San Rafael Reef Canyons with the OG Crew

Convinced Garrett and Chris to tag along for Buckeyes Canyon. Garrett has followed the Utah canyon scene for the last few decades, so wanted him to have the chance to get out with the OG canyon crew (Bucky and Tom) to help stoke our future canyon wanderings.

Fun 24 hours in the desert! Very excited to be invited on this trip by Bucky and sad that he was not able to come due to Covid. This was my second time in this area of the Swell. Bucky coordinated a trip back back in 2016, where we climbed and descended canyons over three days and two nights on the reef.

That was my last experience with the "fiddle stick" and the "sand trap" - and sadly my brain no longer remembered the stone knot. Fun techniques for rappels and maybe something that I'll be able to use on my own in the future.

 

Second Blog Bail on the Paria for the Pollywog Pools and the Subway to Heaven

 We opted for a leisurely start to the Labor Day weekend, arriving at the Paria Contact Station at 4:00 pm on Saturday to pickup our permit. Thunder boomed in the distance and dark skies threatened from the SW - the perfect direction for a direct hit! The road from the highway to the White House TH was only 1 mile but was impassable due to a recent mudflow. The surprisingly non-conservative ranger handed us the permit and 4 wag bas and sent us on our way with his optimistic parting opinion "it will hold off for a few more hours".

We parked and packed our backpacks at the mud flow Impass! We were all set except for the imminent downpour. Then Mossi came up limp. Licking his paw and refusing to bear wait. We decided to retreat to the car and let the storm pass. Mossi cuddle up in the floor board to nap, and that's when we knew something was really wrong because Aussie's don't curl up for naps when their's palpable tension/indecision in the conversation about what to do next.

We waited out the downpour while listening to our audiobook. Dani wanted to start the hike and keep tabs on Mossi, thinking that we could always bail in the morning. Once the rain abated the sun came out in full force and the wash below flashed again! Sending a river of mud across the road and cutting us off from heading downstream into Paria Canyon.

We used to opportunity to wander around the braided river channels testing out Mossi's paw, and low and behold he was fine! He tends to be a softie about injuries but this time he really had us fooled.

Hornworm. These turn into Hawk Moths!

We spent the night in the upper stretches of Paria Canyon near the powerlines. The muck and mud was too much to navigate. The river also surged to 100 cfs in the early morning blocking any hope of continuing into the narrows without a boat. We turned back without putting forth much effort, knowing that we were defeated, and becoming the second UtahTransplants to be turned away from the Paria.

We took off our shoes and walked in the mud to the Nautilus, the trailhead attraction. There's walking barefoot on the beach and then there is walking barefoot in the muddy silt of a flash flood shining in the sun. The latter is obviously messier but much more enjoyable. Then we wrapped up and did what we do best, which is wander the desert to see what we might find. 

We decided to head north towards the reef country that we could see from the Paria. Racing another rainstorm we hightailed north on shale/clay hoping to outrun the rain and find a place to setup so that the soils could have another chance to dry out while we explored. We "weavered" for a few minutes on whether to backpack and decided to car camp near the TH to Hackberry Wash

We wandered the desert, napped, snacked, soaked our footsies in the river.

We surprised ourselves over and over by stepping onto pockets of seemingly solid ground that turned out to be quicksand. We started using Mossi as a scout for susceptible ground. He always wants to be in front.

We started calling our hikes on this trip "first tracks" because the desert has a special undisturbed appearance after heavy rains. The reds are deeper and the greens are more vibrant. The contrast between is stunning.

Beautiful clear pothole waters in the pollywog pools. We stopped here near the shade of a Ponderosa pine and watched the aquatic insects, tadpoles and dragonflies. We even found desert mushrooms (new one for me).

Past the pollywog pools was the subway to heaven.

High on the reef the views were stunning

Writing this down so that we remember. We made a plan for our future home. One wall will be a red rock, veneer/concrete but realistic. A cottonwood tree will grow out of an alcove inside the house, surrounded by glass so that it seems like the trunk is inside the home. We set a new life goal to leave the USA and work abroad once our current professional goals/milestones are met.

Especially the view of this rock formation. We plan to return to this area some day and explore this rock formation and the interesting slot canyon that drains from its flanks through the reef. No maps, No beta, No TRs, we will show up and see what we find.

Highline Pivot to the Bighorns

The Highline Trail in Utah's Uinta Mountains is on our bucket list and will remain there for now. We really want to make this trip with Mossi before he gets too old to tackle the mileage and elevation.

We had the weekend before Dani returned to school picked out but monsoon rains scared us away! Which was a difficult pivot with the amount of preparation and planning that we had put into this trip. Our Wednesday evening and Thursday were difficult times, as we eyed the weather and deliberated on what was the best decision. We finally made the call - but with a significant letdown and headed to the Bighorn Mountains in Wyoming with deflated enthusiasm. Fortunately for us, we found similar terrain and flora in the Bighorns but with more striking peaks and larger lakes!

We started at the West Tensleep TH which lies at the terminus of Tensleep Canyon, an incredible scenic gorge with HWY access and rock climbers in sprinter vans dotting the landscape.We puttered on in the Insight to the dirt road and made camp to rest from our 8 hour drive before setting out in the morning.

We hiked into Wilderness Basin on our first day so that I could take in the view of Cloud, Indomitable, and Blacktooth from the west side. We lounged in the sun for hours in near-perfect weather before making the hike back to Mistymoon Lake where we camped. I started thinking about Mossi and how capable he will continue to be as he ages. We are becoming aware of that reality now and really want to cherish these moments with him in the mountains. 

Saturday morning we set the alarm for 4:45am to catch the meteors and get an early start up Cloud Peak, the highpoint of the range, and the main attraction for visitors to the Bighorns. The early start was nice for solitude and sunrise. We stopped on the lower slopes of the western flank to have breakfast and sip coffee, and were passed by the first of many groups that we would encounter on the day.

Summit Shot! Cloud Peak and the Bighorns have bee in my imagination from map musings for over a decade. The glacial cirques and seeming remoteness of the range intrigued me. All of those things are true, but this is also one of the more popular places to backpack that we've visited. Think Red Castle Lake or Naturalist Basin in the Uintas. Unlike the Uintas - the crowd in the Bighorns seems to have received the "leave no trace" message better. Campfires were hard to find, as was trash, and most hikers had waste bags. Hopefully, Utah's backcountry scene can match this adherence to best practices. 

Mossi made the big hike with his typical impressive rock-hopping skills. He received many compliments from the other hikers as he navigated the giant talus piles that guard the upper reaches of the summit.

We arrived back at Mistymoon in early afternoon and rested before continuing on our route over Florence Pass on the Solitude Trail. The east side of Florence Pass was my favorite part of the hike. The canyon drops quickly through mind defying talus piles that challenge you to consider how glaciers could have created this geology. The walls continue to rise steeper and are interspersed with impressive slide paths and waterfalls. 

We stumbled into a primo campsite nested in spruce and overlooking the valley right around dusk, and cozied up for the night, which advertised a cold front and possibly rain/snow.

No snow, but rain and an impressive lightning bolt/thunder awakened us in the wee hours of the night.

The morning brought colder temps and a blanket of fog covering the canyon. Fortunately - our cliff was south-facing, so soon we were soaking in the sun and marveling at the beauty of the day. 

We decided to cut our loop short because Mossi's paws were a bit damaged from the Cloud Peak hike, and our intended route had a few miles of off-trail exploration to cross the mountain crest above Frozen Lakes, so I made an explorative hike up to Powell Lakes that terminated in the impressive cirque above. Throughout the hike we found some very impressive mushrooms, that made us wish we brought the backcountry cook setup.

Oysters?

Aspen Bolete

Giant Scaly Hedgehogs

Frozen Dasies

Aspen Bolete