Yurt Trips are good for the soul

Last week was the annual Blind Hollow yurt trip for a few members of the Rapid Progression Kayak School team. It happens each March and is always a highlight of the ski season. This year we did not have the entire crew there but we had a new addition and good times were had by all.

The Blind Hollow yurt is located up Logan Canyon. The trailhead starts just below Temple Fork. The ski in is just over for miles and about 2000 vertical ft. once you are at the yurt, the skiing options that are endless. All aspects have great terrain from mellow meadow skipping to big open bowls to narrow chutes. This trip we decided to cross Cottonwood canyon and head towards Mt. Elmer. Just east of Mt. Elmer we found some north facing chutes where the snow was deep and creamy. I truly was shocked at the quality of snow we found. It has been weeks since a significant storm in Northern Utah and we were skiing great powder on 35-40 degree slopes. Some of the best skiing I have had all season.

Here is a map of the area and where we skied.

If any of you are interested in skiing to any of the 3 yurts up Logan Canyon, contact The Utah State University Outdoor rec.

Ruby Mountains Part 4

The Final Day and there is not much to show. We woke up to 100 feet of visibility and howling winds. We did not take many pictures do the fact that we could not see anything.

Liberty Pass- our final high point before thousands of feet of downhill.

We made it to the car though after a few hours of wandering around above 10,000 feet. we had to ski a steep couloir and ski past 3 high mountain lakes. It was a strong finish to a epic weekend. Here are my final thoughts on the Ruby Mtns.

Lamoille Canyon= The Finish Line

This is how we both felt. It felt good to reach the car.

When seeing the Ruby Mountains for the first time, there is a certain aura around them that causes to conjure up ideas of great, unskied lines, or impassable ridgelines. They come out of nowhere in the desert of Nevada and for a few moments it takes your mind away from never ending strip of pavement that you have been staring at for hours while motoring on Interstate 80. Your thoughts are lost in couloirs, bowls and powder. They stand as an oasis. Mark was the one that took those thoughts and acted upon them. After 3 years of plans not working out he finally quenched his wonderment about what the Rubies really hold. I was lucky enough to be a part of it.

This curiosity is the basis for most epic adventures and the force that drives us to do what we do. We all love to make turns in soft snow and scare ourselves on steep slopes, but what we really want is to see what is out there and feed the imagination with even more images and more possibilities. I guess it is a perpetual cycle with no end. And those of us that attempt to satisfy the curiosity seem to only become more curious.

Ruby Mountains Part 3

Another morning and this one is the most beautiful of them all. It is Valentine's day and the Rubies have a lot of love in store for us. On this day we cover the most ground of any day. We start our day by working across boiler plate snow conditions that is impossible to get grip on. We have to be creative and pick just the right spots to step to insure that our skins grip. We quickly are looking down on Overland lake and we have 1,000 feet of beautiful bowl skiing all the way onto the lake. Above the lake is an amazing blue ice fall. All around us are long, steep lines which have probably never been skied before. You could spend an entire ski career in the Overland Lake drainage.

Yeah We got to ski this!

Epic lines. This is the kind of stuff movies are made of!

We were able to traverse across the bottoms of huge cirques and cover a lot of ground in just a short period of time. Then it was time to climb again. The sun had warmed the south facing ridge we were moving on and we went straight up it. After a lot of sweating, we reached the ridge at the top of Long Canyon and get a view of Ruby Dome and the other monster peaks of the range.

The Infamous Ruby Dome

We are now on the crest ridge and ready to move and move we did. We were practically running along the barren ridge and were driven like two kids in a candy shop. Upon topping out on a small peak we look down on the saddle and see a herd of mountain goats. Just looking at their tracks and where they had been scared me and I envy their mountaineering skills!

Mountain goats standing on the edge of the world.

We finally stopped moving when we realized that we were about to bonk. We had been moving non stop and covered over 9 miles. We found a clump of trees to hunker down behind and spent the rest of Valentine's day at 10,500 feet enjoying some classy dehydrated meals.

Tune in later for the the final day of action!

Ruby Mountains Part 2

When we woke up on day 2 feeling that the hard part was behind us. Our plan for the day was to get back up on the ridge and cruise. It ended up being another day very similar to the first. We quickly reached the ridge in the morning and found that we would have to rip our skins and enjoy some of the great Ruby powder. When we looked out over the ridge we saw nothing but impassible ridge line. Our other option was to ski down about 2,000 vertical feet, cross over 2 drainages and ski a few miles up the third drainage. Needless to say it was not what we had planned. But we did get some good downhill.

Once we reached the top of the drainage, there was a pretty large headwall. We climbed up to the pass expecting to see Overland lake on the other side. We reached the top and decided that we were sufficiently spent for the night. So we set up camp on a pristine ridge at almost 10.000 feet that gave a us great view.

Nothing beats this view out your front door

Mark chasing the sunset

We ate 2 dinners that night to help prepare for the next day and give us the much needed calories. Life just keeps getting better in the Rubies!

Mission Accomplished!

The trip went off without a hitch. Well almost. We headed off to the Ruby Mountains of Nevada for an epic journey. I am currently writing an article that is explaining everything in full detail. So for now I will post the stats of the trip with a few photos and a just a couple of the highlights. Keep checking back for updates because I will do it in sections.

Total trip details:

February 12-15, 2010

Mileage-37 miles

Vertical feet climbed-11,300

High Point-10,860 ft

Pack weight- 36 pounds

This was probably one of the most physically demanding trips I have ever done. Part of the reason for that was due to the fact that we were not always completely clear on our route and what we were capable of each day. Along with the physical effort put forth we were able to really test our navigation skills.

We were about 2.5 hours into our drive to Elko, NV when Mark realized that all of our topo maps were sitting on his kitchen table. The next morning we stopped everywhere we could looking for a topo map that would help to gives us an idea of our route. Luckily Cowboy John, our shuttle driver, had a recreational map of the area which we were able to use and totally saved us multiple times.

Cowboy John

We skied from Harrison pass up past the Green mountain trailhead and headed north. Our ultimate goal was Lamoille Canyon via the Ruby Crest ridgeline. We were very anxious to get up on the ridge so we could get a view of our objective and we also thought that once on the ridge, we would be sprinting along it and cruise on through. Boy were we wrong! For the first 2 days it seemed like every ridge we reached was nye impassible and we were forced to find a safe route down and try to access in another drainage or location.

Typical view of the ridge we were supposed to be "cruising" along

So after a few ups and downs (about 2500 feet each) we finally felt like we got on course. Our nights seemed to be perfect. we stayed warm and always had great views when we woke up.

Camp 1

I know the average attention span for blogs is usually just a few photos and even fewer paragraphs. Tune in for the next update and more photos. I have lots more to share. Feel free to ask questions. I love talking about this trip.

I would be a rich man

If I did not have such a healthy outdoor recreation obsession, I figure I could retire somewhere around the age of 35. I do not even want to imagine all the money I have invested in gear! It is an ongoing problem in life. And no matter the size of my paycheck there always seems to be a percentage of it that is budgeted to buy some climbing hardware, camping amenities or skiing paraphernalia. I do not have a solution to my problem and luckily my wife is aware of my problem and tolerates me the best she can. Over the past few years websites such as Steep and Cheap have played the devils advocate for people like me. I have a love hate relationship with it, but my wife probably wishes she could block all discount gear websites from my computer.

Here is one corner of my happy place, There is also a closet that looks like it vomited after a lunch at REI.

One of my proudest accomplishments while being a homeowner is the transformation of a bedroom into a gear room. I show it off to everyone that visits and sometimes when no one is watching, I enter my gear room, close the door and play with all my investments. I also enjoy seeing other peoples gear rooms and checking out gear that others have that are on my list of future purchases. I know I am a total nerd, but I figure there are worse habits out there. Share your thoughts on gear rooms, storage techniques or addictions to gear that you have. I would like to know if there are more people out there that share my illness.

There is no such thing as too many kayaks!

Sometimes you got to beat the winter blues

Bek loves when she can shed the winter wear for a weekend and get the blood pumping!

One of the greatest things about living in Utah is that you can have the best of both worlds all year long. Everyone knows that winter in northern Utah brings the greatest snow on earth. But when you need to thaw out from too many face shots and chilly dawn patrol mornings, we like to head south and feel the warm red rock on our hands. One of the best places for mid-winter climbing is Snow Canyon State Park. It seems to get great sun exposure and always warm enough to climb or hike. It is super accessible from St. George and there are all types of levels of activities so that you can take a versatile group and everyone can find something to do.

December climbing at its best

For the climbing, there are tons of sport routes and trad routes. And if any of you have not climbed sandstone/red rock, I recommend it. There is something different about it that makes it rad. The route pictured is a 5.7 name Twist and Shout. It is a good warm-up route on the way to the next tier of routes. I took my father-in-law on this route and it was his first climbing experience. He loved it and decided that your early 60's is not too old to pick up a new sport. I am happy to share it with him because that just means another partner option when I am looking for a belay!

I hope I am still scaling rocks like this my sixties

Next time we have a dry spell or you just need to get out of the inverted Salt Lake Valley, pack up and take the short drive south for the weekend. Even us snow lovers need the sunshine to keep us going!