Wind and Waiting on Denali

Mike and I had been stuck at the 14,200 ft. camp on Denali for 6 days now, and it was making us more than a little stir crazy. The weather had completely socked us in, and the wind was howling up on the ridge that led to the 17,000 ft. camp. We weren't going anywhere until the weather had cleared and the wind had tempered her fury. Fortunately, we had set ourselves up well for the waiting game. Our slow and steady slogging up the Kalhitna Glacier with enormous packs and heavy sleds were packed with enough food and fuel to last us another week and a half at Advanced Base Camp. We would wait for our weather window as long as we had the food.

Every couple of hours we would emerge from our slightly cramped, single walled mountaineering tent to shovel away accumulating snow, cut snow blocks for the wind wall, and wander over to the Ranger's tent to say hello. We weren't the only ones stuck in camp...there were plenty of other parties waiting for the weather to clear as well. The camp made for an interesting hodgepodge of mountaineers hailing from all over the globe.

We maxed out on card games by day 3. By day 4, we had killed all the batteries for the mini disc player, and by day 5 I had counted how many squares of ripstop there were in a square foot of conduit. By day 6, we were itching to get moving. The weather had started to clear up, and the forecast on the radio was promising. We hatched a plan, and decided move. We decided we would wake up at midnight, and be moving up the Headwall by 12:30am. That way we'd beat the crowds to the fixed lines, which were notorious for having people held up traffic-jam style waiting for their turn. We'd make camp at 17,000ft., have a hot lunch, then push to the summit with super light packs, all in a day.

At 12am our alarms went off and the tent was frosty with the frozen condensation of our breath. The cold stung our faces even inside the tent, a not so gentle reminder that we were in for a long, chilly couple of hours. We pulled on our overboots and all of our layers, and broke down camp as quickly as we could. We were roped up and ready to go at 12:45.

At the higher elevations on Denali, the hours between midnight and 5am are brutally cold...it was all I could do to keep my extremities warm. I swung my hands and feet every couple of steps, trying to force the circulation back into them. It's amazing how fast your hands can get numb carrying a metal ice axe- even through the thickest gloves and having ensolite pad the head of your axe.

We made good time form camp to the base of the fixed lines. Our plan was working so far- we were the first ones up and moving, and the first ones to the fixed lines. We had traveled up the first 1,000 feet of elevation pretty quickly, and it may have been the fast hike combined with the intense cold that turned my mood from super motivated to super cranky. I swallowed a couple of packets of GU, and then Mike and I started moving up the fixed lines slowly. The are numerous sections of line that are fixed, so every 100 feet or so you have to get out of one ascending system and into another, which got irritating after the first 3 or so. Not to mention that locking an unlocking carabiners with bulky gloves at that altitude and temperature makes the whole process take 20 times longer than it normally does.

When we reached the top of the fixed lines, I begged for a break and we sat for a couple of minutes, watching the sun starting to peek up from the horizon. It was stunningly beautiful- oranges, purples, and fiery pinks illuminated the sky, making Mt. Foraker and Mt. Hunter look as if they were ablaze. After taking in the 3am sunrise, the cold started to penetrate our tired muscles and we roped up again, moving up.

The most beautiful part of the West Buttress route is gaining the Headwall and walking the Buttress itself. The ridge was sidewalk thin in some areas; with sheer, steep drops on either side. If you fell, you would tumble all the way down to Peter's Basin. It was nervy in spots, so we went slow and methodically. By the time we reached the 17,000 camp, we were exhausted but excited that we'd made it. Our plan was to keep pushing to the summit. We set up camp and made a hot lunch, and crashed for 2 hours. I woke up to Mike flaking out the rope outside, setting things up so that we could keep climbing.

Denali Pass was a beast- it wasn't as steep as the Headwall, but it took forever. The wind was starting to pick up, and we could see gusts of wind moving the snow around like mini tornadoes higher above us. It took us over 2 hours to reach the top of Denali Pass, which lies at 18,200 ft. We were absolutely worked, and as soon as we crested the saddle, we were in for a rude surprise...gale force winds nearly knocked me off my feet, and it took all I had to move forward even a couple of steps. We were getting blasted, sitting in an exposed saddle with little protection. All it took was a look from both of us to communicate with each other that Mother Nature had won for the day. It was time to go down.

And so we headed down. Even though we didn't make the summit that day, we waited it out at High Camp for a night and touched the top 2 days later. We were pretty excited that we had pushed up over 4,000 ft that day, and seen a gorgeous sunrise in the process. On our expedition, we had seen most all of Denali's mood swings, from the powerful winds to the biting cold and the bluebird skies. We counted ourselves some of the luckier ones-we got to summit in style and earned every step of the way!

-Lauren Ditolla

Gearhead

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Adventure Contest: "The Wave"

Have you ever experienced a silence so profound it envelopes you? A silence so deep your own breathing is muted? This silence and the stunning scenery is what lures me to the Southern Utah desert time and again. There is no hum of electricity, no sounds of ATV's or highway vehicles, no rush of a stream or river, and when no one is talking, no sound of voices. Every once in awhile the wind would pick up. This wind is not the same wind you find in any city or in the mountains, or even in the countryside. This is a desert wind. It blows through your ears around your body and echoes hollow. It's a wind that sounds like it has blown for eons of time. It has no end and no beginning. It's a wind without direction and no destination. It's there to remind you that you are now in it's land, a land so vast and so beautiful and also very deadly. This is a land, that if respected reveals its secrets to you. It's a land of gentle majestic beauty.

Our destination this time was The Wave. A rock formation carved from the flow of water and rush of wind over millions of years. My friend Mason describes this place perfectly, so I'm using his words. "Below a large butte sat a large sandstone formation, probably 50 high and covering maybe an acre and a half. It was made up of fine layers of red, yellow and brown sandstone and had large, smooth troughs about 10 to 15 feet wide where the waves of sandstone dipped and soared from years of slow erosion. If the mountains of the Wasatch or the Sawtooth are evidence of the earths abrupt eruption and the glaciers sudden recession, then Wave and its surrounding area is a display of natures gentle and artistic craft."

After the long hike across the hot desert we were greatly rewarded with this piece of art in the wilderness. As I entered the wave, I was overcome with such a variety of emotions, I had to just stop and take it all in.

I had seen photos of this place, had always wanted to come here, but nothing had prepared me for what was in front of me. This formation is one of natures' most spectacular. The colors were so vivid, the waves of sandstone so perfectly formed. We were not the only ones marveling at this work of art. There were a few others, all as in awe as we were. There was hardly any talking as everyone tried to take in what we were seeing. The beauty and vastness of this southern Utah desert always puts life in perspective for me. Out there you are one tiny person in this wilderness. Out there, you realize that you are but an infant in the sands of time. What it takes for us to create and destroy cities and civilizations is nothing compared to natures work on this land. Out there, you realize there is so much more to this life than our minuscule existence. Not to say our existence here means nothing, but this desert puts your life back into perspective. The mundane things we deal with on a day to day basis mean nothing out here. Out here, nature puts everything back into place for you, helps you realize what is actually important, helps you feel the past in a way nothing else can. Out here, the past, present and future are one. Out here will continue with or without us.

Stacy Henderson

Gearhead/Live Chat

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An Uphill Downhill Adventure Story

My car told me it was 13C when I jumped in. Far too warm to snow, but as I drove north on I-80 and I-84, I watched the temperature slowly drop. 12, 9, 7C.

I think I may have been watching the temperature drop a little to closely, because I failed to notice one of Weber County's finest lying in wait for me on the side of the road.

Once again, I was going too fast.

"Where are you headed?"

"umm... Snowbasin"

"...and what are you going there for?"

"a race"

"what kind of race?"

"ah ... errr ... a running race"

"License and Registration please"

Inquisition over, I accepted my ticket and continued on to Snowbasin to take part in the 8th annual Uphill/Downhill.

I'd been in town for several weeks straight - without any weekend quests to the desert or mountains and I was itching to get out on an adventure - where ever it might be. Unfortunately, all of my mates flaked out and prospective trips to both Moab and the Uinta Mountains never materialized.

I had learned of this race when I was flipping through the paper on Friday afternoon, searching for alternatives to my foiled plans.

After watching Lipstick Film's latest telemark movie on Friday night, I was still hedging whether I would run. In fact I told myself, I'd either go out post-film drinking on Main Street with the other kids, or do the race. I was feeling a bit too tired and off-color for boozing, so I went to bed early and half-heartedly set my alarm.

Back to the dropping temperature. By the time I arrived at Snowbasin, the temperature gauge in my car showed 3C, and yes, it started snowing a few minutes after I arrived. To be honest, I was a bit excited. A race in the snow would definitely be more interesting.

I like skiing Snowbasin. The main reason I like it is for the steeps. Unfortunately steep downhill pistes translate into steep ascents if you are running straight up them. And that's what the course of the Uphill/Downhill did. Straight up the piste from the base of the resort to the top of the Needles Gondola Express - via City Hill, Porky Face, Waterfall, Needles Run, Porcupine Traverse, and finally Sweet Revenge. Not up any smooth switchbacking trails, but straight up the piste.

Despite the conditions, a reasonable group of runners gathered at the start. Some runners decked-out in racing tights, and some like me in a full tracksuit with gloves and beanies. Standing around, shivering in the snow was uncomfortable. We were all relieved when the hooter sounded for the start and we could get our frozen muscles moving to warm up.

A few youngsters sprinted out of the start gate but the going soon got tough, and they quickly dropped back into the pack. It soon got so steep that it became difficult to continue running, and a hike/climb became the most efficient means of ascent. I was reticent to relinquish my running stride, as it felt like a cop-out, but with long walking strides I was catching a runner ahead, so I think I had the right idea.

The snow continued. Heavy, wet flakes came down harder and harder. It was becoming difficult to navigate the route of the race, which had been marked with blue flags. I was wearing Smith Threshold glasses with the clear lenses in, but they soon fogged-up and had to be taken off for any visibility.

Up the mountain, there was no trail to follow. I had to pick my own way through the long grass, and loose rock and gravel. At times I looked up from my dragging feet to see the leaders up ahead, which gave me some idea of which way the course turned next, but often when I looked up, all I could see was swirling snow and cloud. All the way to the lodge at the top where the snow had started to settle.

If the "run" up was more like climbing ... then the descent was like the Gloucestershire Cheese Rolling, but with 5km of it. The increasing snow, made the already treacherous task of negotiating the loose rock increasingly tricky. The more stable rocks were now being covered in snow making them slick land-mines. I slipped a couple of times, but thankfully didn't injure myself or roll an ankle. I fact, I took the route down pretty conservatively. That is, until I heard one of the ascending back markers cheer someone on just behind me. There was no way I wanted to be passed, so I told myself to concentrate and picked up my level of risk, and the pace.

The lower section of the course didn't have so much snow, but longer grass made identifying the hidden treasures lurking underneath much more difficult. Of course all the runners had the same difficulties, and I was able to increase my lead on the runner behind me. Unfortunately though, I couldn't quite catch the two leaders in the end, settling for third.

I ran this race in Pearl Izumi Syncro Float 2's. I've had these shoes for a few months now. I found them ideal for this race. They were lightweight enough for the uphill section, and stiff enough to provide protection on rough terrain downhill, particularly for my toes.

The Snowbasin Uphill/Downhill, despite its difficulty, is a fun 10km race to finish off the season. Now that I know what I am in for, I hope to come back next year and give it a real shake. I am sure my aching quads will have healed by then...

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A Weekend on the River

Although I am going to be in Phoenix for the weekend of the Adventure Party, and thus ineligible for all of the sweet prizes. I wanted to share my story with everyone anyways, and give a different perspective, that adventures can be had anywhere, even in Michigan.
-David Wernet


"You know how to canoe, right?" my friend Andy asked me a few weeks prior to our trip.

"Of course." I responded over the phone, "how hard is it to canoe?" Although I hadn't paddled a canoe on anything remotely resembling a river since 6th grade camp, I considered myself an expert lake canoer. And really how much different could it be?

I now found myself in the front seat of our 2 man canoe( I wisely yielded the back seat to supreme canoe master Andy) rocketing down the upper stretch of the Manistee River, in the Northern Lower Peninsula of Michigan. Our plan was to spend 3 days on the river, 2 nights camping. Rounding out the trip was our other friend Ben, who lost the ro-sham-bo and was plugging along in our 1 man canoe.

The upper stretch of the river is fast flowing, narrow, with cold, clear water that continually winds through forest and swamps. It takes constant action to keep our canoe clear of log jams, sweeper trees and submerged logs and rocks along the way. As a credit to Andy's canoeing prowess, not only is he skillfully piloting us down this river, he is also somehow managing to find time to roll and smoke his hand rolled cigarettes.

“DRAW STROKE!” Andy suddenly yells out. I have no idea what this means, but drawing upon my vast knowledge of golf, and the fact that the current is rapidly taking us directly at a huge log, I quickly deduce we need to go left, fast. After a few stressful moments and some strong left to right strokes, disaster is averted and we continue our journey.

After about 8 miles the river begins to have a broader feel, and the current slows. We spend the rest of day one just cruising, taking in the scenery, and keeping an eye out for a campsite, which we find at a perfect spot along the river, up on a small bluff overlooking a river bend.

Day 2 is a Saturday, and in Northern Michigan, in July, that means the tourists are out in full force. The river is full of canoes, kayaks, even a few tubers. And many surly fly fishermen who I am pretty sure are genetically predisposed to hate everything in the river except trout. However today we are all business as we need to cover some serious distance, about 15 miles. Everyone is hungover from last nights festivities, and as luck would have it, it's my turn in our little one person canoe. Which tracks about as well as a barge.

Everything is going smoothly until just before dusk when we need to start finding a campsite. Andy had assured us that this stretch of the river was all state land, and we can camp anywhere along the banks. However all we are finding is a river lined with cabins, and no trespassing signs everywhere. Heading into the sunset, and while trying to scan an uninhabited swamp for a suitable campsite, I pull a Titanic and run smack into a submerged log, dumping me and everything in my canoe overboard. Fortunately, thanks to my catlike reflexes I managed to save all the gear, but now I am soaked, its getting dark, and we have nowhere to camp.

As the sun starts to set we realize we are going to have to find something fast. We spy a nice area that rises up from some low lying swampy forest. We distance ourselves from a few groups of kayakers and make our move. Pulling up the canoes from the bank and lying low as the kayakers go by we settle in as outlaw campers for the night.

Its now dawn of day 3, and its a hot one. The high today is in the mid 90s. Multiple times we stop to take a dip in the river, which is continually stream fed and stays frigid year round. As the morning wears on we pass through many more groups of tubers accompanied by their flotilla of empty beer cans. There is a livery nearby that pumps as many tourists into the river as possible for a short tube trip.

After about 50 just-one-more-bend's we finally come around a corner to see a highway overpass ahead, our marker that our pullout is near. Sunburnt, hungry, and sore, we pile out of the river and find our drop car. We bike lock the canoes to a tree, cram into Andy's Honda Civic Hatchback, and make the hour plus drive back to the start of our journey, where our other two cars are located. After heading back down to the finish again, we load up the gear and canoes and head into town for some much needed beer, burgers and talk of our next trip.

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Why just have one? 2007 Adventure Contest by Christian Paul

Each year at Backcountry.com, we have a contest from May to October in which you earn points to enter a gear raffle. We also have the opportunity to write a story about an adventure we had during the contest. It is like the "Best Adventure of the Year Award" for the contest. I thought that I would do something different this year. Since I had so many adventures, I thought I would share with you, the reader, my Adventure Contest from start to finish, and what this contest as a whole means to me. I decided that a month by month recap would give all of you reading this a chance to see the life of a Gearhead in the flesh. I will share with you my passion for what I love to do, why this passion exists and why I love working at Backcountry.com. Follow along as I break down this year's contest month by month- here we go!

May 2007

This story begins with an end, an end to snowboarding here in Utah for Season 2007. I was shooting for a goal of 60 rides - I got 67. May 3rd, 5th, and 6th were legendary indeed. We had a freak set of storms hit the Cottonwood Canyons, and the mad rush for the pow pow was on. The 3rd brought blowing snow and whiteout conditions for my last run home from Hidden Peak. The 5th's conditions were also whiteout, but incredible runs in Peruvian and a great day in Gad valley on my Ride Society. The 6th was all about exploring new terrain that had not become a speed bump field, getting really steep freshies and just having a great time until I was exhausted. To get 3 out of 4 powder days in the end of a season is like a return of unimaginably good Karma.

So on to hiking for the summer it is. The 10th and 12th I hit Bells Canyon and on the 14th I hiked Big Willow with the new gear from Golite that I was chosen to test. In pursuit of my never-ending search for unexplored territory, it was time to get out the trekking pack, and discover a new area.

I have been to just about every wilderness area imaginable in Utah, but Escalante was one spot I had yet to explore. So my friends Jared and Marc and I headed out on a Wednesday night and pitched camp next to the Paria river at about 2 a.m. Upon waking, it was time to hit the trail. Packs loaded, we headed into the Paria Box. We spotted cougar tracks as we headed out into Old Paria. Steadily, we followed the river, and finally stopped in the mouth of the canyon we wanted to get to. Out came the Sirius 2 and we had camp! We had water right off our site and shade from foliage that makes a living surviving the flow of water that comes from the slots and high desert here. Waking up to the sun just beating us down, we decided it was time to head for higher ground to get cooler. Off to Hogeye Canyon it is. I am walking in the river all the way there, in my Keen Arroyos, keeping me cool in this 100+ degree inferno. Finally after a nice 40 min walk, we arrive at the mouth of Hogeye. It follows a stream outlet into the Paria. One minute we are in desert, the next a real life oasis. The thunderstorms that day broke overhead. Into full rain gear and we pick a spot to wait it out. Everywhere, there are ferns, moss and plant life, it felt more like a jungle not a desert. This canyon stays that way till you get up top, then you proceed in the sand the rest of the way. The view was beautiful from up there, and our trip, ending 3 days later, was another adventure itself and finally pitching camp in BLM land for we were too tired to drive all the way back that 4th night.

Not to have lost the adventure bug, we hiked part of the Black Hawk Trail on the 27th, camped at 8,000 feet that night in Payson Canyon, and hiked the Mount Nebo trail the next day till the snow was too deep and steep in the North Cirque. I would say the May turned out to be a great start this year, but the adventure has only just begun.

June 2007

June was very strange climate-wise. We started off hot, then had some stormy weather. I started the Month on the 2nd, and hiked the road in Millcreek Canyon from Terraces to Elbow Fork.














Then a short hop up to Bells Canyon on the 3rd. Behold, snowboarding is not over. A freak storm puts snow up Little Cottonwood Canyon, so I do a road side camp up the canyon and I am up at the crack of dawn and hiking Gad Valley for freshies. Found them! Hiked past Mid Gad and rode to the bottom. That Saturday there was some really good slush, so I hiked Collins and rode it all the way down. Sunday was the last day of the year to ride, with some drop-in runs on my Burton Malolo in the Brighton Half-Pipe. After putting away the board for the year, I decided that just hiking a gulch was not seeing everything, so I did a stint of canyon traverses this year.

On the 16th, I hiked from Alta to Brighton via the Catherine Pass trail to Catherine Pass to the Brighton Lakes Trail to the Brighton ticket office. The 17th I made my weekly visit to Bells Canyon. Made a mid-week stop on the way home to Rocky Mouth Falls. The 23rd was another traverse from Big Cottonwood Canyon to Millcreek Canyon. Starting at the Upper s-turn trail head,
I hiked Mill B North. This was a steep and strenuous climb to get to the West Porter Fork Pass. Once there, you traverse a cirque below Mt. Raymond, and head to the Porter Fork Pass. After 3300 feet of elevation gain and a lengthy traverse in really hot temps for this altitude, descending Porter Fork was brutal, to say the least. Eight miles later, I could have not been more happy to see my wife there to pick me up.

The 24th was a relaxing day where I got to go catch some sun on top of some boulders in my personal favorite, Bells Canyon. A long day at work on the 27th took me up to Rocky Mouth Falls to get a break from thinking about things, and a lot of thinking I had to do. The 30th of June I decided I wanted to get another traverse in, so I hiked Little Cottonwood Canyon to Big Cottonwood Canyon via Grizzly Gulch to Twin Lakes Pass Trail to Silver Lake. It was a beautiful day, not a cloud in the sky, and at the pass, the temperature was about 75 degrees, a far cry from the 100+ degrees the valley was getting, As I descended the Twin Lakes Trail to the lake, I pondered on where the next adventure would be and how far I could really go this year.

July 2007

Seeming to always navigate back to this place for meditation and tranquility, July 1st I find myself hiking Bells Canyon again. This canyon does a wonderful 4 season transformation, and July puts it in summer mode.














Being that in the United States, Independence Day was approaching, me and fellow Backcountry.com mate, Jared, headed out to catch a night in the Wasatch because of the full moon. The hike in began after work on the 3rd. We made good time to Willow Heights Lake and up the saddle to the ridge for one hell of a sunset. We built camp, and watched day turn into night. With my Sirius 2 pitched, we settled in for a fantastic evening on the ridge. With a midnight show from our trusty friend the Moon, it was stellar to say the least. The next day consisted of taking in the wild flowers that were out everywhere, a hardy breakfast made with the Brunton Raptor stove I just love, not to mention percolated coffee at 9,000 feet, and a great trek out. July 6th took me and my wife on a short hike above Cecret Lake, with a picnic and a great view, this was a pleasant way to start off the weekend.

The 7th took me to one of my all time favorite hikes,Lake Blanch. This is a strenous hike well over 2700 feet to the lake with one incredible back drop, Sundial Peak, looming over the lake. This is by far one of the most beautiful places I have been on this earth, and right here in my back yard. The 8th my wife and I decide to hike Dog Lake from the Lake Mary Trail, fitting since my wife's name is Mary. A great day for us together with really big things to come, but I will get to that later.

Reconnecting with a long time friend Marc on July 11th, we decided an evening hike to Catherine Pass would be a great getaway for the day. We got really close to a bull moose that parked it along side the trail. At the pass, the sound of thunder caught our attention and we made a quick descent to the meadow below. The rain started pouring, and out came the rain gear. Nothing like having an Arc'teryx Alpha SL to keep you bone dry in times like these. So staying dry, even when it was dumping, we took a ton of pictures and just enjoyed the moment. Sometimes I think we forget to do this, and it is days like this one that remind you to stop and smell the flowers.

By far the most amazing adventure was about to happen. Friday, July 13th, 2007 my daughter Milora was born. I have been to so many beautiful places, and have had so many adventures, but this by far takes top honors for adventures I have been on. Becoming a parent is a very good life-changing experience. Being that I did not want to be far away right after she was born, I hiked Bells Canyon again on the 17th and Stairs Gulch on the 21st. Needing a longer journey, I decided to hike to Snake creek Pass on the 22nd. This was a great day with great lighting and wonderful views. Got shots of my Solio Charger in action on the pass. Getting off work on Friday the 27th, I headed up to Rocky Mouth Canyon.

Finishing the month out with surely one of the best hikes of the season, I visited White Pine Lake in Little Cottonwood Canyon. Really a nice note to leave this month on, kind of hard to top off the greatest adventure of my life.

August 2007

This is the month of my birthday, and it was not a boring one to say the least. On the 4th, I hiked Collins Gulch to Germania Pass, to feel the first chill since April at this altitude. The 5th I hiked the Pipeline Trail to the Burch Hollow Trail to the Millcreek Ridge. Getting enough time to snap a few photo's and have a snack, then out with the rain gear for the heavens fell from above. I returned to Bells Canyon on the 10th, to visit the Boulder Field here that I love to traverse. Monday after I left work, I decided to head to Ceret Lake for some great sunset photos. The 16th and 17th I camped at a last minute opening in the Albion Basin and the next day headed up to Red Pine Lake with my trusty Camelbak Trail Blazer. The 24th was a hike to Bells Canyon, and the 25th was a hike up Mill D North to Dog Lake. The 25th I explored the Big Willow Trail with some great views and ever-changing terrain as you climb this steep and fun gulch.

This month was a shorter month for me. Family in town and a newborn did limit my activity, but I was still able to get out there. Let that be a lesson for new parents: With some cooperation, and understanding, there is no reason you have to stop living your life.

September 2007

Well with my luck, September 1st landed on a Saturday. And with it still being very warm in the valley, a hike to Sunset Peak was in order. Great views and one of my favorite peaks to bag in the Wasatch. The 2nd brought me to do one more traverse hike starting in Big Cottonwood Canyon following the Mill D North Trail to Dog Lake, then down the Little Water Trail and ending in Millcreek Canyon to be picked up by my oh so understanding wife. The 3rd I decided to head to the mine up Cardiff Fork, which was very relaxing indeed. Friday the 7th was a return to Bells Canyon. Saturday I was slated to DJ at Saltair Resort for a huge House and Drum and Base event. With how late I had to play, I decided to camp on the beach. Sunday was so exhausting, I could only muster up the energy to hike to Bells Canyon once again.

With some paid time off needing to be taken, my mini vacation started with a hike to the boulder field in Bells Canyon on the 14th. The 15th, with rumor of fall colors setting in up Diamond Fork Canyon, I hiked to the ridge, then back to the hot springs for a soak. The 16th was the last backpacking trip of the season, so I loaded up the pack, and headed out with Jared for one more time this season. With a hairy traverse in the dark on the 16th to camp, we found a little paradise in this rugged wilderness in the Uinta's. Watson Lake was our destination, for we both had not done any fishing this season. When we awoke, we had no idea how great of a spot we had found, and the rush to get the lines wet was on. After about 2 hours, I landed a 13 inch Cutthroat Trout. Being that both of us had to be back the evening of the 17th, we broke camp and headed out. Not bad for an overnighter, and what a great place to visit. I will go back here for sure next season. The 22nd started out sunny and I decided to get up early and hike Cardiff Pass. On the way down the weather came in and once again, the Alpha SL rain jacket saved the day. Sunday the 23rd the upper canyons got their first snow. I hiked to Bells Canyon because it sits much lower in elevation, therefore no snow.

Tuesday the 25th, I hiked to my favorite spot up Rocky Mouth Canyon. Saturday the 29th, I headed up to Bells Canyon with my CamelBak Trail Blazer, even though it was cold and raining severely with snow reported to be on the way. The weatherman was not wrong. It snowed! It was coming down so hard, I knew if I got up early enough the next day there might be some snow to do turns on. Sure enough, Sunday the 30th, I got to ride! I hiked the Albion Basin to Cecret Lake, and took Home Run that had very little rocks and was a pretty smooth ride to the bottom.
Nothing epic I assure you, but to get turns on my Malolo and a run to the base in September is something I will never pass up. What a priceless place Utah is, to start a month bagging a peak in shorts and ending it snowboarding is unreal.

October and Summary

Our contest has finally come to an end. It will snow soon, and all the fall colors are out. Time to reflect on everything I have done this year. No other job I have ever had gives you the opportunity to push yourself to the limits in what you love to do and still provide you with a fulfilling work environment with some of the most talented, kind, understanding and gifted people as I get the pleasure of working with everyday.

So to sum it up, I got 7 rides in for the contest, 58 days hiking, 56,482 vertical feet of elevation gain, I wrote 108 product reviews, picked up 1,090 pieces of trash, and spent 10 nights camping under the stars. Not bad, for getting married this year, having a 60+ ride season snowboarding, having a baby, and then doing this all on top of working a 40 hour a week job. This would test the metal of anyone. But it was the activity that kept me sane, the return to the wilderness for peace and clarity, and the opportunity to get in on some great gear that made this year all that much more incredible to me.

I can say that Backcountry.com is the best job I have ever had. I get to work with the gear that I love everyday, help my company reach a goal of providing the best gear in the business, and back that gear with our dedication to the activities that we all love to do. I can tell you this, when I did not think I could go any further, I pushed it just a little bit harder because of this contest. Of course everything has to come to an end, and what would there be a finish line for if it were not the end? 6th place overall in points is not that bad considering. I am very happy to have archived that and look forward to next year's contest.

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Cirque Traverse Report - Part Two

Continued from Part One.

After Pingora, you get up around 12,000 feet and stay there for most of the day, a fact that wasn't doing anything for our speed. Even still, we had plenty of daylight left and a full moon coming after that, so as long as we could will our legs to keep working, things were looking good. Here's Ari rapping off the Sharks Nose.



Yours truly on the summit of Block Tower. Block Tower sports an easy, if grovelly chimney, and would be the last of the technical peaks. After that, we had to rap into and ascend out of your garden variety loose death gulley, and then we'd put the climbing gear away and begin the enduro hiking festival™.



The Cirque



#10, South Watchtower(I think). With the sun going down, we would still have to hit Pylon Peak(to the right), drop down to a water source of questionable quality, then hike up Warrior I (in the sun on the left), and then across to the Warbonnet.



Ari hitting the Sending Sauce™, and me a little whacked out, but stoked. I have to plug the sweet Mountain Hardwear Transition Jacket. I'm not a gear geek, but Mountain Hardwear killed it with this one.




So, once the sun went down, the moon came up and we made it to the Warbonnet at about 11:30 on saturday night. Unfortunately in our stupor we got suckered onto a sub peak, and not the true summit and turned around when the climbing (in our tennies and no rope) got too hairball. We reluctantly decided that was good enough, and started the long walk (about 3.5 hours) back to the car. After going cross country through the wilderness we stumbled into the parking lot at 3:30 am, 23.5 hours after leaving (and 10 hrs slower than the record set by Dave Anderson!). It took a while (and a handful of vitamin I) for the pain in my knees and feet to recede before I realized how much fun that had just been.



p.s. Of course the whole point of this was to make it back to see Sonvolt and Alejandro Escovedo at Red Butte Gardens Sunday evening. It was a great show and the beers tasted especially good that night...

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Jeff Mikaelian's adventure story

This summer I decided to get into a few new sports, Longboarding and Canyoneering. Afterwards I started wondering what the hell I was thinking of taking on some Extreme sports at my age. So we won't talk about my Longboarding, my fellow cube-mates saw what happened with that and was not too pretty.

This spring a friend was telling me about the slot canyons she was doing and said “ yeah it's really fun you should come, bring a harness if you have one”. So I packed up the old harness and belay device Matt Young gave me and headed to Capitol Reef National Park for my first big canyoneering adventure.

On the first day, Malia decides we will do Cassidy Arch, which a spectacular arch on a slickrock plateau. We get there and she sets up the anchor to a Juniper tree and throws the rope into the arch. Then informs me I go first and its a 140 foot free rappel into a seemingly bottomless abyss! I then inform her that I have NEVER rappelled before in my life.

As I am crawling backwards over the edge I start to thinking to myself that this maybe isn't the best place to rappel for the first time. While I am parked there with my butt hanging out into space and contemplating chickening out, I hear a bunch of tourists yelling to me “its easy, go for it”. I was scared enough and did not really need a bunch of people watching me.

Finally I started down and was soon hanging in the middle of a large sandstone alcove, right then I knew that I was hooked on a new sport. Not until I told my story to my fellow Gearheads was I informed how sketchy it was rappelling for the first time on a single 8 mm line.

But it was not over yet, this hike consisted of 5 rappels. On the third rap we were dropping into another alcove through another arch. As I was trying to get over the lip of the alcove gracefully, I slipped and slammed on the sandstone edge on my left side.

I thought I looked like a beater, but after we both were down, Malia complimented me and said at least you did not let go with your right hand. Only then did it sink in that if I had let go I would be dead. I have since done two more canyons and have only freaked out on one of them.

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Cirque Traverse Report - Part One

The Cirque of the Towers in Wyoming's Wind River Range is one of the premier alpine rock climbing zones in the lower 48, and I'm lucky enought to live about 5 hours from the trailhead. Although the ideal trip to the cirque would be packing up a week's worth of stuff on horses and heading in for a long trip, sometimes the need for a fast, surgical mission comes up.

One such occasion came up recently and I asked a good friend to head out for a weekend trip to try and do the entire Cirque Traverse, car to car. Not a light mission, but do-able, and somewhat necessary given the demands of life in the city. We left the Backcountry.com office around 4:30 on a Friday and punched it to Wyoming, getting to the trailhead around 10 or 10:30 pm. We put together some sandwiches for the next day and crashed out.

Up at 3:30 am, ate some breakfast, and began the eight or so mile hike into the Cirque. The trail in is very well traveled so hiking at night was straightforward, and before we knew it we were rounding Arrowhead Lake and saw the sun's first rays were hitting peak #1, Pingora.


After a little soloing up the south buttress of Pingora, we tied in and pitched it out to the top since neither of us had climbed this section before. Didn't see many folks up that early in the Cirque, but a few were already on route.


Next up, the uber classic east ridge of Wolf's Head. That's Ari walking across the ridge to the start of the route. For gear, we had lightweight Black Diamond packs, about 4 camalots, a handful of stoppers, and a Petzl Dragonfly 8.2 mil rope. The route involved some easy climbing up to about 5.7 and a few rappels off of each technical peak, so this was about as light as we wanted to go. To the left you can see the Overhanging Tower (peak #3), the Shark's Nose (peak #4 and #5), and part of Block Tower(#6).



Here's Ari nearing the top of the ramp section on Wolf's Head. Lots of exposure, perfect rock, fun climbing and sick location. About this time we were surprised to run into Adam and Trent, friends from Salt Lake City already on the route. It was their first trip up there and they were psyched. We stopped long enough to look around and agree on how awesome it was to be up there, and on we went.


Maybe the sweetest pitch of the day - the hand traverse on Wolf's Head.


Pinogra sure looks small from the top of Sharks Nose. At this point it was mid afternoon and we still had a long way to go...

To be continued....Check back in a few days for Part 2.

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