Today we went glyph hunting in Montezuma Creek. And when you start doing that, you're going to see a lot of potsherds and granaries, too. It was warm (40ish) and snowy, so everything was a mud hole. But we scrambled up and down four or five times to keep from falling asleep. Near the end of the day, VSO found an old miner's shack that looked a lot like a hobbit hole. Pictures here.
The South Fork of Mule, with its Burning House, is more famous, but today we went into the North Fork, which is very beautiful and somewhat less busy. It snowed for most of the day and the way was slippery, but we made it to a nice ruin about three miles up before it was time to turn around. EDO returned to The Homestead today, so that made VSO the team captain out in the field. She wore me down with a relentless pace over rugged terrain. As always, I was glad to hit the oil just before dark. Pictures here.
We started the day by walking up the dugway from Comb Wash to the top of the Comb. Until the 1960s this was the state highway, so I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, but I kept telling the girls, "This isn't too bad. It is rocky, but any jeeper could do it." I didn't expect to be immediately proved correct, but . . . we were passed by four jeepers as we hiked out (though it isn't clear to me why they were towing trailers). From there we went to Arch Canyon (and found jeeper tracks, but fortunately didn't see any trailers). It was snowing and we hiked up just a mile or so to look at some ruins on the south facing wall. We finished the day on the slickrock, looking at glyph panels and potsherds. Pictures here.
It was never very cold, mostly in the mid-30s, but the sun was blocked and the wind was strong. It was one of those days where you geared-up on the way in and stripped-down on the way out. At any rate, the girls enjoyed dropping into the upper end of Butler Wash to view a two story-tower and scrambling through a few miles of the North Fork of Whiskers Draw to see another nice ruin, before heading out to the old dugway above Arch Canyon. Pictures here.
Last Saturday, we put Glen through the quattrothon, this Saturday we only skied and scrambled. Well. I guess we split one load of wood, so call it a triathlon. All three of us started with a ski tour on the plateau, which resulted in a very nice track through the pines. Then, after dropping VSO at The Homestead, EDO and I went for a hike up one of the washes near the Gap and a descent along the ridge. By then, the sun was setting. Beautiful.
During our short visit with Glen, the third outing was a ski tour in the park. Glen does a fair amount of skiing with his family in New England and upstate New York, so we'll call him an advanced intermediate. Unfortunately, there is so much dead and downed wood on the rim of the Breaks that it is good to have experience skiing on logs. Again, our treatment of him may not have been completely fair.
Glen is, on the other hand, a life-long athlete and definitely not a whiner, so he managed it with good grace and a good attitude. The reward, of course, was the view into the canyon. On a clear, crisp, snowy winter afternoon, that view was spectacular. Pictures here.
Glen said that he had never been further west than Dallas. Until this week. His company flew him to a conference in Las Vegas. Before flying back, he rented a car and drove to Utah. We had him for just one day and we didn't want to waste a minute of it, so it was action packed. We called it the quattrothon. First, EDO took her favorite uncle for a five mile run. Second, I took him for a scramble to the natural bridge in Center Creek. Third, VSO took him skiing at Cedar Breaks. Fourth, we had him split five loads of firewood at The Homestead. As Glen rightly pointed out, it wasn't really fair. We took turns running him ragged.
I'll make a second post about the skiing, but this one is about the scrambling. We parked in fairly deep snow just below the natural bridge. It was cold in the canyon and we both wore winter clothes. Unfortunately the climbing become steep and strenuous—including a short, but manky, fifth-class solo—and the sun become warm. By the time we returned to the Chev, we were carrying most of our gear. One thing that is really interesting about the natural bridge is that it is actually two natural bridges, one of which you can stand in. Pictures here.
I heard that the Tushars may have received up to 30 inches of snow. Not here. But, what we got was enough for EDO to build a track on the Boy Scout Road. She did that yesterday while I was driving back from Price. Today we went out together and climbed to the top. The track was shaded and in good shape. We stayed at Treadmill Hill for three or four laps. The downhill glide brought smiles.
With a second comment—from Jess—regarding my absence from the viewfinder, I solicited more proof from VSO. She made these pictures last week. At top, I'm the speck on the right; EDO and I are peering into the White Roost. At bottom, I'm also on the right; EDO and I are seeking a route back to the Chev.
