In The Shadow of Longs Peak
Monday, 29 May 2023
I was up at 8:30; I make coffee, Gary makes breakfast, I journaled about yesterday’s outing to Arch Canyon. Then we do dishes and tidy up. I thought by this morning the contents of the ice chests would need to be rearranged but both are quite cold inside and many bottles still have ice, so they are left as is. I mention this, since this is a summer trip yet cooler than normal, so there is not the ice melt I would expect.
Our plan for today is to ride our bikes south on the Comb Wash Road and at 11:30 we are on our way. We rode into a cooling breeze which made the ride comfortable despite the air temperature of 81 degrees.
The first mile or so was hard-packed, easy enough to ride on. After that, there is a short, sandy downhill into a draw, then a short, sandy uphill. I chicken out and walk across skirting the water and push up the other side. Gary went thru the water but is also walking the uphill on the far side. Once across the draw, the road is firmer and I hop back on my bike and continue riding. We go by a spur on the east side of the road that Gary investigates as I catch up. The road is a bit sandy but still mostly firm as we approach and go beyond the road into Mule Canyon. Overall, the road is sandier than the section we road on Saturday.
Now, another drop to negotiate with a sandy approach. Again, I chicken out, get off and walk down, across the wash, and up the other side. The road gets sandier and sandier. I get off and walk, the try a couple of times to start again but without success.
Gary is up ahead and returns. This is not fun for me, so we decide to part ways. He will continue till a 1:15 turn-a-round time. We’ll have a radio check at 12:30. If he is not back to camp by 5, I’ll come looking for him.
Mostly I walk back but once on the far side of the drop, the road becomes firm enough to peddle. I stop at the Mule Canyon Road for our radio call, but we are unable to connect. I head back to camp.
By the time I am back to camp, I decide I really need to practice in the sand. So after lunch I hop back on my bike. Surprisingly, I am able to get going in the sand just up from our camp and continue thru more sand to the road and continue southward. At the first draw, I go for it, make it safely across and up the other side. Whew! Next is the Mule Canyon Road and the road is packed so I continue to the second draw, get caught in the sand of the left track (LDC) so get off and walk up the other side. I do note the left track has a bigger drop than the right, so keep that in mind for the return.
Up the incline from the draw, I am back on my bike but now I am in the deeper sand, the section that I gave up on. I preserve for a bit, but after the second or third stall, I give up and head back.
Three vehicles with Idaho plates pass me, the same three that went by on my way out. Then a Tacoma comes by, stops and inquires. They mention that Gary is back only a mile or so, which surprises me. Evidently, he is booking right along!
I continue back, ride down into the 2nd draw and up the right side (LUC) successfully, unto firmer ground and on until the Mule Canyon Road. Then, turn around for another go at that draw, this time down the left side (LDC), across the draw and almost make it up the other side. I push my bike up and am able to start again. About the time I reach the deeper sand, I see Gary coming the other way. Then he stalls too.
We head back, I negotiate the draw and peddle up the other side to the firmer road and stop for a few minutes in the shade about ¼ mile short of Mule Canyon. Then start again, through the next creek and up the other side, then to camp.
We sit down for breather, and I see a woodpecker on one of the large cottonwood trunks on the other side of the road; then I work at setting up the sunshade which Gary helps me finish. Then a beer. Gary makes supper tonight, a concoction of ground buffalo, onion, pepper and tomato sauce, very yummy!
And no photos from the bike ride, but a few from camp and Gary's bug bites!
Comb Ridge
Comb Ridge, Bears Ears National Monument, Utah
26 May 2023 to 30 May 2023
Summary
We had a change in plans for this Memorial Day Weekend. Winds for the Valentine, NE area for Saturday were forecast to be gusting to 50+ miles per hour, certainly not good for day trips on the Niobrara River in canoes or sea kayaks. Wisely, Bill A cancelled the canoe clubs’ outing there. We were scheduled to help with a follow-on sea kayak club but cancelled our participation in that event, since we felt it was imperative that we have the scouting runs on the river on Saturday and Sunday. Just driving with the boats in the high wind could be stressful. Besides the wind, it was also forecast to be colder with periods of thunderstorms.
The change in plans happened on Thursday. Gary looked for alternative boating destinations, but wind was forecast for anything within a days’ drive. But we were packed for a five-day outing, so we picked a new destination, decided to skip boating, pack our backpacks and bikes instead, and head for the Combs Ridge area in Southeast Utah. Temperatures were slated to be in the mid-70s to low-80s, no big winds and no big storms.
Friday, 26 May 2023
We were driving away from Boulder by 10:30, arrived in Blanding by 6 PM and approaching the Comb Wash campground by 6:30. Coming down the hill from Comb Ridge, there appeared to be very few cars in the campground, a good sign, since we are going into the holiday weekend.
We drive in and turn toward our camp of April 2022. Across from the outhouse is an empty site with a new table, and a tree or two but is not shaded in the afternoon sun. Our space of 2022 is available but does not have a tree nor a table. The remote sites along the wash would be shaded but are already occupied.
So, we pull into the new-table-site, have a snack, then work on setting up camp. As we were driving, the wind was increasing and it has picked up again, so we decide to put up the smaller tent, which will hold up better in the wind and not fill with sand and dust. Next is pads and sleeping bags.
Supper tonight is homemade gumbo and arborio rice, both frozen solid, but heat up nicely. That is topped off with chocolate crème filled Oreos for dessert. We turn in early, though it is dark enough for headlamps, and in no time, I am asleep and slept well.
Saturday, 27 May 2023
This morning, Gary was up first. I finally get dressed and crawl out of the tent at 8:15. The sun was already high over the ridge and there Is a light breeze. Gary makes a breakfast of scrambled eggs that I roll into a burrito.
Today’s plan is to ride north along the Comb Wash Road, toward Walnut Knob, where we hiked last year to a very cool rock art panel.
According to my GPS, it’s about 3 miles to the spot where we parked for that outing. The map shows a junction near there with a jog to the northwest and Arch Canyon.
We bike north up the Comb Wash Road. This is a good gravel road with only bits of sand here and there and not steep so a good level for me to ride. There is a very cool pull-off along the way, tucked in-between 2 huge cottonwoods and very inviting as a remote camping site except there is no separation from the road.
Toward noon I am due for a break, and we head up Posey’s Trail, which is steep and sandy, so we are walking from the get-go. We pull our bikes off the road just before a small gulch. It has a bit of shade that we scramble down to and have snacks. Gary walks up the road, finds a nice lookout point and takes a waypoint. I take a photo then spy a interesting plant with long spikey yellow flowers and long narrow green leaves at its base. Other flowers are primrose and orange poppy mallow.
We finish our break, head back down to the main road and decide to continue north. Before long, there is a track to the right that Gary heads up. It is too sandy for me. I walk my bike a short distance and photograph a stand of blue penstemons, return to the main road, and wait for Gary.
Now we head back with a quick detour up the Arch Canyon track. We decide to come back here tomorrow and hike, then start back to camp. The road seems sandier going down and in spots I almost lose my balance (but don’t!). It seems like it takes a long time to get back to the start of the road, but finally we are there, turn east at the stop sign, then south down the Comb Wash Road. We turned back around 1 PM and are in camp at 2:30, so were out about four hours total.
At camp, the GPS shows 4 miles to our snack spot, so perhaps the total biking distance was about 9 miles. Not bad and a really nice day out!
We crawl into the tent at about 8:30. It does not take long to fall asleep and I sleep really well. At some point my air mattress went flat. Fiddling with it woke Gary up and we did manage to re-inflate it.
Tuesday, 30 May 2023
We are up at 8 AM or so; it seems warmer this morning compared to the other mornings. There is no breeze yet, the same pattern of each of the past 4 mornings.
I get coffee started. Gary makes breakfast, scrambled eggs and vegetables folded into a burrito with tomatillo salsa, yummy!
We skip dishes and get ready for today’s outing, Kane Gulch, which is in the Cedar Mesa area, along UT261, maybe 20 miles or so away. This will be our first jaunt to this area. We drive west on UT 95, crossing a number of canyons that I wonder about.
We are at Kane Creek Ranger Station in no time. We pay our fee. The ranger mentions there are several cowpaths, so to be sure to stay in the gulch and follow the cairns.
The trail at the start is well defined. There is a gate to go through. I stop just beyond the gate to take a waypoint since I did not take one at the car. I continue on and all seems well until I get to the stream where the trail seems to end with no obvious cairn in sight until I step into the wash itself. But then, no cairn after that. Finally, I scoot up a gully which is in line with the last two cairns. At the top of the gully are plenty of footprints which I follow…but there are no cairns.
And the ranger did say to stay in the gulch and that there were cairns. So I take another beaten path to the edge where there is an easy scramble down. Once down, low and behold, are two cairns. I walk downstream and there are more cairns. The trails moves from side to side and sometimes follows the stream itself.
It’s a narrow gulch, not too deep, with lots of greenery.
Up ahead and above, I see what looks like circular stripes painted on the rock. As I get closer, I see it’s not paint at all but circular ripples etched into the rock. Beyond that is the stain of a waterfall; beyond that a cleft of rock to walk thru. Looking back, up high, is another series of grooves worn into the rock, but these are more vertical. Turning back down the trail, there is a cleft of rock on the right (LDC), wide dark expanses separated by narrow white section and overhung toward the top, creating a area of shade.
Continuing down, the canyon twists and turns, narrows then widens with a large number of boulders strewn about and tilted slabs on the floor of the gulch, making for nice walking.
It is past my turn-around time so I stop for a bite to eat, take more photos, do a quick sketch. We have a call for 1 PM. We both hear static at our call time but do not really connect, except to agree on a 1:30 call.
I start back up, though it seems like my step has lost its spring. We check in at 1:30, only to say we are both headed back.
The mystery cairn spot is not any more telling on the return, but now I know the way. I am back at the car at 2:10, making it about a 3 ¼ hour hike, A good day out, and I got my photo hike in.
The last photos of flowers were near our camp, not in Kane Gulch.
Sunday, 28 May 2023
It cooled off nicely overnight and by morning I pulled my sleeping bag up around me into a cocoon. This morning, Gary got up early but decided it was too cold to stay up and crawled back into the tent. I must say, I have been delighted with the temperatures here. I would have guessed that it would be brutally hot, so I am pleasantly surprised! I finally rolled out of bed at 8:30.
Once breakfast and dishes are done, we drive back to the Arch Canyon Entrance, drive up the track and cross the creek. We scramble up and down a nice slab of rock looking for the trail but realize the trail is the track and head there.
In all, over the course of the day, about a dozen vehicles pass us, mostly ATVs but also one jeep and one Toyota. One ATV with college-aged occupants, had pulled over and were swimming in the creek. I was tempted to walk over and see where they were but thought they might be skinny-dipping and would not appreciate an old lady spying on them.
The first 5 or so minutes of the hike is thru a heavily treed area, along the creek, which we cross several times. After about 10 minutes, there are walls of an old ruin in a shallow alcove. According to the description, there are petroglyphs here. We decide not to investigate but simply hike up the track to see how far we can get. We continue on, walking the sand track, crossing and re-crossing the creek. This environment is similar to many Utah Canyons: A wash in the bottom, with cottonwoods and pines, shrubs and grass. Canyon walls are red and white sandstone, gradually increasing in height as we walk up-canyon. Flowers are orange poppy mallow, primrose and asters. I try a snapshot of Gary with a stand of orange poppy mallow with the canyon in the background.
We continue. Soon, Gary is ahead, as is our agreement. I take in the ridges, rocks, pinnacles; hearing many birds, but not picking any out for identification. Coming up on the right is a beaten path that I wonder about. On the way back, folks in an ATV tell me a short hike along the path and easy scramble lead to a ruin. I take a waypoint. In addition, across the track and looking up-canyon, there is a wide cottonwood tree, throwing an interesting shadow.
I walk and walk. We have a radio check at 11:15, so I stop, take out my radio, take a waypoint, and have a bite to eat. Once I start walking it seems like I am dragging a bit but keep at. Our next radio check is 12:30; Finally I see a bit of shade (there is much less shade at this point on the trail as compared to lower down). I talked to Gary, telling him I am turning back, and have more eat. Gary is turning back as well. I am slower on the return but keep at it till the 1:30 radio check, where I stop at the trailhead for the 2nd ruin, where I take the photo of the cottonwood and its shadow. We decide on a 2:30 radio check, so off I go again.
Gary catches up to me by 2 PM. We are both pretty slow for the remainder of the return but we persevere and arrive back at the truck at 2:25.
A nice hike. We started at 10:30, so it was a 4 hour hike, the longest I’ve done in awhile.
We drive away and head to Blanding for ice and supplies, then back to camp. It’s pretty hot, 84 degrees according to my anemometer, so we stay in the shade, moving as it moves. I sketch for a bit. About 6, we start the coals for dinner, an Italian Sausage Pizza; as we start eating it seems like its way too much and for the first time we talked about making smaller pizza crusts for these outings. But, as it turns out, we had pizza another night and that pizza did not go far enough! So, we are sticking with 10”
We were in the tent by 8:30. Another good day out!