Headwaters of the San Juan

Last week we headed east to the San Juans and camped for a few days. It was cold enough that Alina and the boys were wearing their winter coats at night, which is just what we wanted this time of year.

We camped up South Mineral Fork near Silverton and hiked around the area on the Rico-Silverton Trail and into Lower Ice Lake Basin. The wildlfowers were unbelievable in variety and color.

The area is the very headwaters of the San Juan River that we floated in May. I like following rivers to their sources and seeing where all the water comes from that forms the rivers that cut the great canyons.

After hiking for a few days we stopped in Ouray for a soak in the hotsprings until lightning forced everybody out of the pool and we headed back to the desert.

Lower Ice Lake Basin Paradise

Waterfalls draining down into Lower Ice Lake Basin

More water falling down and joining other small streams and then bigger streams until finally they all come together and form the mighty San Juan

Where all the water from the mountains ends up (at least the part that does not get used to irrigate crops upstream)

Descending in the rain from Ice Lake Basin

Headwaters of the San Juan

River bouldering on the trail to Ice Lake Basin

Boys in the wildflowers

Boys at Camp

Rolling Mountain at the head of South Fork Mineral

Hiking the Rico-Silverton Trail at the very head of the South Fork Mineral

Escaping the heat

Once the temps head over 100 in the Moab valley everybody heads to the river or the mountains. We did the latter and headed to La Sal Pass with friends who have a kid that shares a birthday with Ryder.

Quite a few people ended up coming to the camp which kind of reminded me of the old neighborhood campouts we used to have back in the day.

Row and Tuk (the mountain not the dog)

River and Ridge with South Mountain

Boys, sticks, fire, no worries

Boats full of dogs and kids, make for good fishing. I think the people in the back are cursing us

The alpine meadows at La Sal Pass

Summer Mayhem

Summer seems to be the season of perpetual crisis at work and it is beginning to make it my least favorite season.

Summer at work starts with bringing all the seasonal employees on and training them. Hoping they have enough common sense to not get themselves injured or killed in the backcountry, or driving, or running a chainsaw or clearing a trail or any of the other tasks we require of them.

June flew by with seasonal employee orientation, chain saw school, fire school, packing the trail crew into Woodenshoe Canyon, fixing water systems destroyed by avalanches, clearing trails, finishing Environmental Analysis for projects, working with the County and local OHV groups to mark some new OHV trails, working with local environmental groups to close illegal OHV routes, heading north for the Nackos reunion, driving the kids north for the Murdock cousin camp, taking the scouts to Scout Camp and administering the permit for Scout Camp, dealing with angry people who think their favorite trails should be the first ones we clear, meeting with Senator Bennets staff on the potential wilderness bill for San Juan County (now dead thanks to Utah's crazy primary elections which seem to be simply about who can be further to the right), working with the contractor building the new Buckeye Campground, explaining to the locals why Buckeye Reservoir is closed for the summer, inventorying hazard trees at the campgrounds, working on our new Motor Vehicle Use map, going to the weekly Farmer Market for goat cheese and getting our for some kayaking, hiking and canyoneering on the weekends and after work.

Summer in Moab generally consists of going to where the water is or heading as high as possible to escape the heat. The Europeans seem to not realize that summers are hot here as the town is full of them which makes every trip to the grocery store a multi-cultural experience

Escaping the heat at the Cowboy Jacuzzi

Ridge heading down his first technical canyon

Columbine in the high country

Red Snow Cirque, the same place we were skiing a couple of months ago, now green and lush

Escaping the heat in the high country. The snow melt lake up Gold Basin