Perigee

The moon was at perigee tonight (the closets it gets to Earth along it's orbit) so it appeared larger than at any other time in the last 15 years. We climbed our favortite slickrock dome to watch it rise. I made everybody hike up and we were about an hour early, allowing plenty of time for everyone to get very cold, but it was all worth it. As the moon came up it was very large and the kids were thouroughly impressed.

Playing pothole hockey waiting for the moon to rise

Moonrise over the Sierra La Sal


"Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.”
Buddha quotes

Mega moon rise over the Porcupine Rim

North Woods

We went up high to do some snowpack evaluations today and to dig our rescue sled out that we have cached up on Laurel Ridge, never found the sled, snowpack is getting stronger, snowed all day and we skied the North Woods on the way out.

Winter Hot Spring

We made another 5th Water hot springs trip before heading back to Moab. My favorite time to go to the hot springs is in winter. It makes me feel like one of those Japanese monkeys sitting in hot water surrounded by snow.

Hot Spring Monkeys

Murdock Monkeys

Hiking in

Sixth water in the back flowing through the snow


The lower springs

Hap Hap Happy New Year

New Years Eve Party at the Murdock's

Hopefully, Alina will make another video of me rapping,

"Hap, Hap , Happy New Year!" like last year.

Making out with the fireworks, hot

Kids enjoying the illegal fireworks, River is just a little dramatic

and the time honored Murdock tradition of bringing in the New Year with gunpowder

Wasatch War Zone

With the forecasters saying things like, "it would be safer to work with road side bombs in Iraq than ski anything steep", we decided to ski the more mellow, safe portions of the Wasatch. After Christmas things started to settle a little, so Todd and I went for a tour up Cardiff Fork. After crossing four good-sized avalanches that had run probably right after the Christmas storm, we decided to turn around and head for safer terrain at the head of the canyon.

Looking up the slide path of a big avalanche off Kessler Peak

Another slide off Kessler that took out some big trees

Skiing the mellow rigdeline between USA Bowl and Willow Creek after turning around in Cardiff

Looking back at the LCC and BCC divide near Silver Fork

Powder Park

Creed, Toad and I skied into Powder Park in Big Cottonwood before the sledding accident.

Heading into Powder Park on a perfect day

Toad
Checking out the November rain crust that has made the backcountry so unstable for the last month or so

My new favorite place. This is a wide open, long run we found in Powder Park off the Park City/Big Cottonwood ridgeline


Creed dropping the knee

First Turns

Todd and I went up Big Cottonwood before Christmas for the first runs of the season. The good news was that it dumped all day on us and the snow was great. The bad news was that Todd broke his binding on the first run (see photo). The best news was that the snow was so good he was able to ski with a broken binding

It's not fun unless someone goes to the hospital

Over the holidays we made it up to Summit Park to see Creed and Jen's new dwelling. We also took advantage of the ample snow and hillsides to do some sledding next to their house. As usual, a jump gets built, and people egg each other on to catch some sweet air. Creed made the comment that "it's not fun unless somebody goes to the hospital" which he later regretted.

Me getting face shots

Creed talked Tyler into starting at the top of the hill and hitting a huge jump. (I had nothing to do with it). Somehow Tyler hit the jump, even though the landing was nothing but asphalt. I was sure that there would be a broken bone involved. Alina snapped a nice action shot in mid flight.

Ridge trying out the jump

Todd and Ridge jumping Creed and River



And of course the day did end with a trip to the ER. Creed ended up breaking his wrist. Amazingly he broke it not on the jump but just sledding down a hill and whacking his arm against a buried stump. Of all the mountains I have climbed and skied and rivers I have floated with my little bro he has never broken a bone until he crashed into a tree on a sled 30 feet away from his front door.

Heal quick so we can get out skiing.

Winter in the Canyons

We got one more winter hike in before heading north for the Holidays and dental appointments.Rowan trying to keep his feet dry crossing Negro Bill

Early Sunset

We wish you a Merry Old School Christmas

Creed already posted this video on his blog but I had to put it on here as well. This video is Christmas at the Murdocks 1984, family friend Carl Nielson rented (yes rented ) a high tech device to record video of everyone at Christmas. Thanks Carl.

I am pretty sure this is the first time I have seen myself (at a younger age) on video. Any of you that know my son River will be laughing at how similar are mannerism are. He is an exact clone of my own nerdy self (at the age of 11, now of course I am super cool). I remember sticking to those old brown vinyl couches. It does bring back good memories of Christmas, I hope my own kids remember thier Christmases as fondly as I remember mine. Now if we could only get some snow like we used to get back then.

Gothic Nightmare

Yesterday we went up and hiked the Fisher Towers trail with the boys. This trail is a rather popular trail so we usually only hike it in the winter. We only saw a few people there yesterday, one guy hauling loads to the base of the King Fisher route and two Australians.

Last time we hiked to the Towers it was so icy we did not get far. Yesterday we had only the wind to contend with. The area and its numerous towers and fins are quite strange and unique. The first person who climbed the towers (Huntley Ingalls) descibed the area this way "a pink, red and orange skyscraper city in nightmare Gothic". Good description

The boys at the base of the Ancient Art Tower with its fluted walls

Row and Ryder in front of Cottontail Tower

Backside of Ancient Art and King Fisher with the bizarre formation called the "Cobra" which actually has a route on it.

Row at the base of Ancient Art

Happy Holidays and Imminent Hard Drive Failure

Our main computer locked up a few weeks ago and gave us a screen that said "Imminent Hard Drive Failure". We took it in and the computer dude (not sure what they are called maybe technician but I like dude better) told us that it was gone and we would not be able to retrieve anything off of it. I am so frustrated that I have tried not to think what I actually lost. But it has made me realize how addicted I am to capturing "images". Images of places and landscapes and everything I experience. I still enjoy taking photos but I am not going to get so attached to them from now on and just try to enjoy the experience while it is happening.

River contemplating the water fall after a 3 hour soak

Over Thanksgiving we hiked up to the Fifth Water Hot Springs. I always forget how nice these springs are. I am pretty sure this where all Utah County scouts see their first nekked person of the opposite sex. Thanks Merel.

Gold Basin High Country

The day after we got back from Thanksgiving we headed up to Geyser Pass to do some conifer thinning. Not much snow yet.

Tree hunters, watch out Douglas Firs


Decorating the Tree
The tree fell over later that night , I think that it is becoming a tradition to redecorate the tree after it has fallen over.

Over the Thanksgiving break my Mom told me about being upset by a joke that she had heard at work. It went something like"Did you know they are ripping out the "Rose Garden" at the White House to plant a watermelon patch". And then I read about the same joke in an article in High Country News called "The persistence of bigotry, Western style"

Unfortunatley many of us have probably heard or been texted one of these racists jokes, or heard someone say "I can't belive you voted for a black man". So far, I have only heard them second hand. I know that the people sending them really don't consider themselves racist and just think they are being funny, but I think it really shows the underlying racial predjudices that many people in this country, the West and this State have.

If you hear one of these little comments don't stand by and let it pass, say something. Not that you have to make a scene but say something, don't let it continue unchallenged.

I remember returning from a winter backpacking trip in Escalante and stopping at the Aquarius Diner in Loa (maybe Bicknell I can't remember) and having the waiter/chef tell us he had moved from So. California to get away from all the n$%&rs. I was blown away that people actually still felt that way. Nobody said anything to the guy (he was pretty sketchy, but he did play the harmonica for us).

Old avalanche control footage from the documentary on KUED called "the Alta Experience". The clip shows Ed La Chapelle, considered to be one of the orignal avalanche researchers in North America, he did most of his work in Little Cottonwood. Notice the guy with the lit cigarette opening the explosives box, hardcore.

Our forecasters just started last week but we only have about 10 inches in the alpine, We need snow.

What price?

I am a bit late on this post but I wanted to say something anyway.

In October during our float down Desolation Canyon we drove out to the put in late at night and ended up getting lost in a maze of roads and oil wells. There has always been oil wells in in this area as long as I can remember, but now it looks like a city with all of the new development. The first night on the river we camped at mile 20 on a broad low water beach (see the picture at the top of the page). After we had unpacked and cooked dinner I kept thinking I was hearing a motor, maybe a distant plane or somebody with a motor on their raft? It was faint enough that I thought I was just hearing things. The next morning I woke up and could still hear it, an annoying little hum. That's when I realized what it was--oil wells just on top of the rim ,out of sight , but not quite out of hearing range.

As the end of the Bush era draws to a close, no less than 4 major BLM plans were signed or will be signed in the last few months of the administration, and with the chants of "Drill baby Drill" ringing out of the Republican National Convention it is no surprise that more emphasis would be put on producing domestic energy. However, when maps came out in November of parcels that were going to be auctioned off (some actually requiring drilling through Moab's aquifer, private property and others adjacent to Arches, Canyonlands and Dinosaur National Parks, and many other wilderness quality lands--see maps below) it caused quite a stir.

Obama's transistion staff actually mentioned the leasing a few days after the election. Problem is once they are leased there is not a lot a new administration can do about it.

As usual the hyperbole was in full tilt from both sides (the invite I received to a public meeting showed a drill rig on top of Delicate Arch). To be fair to BLM there are many more restrictions in place in the new plan then there has been in past plans and in recent weeks they have "deffered" a number of the very contoversial parcels.

Most people probably think that they own the property they live on, but you normally only own the surface rights. It is very rare for private property to include what lies below the surface- the mineral rights. Which is how you end up with leases in neighborhoods (see Parcel 225). The oil companies generally can't move in a put an oil well in your back yard but maybe your neighbors are willing to let them put it in their backyard.

I am not opposed to wisely using our resources and domestically producing some of what we consume, but as a society what are we willing to sacrifice to produce what would feed our consumption for a couple of days? Are people ok with hearing the constant whine of motors in some of our most remote wild country, are we willing to risk our drinking water sources?

I hope we are not that desperate.

Not that I am a fan of golfing but come on.