Ice is Slippery

Our trip got off to a chaotic start. When we went to drop the dog off Friday evening, we discovered that the girl who was watching her wasn’t home. This created some additional stress, but luckily her mother came home a little later. She hadn’t mentioned to her mother that she was going to be keeping a dog for a week and a half, but Mom was a good sport. We finally got that resolved, and everything went smoothly until we got to the airport. The American Airlines agents weren’t happy to see us and our luggage. Since you can only check 2 bags per person, we had stuffed all of our gear into huge duffel bags. Frankly, it would’ve been in everybody’s best interest if we had used several smaller bags, but those are the rules. The agents had a lot of questions for us, like "what the hell do you have in here, anyway?" And then I’ve got Christy making wiseass remarks under her breath. "What’s in the bag?" "Crack". "Jimmy Hoffa". And so on. We verified that we weren’t carrying stove fuel, but I of course lied about not having a stove. Actually, I had two. Camp stoves are of course completely harmless since they are completely separate from the fuel source. Good luck trying to explain that to an airline representative though. I had heard about a poor guy that had admitted to having a stove in a similar situation. He had all of his bags searched. He had his stove confiscated. I think he was strip searched as well. So I lied, which proved to be most effective.

Our flight was on time, but we still had to hustle to make our connection in Dallas. We arrived at the gate to find that our flight was delayed. In fact, there was a large amount of fluid visibly leaking from our plane. Thanks, but I’ll wait for the next one. By the time they got a new plane ready, a nasty wave of thunderstorms rolled in. By the time they cleared out, our flight was 2 hours late.

Luckily, we made it out of Salt Lake City airport without any trouble. Getting the rental car from Thrifty was quick and efficient, and saved us quite a bit of time. However, the shuttle bus driver did mention that one of Christy’s bags was the heaviest he had ever lifted. And he does this every day! The rental car was a Daewoo. That’s a type of car, in case you didn’t know. I think Daewoo also makes microwaves. Or stereos. Or running shoes. It actually wasn’t a bad ride, except that it didn’t have any acceleration. It did have a cute little turbo button that was fun to play with though.

We did get slightly lost on the way to REI, but we made it there by taking the scenic route. Once we picked up stove fuel and a few last minute items, it was on to Moab. We stopped in Price first though to pick up even more food. Coolers were half price, so I got a real cooler for $10 instead of one of the usual crummy styrofoam numbers. While we were loading it, a gust of wind blew an empty ice bag across the parking lot. I chased it down, and finally caught it by jumping on it. Guess what? Ice is slippery. I nearly broke my neck! Great, I hadn’t even hiked a mile and I was nearly done. I guess I’ll have to start wearing crampons to the grocery store.

With that disaster narrowly averted, we were on our way to Moab. We arrived at Dead Horse Point State Park just before dark. We were greeted with an outstanding view of the La Sal Mountains as we drove across the Mesa. We also passed our first mule deer on the way into the park. We reached our campsite at dusk, but we didn’t have any trouble setting up camp. The site was equipped with a covered picnic table and lights! It was easily the most plush campsite I’d ever seen. We enjoyed a dinner of chili, salad, and beer before heading for the tent.

GRANDVIEW

We got up early Easter morning and had a big breakfast. I had forgotten the chocolate eggs, so we had to settle for scrambled eggs, sausage, and seasoned potatoes. We left fairly early and headed for the Island in the Sky portion of Canyonlands National Park. The Island in the Sky is essentially a large mesa sitting between the Green and Colorado Rivers. After paying our $10 entry fee and a brief stop at the visitor center, we drove to the Grandview Trailhead. The 2 mile hike was an easy walk along the edge of sheer, 1000’ cliffs. The views were good, but it was a hot, hazy day. The haze obscured the views somewhat, and hid the Sierra La Sals, which had appeared so impressive the night before.

We finished our warm up hike quickly, and headed for the big crater of Upheaval Dome. We hadn’t seen many people at Grandview since it had been early, but the tourists were swarming on the crater overlook trail. We hiked to the rim and looked down into the crater. Its origin isn’t volcanic, but it may have been created by a meteor. From the rim, we went off trail a short ways for lunch. We found a hidden spot that kept us from being overrun by the masses. During lunch, I spilled at least a pint of water transferring it into my pakteen. If that’s not bad karma in the desert, I don’t know what is.

After lunch we started the real hike. We began the 8 mile loop around the outside of the crater. The route started with some easy walking, but soon we began a long descent over boulders. On the way down, we passed a red-faced hiker laboring on his way up. He appeared to be sunburnt or overworked or maybe both. We wished him well, and descended into Upheaval Canyon. Once at the bottom, we found scattered Cottonwood Trees and even a little water. We followed the canyon for about a mile before resting at the confluence with Syncline Canyon. I explored down canyon towards the river, but didn’t find anything interesting.

After our rest we were ready for the uphill portion of the hike. We climbed steeply, and passed a nice campsite on a bench above Syncline Canyon. We also passed a side route into the heart of the crater. This begged to be explored, but our limited time didn’t allow for the side trip. We continued to climb, mainly on a bench above an intermittent stream. It was in that stretch that I somehow spotted a mountain goat among the rocks on the far side of the canyon. We watched him for a while, before Christy spotted a second one nearby.

Soon the hike became interesting. The canyon approached a sheer wall, and the trail began to switchback up. After a serious climb, the path appeared to end at a rock face. About 6’ above was a cable and what appeared to be a cairn. Surely that wasn’t the trail. Perhaps it was a climber’s route? We avoided that and climbed farther through talus. However, all signs of a path disappeared. Reluctantly we returned to the wall. There was a vertical crack in it, and Christy was able to pull herself up by jamming her foot into it. However, the cable was well out of reach. Luckily she was able to find a handhold and drag herself up onto the bench. I found this maneuver to be nerve wracking, since a fall would probably have resulted in a free-fall into the abyss. I made it though, and the worst was over. From there we still had some anxious moments as we skirted the slickrock along the edge of the cliff. Eventually the canyon bottom rose to meet us, and soon enough we were hiking past pools of refreshing water.

Some time later, we passed the same red-faced hiker again. What was he doing, laps? It turned out that he had been separated from his friends, so he was going back around to look for them. We had seen 2 guys that matched his description down at the bottom, which was about halfway around the loop. I suggested that he wait for them or get help, but he continued on, hoping to overtake them. I pitied him, as it looked like 1 time around the loop had been enough already.

The end of the hike never seemed to come. The last couple of miles were one long gradual right hand turn. It was easy walking through the desert, which we spent mostly counting lizards. We totaled 48 by the time we finally arrived back at the car. At the trailhead, we saw the 2 missing hikers playing cards. I assume that the red-faced hiker eventually joined them.

It was getting towards dinner time, but we still had a couple of places to visit. I thought we might drive out to the Green River overlook, but the washboard road was aggravating, so we gave up on that. We did do one more short hike out to Mesa Arch. It was less than a mile, and it was well worth it. The arch was on the edge of the cliff, and provided a great view of the white rim, Washerwoman Arch, and all kinds of fascinating rock formations. Christy climbed on top, and I spent my time taking photos. We thought about waiting for sunset, but we were both hungry. Instead we headed back to camp for a well-deserved pasta dinner.