- Joined
- Aug 9, 2007
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- 12,955
March 2011
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm happy to tell you that spring has most definitely arrived in the desert. Just got back from a few days in the Robbers Roost area and boy was it nice out. A little windy which made for some interesting nights around the campfire but warm and sunny overall.
It seems like whenever I plan to leave for a trip after a half day of work something goes wrong. More specifically, someone, and mind you not always the same person, but someone is always running way behind. This trip didn't break the pattern. We had planned to leave Salt Lake by 1pm but didn't end up on the road until after 3. Fortunately the dirt road begins a mere 2 hours and 45 minutes from my house so we still made it well away from civilization in time to watch the sun drop over the horizon.
The place we watched the sunset was about a hundred feet from this roadside memorial to Charles Watterson. I'd love to know more about this but couldn't really find anything online. It is quite the work of art though. The flower is welded horse shoes and the tombstone is a solid piece of steel roughly an inch thick with welded lettering.
EDIT: Since posting this trip report I have learned that Charles Watterson was a county road worker driving a grader and was shot and killed at this point on the road. He was shot several times and then dragged about 60 feet off the road where he was robbed of the little money he had on him. Read more about that in this article from the Desert News.
After sunset we drove a bit further to Trin Alcove Bend. Along with several other destinations on this trip, I had visited this spot back in October but didn't camp. It's a very scenic spot but offers absolutely no protection from wind which turned out to be a bit of a problem. We were moving the truck around a bit throughout the night to provide some sort of shelter.
Later that night we walked down to the edge of the cliff above the river. That edge is still scary in the dark.
Adam was willing to bust out a few jump shots at the edge of the cliff.
The next morning some friends we hadn't met before drove in and met us at our campsite. Kevin is a Flickr friend and he brought along Paul who was celebrating his 70th birthday that weekend. Both are photographers first and hikers second but were excited to hike Moonshine Canyon with us. The slot begins not far from our short-cut entry point.
The first tricky spot in Moonshine. There were a handful of spot like this. This one was actually one of the easier ones.
Yours truly climbing down over another chokestone.
Nikita and I in Moonshine Canyon
Nate, myself and Adam in Moonshine. Kevin and Paul were ahead and behind taking photos. It was tricky having three photogs in the canyon trying to avoid being in shots.
The old sheep bridge over Moonshine Canyon
The narrows seem to never end
But alas they do end. After the narrows we followed the canyon a bit further before exiting on the opposite side we entered from. It was a fun little exit with a few extra steep spots. This is me assisting Paul with a hand line over one of those spots. I had the line tied to me so I was able to take pictures too.
Paul, Nate and Adam taking a breather on the hike out of Moonshine.
Hot dogs! It was getting mighty warm out by the time we made it out to the open desert for the hike back.
It was a fun hike back, especially when we were hiking on slick rock.
Kevin and Adam starting down the ridge that would get us back down into Moonshine and on to the cooler full of drinks waiting for us in the truck!
After the hike we spent a good hour at the truck relaxing and enjoying life. Nothing like the satisfaction of a good hike, good company and that general sense of freedom out there. From there Kevin and Paul left us and headed back to civilization but Nate, Adam and I headed deeper into the desert to our next camp at Keg Knoll. We were treated to a fine sunset.
Is that rain? Yes it is.
After sunset the wind picked up and those little rainstorms started to clip by us dropping a bit of moisture with them but nothing we had to seek shelter from.
The wind however became rather intense throughout the evening.
Amazingly, around midnight all of these clouds blew out and the wind with it. It was incredibly calm. I swear you could've heard a pin drop out there.
The next morning we drove a little further east and made the hike out to Colonnade Arch, one of my favorites.
The hike out to Colonnade Arch is so very nice. Wandering over the slickrock enjoying the views over Canyonlands would be worth it even if there was no arch.
This is not Colonnade Arch, in fact I'm not sure if this arch even has a name, it's right around the corner from Colonnade.
The other side of the above arch.
Nate hiking around the edge to Colonnade
Looking up at Colonnade Arch
Nate and Adam approaching Colonnade
Nate in Colonnade Arch
Some jackass let their kids draw all over the rocks inside the arch with charcoal. This place was pristine when I was here back in October. We flipped all of the rocks that had been decorated so others wouldn't have to see it.
After a half hour of relaxing Colonnade we were on our way back to the truck.
We spent some time at the truck soaking in the view at Keg Knoll before moving on. Anything to make the time between trips a little more tolerable. On the way back to pavement we stopped in at Chaffin Ranch Geyser to see if we would get lucky and see it erupt.
A little gruesome... some coyote heads on nearby fenceposts. Udink came by here in January and they looked almost exactly the same then.
Nikita was concerned.
We gave the geyser about 20 minutes but didn't want to wait any longer. From there we made out way back to Salt Lake. Sure is nice to set the clock forward again. Getting into Salt Lake after 7pm and still having sun light was a treat. And lucky for me I'll be right back down here in just a few days!
Ladies and Gentlemen, I'm happy to tell you that spring has most definitely arrived in the desert. Just got back from a few days in the Robbers Roost area and boy was it nice out. A little windy which made for some interesting nights around the campfire but warm and sunny overall.
It seems like whenever I plan to leave for a trip after a half day of work something goes wrong. More specifically, someone, and mind you not always the same person, but someone is always running way behind. This trip didn't break the pattern. We had planned to leave Salt Lake by 1pm but didn't end up on the road until after 3. Fortunately the dirt road begins a mere 2 hours and 45 minutes from my house so we still made it well away from civilization in time to watch the sun drop over the horizon.
The place we watched the sunset was about a hundred feet from this roadside memorial to Charles Watterson. I'd love to know more about this but couldn't really find anything online. It is quite the work of art though. The flower is welded horse shoes and the tombstone is a solid piece of steel roughly an inch thick with welded lettering.
EDIT: Since posting this trip report I have learned that Charles Watterson was a county road worker driving a grader and was shot and killed at this point on the road. He was shot several times and then dragged about 60 feet off the road where he was robbed of the little money he had on him. Read more about that in this article from the Desert News.
After sunset we drove a bit further to Trin Alcove Bend. Along with several other destinations on this trip, I had visited this spot back in October but didn't camp. It's a very scenic spot but offers absolutely no protection from wind which turned out to be a bit of a problem. We were moving the truck around a bit throughout the night to provide some sort of shelter.
Later that night we walked down to the edge of the cliff above the river. That edge is still scary in the dark.
Adam was willing to bust out a few jump shots at the edge of the cliff.
The next morning some friends we hadn't met before drove in and met us at our campsite. Kevin is a Flickr friend and he brought along Paul who was celebrating his 70th birthday that weekend. Both are photographers first and hikers second but were excited to hike Moonshine Canyon with us. The slot begins not far from our short-cut entry point.
The first tricky spot in Moonshine. There were a handful of spot like this. This one was actually one of the easier ones.
Yours truly climbing down over another chokestone.
Nikita and I in Moonshine Canyon
Nate, myself and Adam in Moonshine. Kevin and Paul were ahead and behind taking photos. It was tricky having three photogs in the canyon trying to avoid being in shots.
The old sheep bridge over Moonshine Canyon
The narrows seem to never end
But alas they do end. After the narrows we followed the canyon a bit further before exiting on the opposite side we entered from. It was a fun little exit with a few extra steep spots. This is me assisting Paul with a hand line over one of those spots. I had the line tied to me so I was able to take pictures too.
Paul, Nate and Adam taking a breather on the hike out of Moonshine.
Hot dogs! It was getting mighty warm out by the time we made it out to the open desert for the hike back.
It was a fun hike back, especially when we were hiking on slick rock.
Kevin and Adam starting down the ridge that would get us back down into Moonshine and on to the cooler full of drinks waiting for us in the truck!
After the hike we spent a good hour at the truck relaxing and enjoying life. Nothing like the satisfaction of a good hike, good company and that general sense of freedom out there. From there Kevin and Paul left us and headed back to civilization but Nate, Adam and I headed deeper into the desert to our next camp at Keg Knoll. We were treated to a fine sunset.
Is that rain? Yes it is.
After sunset the wind picked up and those little rainstorms started to clip by us dropping a bit of moisture with them but nothing we had to seek shelter from.
The wind however became rather intense throughout the evening.
Amazingly, around midnight all of these clouds blew out and the wind with it. It was incredibly calm. I swear you could've heard a pin drop out there.
The next morning we drove a little further east and made the hike out to Colonnade Arch, one of my favorites.
The hike out to Colonnade Arch is so very nice. Wandering over the slickrock enjoying the views over Canyonlands would be worth it even if there was no arch.
This is not Colonnade Arch, in fact I'm not sure if this arch even has a name, it's right around the corner from Colonnade.
The other side of the above arch.
Nate hiking around the edge to Colonnade
Looking up at Colonnade Arch
Nate and Adam approaching Colonnade
Nate in Colonnade Arch
Some jackass let their kids draw all over the rocks inside the arch with charcoal. This place was pristine when I was here back in October. We flipped all of the rocks that had been decorated so others wouldn't have to see it.
After a half hour of relaxing Colonnade we were on our way back to the truck.
We spent some time at the truck soaking in the view at Keg Knoll before moving on. Anything to make the time between trips a little more tolerable. On the way back to pavement we stopped in at Chaffin Ranch Geyser to see if we would get lucky and see it erupt.
A little gruesome... some coyote heads on nearby fenceposts. Udink came by here in January and they looked almost exactly the same then.
Nikita was concerned.
We gave the geyser about 20 minutes but didn't want to wait any longer. From there we made out way back to Salt Lake. Sure is nice to set the clock forward again. Getting into Salt Lake after 7pm and still having sun light was a treat. And lucky for me I'll be right back down here in just a few days!
