Canyoneering somwhere

Saturday, after stocking up on our weekly supply of goat cheese at the Farmers Market, we went out and explored a new canyon that I had been wanting to get to for awhile. Last spring the boys and myself hiked up from the bottom end to the last rappel, and I have been wanting to come down from the top since then. It was an amazing canyon with lots of cottonwoods and flowers.

Ty throwing gear across one of the potholes, before jumping in

River on the first rappel in the canyon

Chimneying out to the big drop off

River half way down the 130 foot rappel

River getting a little nervous as he approaches the overhanging part of the rappel

San Juan

We took the boys down the San Juan again last week, along with most of the Murdock Clan (except Mom and Kell and Creeds Family). We drove down to the Mexican Hat on Monday through a snowstorm in Monticello, but ended up having great weather.

The Navajo Dam is only letting out about 500 cfs this year so we were getting worried about not having enough water, but the little heat wave we got right before we went got the melt going on the Animas which gave us about 3000 cfs to float on.

The first night we got the kids favorite camp about 10 miles downstream from Mexican Hat, the second camp was at Ross Rapid which we have never camped at before, but with the large beach and shallow eddy it may be the kids new favorite.

Campfire at Ross Rapid right on the beach

Ridge and Rowan in the duckie

The boys and Ashli after surviving their trip into the hole at Ross Rapid

Mud lunch at Oljeto Wash

Floating the Paco Pads out on the last day

Cuttin it Old School

I spent the last few days at our Guard Station on Elk Ridge conducting what was probably the first official cross-cut saw training on the District, at least in the last 70 years.

One of the things I really enjoy about wilderness management is keeping the old traditional skills alive, like horse packing and cross-cut saws.

A ruin just off the forest that I have been meaning to visit for awhile

Old School woodsmen skills

View from the Notch towards the high Abajos and Chippean Ridge

I'm a lumberjack and I'm ok

"Ruess"ing it in the Elk Ridge Canyons

Our annual spring Wilderness Volunteers trip was this past week. We had originally planned on going back into Dark Canyon to work on a tamarisk removal project, but due to the heavy snows there is still snowdrifts blocking the trail we needed to access. So we switched to Plan B, which was to do trail work and some tamarisk work in another of the wild canyons that is cut into Elk Ridge.

I packed food and gear in with the horses on Monday and went back in Friday night and packed the group back out Saturday morning. Ty came down and helped me out Friday and Saturday.

It was a great group and despite the unseasonably cold weather much great trail work and tamarisk work was accomplished.

Early morning at camp down in the Canyon. It froze every night.

Side canyon, looking up towards Elk Ridge

Three fingered pinnacle in the sunset

Tyler "Ruess"ing it with P.D. the fat Forest Service horse

Middle Mountain Cirque

Friday I walked into Warner Lake Campground to see how much snow we still had up at the campground and I could see the glorious northeast face of Tuk baking in the spring sun so we headed out early Saturday to go and check it out.

The forecast had called for warm temps and some wind, but as we skinned into Middle Mountain Cirque the high clouds kept the long run off Tuk from corning up. So we turned around before going all the way up and skiied the breakable crust ( I mostly skidded and rolled down ) until we got to the lower elevation where things softened up and became turnable.

The little black dot is Ashli and Tuk (the dog) in Middle Mountain Cirque

Survival telemark turns up high

Back in the Cirque

We made it back up into the Central La Sals for more skiing on Monday. Walking out to the truck wearing ski pants and carrying skis in Moab in May tends to elicit strange looks from the neighbors, but the spring skiing is so good this year I have to take advantage of it while it lasts (which will probably be into July this year). The snow was not quite as good as the first trip but it was still great spring skiing.

Bootpacking the headwall

Spring in Moab

A video of Toad skiing off the shoulder of Tuk on our trip back into Red Snow Cirque on Monday.

White Rim and Child Endangerment

After a little house work on Saturday myself and the boys drove out Potash to the White Rim Trail. I had not been out there for awhile and forgot how long it takes to get anywhere. We came back out the Shafer Trail.

A diving board over Musselman Canyon.

The boys sitting out on Musselman Arch. I walked them out there and told them to not move at all. Of course Rowan kept trying to stand up and go further out.

When you are on top of the arch it really does not look very exposed, but from the side view it was unnerving to see all the boys sitting out there. The arch is formed out of a piece of the White Rim hat held together as the softer rock below was eroded away, so instead of actually being arched it is a perfectly flat piece of sandstone suspended above the canyon.