2024 CO Plateau conditions

[regehr]

the Swell last weekend (April 12-14) was a bit warm. minor cedar gnats and a handful of mosquitoes in Cottonwood Wash in the 5000-6500' range. plenty of water is available at the moment. LOTS of mosquito larvae in the larger potholes so the canyon bottoms might be buggy soon.

 

[AWR]

Not yet as bad as it was in Sep.

Thanks for the beta.

 

[fossana]

Southern Escalante (week of 4/21/2024)
Elevation range visited: 5200-6600'
Potholes: no water on the mesas
Biting insects: minor cedar gnats and mosquitoes on the mesas, a few mosquito swarms along the Escalante River (did not camp along waterways)
Wildflowers: blooming

 

[fossana]

Cedar Mesa (week of 5/10 - 5/13)
Elevation range visited: 3800-6400'
Water: intermittent pools, scattered flash flooding on 5/12
Roads: good condition
Biting insects: some cedar gnats
Wildflowers: blooming

 

[LarryBoy]

Couple skeeters in the Glen Canyon area.

HITR road bumpy but dry and passable to most vehicles to at least Fiftymile.

Found a couple nice potholes in the Navajo.

 

[regehr]

Up on the waterpocket fold in the 5500-6500' range there's still some water. Ran into a older guy from the Notom ranch who was out looking for bighorn sheep, which apparently have had a tough time of it recently in that area (and we didn't see any of them, or any recent signs). He said it there was a big rain ~5 weeks ago that flashed some of those canyons, so that's why it's still a bit wet. We had minor cedar gnats and just a couple mosquitoes. It was very warm both at night and during the day.

 

[fossana]

SW UT (week of 5/9)
Elevation range visited: 3900-8800'
Water: creeks and springs flowing
Snow: remaining patches starting at ~8K
Roads: good condition
Biting insects: prolific cedar gnats and deer flies in the trees and around water starting at ~6000'
Wildflowers: blooming
Rattlers: out at 6500' and lower

 

[LarryBoy]

Sand flies were pretty terrible down Halls Creek. Notom bullfrog rd is in great shape

 

[Ugly]

Memorial Day and Post Memorial Day stuff off HITRR...

HITRR
Do not let the first 8-9 miles fool you. There are some ok stretches, but plenty of washboard and sand that is getting worse. A couple of rancher trailers went by with tires dragged behind to try and help, but it's a real bumpy ride.

Surprisingly, bugs were not bad yet. Some gnats and flies, but with the days getting hotter those will get worse.
I ended up with a few bites around my ankles. I was wearing long pants and a sunshirt, so that might have been the only good skin exposed.
I saw a couple nude hikers in the distance. I took a long break in an alcove to make sure I did not have to follow any cracks around. If I went nude that would be an itchy, scratched up, tomato-colored mess.

Flowers were blooming. The birds and the frogs were singing.
The 80d heat was too much for me, and a 45d bag was too much at night.