Spring Break! @ Island in the Sky

We went to the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands NP and Moab for Dani's spring break over the second week of April.

The timing was perfect for wildflowers in southern Utah. There were entire fields of blue, purple, red, and yellow flowers coating the red rock and sand.

After leaving early on Wednesday morning we hiked the Syncline Trail around Upheaval Dome.

And spent the second day hiking to all the must-see destinations like "Murphy's Point" which overlooks the remote "Maze" district of Canyonlands NP made famous by Edward Abbey in the "Monkey Wrench Gang". It was here at Murphy's Point that we decided to spend the upcoming Thanksgiving biking the White Rim trail. Everyone is invited, especially if you own a truck.

Island in the Sky is a unique plateau that juts out like a peninsula to the south, and is bordered  by the Green River to the west and the Colorado River on the east. You are not aware you are on the island until you reach the edge, where you are greeted by stunning vistas of the underlying canyon maze. (Above) several thousand feet below the upper plateau on the Syncline trail.

Like this one from Mesa Arch with the La Sal mountains in the distance.

Or this one...

Over the weekend we headed to Moab for some biking and the La Sals for some leisurely camping.

 We caught this shot of Castle Valley coming down out of the fog and snow on the La Sal loop road. Before stopping at the winery for a tasting and to bike some red dirt spines.

Jackson: Teewinot, Teton Pass, JHMR

Brian, Cole, and Matt head to Jackson, WY for the last weekend of March.

Winter returned to the west, dropping several feet of fresh snow in most places. The timing was fortunate as our group had pegged this weekend for the Buffalo Couloir in Silverthorne, CO. However, all the fresh snow altered our plans, and we found ourselves in Jackson in search of a more stable spring snow pack.

Arriving at the Taggart Lake TH in Grand Teton National Park around 9:00 am after a long night of driving to few inches in the valley and an impressive late season snowpack.

The long slog north to Jenny Lake and the base of the Teewinot.

Brian fishing back his whippet cap from the river.

Over the river and through the woods. I was last here with Dani and my parents in July! What a different scene.

Our goal was to climb and ski the east face of the Teewinot. We were hoping for a Friday weather window between storms, but started blind due to some low clouds. None of our group was very familiar with the area, so we trusted the map for once.

Cole, up the lower gully that leads up the Teewinot's east face.

After ~ 1500 ft of vert we reached an open basin. Ahead were two obvious routes and a lot of rock. Visibility was still poor, and we decided on prominent couloir looker's right. But first some lunch! except it was the mountain that ate my shovel. 

A view of the lower gully that we took up the Teewinot from just south of Jenny Lake.

Shortly after choosing the looker's right route the sun came out. It was around this time that we realized the magnitude of greatness at hand and that awaited on our descent.

The couple inches that fell in the valley translated to over a foot at the upper elevations. Short of the summit we had to switch to guns, and trail breaking became very difficult.

Shortly before switching to guns. The rocky pinnacle of the Teewinot looms in the background. Enough clouds lingered to keep the snow from warming to rapidly.

During a particularly trying time spent wallowing in facets on talus, Brian traversed left and found supportable snow. I snapped this picture while resting, thankful to be back on the elevator.

Our route ended on the north side of a wall of rock 600 ft shy of the true summit. Not the top! but not bad for a socked in first day in the park. I maintain after seeing the entire east face of the mountain that our route/descent is the quality line of choice for skiers.

4800' of continuous fall line skiing in the rear view! Now the long skin back to the car. :-(

Rest Day. Taking it easy..... walking back to the highway to hitch a up to Teton Pass. 

And another special day on Sunday with a 1' + overnight dump at JHMR.

Getting to the Coalpit Headwall is tough any way you try it

The Transplants Team - Cole, Matt and I set out early Sunday am to ski one of the great Wasatch Gems - The Coalpit Headwall.

Coalpit Headwall

Along the way, a few different errors were made but overall we're better for it.

Looking out of the Y Couloir at LCC.

Our plan of attack was booting up the gut - up the Y Couloir then run the ridge to the coalpit - but we fell into a few missteps along the way - like in retrospect taking the second right of the Y which took us to this beautiful sub-saddle. Matt and Cole look to the future.

1 - ABC always bring crampons. You never know what the conditions are going to be in the gut, even if you think you do. Bring them.

Stuff breaks. Anticipate it. Don't wait until its already broken to get it fixed.

 Get a whippet. You'll feel safer while you're hanging over Hogum Fork climbing up some faceted snow.

The Y Crux Section. Don't ever let anyone tell you this isn't fun.

 Overall the trip was a blast and we had a good time. It was definitely "type 2" fun - which is the type of fun that is more fun after the fact.

Kind of like topping out of the Y. Its funner when you finish. Look at those mountains behind Cole!

 Here is the ridge booter. We decided the giant rock that is out of frame was impassible and decided to go below. Matt's in the frame near the top - putting his board into board mode.

The Ridge to Coalpit

Running the ridge was not as straightforward as it might have been. Not knowing if it was continuous, we bailed down a no-name couloir that I'm going to push to get named "Sunk Costs." It was an interesting ski down and required some mild cliff navigation.

Looking down "Sunk Costs" Couloir

I'm pushing for calling it "Sunk Costs" because the entire Y situation felt like it was a lot of wasted effort. I'd really like to get back up there with someone that knows the route better.

 

We skinned up into the coalpit basin...



... and headed for the ridge to hit up a booter that we thought we saw from the previous vantage.

The booter is there! I swear! Almost invisible - but present. The lower portion had slid out. It looks like the previous party had accessed it from above the saddle. At this point we were exhausted and took some time to chill out and assess.



We decided at this point it would be the best move to ski into Hogum Fork (left in above picture) and make our way out due to the fact that we were unsure if Coalpit Gulch was exitable - given the low snow year.

 We decided to back down and give the coalpit a try another day.

Obligatory "I'm not particularly good at rubbing in sunscreen" shot.

Epic Descent off the Saddle of Coalpit into Hogum

Cole is super pumped that we lived to tell the tale.