A Little To The Left

Illness, injuries, lack of snow, and lack of motivation kept things lacking in general. I'm back east now, with access to a working computer. Alta probably added 50% to their snowpack between the last week in the lodge and today, and I was laid up with a bad ankle while others preached of the "deepest storm of the season". The 5th 3rd Annual Frank and Highboy were a blast which all ended when we skied Alf's High Rustler for the last time of the season. The next morning, we gave our hungover farewells to the amazing extended family we grew over the past five months. Some will return next season for another powder & PBR filled winter and others will part ways to go a new direction with their lives.

To continue the party, eleven of us headed down to Canyonlands National Park for a seven day float on the Green and Colorado rivers with an exciting focus on Cataract Canyon. It has become tradition to float the Green River in canoes but it usually ended in a jet boat ride back to Moab. I had done that trip once before, but I wanted to do something a bit different. Plus, with an injury at hand (or foot, or whatever...), planning gave me something to distract myself from skiing.

The crew was compromised of myself, three guides from Wildwaters, and seven other employees of the Goldminer's Daughter. Becca works at Alta in the winter and at Wildwaters in the summer. Scott worked at Big Sky this season and has been guiding for Wildwaters for five-ish years. After some complications straying him away from school, T has been traveling around the country with his dog for five months and went through great strides to get on this trip with us. The rest of the crew, Liz, Brent, Erika, Ben, Haleahy, Terran AKA Pierre AKA Hat, and Gordie, all worked at the GMD with me this year. Liz helped tremendously with the organization of the trip. Thanks, Liz!

We rented two rafts with row frames from NAVTEC, an outfitter in town, an T supplied the third which had been in the front seat of his 1997 Subaru Outback for the previous five months. Scott brought along his kayak that Gordie gracefully paddled through the rapids. Greg, the Uncle of a former GMD employee is a Moab local and a seasoned guide who also helped immensely with the preparation of the trip. The meals were planned out by Liz with the help from Haleahy and Erika and were often cooked by Terran. Man, it's nice to have some trained chefs tagging along on a river trip. Also, disregarding concern for weight of food is an amazing luxury of a river trip.

The trip started with a shuttle into Mineral Bottom to the Green River with the help of Greg and a few of his friends. Greg's old Ford carried many of us and all of our gear down the steep switchbacks from the top of the canyon rim down to the banks of the river.


Gordie, Scott, and Terran


Car Wreckage from going off the road


The Green River



At the put in, were greeted by a park ranger who checked our permits and gave us a quick talk regarding the rules of the ecosystem, leave-no-trace practices, and a bit about the environment.

We spent the next two hours loading and rigging the boats, until we finally pushed off for a week of floating and relaxing.



Terran was given his name “Pierre” from this scene of Scott paddling him down the river



Ben getting Stoked


The Landscape here is pretty surreal




Ben & Haleahy



A log Cabin constructed by the Native Americans


Gordie


Pierre



Afternoon Sun


The clouds had a cool red hue to the from the reflection of the red desert sand



Becca, Brent, and Haleahy Relaxing just enough



Hollywood Scott



We rafted up and made T do all the work



Fancy That!



Amazing Geology



Row, Row, Row your rafts



Since I was the only one to bring a camera, Erika decided there needed to be a photo of me since I wouldn’t stop taking photos of everyone else. I thought I had forgot my sun hat, fortunately Erika brought an extra.



This trip brought to you by…



Late sun reflections



Pierre soon transformed to Hat, because he was rarely ever heard and his face sparsely seen. Whenever he had a comment, we commented back with “The hat speaks!”



T kindly demonstrating how the mobile commode works



Brent is a master multi-tasker


Because why not, right?



If you sit juuuust right, you can find yourself an extremely uncomfortable hammock between the boats.



Teamwork is fun!



Thanks for the instruction, T! I’m not going anywhere!



Nighttime at Jasper Canyon



Something has happened to Hat, I think he melted!



Desert skies by night



Hat tried to sleep under the stars, but got rained on two nights in a row. I kept saying I really hoped it would rain for a night so we could wake up to some waterfalls. The sky gods delivered.



A granary at Jasper Canyon



A little man-ass to start our morning



The confluence of the Green and Colorado rivers greeted us with wind and rain



The Crew!



The Dollhouse at Spanish Bottom



Cacti blooming in the spring



Friendly Neighbors



It’s amazing how much work the Park Service has done to create a sustainable trail up to the Dollhouse. For being in such a remote environment, I guess it sees enough traffic to validate this. The only ways into the dollhouse are via 60ish miles down the Green River, 50ish miles down the Colorado River, or a 4x4 trail that takes multiple days to travel.



Looking up the Colorado from the Dollhouse



Hiking trails from Water Canyon on the Green River to the Dollhouse and the Colorado River



The Dollhouse



Quite a trail back down to the flats



Erika rowing and Terran being Terran, finally headed towards the rapids



Haleahy brought a GoPro for the rapids, but the battery somehow died before we got there with no use. Unfortunately we don’t have any media of the whitewater.

This was only my third time rowing a raft (as opposed to paddle guiding) , but it went fairly well. The river was flowing at 8500 cfs which can be pretty comparable to a high water day on the Hudson, but the Cat was honestly a bit less technical, aside from Big Drop 3. All the rafts made it through without any swimmers, and Gordie never had to roll the kayak.

After the rapids, we had another full day of flat water which was moving pretty quickly.

More pics!



Zombies!



Sunset at camp



Brent fishing with some fishing line wrapped around his hand and a fly on the end with a piece of bacon on the hook.


It worked?!



Nearing the next camp



Clear Skies









Fireworks!



We must be nearing humans!




Just beyond the bridge was the Dirty Devil Take out, where we agreed to meet Greg at noon for a shuttle back to Moab. A week later, which all felt like a blur, and we were eating burgers and drinking milkshakes as we temporarily headed back to society.

That night we slept at Greg’s house again, and the next morning, Ben & Haleahy, and Erika & myself headed to Escalante for a three-day backpacking trip through Coyote Gulch.

Dixie National Forest on the way to Escalante



The first day, we drove six hours from Moab and hiked in four or five miles across the sandstone towards the edge of the canyon rim, where we quickly descended 800 feet down the 35-degree sandstone towards our first camp at the Jacob Hamblin Arch.  

From the rim, looking across Coyote Gulch is an endless desert of rolling sandstone and cacti, but from the bottom, the gulch is a tiny meandering river surrounded by lush green vegetation and towering red sandstone walls.




The girls under Jacob Hamblin arch



I had gotten half-dollar sized blisters under the balls of my feet, but walking barefoot through the cold, sand bottom river was very soothing.



Flash Floods carved a very unique path through the sandstone



The river channel through what was once a natural bridge



Then riffled through a tunnel of trees,



Under a natural bridge which it carved



Through another forest of more mature trees



Definitely wouldn’t want to get caught in a flash flood here



The river cascaded over steps in the bedrock



And continues to meander its way to the Escalante River.



We got to what was supposed to be our second campsite a bit earlier than intended, so we hiked out the Crack-in-the-Rock and set up camp at the cars for an early start in the morning.



Spooky and Peek-a-boo gulches are two very popular slot canyons In the Escalante area that are a very short hike but very far for everything else, so the complimented out plans to get to Silverton, CO nicely. I had never been in slot canyons before, and it was one hell of a cool experience.

Haleahy going up Peek-a-boo



Erika & Ben leading the way



Casual 8 ft down climb/drop in Spooky



So casual, this couple sent their infant down it.



Erika past the crux of Spooky



Spooky indeed!



Getting a bit tight for the exit


From there, we fueled up and parted way as Ben & Haleahy headed to Durango, CO to visit some college friends and Erika & I went to Silverton to visit a high school friend of mine.


The San Juans as we headed towards Silverton


Next we went towards Taos to check out some hot springs on the Rio Grande. Turns out these were not sulfur hot springs, so the water was filled with algae and crayfish. We turned around, camped at the top, and headed East towards the Black Kettle National Grassland in Oklahoma.

Before we left Taos, we were graced by some bighorn sheep.



Black Kettle had a nice, clean campground and clear skies.



We went to the grocery store to get some dinner, and asked the clerk if there was a butcher in town so we could get a smaller cut of beef. She said no, but if we wanted to come back in the morning, they could get us a smaller piece. That didn’t work so well seeing as we were looking for dinner that night, so we got the big cut of beef and asked for some ice so we could hold it for the next day, too.

“Do you guys have blocks of ice?”

“A box of ice…?!”

“No, a block.”

“I ain’t never heard of a block of ice before, well, maybe in the olden days, but ain’t no more! Where are you folks from, anyways?”

Those were some interesting people.


The next day, we made way towards some lake in Arkansas. I don’t know much about it, but there was a cool lake, a pretty sunset, and some very strange noises coming from the woods. So strange, that we packed up and headed towards a hotel in Memphis.






From Memphis, we headed to the Nantahala Outdoor Center’s Chattooga Outpost where a friend from the GMD had been guiding whitewater rafts for the past nine seasons.
On the way to the NOC, we stopped at a McDonalds (for my first time in well over a year), where the lady at the drive through window asked for my money and stopped short to the sight of the unfamiliar sticks on my roof.

“What are those?!”

“Those are skis!”
“What’s the thing on the other side?”

“That’s a box, it’s full of more skis!”

“WOAH!”

“Yeah, it’s magic, really.”

The stars didn’t quite align for a trip down the river, but we went for a nice hike down to the river where we saw Abby float a mellow stretch of river for some Kayak Instructor’s training.





We then made our way up to Opossum Creek Falls


From there, we went back to the NOC to spend another night and enjoy having a full day of not driving 500+ miles. The next day, we headed north to Harrisonburg, VA to crash with another GMD Alumni and one final day back to Saratoga, just in time for the rest of my siblings and their +1s to show up for a Mother’s day weekend with the family.

The driving isn’t quite over yet, as I dropped Erika off with her family in CT and continued to my brothers house near the city so I can put a new roof on his shed, and hopefully head to Tuckerman Ravine for the end of this week, then to Vermont to recert my WFR, then back home to finally start the river season. Hope you enjoyed the TR and I’ll See y’all soon!

welp, looks like none of my pics work. FKNA. brb.

Very cool.  Great pics!  What an adventure.  If you get up to Tuckerman's before Saturday let me know what's good.  Headed up with a crew Friday night.

tBatt wrote

Uh yea I enjoyed it wow!  Every word.  Dude awesome photos and storytelling.

Welcome back!

Damm...that looks like fun. I liked all your pics, especially the night shots.

The roof took a day and a half longer than anticipated. Damn. Looks like it's Tux on Monday after the class.

i'm speechless. omg thx.

Great photos TBatt, sounds like a fantastic trip. That whole 4 Corners region is magical.

Awesome photos! I think I'll be at Tucks Monday as well, hoping to split time between there and the Great Gulf.

Should have reported yesterday, but the info is readily available at PNVC and Hojo's.  Left Gully is the place to be, nice long run with top to bottom good coverage.  Creamy snow on steeps up top, big natural moguls in the middle section, and a nice carveable run out.  We also skied Chute, which skied nicely despite a big runnel running through the choke.  We stayed well below the crevasse, but others didn't.

There were people who climbed up straight under the Lip, despite the prevalent cravasses.  Not for me, thankyouverymuch!

very cool trip, pics and report - looks like a fun crew! very timely and great visual accompaniment as I'm reading  the emerald mile  during my rehab down time (good read btw)

(for whatever reason I can't seem to scroll beyond the fish pic though?!)

After my 5th last night in North Creek, I finally had to head home, get a few chores done, plan my trip, pack, and leave. I wasn't certain when I was going to leave.. originally I had planned to head south to South Carolina for a couple days of biking, then shooting across to southern Colorado for some skiing and biking, then up to Salt Lake for the move in. Problem was, there was nothing but rain in the Southeast, and the homeland was still riding great.




It took three eleven hour days to get to Summit Co, where I slowed my trip down considerably.

Kansas, in a nut shell.


Five hours to Silverton, where I stayed a couple nights with a good friend from High School. I went with the intention to ski and an not-so-bad back up plan of biking. After watching the radar and checking snotel data across the state, it was obvious that the storm stayed North. Even so, the radar showed the ridge between Telluride and Hwy 550 getting some pretty consistent snow. The Red Mountain Pass snotel was showing a surprisingly deep base - somewhere in the range of 20". Much higher than the stuff just a few miles to the south. We skinned up a forest service road on the East side of the pass in search of some mellow meadow skipping, and we got exactly that. The pitch we were eyeing to ski had two sets of tracks on it already, but plenty of room for more. By the time we got to the top, which was only fifteen minutes at best, the tracks had quadrupled. I guess the whole town of Durango headed up that way, since we passed at least 40 people coming up the skin track on our way out.

If you squint your right eye, and jump up and down on your right leg, you can almost see our tracks on the right side from the day before.


The next day we were debating on what to do, and some friends suggested going skiing. Ugh, again? This time we went across the road, to something we were expecting to be mediocre at best.

We (read, not me) broke trail to the top and was greeted with pleasant views and copious amounts of snow. Where I was expecting to be dodging rocks, I was skiing trees through pockets of thigh deep snow. But there aren't any pics of that, so it must not have happened.








After my second day I headed into Telluride to meet up with a friend from Alta, and quickly continued on my way to Moab to meet up with a fellow Hudson Guide who was pulling his Airstream XC to spend the winter at Grand Targhee.

Last light on the San Juans on he way out of town



We were initially planning to ride the Porcupine Rim trail. I had texted a guy I met at Alta last year to see if he was in Moab to show us around. He wasn't in town, but he pointed us in the direction of some great new trails called the Navajo Rocks. The views were second to none. Not many places in the world can you be in a desert and stare at snow covered mountains. Except Antarctica, but that's beside the point.

Jake and Loki


A Loki-approved lunch spot.


I thought about staying the night for another ride, but I was itching to get out of the car and get settled in, so I headed north toward Alta.

Salt Lake Valley lights on the way up the canyon


They had stayed open to Uphill traffic until Sunday evening, so I had to go up Saturday and reunite with the stomping grounds.

Finger in front of the lens, like a real pro. LCC looking like Low tide.




And a storm moved in Sunday night, so I had to get some before the put up the ropes to close the resort to uphill traffic.




That storm left us looking pretty good by the time morning came around.



Call it 10" by the time it's all said and done.

I headed up to Dry Fork via the Summer road, which Alta is still allowing, to check out the snow. I apparently skinned up the deep stuff, and skied down the field of shark fin rocks. Whoops, all in a day's adventure.

SWEET T.

tBatt wrote

A Loki-approved lunch spot.

I'd like to pinch that Loki shot for our new awesome ski dog series.  

awesome dude.  really awesome!!

Tbatt.fuckyou.Tbatt...
As always making me regret my decision to wear a tie every day..

Looks like a great adventure already, hope you get pounded this year... who knows maybe it'll even snow for ya!

Epic road trip, Ted.

wow super stoke! '

pretty funny, I know jake's dad and bro, small world!

So rad. I used to do a lot of east to west road trips. The midwest is kind of brutal though. I always got stoked to get to South Dakota and the black hills. It was the point that it seemed like you made it west.


I can't wait to be done with school so I can do bad ass road trips again.

raisingarizona wrote

The midwest is kind of brutal though. I always got stoked to get to South Dakota and the black hills. It was the point that it seemed like you made it west.

Brutal indeed. I've only taken 90 all the way once, spring of 2014. Wandered around Utah and Cali for a while, then headed up to Seattle and drove East for quite a few days. I slept in a free, legal campsite in Black Hills. Those are hard to come by these days! I'd like to check it out again and do some bike riding up there one of these years.

We haven't gotten much snow since the last storm. We had a few days of lake effect/orographic help where it snowed an inch or two of blower every day, but that's not the base building material we need. In fact, it's doing a great job of hiding some sharks in the bc. Guns are starting to blast across the resort in preps for the holiday week.



An old friend from Gore, who brought me out to Alta, swung through town this week to go out for a tour.
We headed across the road to ski a popular spot that had a surprisingly high number of tracks. I was thinking it was thin on the way up and confirmed that on the way down. The snow had half a foot of new snow on top of a pretty stout crust. Some pow here, a rock there, and smiles all around.

Broken skies


Becca stoked on her first tour up something other than the resort.


Sweet


Wild Microclimates in these here hills!






I picked up a new touring rig today, so I'm also a bit more inclined to take my skis in thinner cover.

Another week of high pressure, but some relief looking possible around the 10th. The current snowpack is pretty stable aside from a few stubborn wind drifts. Unfortunately this high pressure and thin snowpack is going to start up the facet factory. Facets are notorious for creating the "persistent weak layer" which is responsible for most hard slab avalanches. Currently, there isn't enough weight on top of the weak layers to make anything move. Once we get any snow on the weak layer, especially with wind, we're going to start having quite an unstable snowpack for any northerly-facing slopes. If we start getting consistent snow for the rest of the season, best case would be for those aspects to rip to the ground and start fresh.