogs come running toward us and both of us were a little bit nervous. They were fine, but a little bit scary looking. The owners of course said they were harmless. They always say that right before the dog bites you. Soon the trail narrowed out so that those on the ATV's pulling sleds could no longer bother us and we expected to see no one the rest of the day. The hike was great. It took us above the river and then right down beside it. It made a big curve and we continued to follow it for a couple hours until Jacqueline thought it would be a good time to turn around. I was hoping to get to some interesting point, but instead it was just a day of enjoying the red rock that we both were missing and a beautiful, cold river to walk beside. On the way back we ran into some other hikers which was shocking. It happened to be Sheila who was one of the office women at work with her whole family. She is a great co-worker and super positive all the time. We were really excited to see her out there. We talked for a bit and then were off on our return trip. One difference between canyoneering and hiking was definitely that it was always one way on these canyoneering trips, while hiking you always had to double back and come back to where you just were. I would rather finish the trip with something new all the time, but hey you can't complain too much because it was nice to only have to drive a couple of hours and have some nice red rock scenery to soak in. Oh how I longed for the days when basketball would be over and I could get out more often.

New Years' Eve Eve Hike

2009-12-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

We didn't get out much when staying with my mom, but we did get her and Carl to take us on a short hike to the confluence of the Ohop and the Nisqually. It was about 3/4 of a mile down a closed dirt road. We had some good weather and we were leaving the next day. Afterwards I got food poisoning and wondered if I was going to be able to get on the plane. I threw up and felt a lot better by the next morning, though. Jacqueline and I were able to celebrate New Years' in Norwood. Wahoo!

Christmas Hike

2009-12-25T21:38:00.000-07:00

Merry Christmas everyone. Sounds like a good day for a hike. We spent the morning exchanging gifts and then headed out to the Elwha for a hike. I really like the Elwha because even in winter it is at low enough elevation that we can access a good stretch of trail. We decided to hike out to the Goblin Gates and see how we felt from there. All four of us did the hike and it was a beautiful day to be out. Dad wore his Santa hat and looked the most festive out of the four of us. From the gates, Jacqueline, Dad, and I took another trail that led us to Humes Ranch, while Laura returned the same way to the trailhead. The cabin was definitely restored and was a homestead over a hundred years ago. It is funny how we pay attention to those things when they are inside National Parks, whereas if that same homestead was outside of the park it would be built over possibly by family members of the original owners without two thoughts. This trail looped around and ran us into another cabin and then eventually the trail back to Whiskey Bend. I think our total hike was four of five miles, but it was nice to get out and enjoy the day instead of just sitting around eating all day long.

Birthday Hike

2009-12-22T19:38:00.001-07:00

It was Jacqueline's birthday, so naturally we had to go for a short hike. We were visiting my dad and Laura in Port Angeles. The day was supposed to be pretty nice, so we thought that we would take a drive up to Hurricane Ridge. They kept the road plowed most of the time in the winter, so you could get up to high elevation by just driving. The views were excellent as we could see all the mountains in the distance. It was a bit chilly out, but we kept our little pregnant birthday girl bundled up. We first hiked up the hill and out to a viewpoint. From there we went into the visitor center to look at maps. Next we hiked up the road a ways. Laura stayed in the car for this section, but my little pregnant birthday wife kept trekking. Jacqueline's mantra throughout this whole pregnancy has been, "I don't wanna do too much", but she has been trying to keep herself active even if my coaching takes me away too often. We hiked about a mile and then turned around feeling that our trek was sufficient. I realized that I had been to all of these places before, coming by myself in February 2003. It was really good to get out and after that we were back home for a birthday dinner and presents for my wonderful wife.

Thanksgiving in Canyonlands

2009-11-27T14:09:00.000-07:00

Brian and Angela Hays invited Jacqueline and I to come stay with them out in Island in the Sky and celebrate Thanksgiving. We were all for it as I have known Brian and his family for many years. We are only a couple hours drive from them, but found it hard to make the trip with work commitments. Having the whole week off from school at least, not basketball though, we took the couple days we had and made the drive. Brian had to work, but he was able to take the whole crew on a hike. It was only a short hike but was perfect because it was good for the pregnant wife and the rest of the whole crew too. There were eight of us total as Angela's sister made the trip along with Brian's sister Sarah, his bro Matt, and his mom. We took it nice and leisurely enjoying the desert and the slickrock as we went. Even thought the air temperature was a bit chilly it was still a great time to be in the desert as the snow was not going to stop our progress. Brian had a funny moment on the hike when he pretended to be giving us a guided hike interpretational tour when another visitor came by. That visitor began following us, so he increased our party to nine. Brian was nice to him and you had to feel for someone who was alone for Thanksgiving. That is definitely a holiday where I appreciate my close family of Jacqueline and the baby growing in her tummy. We were only out for a couple of hours because we had to go back and make some turkey dinner. We all crammed into the shed at Brian's house and had an excellent dinner. We played games in the evening, including Brian's newly learned favorite of Ninja destruction. Anything that involved strength, quickness, and a small bit of pain are activities Brian will always participate in. The next day we took a drive to the La Sal National Forest where we picked out a Christmas tree. Ours was rather small because we don't have room to put it in our house. The rest of the crew continued for a day of play in the sun and snow, while we had to return to prepare for a long basketball season.

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

2009-11-22T21:13:00.001-07:00

We had the week off due to Thanksgiving and we had not been out much since basketball had begun. I was crazy busy and Jacqueline was quickly getting crazy pregnant with all the joys of pregnancy including the morning sickness which does not just happen in the morning. We had to pick an easy place where it would not be too challenging for Jacqueline. We picked Black Canyon because it was not too far away and the trails did not seem very long. We drove up and it was free since it was the off season. Our first goal was to go out to all of the viewpoints we could handle. It was a rather unique place because it was much different from the vast Grand Canyon. It was so incredibly vertical. We wandered through the snow on the short trails out to the viewpoints to look down and see the big drops. Finally we drove to the end of the road and took the longest trail on this side of the park. We hiked the Warner Point Trail out to Warner Point. All in all only about a two mile walk. There were some icy steps to negotiate, but for the most part it was just a pretty hike. We got some good vertical views down to the river and on the surrounding cliffs. We took a look to try to find the route down to the river and while there seemed to be a few promising spots, the crusty snow seem to cover up any discernable trails. We will have to come back when there is no snow, but not when it is too hot either. All in all an enjoyable day being tourists in a park that neither of us had experienced before.

Wilson Mesa Trail

2009-10-11T18:36:00.002-06:00

Fall was quickly turning to winter as the mountains from our front porch were starting to get snow covered. We knew we only had a few more weekends of good hiking left. We went back out to the Woods Lake Trailhead, which was quickly becoming one of our favorite places to go. We thought briefly at attempting to climb Little Cone. It looked like a gradual slope to the top, but thought better of it and instead chose to hike the Wilson Mesa Trail. We parked a ways above the trailhead since there was no parking there and walked back. The trail was in good shape and almost immediately we saw a very scared coyote. We were happy to see it, but you could tell he was sketchy of humans. We learned that in this area people just shoot coyotes for the fun of it, so it was not surprising. The trail climbed steeply at first, but then began to level out. It was a perfect trail for Jacqueline now a month pregnant. It climbed slowly through the trees which were just on the edge of being too late to see much color. There was actually more color on the coniferous trees looking like Christmas trees decorated with Aspen leaf ornaments. The views of the jagged peaks around Mt. Wilson were excellent today. It made me excited for the next summer when we could go climb those peaks possibly. The trail hit an old road and we followed that until it became the Elk Creek Trail. We took this one uphill. If we would have had a map, we would have realized that this trail met up with the Navajo Lake trail and we could have made a loop. Not feeling too ambitious with a pregnant lady, we decided to call it a day after between 4 and 5 miles. We had to come back the same way and putting in more than ten miles might be a little too much for the zygote growing in Jacqueline's belly. A quick picture and then back down the same way. We took our opportunity to soak in the mountain views as we knew we may not get another opportunity to get into the mountains for a while. We finished nicely and I was proud of Jacqueline for still getting out even growing a little baby.

Come on Ride the Train

2009-10-04T15:51:00.000-06:00

Occasionally I will break away from backcountry experiences in the blog. Celebrating the best decision I ever made in my life I believe is a good enough reason. It was our anniversary weekend and Jacqueline had really wanted to take the train ride from Durango to Silverton. To make the process easier for us, we figured out that you can take the train from Silverton to Durango. This was an odd way to do it, but it was much more convenient for us. We had to meet the train about 3pm in Silverton. So we took the drive over the pass going up from Ouray. Crazy road with steep drop-offs on the sides, but very beautiful. It dropped us into Silverton just in time for us to get our tickets, get some lunch and wander around. We found our train and had a good conversation with one of the workers. Jacqueline was worried because something happened to one of the trains on the way up, but we were not worried. Once we finally got on the train, we were sitting right next to a crazy family. We had some great views of the river, the trees, the mountains, waterfalls, and eventually the city of Durango as we pulled in 3 hours later. This put us in at around 6pm. Once we checked into our hotel and Jacqueline got herself ready, we hit the town for the anniversary dinner. The problem was that restaurants were mostly full being that there was some Cowboy Poetry deal going on in Durango. We wandered forever and were unsuccessful. We actually went back to the hotel and went swimming first and then went back out for a 9pm dinner. We found an Italian restaurant where we were able to get some decent food. After having a sleep, we awoke to go get some breakfast and then back on the train. Today was our actual anniversary, so we got an anniversary picture. We were both a little bit more dressed down than last year at this time. Today we were next to a bunch of French people who talked insanely loud the whole time. We got to sit on the side where we saw all the drop-offs today to the river. You could tell there was a lot of ingenuity in building this railroad. We were seeing the end of the trees changing color at high altitude. The train ride was fun, but long and slow. Jacqueline and I both agreed that we were glad we did it once, but once was good for the both of us. Now we just had to drive over the pass again and lucky for us it was snowing. I was nervous, but we did fine and made it back safely. One last photo is the bumpdate. Not much, but you can see it is something after less than a month.

Aspen Fall

2009-09-26T23:49:00.001-06:00

When we climbed Lone Cone in August, we drove by a trailhead for the Goat Creek Trail. We figured that was worthwhile to check out because it was so close to home. So we drove back up there. We parked right off the side of the road and started walking up an old dirt road. Immediately we knew the appeal of this trail was the multitude of beaver dams. It seemed every hundred feet there was a new dam. Trees all around us showed the scars of beaver chewing, but of course we never saw an actual beaver. There was so much hard work put into these dams that you had to respect the industrious beaver. The trail did not take us very far and soon it ran out. We vowed to keep following the creek even though we did not have a trail. It took us through underbrush and through the aspens until we ran into a fence. Here we were in the evergreens again. We walked around the fence until we found an opening. Here we made our way to a road

on private property, but that did not last for long. We crossed the creek again and found the best patch of aspens we saw the entire day. Really what you are after on a fall hike with Jacqueline is to see the pretty trees. We wandered amongst these, contemplated the thought of hitting a road far above us and making it a loop hike on some dirt roads. We thought better of it and came back the way we came. With only a couple hours out so far, we decided to continue driving and see what we could run into. About an hour drive got us to Beaver Park which was a pretty little area with excellent views. We found another trailhead which was the other side of the Lone Cone Trail we had taken a few weeks ago when we climbed Flat Top. We decided to hike it even though Jacqueline was not feeling to wonderful. She struggled the first part of the hike, but started feeling better after we got into it for a bit. The hike took us through many aspens and coniferous forests. We decided we could not go for too long and stopped after some cascades and a creek crossing. We knew from here it was a steep uphill climb and Jacqueline was just not feeling it on this day. We did not see much wildlife on this day, but we did see more than we saw humans. It was unbelievable to us just the quiet of these trails after running into so many people in Zion. Nope, for us on this day it was just the squirrels to keep us company. The walk out was pleasant as we headed downhill with ease. We enjoyed the bright yellows all around us that warned us we were in for some much chillier temperatures in future. A few days later, we realized why Jacqueline had not been feeling super well on the hike. She was pregnant! We were super excited that we were soon going to have a wonderful little one to come exploring with us in the future.

Taylor Park

2009-09-19T15:06:00.000-06:00

We drove out for the weekend to see the Fords at their place in Taylor Park. Greg and I coached together for one season at Boulder High. Since then, we have become friends. We were only living about 3 hours away, so we left after school on Friday to drive to Taylor Park Reservoir where Greg and Fern have a house and a business that they run in the summer. The drive was longer than we expected as we ran into a bit of rain and cows on the road. We made it to their house a little after eight where they had dinner waiting for us. The house use to belong to Fern's mother. We visited with the Fords that evening. The next morning after breakfast, Greg and Fern took us to an abandoned old mine. This area was big mining country. There were so many pieces to this old mine being a place where ore was processed. We continued up the same road until we were forced to stop. Then we followed an abandoned road up from there. This took us through the trees until we eventually reached treeline. This was not hard to do being that Taylor Park was located at 9300 feet already. The seasons were short here and we could already begin to see the Aspen's changing on the slopes on the other side of the mountain. You could tell that we were all acclimated because no one had trouble with the elevation even though at one point we were walking on the Continental Divide Trail. Even Jacqueline was doing fine regardless of the fact that she was now a week pregnant (still unknown to us at this time) with our daughter Zyla. Our end goal on this day was an old mine. We could see it across the mountain and we eventually made our way up to it. It was rather interesting with old engines from a vehicle, tailing everywhere, and lots of old parts. You could tell that at some point in history this mine was rather productive. I believe it was a copper mine because we were able to find the turqouise colored rocks scattered about the scenery. We had lunch there and went up to the old mine entrance. We could not go in because it was long ago closed off. We were only a few hundred feet below the continental divide at this point, but that was not our goal on this day, so we headed down. Greg and Fern took us up the road a short ways to an old town call Tincup. They had a cabin there. This town was located above 10000 feet and was only accessible in summer and by snowmobile in the winter. It seemed like a very relaxing place where it would be easy to just kick back. From there we headed down the road to check out the reservoir and watch the fish jumping at the bottom of the dam. Back at their place for a night of hanging out and watching replays of UW's victory over USC. Go Huskies. We left the next morning to get prepared for the school week, but we sure had an enjoyable experience spending some time with the Fords in Taylor Park

Flat Top

2009-09-07T17:08:00.001-06:00

When Jacqueline showed up in Norwood, we immediately made our way out for a hike that weekend. Unfortunately, our camera was out of battery so we did not get any pictures. We made our way high up into the mountains nearly to Navajo Lake from the Woods Lake Trailhead. It was a great hike where I was recovering from a cold. I got the sniffles when I climbed Mt. Sneffels. Lots of beauty, but no pictures. We went back out that same weekend thinking that we might want to return to get some good pictures. Instead, we decided to take another trail that left from the same trailhead. Strangely, this trail was named the Lone Cone Trail, but we were nowhere near Lone Cone Peak. Instead we were heading off in a direction that I was unsure about and so was my GPS as the trail was not on my map. It had rained the night before so everything was wet on the ground. Luckily we had a good trail that we figured must go somewhere, so we followed it. It lead us through a beautiful Aspen forest. In fact, much of the hike was enjoying the gorgeous Aspen trees that rose all around us. We came to junctions in the trail, but each time we took the one that went uphill. It soon began to climb steeply. When the trees finally opened up, we were able to get some excellent views.

We were able to see right to the area that we were at a couple of days earlier as we were right above treeline along the peak that rose in the front of the range right behind it. We continued to climb until we came to a spot where our good trail changed into nearly non-existent with lots of trees down all around. We fought through the trees and then decided to forget the trail anyway as we were right on the saddle between some peaks. The peaks to our left were massive, but the one to the right was close. The name of the peak was Flat Top and while not a very exciting name, it still was a mountain with a name which to me made it seem interesting enough to climb. We began to head up through the trees. We followed the trees on the ridge for as long as we could until it turned to rock. Jacqueline started to get a little nervous with the loose rocks, but she did not have much time to get nervous, because almost immediately we popped out on the summit. We got some great views from this truly Flat Top Mountain. We could see Little Cone rising off to the south with a summit that looked fun and not too difficult to get up to. We could see our previous conquest Lone Cone to the west. We
had great views all around us with a wind free and peaceful summit to enjoy. We could see mountains all around us that were yet to be climbed (by us that is). As we watched the afternoon thunderstorm clouds start to roll in, we quickly ate some lunch and wandered back down the trail. We ran into only one other person on this day and we were quickly learning that we were lucky to be in this beautiful area where many others were not lucky enough to be weekend warriors in. We took no detours on the way down; seeing the same scenery as on the way up just at a faster speed with a little less oxygen being inhaled. The only major wildlife sighting we got was in the campground where our car was parked. Rummaging through the camp hosts site, which was vacated that morning as we saw a speeding motorhome on the dirt road, was a porcupine. Jacqueline and I were both pretty stoked about it because we have seen tame porcupines, but never one that was wild together. For me, this was only the second one that I saw. It was a great hike on a late summer's day.

Sneffels

2009-08-29T21:53:00.002-06:00

For starters, do not ever camp at the Blue Lakes Trailhead at the end of August. That is a bad decision. I got there on a Friday night after finishing up a week of teaching. Jacqueline was still working in Zion, so I had to entertain myself in some way. I took a short walk and as soon as it was dark, I got myself to bed. I figured that would be a good decision to get some sleep. There were so many hunters(?) there with their ATVs that they were driving around right near my tent until 10pm and then again starting at 4am. Needless to say, I was up early and a little frustrated. Right as I was getting ready to set out on the trail, a guy with a big truck stopped to ask me if I knew where something was. I told him that I just moved here and have no idea, but who was he looking for at 5 in the morning. I left that scene behind me and was soon out on the trail. I was moving quickly as the trail started out in a wooded area on the side of a big ridge. I wondered when I would get a view of Mt. Sneffels considering I had no idea what peak it was. I was starting to see some mountains as dawn light was crawling its way across the skyline. The Blue Lakes was a short hike from the trailhead and I was beginning to approach it at 7am. There was a big waterfall pouring down so I knew I was getting close. There were many campers asleep as I came upon the lakes. I figured that this would be a good place to camp if I was to venture up here again. I had breakfast at the lower lake. It was pretty with the peaks rising right out of the cirque that the lake filled. There was a bit of snow left on the peaks above. I wondered what the blue color was as looking at the lake in the early morning hours did not make it look particularly blue. I found the trail from the campsites and made sure to not disturb the parties fast asleep. This is where the trail began to climb steeply. The trees started to melt away and soon I was hiking through the high alpine scrub. The trail was bomber at this point as I approached the middle lake. It looked very undisturbed so I made sure to throw a rock in it. Just around the corner from the middle was the upper blue lake. This seemed to be the largest and it also was in a large cirque. From here the trail climbed steeply. Switchbacks after switchbacks and as I looked above, I wondered how the trail could manage to be built on such a steep area. I quickly realized when I got there that it was not very well built. The trail became very small loose scree that took much effort on my part to avoid slip sliding away as Paul Simon would say. I was actually a little bit wrecked in the nerves when I finally got to the Blue Lakes Pass. This put me right at a great vantage point to check out Mt. Sneffels. I could not figure out what was the right way to go from here. There was a jagged ridge that climbed directly above where I was and there also looked to be a steep scree slope on the other side of the mountain. My three choices were to either climb the ridge directly in front of me, go down and climb the scree slope, or go back from where I came and say screw climbing this peak on this day. I chose option 1 after considering each one after I saw a party with yellow helmets climbing above me. I figured I would follow them. This was definitely the more dangerous decision as there were some places where I was actually climbing, climbing. I believe this would be either considered 3+ or 4th class. I figured out soon enough that I was taking a different option to get to the top of this peak. Eventually I caught up with them and talked to them for a bit. They were a nice couple. I broke away from them since they were moving much slower, but eventually bumped into them again when I took the wrong route. I was able to pick my way through until I hit the normal route. From there it was smooth sailing to the top where I carved a place from the mass of people. Up until I reached the summit, the only people I saw on this day once I hit the trail were these two people with yellow helmets. The summit was filled with people as I hit the summit at 10:30AM. I enjoyed the view from the top of this 14+ summit which was awesome. The San Juans offer a multitude of craggy peaks to gaze upon. I got one of the many to take my picture and then was on my way down. I chose to go down the easy route and this was a good choice. While also steep with lots of loose rocks and a lot more people, it was definitely the safer alternative. The other way I felt at times that I had to reach the summit so that I could get down this easier way. It proved to be the greater choice even though at the bottom I still had to go back up to get to the Blue Lakes Pass. I knew that the rest of my day would be relaxing once I got past the steep sections on the trail. I was successful by sometimes butt sliding and other times moving inch by inch. From there it was speed hiking as it was all downhill. As I passed the upper two lakes, I got to see the lower lake in full blue. I could see why this would be a popular destination. I enjoyed my lunch as I sat on a big rock and soaked in the scenery.
It was only ten after one as I made my way through the campsites and down the three mile trail to my car. I was back home by four thirty and the afternoon as I appreciated the beautiful areas that surrounded my new home in Norwood, Colorado.

Lone Cone

2009-08-15T17:57:00.001-06:00

Well the day to finally make the big move was here. Jacqueline's dad and my dad both came out to help us pack to exit Springdale for Norwood, CO. My dad came with us to drive our U-haul the nine hours. We made it without any problems. When we got to our new home, there was a lot of work to do. The grass was growing out of control. There was wood scattered everywhere. We also had quite a few bees' nests around the house. To add to that, we had to unpack and I had to start work. Without my dad and Jacqueline to get to work around the place, I would have had weeks of work to do. While I figured out how I was going to teach math this year, my dad weed wacked, chopped wood, painted with Jacqueline, while Jacqueline organized the pad. I helped a little in the evening, but I learned how overwhelming the whole process was going to be of teaching six classes my first year teaching.
Eventually on a Saturday, we all took a break. There is one peak that overlooks the town of Norwood and it reaches 12613 feet above sea level. I knew that eventually I was going to have to climb this peak, so why not get it over with immediately. We got all our stuff together, except for our camera which we foolishly left on the porch and loaded into the Xterra. We had some dirt roads to navigate, but with the GPS and some directions we made progress. We made some right turns, but for some reason missed an easy dirt road right in front of our faces and lost some time getting to it. We finally made it and I got a lesson in 4WD as we had to use it for the last four miles. Eventually we found the beginning of the hike and we were on our way.
We started out on an old dirt road that went through the trees. Soon it opened up and we got a good view of the mountain. It looked rather large from where we were standing, but this was definitely a mountain with some depth perception issues as we were already at quite a high elevation. We entered back into the trees heading straight for the mountain. We found ourselves on the eastern side of the mountain, but we knew we wanted to go up the Northwest route, so we had to traverse along the base of the North Face. This was all alluvial deposits from past avalanches and rockfalls. It was downhill, then rocky, then uphill until we hit the ridge. The beginning was vegetated with a bit of scrub, but soon we were above treeline. I was feeling good and the crew was trailing behind. Jacqueline was not a big fan of the steepness and the loose rocks. She was doing well just moving a bit slower than usual. The old man was moving steady. I knew I would never feel this good again coming straight off my season of backcountry. The top kept inching closer and unlike other mountains we could see the actual top. As we swung around, we could see both sides of the mountain dropping away, one steeper than the other. The final push was on and we made the summit. It was only 10:30AM when we stood on top. It was a nice summit with a long view on all sides. Lone Cone is the first peak as you approach the 14ers, but it really did not feel all that big. We had the whole mountain to ourselves on this day, though and we could enjoy the summit. We took some pictures, had our brunch, and were on our way back down. Jacqueline was a little worried about the steepness of the terrain and she was taking her time on the way down. She was half butt sliding, half walking. Eventually we got to less steep terrain and she was a little more comfortable. It was beautiful to be in the mountains, so different than the hundred degree weather we were used to in Zion. Eventually we got down to treeline and had to traverse our way back. We got a little off course, but found our way back to our route. I was using the GPS and while helpful, it did not do the job of a sense of direction. We were back to the car just a little bit after noon with a lot of the day still left to go unpack our house. It was great to spend the day with my beautiful wife and my dad climbing a mountain that we would soon see from our house every day. Soon my dad and my wife would leave me to start my teaching. Jacqueline was going back to finish work, while dad was done being helpful like a good dad can be once he is retired.

Russell Gulch

2009-08-08T20:24:00.002-06:00

Well, it came upon quickly, but this was now my last day of work. Amazingly, though, I was doing something new even though this was the last day. I talked Kelsey into going through Russell Gulch which she had done recently with Brad. She was not insanely psyched about it, but I could not do Das Boot - Subway for the third time this summer. The Russell Gulch entrance to the subway is a very similar route except for when you have the chance you enter the drainage instead of staying high. Tim and Matt were along for the trip. I knew we were going to have a good time. When we got away from the Subway drainage, it was actually quite a long walk before we got to any of the rappels. I enjoyed the canyon is it went from narrow to open throughout. It was definitely dry and was mostly a sandy wash. When we got to the first rappel, it was actually a long one, but the shortest one in the canyon. It was funny that it made me nervous even on this last day going through a new canyon. This one was an awkward start, but an easy drop into a pothole and then another little drop after that. We all did it with ease. Then we got to do the longest rappel. This one was awesome. Just a nearly vertical wall with an easy start. It was about a 75 footer with just pure easy going vertical. We ended it down on a sandy bottom. So sweet! Last one we got to ended free hanging. I went last and just loved it. Everyone else did the hanging the pack thing. I was not about to switch it up, but I had no problem. The only thing I have ever hung the pack for was Englestead and I was not about to do it for Russell Gulch. The rappel was great and we finished with a sandy bottom to land in. The rest of the canyon was not long and ended with a hike around into the traditional Subway entrance. Now it was one last paid trip through the Subway. Already harnessed up and ready to go it was an easy trip. Swimming, short rappels, and beauty and we were taking off the harnesses ready to finish the 4 miles out. Of course on the trip out I got to deal with a no permit jerk who would not respond to me and tried to outhike us out of the canyon. We called out the LE on the radio though so he had his day. It was just unfortunate that we had to deal with that. I am so sick of people just doing things they are not supposed to out in the backcountry. Respect it and follow the rules that everyone else has to follow. Well it was a bad way to end such a great day. I had a good time spending it with Tim, Kelsey, and Matt. They were all quality bc rangers, even if Tim was an interp ranger. The day was sadly done and so was a fun trip and backcountry season. I wondered if I would be back in a Park Service uniform again. I wouldn't doubt it.

Northgate Peak

2009-08-06T22:01:00.000-06:00

Well our days at Zion were coming swiftly to an end. This was brought to the forefront of our minds by the going away party that Annette and Greg had so graciously thrown us a couple of days before. It was a great turnout to get all of our friends from the park to come on out. Brad put together a slideshow and we had some good eatin', drinkin', and pongin'. Matt, Liz, and Annette were the real troopers who stayed up late into the night with us just b.s.ing. I was glad, but the other hard part about leaving Zion was leaving all the limitless possibilities out there for exploring. I took the liberty to do a little exploring on one of my last days of work. Having no one to hike with, I went out by myself for a hike on the Northgate Peaks/Wildcat Canyon Trails. The Northgate Peaks is a trail I have been on quite a few times, but to the end only twice. This time instead of stopping at the viewpoint at the end, I scrambled on down into the valley in between the peaks. There was a use trail that I continued on and led me to the base of one of the peaks. I knew this was a little bit off my route, but since I never stopped to take a lunch break, I figured I had 45 minutes to explore. I used it on this day to climb Northgate Peak. There was a route up it that I just had to follow. It was faint in places but common sense kept me going until I reached the top on a scorching hot day. The view from on top was incredible and I took a few minutes to soak it up. The reds, oranges, whites, grays, greens, all blended together to make a splendid view. Zion really is one of the most amazing places on earth. Well I scrambled back down and resumed my normal day of work. Saw a half dozen people that were pleasant. I caught a horned lizard wandering across my path also. I wanted to check the condition of the Wildcat Spring, but I never could get to it. I walked the distance necessary, but once I got to the spot it was located, there were so many stinging nettles I could not get to it. I tried quite a few times, but I kept leaving in pain without any luck. Thankfully, I brought enough water to make the trip back to the trailhead without needing to fill up, but I liked to keep extra with me. On this day, though, I had to go back without it. I was glad that I was not on a long backpack coming out of Hop Valley and this was my first water source for 19 miles. That would have been miserable. Well, I wandered on back enjoying another hot hiking day in Zion. I only had a desk day and another canyon day left to finish out my season and possibly my park service career. Who am I kidding, I am sure that being a seasonal in the park service will find its way into my future plans.

Back to the Basin

2009-07-28T12:55:00.000-06:00

Jacqueline and I were finally fitting in some time to get out to Great Basin. We wanted to make the trip before the big move in only a few weeks. We were anxious to sell one of our old vehicles before moving to Colorado, but we had not been very lucky yet. So we packed up the new vehicle, our Xterra, and made the 3 hour drive out to the Basin. There was a trail that we had not hiked yet near the visitor center, so we made that our first destination. We got a bit confused at first where the actual trailhead was because it lacked signs but eventually we stumbled onto a bridge and lots of signs to begin our trek. We were set now to follow the the stream up Pole Canyon, so we could relax and take a hike together. It was great to have some cooler temperatures and lots of greenery. We were even lucky enough to get some sprinkles. Jacqueline made sure to pull out her rain jacket immediately and I made sure to make fun of her becaurse getting a little moisture when it is in the high 70s is usually a relief. The jacket was quickly off. The map showed that when we got to Pole Canyon Spring, there was a dead end. As we continued to hike the three plus miles of meadow and forest hiking, we ran into a sign that pointed us to a connector trail with the Baker Creek Trail. We debated whether we wanted to take on this new endeavor and eventually a definite yes came out. We were hoping to see a spring before our departure, but never quite ran into it. Instead we were soon climbing. The hills looked high and Jacqueline wondered where this trail would take us. I pointed to the obvious saddle, but she denied my route choosing ability. Soon we were heading up to the saddle. We were able to get some awesome views of Wheeler Peak and the surrounding peaks. We looked at our map to decide what to do from there. Either we could head back the way we came or we could hike to the Baker Creek Trail and then be stuck with a long walk along the road. We decided to go with the new trail instead of the backtrack. We descended until we hit Baker Creek and from there it was only a short walk to the parking lot and a long walk down the road to our car. We were not lucky enough to see any marmots crossing, but we did get inaudibly yelled at by some early 20 something rednecks. We shrugged it off and enjoyed our walk that kept getting warmer and warmer as we lost elevation. I was happy we chose this because we got to see two neat sights. First we saw a cave. This was right near the car. We went to go check it out but there were resource management signs, so we let it be. I would love to go back with some people and spelunk it. The other sight was a rattler, which I spotted but Jacqueline did not. Once we got back in the car and drove, we saw the rattler once again crossing the road when we were driving. I guess he couldn't make up his mind. From there we headed up to Wheeler Peak Campground. This was going to be our third trip to the campground and our third different site. All the sites were within 50 feet of each other though. We were right near the meadow and there were plenty of deer there to enjoy the large grass. We did our usual of throwing some beers in the creek, although this time our access was not as good, so every time I got a beer, my feet got soaked. We made some dinner, played some cards, and then retreated to the Xterra. The sleeping was not as comfortable for me as the Ranger. I had to basically sleep sideways crowding Jacqueline to get my 6 ft. plus frame into there. I knew we would have to make adjustments next trip, but I got some good sleep. We woke up nice and early to begin another trip. We were the only souls parking at the Wheeler Peak parking lot, but our destination was not the 13,063 ft giant that towers over the park, but instead a smaller peak, Bald Mountain that is just a slight detour off the Wheeler Peak trail. Having climbed Wheeler twice, I had the route planned out in my head. We basically followed the trail through the aspens, to the meadows, past the lakes, up through the pine forest, until it plateaued out at a somewhat saddle. I say somewhat because going left would have meant another 1800 feet of climbing, but going right where we were going was a very gradual slope. We only needed to climb another 500 feet to stand on the summit. It was disappointing to have a radio tower up on top, but the views were great. We could see Mt. Moriah to the north and Wheeler Peak to the south. We enjoyed the view for a bit, but we had to go down and retreat back to the daily grind. We made sure to stop at Stella Lake and skip some rocks before making the drive back to Springdale. When I got home, I had two messages about my truck. That night two people showed up at the same time and bid on the ranger. I sold it to a kid on his way out to Colorado for college. It was hard to see it go but it was going to be a lot easier moving in a few weeks without an extra vehicle to deal with. I was still sad to see it go as I put a lot of miles and a lot of memories into that truck.

Hidden Canyon from the Top

2009-07-18T20:15:00.000-06:00

I couldn't believe it. I was going to have two new canyons within one month's time. I was scheduled for Mystery, but when a SAR took out the Hidden Canyon from the Top party, I was ready to fill their shoes. I got the okay from the boss lady and soon Craig was driving Annie, Kelsey, and I to the Cable Mountain Trailhead. None of us had done the route before, so it was going to be a brand new experience. We were all stoked for it as we came armed with a couple of big ropes and a good route description. We wasted a lot of time getting to the drop-in point. It was a hot day out, so that kept us motivated to get into the cool canyon. First we went too far and turned back. Then we found ourselves at the head of a very steep drop off after too much intense bushwhacking. It can't be this hard could it. We just followed the rim until it dropped off steeply to a big fat ponderosa pine with a bunch of webbing. We knew this must be the start, so we got ourselves ready to go. Kelsey was the first one ready, so she got going. The first drop was not particularly steep, but awkward to start and long. This canyon is only done (legally) about 10 times a year, so we knew we would have our work cut out for us. We all made it down the 100 footer and continued on our way. By this time it was already lunch time so we all dug in to find the only shade we could. It was a hot one, so the shade was much needed. We spent the rest of the day downclimbing and rappelling almost constantly. It seemed like we would walk ten feet and then right in front of us was another, hmm, what should we do about this one. Some of the drops were long, but not particularly scary. We got a good rappel inside of a little narrow slot. We had to go out on a boulder and swing over the edge, then go free until we got to the bottom. All the time doing all of that on only one bolt. It was questionable, but the amount of time it would take to rig another anchor up could put us far behind. After each drop, first one included, we would constantly see grafiti. Hidden Canyon is a very popular hike to do from the bottom up, so each hiker was leaving their mark saying this was as far as I have gotten. I am not sure how the hikers seem to make it up some of the crazy obstacles or why when this was such an enjoyable trip from the top down. I personally had only been a little ways compared to the length of the entire canyon. Continuing we would vary from flat greenery, to boulder fields, to steep downclimbs, to short rappels. All the time we were pushing the limits of what our bodies could do and our water capacity could hold. It was definitely a sweaty day as there is zero water in this canyon to cool you off. Continuing we came to a big drop and were wondering how to negotiate it. We followed the left side of the canyon, eventually having to cross a large arch suspended 150 feet above the canyon floor. This was a little nerve racking but eventually Kelsey and Annie stumbled upon a huge ponderosa with some webbing. We knew this would take us once again to the canyon floor. Kelsey was right away the first one down and let me tell you it was great to have her so excited about canyoneering and doing everything. She acted like the leader on this day even though I was technically the trip leader. We got to do a really sweet rappel that was also a long one. It had a little overhang, but mostly it was just an easy ride to the bottom. This was the last place that I thought I would technically be able to get up from the bottom to because the rest of the way, it was just awkward downclimbs and big boulderfields. We really got good at downclimbing at the end of the day even though we were pretty comfortable at the beginning. This would not be a canyon for someone who does not have good body control when it comes to downclimbs. When we were getting close to being done, we started to get a little worried because the sky was getting very dark above us and we could hear the thunder. Soon the rain started to fall, but it was only sprinkling. We were smart enough to know that Hidden has a small drainage, but that this was not a place to be. We found out later that other places in Zion canyon were getting pounded, but we were doing fine. Soon after that we heard voices, our first of the day. They were high above us and eventually we talked to these folks. They said they were trying to find the secret way out of the canyon. We were finally able to convince them that they had incorrect information and that the best choice of actions was retreat. We were happy to see the familiar parts of the canyon appearing and we popped out a little bit after five. I was hoping to get home on time, but now it seemed we were going to be 30 minutes late. Oh well, it turned out to be a really fun day doing a new canyon and I really liked Hidden from the top. It seems like the perfect canyon to do on an eighty degree day. On this 105 degree day, though, we were all out of agua by the time we picked up the shuttle bus at Weeping Rock. I would love to do that canyon again, though, as it truly was a blast.

Englestead Canyon

2009-07-10T19:58:00.000-06:00

Occasionally, Zion backcountry rangers get to do something interesting and exciting for work. There are days when the entire world will look at us and be envious of our job. I must have earned enough of the other days where I carried a bag of wet toilet paper up a steep cliff in 110 degree heat, to get the right to spend the day in a nice cool canyon with the most experienced rangers on our small staff. Brad, Annette, and I were off to slide down ropes into Englestead Canyon. This canyon is a once a year type of opportunity where if we are not lucky enough to get scheduled for it, we will not get it. With the increasing popularity and big rescues in recent times, I was anxious to see what it was all about. Brad and Annette both went through the canyon the previous season, so I had some experienced folks as partners for the day. Kelsey came with us to pick up our rope after we left because Englestead starts with a 300 ft. drop. I can not lie, I was nervous about this height, just because I had never descended something that steep before. After sitting at the drop for hours being edge attendant for a recent rescue, I was not particularly as intimidated as I would have been seeing it for the first time. When we got there, we had company, but they were on their last rappeller, so we knew we would not have to wait long. He was a nice guy and he seemed experienced which put our minds at ease. We figured we may be on their tails all day, but we never saw them again after that drop. We got our rope down and Brad went first. He was the man when it came to gear choices and creating friction. He had an easy time with it and in typical Brad manner acted like it was no big deal. It was a big deal for me though, because I was so much happier being number two down, rather than number one. Annette gave me a quick lesson in the double carabiner technique and then I was off. I went very slowly at first considering the large amount of friction that was on my single strand of rope. I also hung my pack for the first time. Let me tell you men, between the legs, not so comfortable. Eventually my ride began to speed up. Halfway through it went free for a little while, but it really wasn't too bad. I had Brad at the bottom providing extra friction and eventually I asked for it. Everything went smoothly and I was standing right next to Brad at the bottom of the hole. Annette went last and it was no big deal. Even with her 50 pound pack that she carried on every trip, she did not have a problem. We all were soon down at the bottom ready for the next drop which was right around the corner. From there on out we all switched the lead because we were all comfortable with the experience level of the other person. I took the second drop and it was a bit awkward getting started. Eventually I figured it out, but managed to put a big knot in my shin. I belayed them from the bottom as we looked around the corner. The beginning of Englestead is just one big drop after another. Only one spot, though, did we have to use our 200 footer that we were carrying with us. It was a sweet rappel. I got to start it out. We went about halfway down, then it was this fluted sandstone, very similar to Birch Hollow. It took us right down to the ground where you could look up and see a big arch. It really showed just how huge the canyon really was when you could look up from the bottom or down from the top and see this little person with a long rope hanging from them. After being around canyons for a while, there are just some places that are deceiving to the eye and this rappel in Englestead was definitely one of them. We continued after this with some short awkward drops. Some of those were downclimbable, some were not. Eventually the canyon opened up again and we could take a look of how far we had gone. Horizontally, it was not too far, but vertically, it seemed huge. We got some easy walking in for a while, but eventually we ran into something completely unexpected. Snow! I knew that Englestead held snow into June, but we even got a good patch here in the desert in July. We were excited to see it as the temperatures started to creep up each minute as we continued through the canyon. We enjoyed the greenery that was around us as the grayish brown would continue soon enough when we ran into the rest of the canyon's descent. It was turning out to be a very enjoyable day. When you have that curiousity about what can be around the next corner, it can put a smile on your face almost immediately. I missed this feeling as everything in Zion was getting repititive. Getting a new canyon in with experienced folks was a rather comfortable experience. Well the canyon began to narrow once again, but this time it seemed we were left with mainly short drops. They were becoming less awkward too which was a relief to my slowly subsiding knot on my shin. There was really sweet fluted ones that went around corners. Then of course, there were always the awkward log jam to keep us honest, but mainly the canyon was starting to look a lot like Birch Hollow with just beautiful cliffs rising above us. We did not see much water at all as Englestead stays mostly dry. The little that we did see was not very deep although it was not very appetizing to look at either. One pool was below a small gray arch, but was only about waist deep. I was pleased with how quickly we made our way through the canyon as we started the first drop around 10am and by 130pm we were downclimbing into Orderville Canyon. We still had to do an Orderville finish, but this was a welcome relief. It was a comfortable walk out with some splashing through pools at the end. It truly is a good day with three different experiences as Englestead leads to a wet Orderville, which leads to a populated, yet mostly flat Zion Narrows. The masses of people in the Narrows is always overwhelming as for as backcountry rangers sometimes it takes just as long to wade through the large swarms of people as it does to figure out large dangerous obstacles in a canyon. A great experience for the day and I was glad I got this one in before my impending departure.

Jacqueline Goes Canyoneering

2009-07-07T19:35:00.000-06:00

Occasionally I can drag my wife out for an adventurous trip. Brad and Sharon set a weekend aside to hang out with Jacqueline and I before we took off for Norwood. They wanted to do a canyon for quite some time with us, but my wife is not into risky things too much, so we decided to do Keyhole. Keyhole is like my default canyon. I had already been through it at least five times that year including a recent trip where the canyon was chocked full of debris. There was so much debris that Seth and I were literally crawling on top of the long swim through the canyon. On this day the canyon was muddy, but not any more difficult than normal. We threw on our wetsuits and were ready for the journey. We just so happened to be right in front of another group of Zion staff. Andrew, Dan, and some others were right behind us as we descended Keyhole. Jacqueline looked like an old pro and it was nice to go through the canyon with my wife. It was a short uneventful trip, but still enjoyable. We finished it off with a inner tube trip down the Virgin River. Annette and Greg met us for lunch at Cafe Sole, then we floated the river. It was actually a lot more fun then I thought as I had never done the trip before. We should have done it more often because it was a good time. You bumped your butt quite a bit, but most of the time it was easy to float the river and enjoy a cold beverage. We occassionally slipped through some ripples, but there was never anything too intense. It turned out to be a fun leisurely day outside enjoying the hot summer desert sun by playing in the water.