Wheeler Peak -- Winter Climb

Every year, I try to get in at least one winter climb. I guess I should say "winter-like" climb since I typically go in March or April when days are longer, snow is hard, and the avalanche danger is much lower. By early May this year, I was starting to think I'd waited too long to get that true "alpine" feel to a mountain climb this season.

I ended up climbing 13,000-foot Wheeler Peak in Great Basin N.P., and if anything, it was a little more "wintery" than I expected.


Above: Spring thaw has certainly commenced in the high country, but there is an astoundingly large amount of snow yet to melt.

The normal access to the 10,000-foot Wheeler Peak trailhead is via the Scenic Drive. But you're not going to get too far up that road before hitting snow. So I decided to start at the Upper Lehman Campground at 7,600 feet, leaving me with a 7-mile (14 round-trip), 6,400-foot hike ahead of me .


Above: my first look at Wheeler Peak (high peak on right). Storm clouds threatened throughout the day. All I could do is hope that it would be clear when I got to the summit.



Conditions varied considerably throughout the day. The first mile or so was snow-free--then hard snow that I could walk right on top of with no snowshoes. Once I made it to the Wheeler Peak Campground, the snow had softened enough to where I began post-holing several inches, so out acme the snowshoes.


Above: I hope you didn't have any plans to camp at Wheeler Peak Campground on Memorial Day Weekend. It wouldn't surprise me if snow still lingered by the July 4th holiday.











Above: the eastern face of Wheeler that appears in most photos of the peak make it look practically unclimbable, but as you can see above, the the northern summit ridge is fairly mellow and doable without ropes and specialized equipment.


Above: the wind on the summit ridge was unbelievable. I'd say I had a steady and cold 40 mph wind the entire ridge. The last half mile or so was just steep and icy enough to require crampons.

I had descent weather and relatively mild temperatures until I reached the non-stop winds on the summit ridge. The wind passed right through the seems in my gloves and my fingers quickly went numb.


Above: the final knife-edge ridge traverse near the summit. Somewhere under all the snow is a small stone shelter that I've ducked into in the past to avoid lightning.


Above: the view of Jeff Davis Peak from the top of Wheeler.

A rather bizarre thing happened as I summitted. As I mentioned earlier, the wind blew incessantly on the ridge ascent. But the instant I reached the top, it became eerily calm. This was great for sitting down and taking in the view without having to worry about being blown off the mountain, but the combination of the noon-time sun and the lack of wind made my fingers quickly thaw, causing excruciating pain. I managed to snap just a couple of photos before I was on my may back down the mountain.



Above: view south from Wheeler's summit toward Baker Peak.


Above: brand new crampons are extremely sharp. Good for gripping icy snow, bad for pant legs. Looks like I need to get some heavy-duty gaiters to go along with these.



It was a great climb. I had a little light snow fall here and there, but otherwise, conditions were beautiful. I never saw another soul until I reached Wheeler Pk C.G. on the descent where I passed a cross-country skier that most likely came up the Scenic Drive. Navigation was easy, and my nutrition plan worked well--I felt well-energized the whole time. It took about 4.5 hours to get to the top and 3 hours to return, including time for photos and dealing with snowshoes/crampons.


On the drive back through Baker, I had to stop and check out the "Horse with No Name." Just one more memorable pile of junk lining the entrance to Great Basin.

Middle Fork, Taylor Creek

Above: This mind-boggling double-arch alcove is your final destination in the Middle Fork of Taylor Creek.

Alpine coolness meets red rock desert. The Middle Fork of Taylor Creek Trail in the Kolob Canyons Section of Zion National Park is an impressive little hike. The scenery meter is pegged at high the entire hike. A couple of historical cabins will have you daydreaming about living in these cabins back in the 1930s (when they were constructed) and having the canyon all to yourself. To access your cabin, you'd have to pack in on your horse since a road into Kolob did not yet exist. There would be no tourists since this area had not yet been made part of the Park system. Your only company would have been massive sandstone monoliths, shady Ponderosa pine, a pleasant cold stream, and perhaps an occasional sheep herder.




Above: Folded rock layers near the Taylor Creek thrust fault.






Above: The Larson Cabin near the confluence of the North and Middle Forks of Taylor Creek.


Above: the Fife Cabin, high up Middle Fork Canyon.







Above: A closer look at the double alcove near the head of Middle Fork. I found this thing simply too big to get a satisfactory photo, but it was fun trying.

Spring Break '11 -- Kanab -- Day 3

Our final day of spring break was supposed to simply be a travel day for getting back home. But since we had been rained out the previous day, we decided to try and squeeze in the treasure hunt on our way out of town. It didn't go over too well as we had to deal with snow and slick roads, but I think the kiddos still enjoyed it.


Above: Fitting together pieces of the Aztec treasure map.



The first stop was Crocodile Cave. This cave has a long history. First, it's full of ice cold, and I mean ICE COLD water that certainly was used by Native Americans. Nearby granary ruins and pictographs attest to this. The cave, more recently, has been one of several high-profile targets of real treasure hunters convinced that the fabled lost treasure of Montezuma is hidden somewhere in the Kanab area. Other treasure hot-spots are the nearby Three Lakes along Kanab Creek and in Johnson Canyon northeast of town.

I had everything ready. I sealed a piece of the treasure map into a bottle and then tied a long string around the neck of the bottle. I ran up ahead of everyone to "scout things out," and quickly climbed down in to the cave and onto the lake's edge. For some dumb reason, at the last second, I decided to put a bunch of rocks into the bottle to make it sink to the bottom. I thought this would be funner for the kids when they pulled the bottle out of the lake with the string. Big mistake. After putting rocks into the bottle and re-sealing it, I held tightly onto one end of the string and chucked the bottle toward the far end of the lake. I felt a strong tug on the string when the full weight of the bottle had unraveled all of the string in my hand, and then it went completely limp. Immediately I realized that the additional weight of the rocks in the bottle had caused the string tied around the bottle's neck to pop off. Dang! there was only one way to retrieve it now.


(Eros photo)
Just as I was about to pull a Bear Grylls and dive into the dark, cold water of indeterminate depth, Susie talked me out of it. We would just have to press on without the clue.



Above: Junior treasure hunters pose outside of the Crocodile Cave in Angel Canyon.

The next stop on the treasure trail was to the "Arch of Doom"--a small and isolated free-standing arch out in the middle of a sand flat. A little digging beneath the arch yielded another clue.



The clue directed us toward the "Tunnel of Lost Souls"



We braved the unknown and traversed the tunnel. More digging at the end of the tunnel turned up the final clue.





(Eros photo)

The final clue let us to the "Sands of Death" a.k.a. the Coral Pink Sand Dunes where X marked the spot and we hit the mother load (toys and candy).


(Eros photo)


Above: The entire gang at Spring Break '11.

Can't wait 'til next year!

Spring Break '11 -- Kanab -- Day 2

Day 2 was mostly spent inside the rental house. We were able to squeeze in a quick trip down the Wire Pass slot to the confluence with Buckskin Gulch just before the storm hit. In fact, a snow/rain mix started to come down right as we returned to the trailhead.

Wire Pass is an excellent beginner slot. It is easily accessed, is beautifully sculpted, and has a couple of choke stones to make it a little more adventuresome than just an easy stroll.


Above: Mike makes his way down a choke stone in Wire Pass.








Above: Rudy and the two Julies emerge from Wire Pass at the confluence with Buckskin Gulch.

I've been down Wire Pass several times, and each time I see something new. This time, it was several additional petroglyphs at the confluence that I had not noticed before. It's possible that some of these may have been buried and that only recently, floods have removed the overburden and brought them to light.








Another feature I never before noticed was this swirled sandstone--formed when saturated wind-blown sand deformed before turning into stone. The Coyote Buttes area is well known for its uniquely textured Navajo Sandstone.

Spring Break '11 -- Kanab -- Day 1

I finally got around to getting some pictures up from Spring Break. We stayed in Kanab and day-tripped out to surrounding attractions. The weather varied from so-so to crappy pretty much the whole weekend, but we managed to get quite a bit in.


Some of the best fossil hunting around can be found in southern Utah. Near Kanab, the problem is that nearly all the best hunting grounds are in the Grand Staircase-Escalante N.M. or the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area--both of which are off limits to fossil collecting. With a little research, I found a small section of State land just outside of Big Water near Lake Powell with excellent exposures of the fossil-rich, Cretaceous-age Tropic Formation. These ancient sea beds are full of 100-million-year-old oysters, ammonites, snails, shark teeth, and other sea creatures.

We gave the kids hammers (not really necessary) and let them loose. We found plenty of oyster shells, a couple of snails (gastropods), and a few small straight ammonites (baculites). No shark teeth of curled ammonites this time.



Above: oyster shell fragments from the Tropic Shale litter the ground (Eros photo).



With a bad weather forecast, we continued to head south into Arizona.

Horseshoe Bend was a pleasant hike but the wind on the rim was incredible and we didn't linger long.




OK, on the count of three, turn toward the camera, ignore the grit in your teeth and try to act natural. One, two, three...



Perfect!



Next, we headed down to Lee's Ferry. This is where the Colorado River begins its dive into the Grand Canyon. One of the very first tributaries into the Grand Canyon is Cathedral Wash.




Cathedral Wash cuts into the Permian Kaibab limestone, forming some fantastic narrows. There are several obstacles to overcome that I knew would be a challenge for the kids and a bit unnerving for the parents. The limestone has eroded into a series of ledges just wide enough to walk on that you can follow to get around the dry falls that seemingly block your path.



Skirting around the obstacles on the narrow ledges worked for a while and we got darn close to the river, but it was getting late in the afternoon and we had additional things to see that day on top of the long drive back to Kanab, so we headed back.




Above: Watch out for that...never mind. It took several minutes to find his shoe.






Above: Ava powers up a slickrock ramp in rare limestone narrows in Cathedral Wash.




Above: Susie and Kandi pose in Cathedral Wash with the massive Paria Plateau looming above.



Above: one of several balanced rocks near Lee's Ferry.


Above: Emma Lee's cabin at Lonely Dell.

Lonely Dell Ranch at Lee's Ferry is a testament to the fortitude of the Mormon pioneers, in particular, of Emma Lee. Emma was often left to run the ranch and ferry alone, and generally fend for herself and young children for months on end since her husband, John D. Lee, was constantly traveling or forced into hiding because of his implication in the Mountain Meadows Massacre. If you ever plan to visit Lonely Dell, be sure to read Emma Lee by Juanita Brooks before you go--you'll be amazed at what she went through.



(Eros photo)


Above: Around 1910, this boiler was used to pump water out of the Colorado and onto the nearby Chinle clay beds in a futile attempt to separate fine gold out of the clays. At the head of this operation was Charles H. Spencer. He had other costly mining failures in the lower San Juan and Paria (Eros photo).

Now mostly known as the put-in for river rafters, there is still plenty to see for the history buff at the ferry crossing including a few old boilers and Lee's Fort.


Above: The remains of Lee's Fort (Eros photo).



Above: what's left of the steamship named after mining mogul Charles H. Spencer. He had this boat built to ship coal from upriver down to his mining operation at Lee's Ferry (Eros photo).

The weather held up nicely for day 1. Unfortunately, we wouldn't have as good as luck for the rest of the trip.