Desolation Canyon journal transcript
This is a long time coming I understand.
But what I also understand is how important these yearly breaks are for me. Ever since I’ve been back, I’ve found housework, normal work, and a myriad of friend-related activities occupying my time. Come on now; get off of working all day on a computer and have a bunch of other fun things to do…and then get on the computer again to write? Shoot. Our trip last weekend to the St. Joe was a perfect “ease-back-into-it” excursion. I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I got back! It seems so short and so long! Since our float down Desolation Canyon I have seen one of my best friends off a number of times (took a job south of here), gone camping on the Joe, took the pack test in my best time ever (33 minutes!), picked up more duties at work, took care of a lot of stuff at home, had my sister come over for her first time seeing my place in CDA since I’ve been here, watched my buddy Matt complete his first Ironman competition, and all the while managed to stay fairly sane and keep the cat and myself alive.
Needless to say…I’m tired. But this is only the beginning. July promises more people and friends coming into town. More to do, more to think about, more to plan for. But, like my Dad said yesterday…just stay flexible. He’s great at sayings like that which seem to keep you going. “You can put up with anything for (insert days/months/years here).”
I am writing this blind, as I don’t have Internet access at home right now. If things seem off, or they don’t seem to make sense, it’s because I can’t write this directly to the blog. It’s all through Word right now. Consequently, there is going to be a photo-journal of my trip to Desolation Canyon in Utah.
I headed out Friday morning to the Spokane airport. First time ever being in it! I’ve been there a couple times, just never parked and walked inside. Of course, I parked as far away as I possibly could because I didn’t know any better…and carrying about 50 lbs of camping gear in a duffel didn’t help. But, made it through security and into Denver. I waited on some ramp for about 30 minutes for Zach before a nice worker there told me I was in the wrong place.
Awesome.
Wait.
I will just write what I have in my journal from the trip. (Note: my pen ran dry along the course of the trip. So, it gets kinda sparse.) I may fill in more as I post the blog…when I can.
Here we go:
05/30 FRIDAY
Woke up early and had not packed yet. So, early morning chores and last minute packing led me into a frenzied departure at about 11:30. Still had to get gas and get to the airport…find parking…get checked in, through security, and finally on the plane to Denver.
This worked out with a good hour to spare, and then once on the plane…the two hour flight seemed like it took exactly that. It was already a long day.
After a jammed baggage carousel and a mix-up with where I was to be picked up…I was with Zach and his dog Jager on the way to his house.
Met up with Laura and headed to a local pub / restaurant / sports bar called “Bull in Bush.” All you can eat fish and chips as well as brewery beers rounded out the day / night.
06/01 SATURDAY
Got woken up by a large Shepard sniffing my head then had the task of waiting while Zach got all his gear together. Loaded up the truck and began the five hour drive from Denver to Green River, UT.
We went up and down passes on the way..finally topping out at 10,000 feet in the highest paved tunnel in the U.S. Passed Breckenridge, Vail, that one valley, and gassed up in Grand Junction. Got into Green River about 1430 and found out Paul was running late.
So, Zach and I went to the one bar in town “Rays” (popular amongst the rafting community) and had great charbroiled burgers and local beer. (PB&J + fries = $55. Grilled cheese + fries = $75.) They wanted you to order burgers.
We went to the take-out to wait for Paul at about 1515. It was hot and sunny. We waited until 1730 when Paul arrived, loaded HIS truck with our gear and left for Sand Wash with a 4-hour drive ahead of us.
Finally arrived at..whenever..set up in our bug-screen enclosure and had burgers and beer for supper.
06/02 SUNDAY – LAUNCH AND ARRIVING AT CEDAR RIDGE CAMP
Awoke at 0600 or so the outside of the walls of our bug screen buzzing the mosquitoes. They are thick there!
Didn’t waste time at all with breakfast and just had some coffee while we loaded, sorted, “built” the rafts, and rigged gear. We found a small muddy put-in of our own and battle mosquitoes until 1000 when we launched (with another large group…the Barnum Bailey circus. They acquired this name because of all the noise they made floating down the river, plus all their very brightly colored umbrellas.)
We dogged them all day in very sunny, not weather. We all got burned fairly well on this 20 mile stretch of basically flat water.
The afternoon thunderstorms moved in. Windy, rain, and cold. We passed the 3 other groups during the course of the day and finally the circus when it was raining. We had our eyes on one camp in particular and gunned that way. We arrived to find that someone was in it!
This is after yielding a very nice, sizable camp to the big group. We’d been on the river for nearly 7 hours and were done…but a.) didn’t want to listen to those folks all night and b.) we were being nice.
OKAY! Down another two miles we went.
Can’t camp at all the nice spots to the river left (east) because it’s tribal..so went to another of Paul’s favorites. OCCUPIED! DAMMIT!
We went down to the next camp…about 400 yards…and were finally done for the day. We covered about 30 miles of our 84 mile weeklong float in ONE day. Tomorrow is a layover.
However, wanting to relax…we found we couldn’t because of the tremendous volume of mosquitoes. We set up camp (meaning a table) and I prepared (made a marinade) for some moose backstraps.
We all finally found a place to put our tents and are now hunkered…hoping the bugs will dissipate.
When I crawled in to write this, just opening the door let in about 40 mosquitoes. No kidding. (72 degrees at 1930) Cleared them out and now here I am. 2115, no dinner, burned, and scared to leave the tent.
I can hear Paul setting up the shitter. Gotta go cook now.
2145 dinner of moose steaks, pasta, and pork&beans. Tasted very good because, as it turned out, we were starving. A banana, coffee, jerky, and beer throughout the day just didn’t do it.
Zach said there are petroglyphs around our camp here at Cedar Ridge somewhere. Tomorrow we will find them.
I’m finally starting to relax and forget about home. (Not Sarah of course, I think of her constantly.) Finally finding carpe diem / noctum.
No mosquitoes at 2230 on…finally.
06/03 LAYOVER DAY – CEDAR RIDGE
Morning started easy with a delayed wake time and a cup of coffee in the midst of thousands of mosquitoes. It was hot in the sun by about 0830. We cooked brunch of bacon, mushrooms and eggs with a side of homefries and made burritos. Sat in the shade of a cottonwood and ate that with a pint of Budlight clamato.
When we started to fall asleep, I got up and did dishes and we went on a hike up the canyon.
It started fine. Photos, some petroglyphs…someone tried to steal one by chipping away the rock. Bastards.
The more we hiked, the more interesting it became. Bouldering to get higher. Finally, the thunder led to rain and we hunkered under an overhang at about 1615. Made our way back to camp and played beerstakes in the sand. Closest of two tosses got a point. Hit the stake and get two points. Dinner of rabbit goulash and noodles. Fire on the beach.
Pen dying…high humidity?
NEXT DAY – BULL CREEK
Well, last night I slept very soundly except that I got overheated – sweated.
Lazy morning. More rapids, more exciting.
Nice to be moving again.
Rain and a lot people on the river.
Rock creek water fill up. Old cabins.
Rain and chilly.
No camps, all taken. Kept traveling.
Nude people bathing in river…in front of children. Settled for one camp, moved around the bend to this one.
Nice. 20+ miles = ½ through trip in 2 days. Kenewa (I don’t know how to spell it) and sausage. Juniper fire.
No mosquitoes!
Epic view.
Fishing, hiking 2morrow.
Finally comfortable + less stressed.
Carpe diem.
06/05 BULL CREEK LAYOVER DAY
Slept in.
Oatmeal + yogurt + cinnamon rolls
Fishing – 1st, 2nd, 3rd catfish catch of my life
Enough for dinner
Lunch = 2 hour nap
Hike sucked…brush
Swam + shower = strong current
More beerstakes
Dinner = fish tacos and brownies
Lazy
06/06 MCPHERSON RANCH
Short float
Huge rapids
Little solo hike
Little fishing
Basically that’s it
Okay, so here’s where my pen totally died.
We made it to another camp downriver and were pretty lucky to get it. Of course it was a great sandy place, full of lizards and just a nice looking spot. But with this little trio, we cannot seem to have a trip without a “sand camp.” It blew like you would believe. We played a long game of Bocce and our footprints in the sand got covered within an hour! Paul is a bastard because he’s played Bocce a lot and kept winning. However, our ability to make up games and execute them successfully gives you an idea of the groups’ ability to innovate, improvise, and generally just have some light-hearted fun in the process! The three of us are very alike.
After that night we made our final float to the take-out. Back where Zach and I spent a couple hours waiting for Paul. It was a nice float. Pretty easy.
But reaching the point where a road paralleled the road was annoying. Day floaters were about. It felt less like “Deso” and more like the Blackfoot in Montana. (Well, not really, but you get the idea.)
Take out was crowded with kids on a day float. Talking to a guy that’d been on the sauce too long that day. Getting a text that my boss accepted a job with the BLM after 30 something years with the Forest Service was a bummer. Again, lunch / dinner at Ray’s, followed by a five hour drive back to Denver led Zach and I into a liquor store to get beer. We shared photos with Laura and drank beer into the night.
I got on a plane the next day and was home by about 1600. It was over.
I like these trips. I like being away, being entirely separated from all the things that I deal with on a day to day basis. Somehow, everything becomes very simple when you are on your own, away from society, in the wilderness. You find that you don’t need much more than a bit of water, some food, and some close people to help you out. If an entire day, from sunrise to well past sunset can get occupied with a little fishing, a nap, and a hike…leaving you feeling fulfilled and busy…well, I think you’re in a good place! Guys around you that can let you go off on your own and not care how long you’re gone…just as long as you’re back basically by the next day? A trip where everyone knows their job and just does it in an efficient, synchronized pattern? Being away from the hum, buzz, and simple INCONVIENENCE, of technology? Finding solace in rocks and moving water? Shoot.
THAT’S what living should be.
By the way.
When sleeping across from the McPherson ranch I awoke after about 2 hours of sleep and heard a powwow in full swing! I laid there for awhile and listened to it, then finally sat up and STILL heard it! Thinking I was going crazy, I just accepted that the tribe was probably across the river celebrating.
I woke up in the morning and asked Zach and Paul if they heard anything during the night. They both said, “no.” My hair stood up on end, but for some reason I wasn’t scared. (Like I probably should have been.)
I’m convinced I heard the Fremont Indians in full revelry, at least 200 years since they last roamed that land.
Now how cool is THAT?!
But what I also understand is how important these yearly breaks are for me. Ever since I’ve been back, I’ve found housework, normal work, and a myriad of friend-related activities occupying my time. Come on now; get off of working all day on a computer and have a bunch of other fun things to do…and then get on the computer again to write? Shoot. Our trip last weekend to the St. Joe was a perfect “ease-back-into-it” excursion. I can’t believe it’s been two weeks since I got back! It seems so short and so long! Since our float down Desolation Canyon I have seen one of my best friends off a number of times (took a job south of here), gone camping on the Joe, took the pack test in my best time ever (33 minutes!), picked up more duties at work, took care of a lot of stuff at home, had my sister come over for her first time seeing my place in CDA since I’ve been here, watched my buddy Matt complete his first Ironman competition, and all the while managed to stay fairly sane and keep the cat and myself alive.
Needless to say…I’m tired. But this is only the beginning. July promises more people and friends coming into town. More to do, more to think about, more to plan for. But, like my Dad said yesterday…just stay flexible. He’s great at sayings like that which seem to keep you going. “You can put up with anything for (insert days/months/years here).”
I am writing this blind, as I don’t have Internet access at home right now. If things seem off, or they don’t seem to make sense, it’s because I can’t write this directly to the blog. It’s all through Word right now. Consequently, there is going to be a photo-journal of my trip to Desolation Canyon in Utah.
I headed out Friday morning to the Spokane airport. First time ever being in it! I’ve been there a couple times, just never parked and walked inside. Of course, I parked as far away as I possibly could because I didn’t know any better…and carrying about 50 lbs of camping gear in a duffel didn’t help. But, made it through security and into Denver. I waited on some ramp for about 30 minutes for Zach before a nice worker there told me I was in the wrong place.
Awesome.
Wait.
I will just write what I have in my journal from the trip. (Note: my pen ran dry along the course of the trip. So, it gets kinda sparse.) I may fill in more as I post the blog…when I can.
Here we go:
05/30 FRIDAY
Woke up early and had not packed yet. So, early morning chores and last minute packing led me into a frenzied departure at about 11:30. Still had to get gas and get to the airport…find parking…get checked in, through security, and finally on the plane to Denver.
This worked out with a good hour to spare, and then once on the plane…the two hour flight seemed like it took exactly that. It was already a long day.
After a jammed baggage carousel and a mix-up with where I was to be picked up…I was with Zach and his dog Jager on the way to his house.
Met up with Laura and headed to a local pub / restaurant / sports bar called “Bull in Bush.” All you can eat fish and chips as well as brewery beers rounded out the day / night.
06/01 SATURDAY
Got woken up by a large Shepard sniffing my head then had the task of waiting while Zach got all his gear together. Loaded up the truck and began the five hour drive from Denver to Green River, UT.
We went up and down passes on the way..finally topping out at 10,000 feet in the highest paved tunnel in the U.S. Passed Breckenridge, Vail, that one valley, and gassed up in Grand Junction. Got into Green River about 1430 and found out Paul was running late.
So, Zach and I went to the one bar in town “Rays” (popular amongst the rafting community) and had great charbroiled burgers and local beer. (PB&J + fries = $55. Grilled cheese + fries = $75.) They wanted you to order burgers.
We went to the take-out to wait for Paul at about 1515. It was hot and sunny. We waited until 1730 when Paul arrived, loaded HIS truck with our gear and left for Sand Wash with a 4-hour drive ahead of us.
Finally arrived at..whenever..set up in our bug-screen enclosure and had burgers and beer for supper.
06/02 SUNDAY – LAUNCH AND ARRIVING AT CEDAR RIDGE CAMP
Awoke at 0600 or so the outside of the walls of our bug screen buzzing the mosquitoes. They are thick there!
Didn’t waste time at all with breakfast and just had some coffee while we loaded, sorted, “built” the rafts, and rigged gear. We found a small muddy put-in of our own and battle mosquitoes until 1000 when we launched (with another large group…the Barnum Bailey circus. They acquired this name because of all the noise they made floating down the river, plus all their very brightly colored umbrellas.)
We dogged them all day in very sunny, not weather. We all got burned fairly well on this 20 mile stretch of basically flat water.
The afternoon thunderstorms moved in. Windy, rain, and cold. We passed the 3 other groups during the course of the day and finally the circus when it was raining. We had our eyes on one camp in particular and gunned that way. We arrived to find that someone was in it!
This is after yielding a very nice, sizable camp to the big group. We’d been on the river for nearly 7 hours and were done…but a.) didn’t want to listen to those folks all night and b.) we were being nice.
OKAY! Down another two miles we went.
Can’t camp at all the nice spots to the river left (east) because it’s tribal..so went to another of Paul’s favorites. OCCUPIED! DAMMIT!
We went down to the next camp…about 400 yards…and were finally done for the day. We covered about 30 miles of our 84 mile weeklong float in ONE day. Tomorrow is a layover.
However, wanting to relax…we found we couldn’t because of the tremendous volume of mosquitoes. We set up camp (meaning a table) and I prepared (made a marinade) for some moose backstraps.
We all finally found a place to put our tents and are now hunkered…hoping the bugs will dissipate.
When I crawled in to write this, just opening the door let in about 40 mosquitoes. No kidding. (72 degrees at 1930) Cleared them out and now here I am. 2115, no dinner, burned, and scared to leave the tent.
I can hear Paul setting up the shitter. Gotta go cook now.
2145 dinner of moose steaks, pasta, and pork&beans. Tasted very good because, as it turned out, we were starving. A banana, coffee, jerky, and beer throughout the day just didn’t do it.
Zach said there are petroglyphs around our camp here at Cedar Ridge somewhere. Tomorrow we will find them.
I’m finally starting to relax and forget about home. (Not Sarah of course, I think of her constantly.) Finally finding carpe diem / noctum.
No mosquitoes at 2230 on…finally.
06/03 LAYOVER DAY – CEDAR RIDGE
Morning started easy with a delayed wake time and a cup of coffee in the midst of thousands of mosquitoes. It was hot in the sun by about 0830. We cooked brunch of bacon, mushrooms and eggs with a side of homefries and made burritos. Sat in the shade of a cottonwood and ate that with a pint of Budlight clamato.
When we started to fall asleep, I got up and did dishes and we went on a hike up the canyon.
It started fine. Photos, some petroglyphs…someone tried to steal one by chipping away the rock. Bastards.
The more we hiked, the more interesting it became. Bouldering to get higher. Finally, the thunder led to rain and we hunkered under an overhang at about 1615. Made our way back to camp and played beerstakes in the sand. Closest of two tosses got a point. Hit the stake and get two points. Dinner of rabbit goulash and noodles. Fire on the beach.
Pen dying…high humidity?
NEXT DAY – BULL CREEK
Well, last night I slept very soundly except that I got overheated – sweated.
Lazy morning. More rapids, more exciting.
Nice to be moving again.
Rain and a lot people on the river.
Rock creek water fill up. Old cabins.
Rain and chilly.
No camps, all taken. Kept traveling.
Nude people bathing in river…in front of children. Settled for one camp, moved around the bend to this one.
Nice. 20+ miles = ½ through trip in 2 days. Kenewa (I don’t know how to spell it) and sausage. Juniper fire.
No mosquitoes!
Epic view.
Fishing, hiking 2morrow.
Finally comfortable + less stressed.
Carpe diem.
06/05 BULL CREEK LAYOVER DAY
Slept in.
Oatmeal + yogurt + cinnamon rolls
Fishing – 1st, 2nd, 3rd catfish catch of my life
Enough for dinner
Lunch = 2 hour nap
Hike sucked…brush
Swam + shower = strong current
More beerstakes
Dinner = fish tacos and brownies
Lazy
06/06 MCPHERSON RANCH
Short float
Huge rapids
Little solo hike
Little fishing
Basically that’s it
Okay, so here’s where my pen totally died.
We made it to another camp downriver and were pretty lucky to get it. Of course it was a great sandy place, full of lizards and just a nice looking spot. But with this little trio, we cannot seem to have a trip without a “sand camp.” It blew like you would believe. We played a long game of Bocce and our footprints in the sand got covered within an hour! Paul is a bastard because he’s played Bocce a lot and kept winning. However, our ability to make up games and execute them successfully gives you an idea of the groups’ ability to innovate, improvise, and generally just have some light-hearted fun in the process! The three of us are very alike.
After that night we made our final float to the take-out. Back where Zach and I spent a couple hours waiting for Paul. It was a nice float. Pretty easy.
But reaching the point where a road paralleled the road was annoying. Day floaters were about. It felt less like “Deso” and more like the Blackfoot in Montana. (Well, not really, but you get the idea.)
Take out was crowded with kids on a day float. Talking to a guy that’d been on the sauce too long that day. Getting a text that my boss accepted a job with the BLM after 30 something years with the Forest Service was a bummer. Again, lunch / dinner at Ray’s, followed by a five hour drive back to Denver led Zach and I into a liquor store to get beer. We shared photos with Laura and drank beer into the night.
I got on a plane the next day and was home by about 1600. It was over.
I like these trips. I like being away, being entirely separated from all the things that I deal with on a day to day basis. Somehow, everything becomes very simple when you are on your own, away from society, in the wilderness. You find that you don’t need much more than a bit of water, some food, and some close people to help you out. If an entire day, from sunrise to well past sunset can get occupied with a little fishing, a nap, and a hike…leaving you feeling fulfilled and busy…well, I think you’re in a good place! Guys around you that can let you go off on your own and not care how long you’re gone…just as long as you’re back basically by the next day? A trip where everyone knows their job and just does it in an efficient, synchronized pattern? Being away from the hum, buzz, and simple INCONVIENENCE, of technology? Finding solace in rocks and moving water? Shoot.
THAT’S what living should be.
By the way.
When sleeping across from the McPherson ranch I awoke after about 2 hours of sleep and heard a powwow in full swing! I laid there for awhile and listened to it, then finally sat up and STILL heard it! Thinking I was going crazy, I just accepted that the tribe was probably across the river celebrating.
I woke up in the morning and asked Zach and Paul if they heard anything during the night. They both said, “no.” My hair stood up on end, but for some reason I wasn’t scared. (Like I probably should have been.)
I’m convinced I heard the Fremont Indians in full revelry, at least 200 years since they last roamed that land.
Now how cool is THAT?!
posted by geotracker12 at 11:23 AM
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