Four Corners Travel Log

We've Moved

2010-12-27T15:32:00.002-07:00

Instead of maintaining two or three sites, we'll publish our travel log at Rural Ways.

Table Cliff Plateau, Utah

2010-08-17T10:47:00.003-06:00

In under three hours we were able to drive from Parowan to the top of the Pine Lake Road on the edge of the Table Cliff Plateau. After a hot week in the low country, the temperatures at 10,000 feet were comfortable and we quickly found a place to camp along the rim. We had views from the Henrys to the Markagunt, with everything in between. At night, we could see the lights of Page.

The road up to the plateau had washed out in a couple of places (like it does every summer), forming an RV barrier and giving us a quiet camp. The ATVs went by on the road for a while, but even they quit at dusk. (And, nothing can be as bad as the motors on the Markagunt, where half of Las Vegas seemingly lives all summer. Between the yuppies and the yayhoos, there is not one quiet corner . . . isn't anybody lonely anymore?)

On Sunday morning we worked our way out to Powell Point, which is probably one of the best places on Earth. The light was spectacular and all of southern Utah was in view. No wonder JWP found it a good place to pursue his map-making. After a while we began to hear the maggots on the trail and decided to start the trip back. On the way out we pulled over for an ATV carrying four, including one kid on the hood. The lady driving asked us how far it was, and whether it was worth it. I answered, "It's beautiful." But, after they drove on, I realized that what I should have said was, "Naw, it's not worth it."

Virgin River Rim, Utah

2010-07-06T08:42:00.005-06:00

Mark came down from Park City to spend the holiday weekend in southern Utah. We've been interested in learning more about some of the local mountain biking trails, so we saw this as the perfect opportunity. With Mark here, we'd have someone to drive the sag wagon, carry the water, and clear the trails of deadfall. In exchange, we just needed to provide a place for him to sleep and some beer to drink. (Of course, now that I think about it, he brought the beer, too.)

First, Mark and Valerie rode Bunker Creek. On Saturday afternoon, they drove to the top of Brian Head Peak and started the ride while Ellen and I napped. When we awoke, we drove over to Panguitch Lake to pick them up. Thinking that the right fork of Bunker would be smoother and less technical than the left fork, they rode that side. I guess it was choked with downed trees and the afternoon became more of a walk and carry than a ride. In any case, they made it to Panguitch Lake right on time and we all sat by the water for a while drinking beer while Ellen waded in the shallows.

Next, Mark and I rode the Virgin River Rim Trail. We had Valerie drop us at Strawberry Point on Sunday morning, while leaving Mark's truck at Te-Ah Campground near Navajo Lake. The stage was set for 20 miles of single-track riding. And what a gorgeous 20 miles it was. Averaging between nine and ten thousand feet with constant views of the Pink Cliffs, the Virgin River Headwaters, and Zion National Park, the trail was challenging, but fun. We rode through bristlecone and limber pine forests, through aspen stands and meadows, and through skeletons of subalpine fir and dead spruce. Some sections of the trail were rocky and loose, but mostly it was excellent for mountain bikes and free of ATVs.

The main problem with the day, however, was that my legs were in shape for ten miles of riding, not 20. Spending most of the last five years sitting behind a desk was not the best preparation for a long rocky trail ride that included several four or five hundred foot climbs. Let's just say I bit off more than I could chew. Mark was in fine shape and could probably have finished the whole thing in four or five hours, but I forced us to bail off the single-track at the Navajo Lake Campground to complete the last few miles on pavement. In short, I was an embarrassment to myself and everyone.

Aside from this single episode of bonking, however, the weekend was a success. We had a great time talking with Mark (especially Ellen), learned a lot about the local biking trails, and didn't have to drive our own shuttles. Hopefully there will be opportunities to do the whole thing again soon. Next time though, in addition to the beer, we'll need to remind Mark to bring a bicycle tow rope that can be attached to my fork.

This week's photo credits: Mark Saurer.

Yankee Reservoir

2010-06-22T09:56:00.002-06:00

Valerie recently purchased a beat-up old Disco 169 to use for family paddling. I wasn't necessarily supportive since southern Utah isn't really the place for a canoe. I mean, where are you going to use it? Well, Yankee Meadows, for one. Yesterday we went up to the reservoir and had a canoe-in picnic. If you like to bait fish from the back of your pick-up truck, this is the place for you. As a result, it wasn't, um, the most quiet and pristine canoeing experience, but it was a beautiful evening and the girls enjoyed the time outdoors. Since we can be loaded, up the mountain, and on the lake in thirty to sixty minutes, I suspect that we will see a lot more of Yankee in the weeks to come.

Cannonville, Utah

2010-05-02T19:18:00.007-06:00

It could have been worse. When we first decided to do the trip, I thought we'd camp at Rock Springs Bench. But with snow in the forecast, Dr. Kelly pulled the trigger on a couple of cabins at the Cannonville KOA. It was a good call. The biting north wind blew all weekend and my stove was so coated with ice this morning that I couldn't get it started. If we'd been out on the Monument with three kids and a wind chill in the teens, it would have been a true suffer-fest.

As it was, we were relatively well rested and nourished for a tour of all the popular Cannonville sites. (Actually, we skipped Kodachrome, which I will leave to Kelly and Martin to accomplish on their own.) We started with Bull Valley Gorge, which I had not properly scouted, and soon found that it was too difficult for the kids (and probably for me, too). Martin made it to the bottom, but wisely decided to turn aound at the first bad waterfall. Instead, we went back to Willis Creek and enjoyed about a mile and a half of splashing while the women ran down to Sheep Creek. After an afternoon nap, we all piled in for a trip to the ghost cabin in Pardner Canyon. There we encountered a bit of a rat attack, but made it back to the KOA in time to welcome forty Frenchmen.

After a cosy night while the wind and sleet battered the cabins, we huddled over the rime covered stoves trying to coax enough hot water out of them for a taste of coffee. Kelly commented that, "You know it's cold when you set something down that's been in your cooler and it melts the ice on the picnic table." We eventually rallied for the trip down to Grosvenor Arch. It seems like Kane County hasn't graded that road for about a decade and it was as rough as I remember it. After a good time of hiking, climbing, and playing, we turned south towards Big Water, while Kelly, Martin, Quentin, and Landon headed back to Salt Lake. We went only as far as the trailhead for the Cottonwood Wash narrows and did a short hike down and back. The bitter wind had limited the crowd of tourists to about 30, but I can imagine that the line-up on a nice June day is about 10 times that number. I thought about going down to Big Water, and then home through Kanab and Glendale, but decided not to spend that much time on the highway. We went back to Cannonville and made it home before dinner.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/CannonvilleUtah#

San Rafael Swell, Utah

2010-04-21T12:33:00.003-06:00

We live near the freeway now and can, theoretically, be atop the Sevier Plateau east of Richfield in about two hours. From there, it is just a matter of picking an exit on the way down and finding oneself in the San Rafeal Swell. Unfortunately, the Chev won't tow the camper three or four thousand feet uphill at freeway speed, and the pavement ends at the bottom of every one of the Swell's exit ramps. All of which is to say that it took us about six hours of driving to make it from Parowan to the Red's Canyon overlook on Link Flat.

It was time to camp. And what a camp it was. One of the best places I have ever camped in my life, which is saying something. We were too far off the beaten path for any other campers, there were no cows, and we could see all the way to Mt. Ellen. Aside from two parties of drive-bys and one BLM guy, we didn't see anyone else the whole weekend. The silence was golden.

On Sunday my plan was to leave Link Flat headed east and follow the "main" road up to the Copper Globe Mine and Justensen Flat. I wanted to see if we could tow the camper out that way. In addition, I thought we could look around the Mine and maybe hike down Devil's Canyon. Unfortunately, the road leaving Link Flat goes up and over a couple of hogsbacks. It is very ledgy and I finally quit on one I wasn't sure the Chev could clear. A guy in a nice jeep came by and struggled a little with it while I was standing there. That was enough for me. We turned around and went back the other way.

On Monday we went down Cat Canyon and Kimball Draw to the freeway. Ellen slept after we got to Richfield. We were back in Parowan by 3p, dusty and worn, but glad we'd made the effort.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/SanRafaelSwellUtah#

Deer Valley, Utah

2010-03-25T15:13:00.004-06:00

In contrast to my earlier post, it turns out that I can park at Deer Valley. In fact, when I'm with Saurer, I can even ski there. We got started sometime before noon last Friday morning and I quickly reached into the bag of tricks labeled "New England." I didn't see any true ice like we used to ski in Vermont, but that was some hard snow for Utah. After skidding through a couple of groomers, we ventured onto Morning Star, which looked terrifying. Turns out that it wasn't too bad and a little sun had softened some of the worst of it. We took a bunch of laps in there and Mark enjoyed the shrubs, which is not a love that we share.

Afterwards we toured the rest of the mountain. Remarkably, the Empire Lodge, which I never considered to be a small structure, has now been absolutely dwarfed by one of the largest hotels I have ever seen. All I can say is that there are quite a few people who have more money than I do. In fact there may be quite a few people who will spend more money at that hotel than I earn in my lifetime. In any case, we finished our day in the Daly chutes. Saurer laid down a few of his famous jump turns. As for me, all I can say is that there is no shame in a side slip. Actually, that wasn't quite the end of our day because we had cookies, cheese sandwiches, and beer in the parking lot before leaving Deer Valley.

I needed to be back in southern Utah by Saturday afternoon, but Cylvick objected to an early departure, so I joined he and Stan for a few laps at Park City. It was an absolutely beautiful morning, but I left the camera behind. (Let's just say that Cylvick isn't known for his patience.) We started in Scots, skied the West Face, and then met Saurer on top of the Peak. The snow right off the top above First Chute was pretty nice, but the frozen chicken heads down in the bottom of the bowl wore me out. When Eric and Stan called it a day, I skied a front side lap with Kristi, who had apparently forgiven me for the 21-pot-salute I gave her at 6:30a. I was on the road by 12:30 or 1p and back in southern Utah in time for dinner. Another good Park City ski holiday.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/DeerValleyUtah#

Denver International Airport, Colorado

2010-03-14T16:52:00.002-06:00

I was in Fort Collins last week. The weather was poor, the work days were longish, and my motel was surrounded by traffic. I usually try to find an out of the way corner; some place derelict or abandoned or unnoticed; a place for walking around, making pictures, and feeling lonely. But I had no luck until Friday afternoon when we drove down to DIA for our Saturday flight. It was there, at a box-like motel on the edge of the airport that I found what I was looking for. The place is developing quickly—a few acres of condos here, an office park there, a couple of Marriotts over on the other side—but not that long ago it was just a bunch of ramshackle farms on the edge of the Great Plains. And, where it hasn't yet been paved, the prairie is still the prairie. I walked out behind the hotel into a field of weeds, across what was once a country road, and over a pipeline right-of-way. The wind blew cold, the sun was setting, and the fields were muddy with trash and dried grass. But, the larks were back . . . , and the hawks, and the sparrows. I squatted down so I couldn't see the sprawl, and I listened to the song of a lark and watched a hawk hunting. I felt a little better then, more like myself, more like I could tell what was going on in the world.

Skiing Brian Head

2010-02-16T14:39:00.003-07:00

I went downhill skiing this week at Brian Head Resort. Brian Head is a medium sized ski area on the slopes of, you guessed it, Brian Head Peak. Brian Head is located about 12 miles from Parowan. The mountain is 11,300 feet high, and the resort sits just below the summit making it perhaps the highest resort in Utah. The ski area claims 650 acres of terrain, eight chair lifts, and 400 inches of snow annually.

In my opinion, Brian Head is the perfect family ski resort. It has plenty of wide-open cruising terrain, torrents of southern Utah sunshine, and a low-key atmosphere. Sometimes a smaller, family-type resort can be a bit ramshackle, and things like grooming can be an afterthought. Not so at Brian Head. I think the quality of the grooming was the best I’ve ever seen—and I’ve skied Deer Valley, which is famous for its perfect corduroy. On top of the good conditions, there is the view. From 11,000 feet atop the Markagunt Plateau, the clear weather and long views are spectacular—Zion to the south, the basin and range country of Nevada to the west. It is a beautiful place. Finally, at least on the day I was there, the aggressive gang skiing and snowboarding was nowhere in evidence. I’m not saying it never happens, but I didn’t see the out-of-control, near misses that are common at the larger resorts. Brian Head just doesn’t attract the aggressive skiers. Partly this is because the terrain is not challenging. While this can be considered a good thing, it also leads my main complaint about the resort.

Brian Head has plenty of good cruising terrain, but it has almost nothing steep. If you are an expert skier looking for a challenge, you will quickly be bored. That is not to say that you can’t enjoy a day poking around. I had three or four good runs to the skier’s left of the Alpen Glow lift in some fairly steep trees full of soft powder. There is also one steep shot at Devo’s Pitch that requires a couple of jump turns. Once you’ve dropped in, however, there are only about three or four turns left before you’re in the flat. This is another problem with the steep pitches at Brian Head, they are very short and are often followed by long flats. If you don’t want to be walking, you’d better limit your turns so you can carry your speed through the valleys.

One caveat to all this is that I did not hike the peak. There are some very nice looking shots off the top of Brian Head Peak, some of which had been skied since our last storm. These are steep, challenging, expert only, “out of bounds” chutes that look like quite a bit of fun. Accessing them requires, however, a significant and lengthy hike from the top of the Giant Steps chair lift. Since I was alone and don’t know the mountain well, I wasn’t inclined to set out hiking by myself. When I get a chance, I’ll go back and give them a try. Unfortunately, even if they turn out to be good runs, they are too small and too inaccessible to make Brian Head truly a mountain for expert skiers. For half the effort, I can ski ten times the terrain at Snowbird or Alta.

In short, had a very good day at the mountain. The grooming was superb, the snow conditions were excellent, and the slopes were uncrowded. I wouldn’t hesitate to take Valerie and Ellen. I would not, however, recommend Brian Head to the “extreme” skier. It has a few challenging runs, but the terrain is mostly gentle to moderate. If you really need to go big, you’d better go north. How about Alta . . . have I mentioned Alta?

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/BrianHeadResort#

Deer Valley, Utah

2010-01-17T13:33:00.004-07:00

We skied Deer Valley yesterday. (No, not that Deer Valley. Are you kidding, they probably wouldn't let us park in the parking lot?) Deer Valley is a small nordic ski area on the Markagunt Plateau. It is on the Cedar City Ranger District of the Dixie National Forest. National Forest employees have cut and marked trails, and have worked mightily to keep the motors out. Plus, in the last week or two, someone on the Forest came up with a groomer. When we were there yesterday, all the trails were freshly groomed. It was very comfortable skiing. Unfortunately, the light was flat and the scenery was, well, somewhat monotonous. Of course, it was a lot like skiing in northern Wisconsin . . . which has great appeal to some of us. For me, however, it won't be quite the same until I find a tavern with Old Style on tap.

Hurricane Draw, AZ

2009-12-20T10:36:00.003-07:00

I went down to Hurricane on Friday looking for some time off the pavement, off the grid, off line, and off the air. I left the pavement near Sky Ranch and made it all the way to the power line south of Cottonwood Canyon without incident. It was late on a winter day and the sun was low in the sky ahead of me. I crossed the power line road, crossed a steep gulch, and started into Black Rock Canyon. That was probably a mistake. On the map the road looked like the main route south along the base of the Uinkaret Plateau; plus, it was the Temple Trail. It was, unfortunately, as rough as anything I've ever driven, more of an ATV trail than a road. There were a couple places so narrow that I wasn't sure the Chev would fit. Of course, once you've started, it is almost impossible to turn around, and you ain't gonna be able to back all the way out. I passed the parts of three other vehicles that had been abandoned along the way (fortunately they seemed to be many years old and were not accompanied by human skeletons) and stopped often to move bowling ball sized chunks of basalt off the "road."

By the time I reached the Lower Hurricane Valley near East Mesa, it was dark. At least the road was better and the Chev had, once again, proven itself, but now I needed a place to camp. In the end, there wasn't really a camp. I pulled off the road beneath the East Mesa and went to sleep on the seat of the truck. The forecast of pleasant lows in the 30s and 40s had been incorrect and it was in the 20s with a biting wind. When I woke at 6a, the inside of the truck was thick with ice and daylight was still two hours away. This is, of course, one of the problems with sleeping rough during December: There are 14 hours of darkness each day.

I made some coffee before the sun was up, got the truck started, and headed down the Hurricane Draw. By 10a, the ice was gone from the windows and the road was smooth and straight. The big open end of the Lower Hurricane Valley was before me, with Mt. Logan and Mt. Trumbull in the distance. I reached the Navajo Trail by 11a. I stopped there to brew more coffee and eat a Poptart. I had left the pavement on the edge of Hurricane about 19 hours (and 35 miles) before. I got going again headed west and, after a few miles, turned up the Sunshine Trail. This "trail" was much better than the one for reaching the Temple, though I am not sure why. I made it all the way to Yellowhorse Flat before I stopped for some more food.

This wasn't intended to be a two night trip and I wanted to reach pavement again before the sun set. Fortunately, it wasn't long before I came out on top of the mesa above the Well. I could see Warner Ridge and St. George in the distance. I drove down off the mesa and across the flat. When I reached the outskirts of Washington, a yuppie driving some kind of silly Toyota passed me headed south. It was the first person or vehicle I'd seen in 24 hours. I hit the pavement again after 80 solo miles on the Strip and drove up through Washington to the freeway. I was home before dark.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/ArizonaStripAZ#

Grosvenor Arch, Utah

2009-11-29T15:36:00.003-07:00

We needed to go to Boulder to pick up some paintings, but we wanted to spend some time over there so we took the camper. When we got to Cannonville we turned off the highway and headed down the Cottonwood Road. I had planned to go down to Wahweap Creek or even Four Mile Canyon, but the road was rough all the way to Grosvenor Arch so the trip was slow. By the time we got to the Wahweap turn-off it was late, so I turned around and we camped along the impoundment above Grosvenor.

The clouds came in before dinner and it got dark early, but it made for a warm night since they served as insulation. In the morning, there was a biting north wind and the girls ate breakfast in the camper. We should have packed up right then, but I believed that it would clear up later in the afternoon, so we left the camper and drove to Boulder. By the time we returned, the clouds had set in above Powell Point, above Bryce Canyon, and above Canaan Mountain. It looked like we were in for some winter weather. We hustled to pack the camper in a drizzle. When we crossed the Paria there was a winter storm towering over us and filling the whole southern sky. We dodged storms all the way back to Parowan and had the truck unloaded just before a snowstorm covered town. It wasn't the best weekend for a campout.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/GrosvenorArch#

Kanab, Utah

2009-11-15T19:47:00.005-07:00

It was snowing on Friday when we left for Kanab, so, instead of driving over the Markagunt, we went around. The trip down to Hurricane was uneventful, but the bright afternoon sunlight and winter storm clouds were spectacular as we passed Gooseberry Mesa and Moccasin Peak. I was tempted by the light on the walls of Kanab Creek and by the turn-off to Toroweap, but we'd been in the truck long enough by the time Fredonia hove into view.

We stayed at Aikens Lodge in Kanab and attended The Business of Art seminar at the middle school. The organizers did a great job, and it was a pretty good program. Our only problem with it was that some of the invited speakers were academics and art-bureaucrats who were not interested in the practical problems involved with making a living as artists. As a result, their sessions were full of self-indulgently foolish art-speak and social consciousness mumbo-jumbo.

I was pretty much done with it after lunch, so I left Valerie and made a run out to Johnson Canyon. Once again, the light on the winter storm clouds was spectacular. By the time I made it to the GSENM boundary, however, there was no more light, only the darkness of a full winter blizzard. I loved it. I pulled off the road, opened the truck windows, and listened to the snow pelt the pinyon trees. Finally it was time to go back. I grabbed Valerie in Kanab and we made it to Cedar City in time for dinner.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/KanabUtah#

West Desert VI

2009-10-30T09:49:00.001-06:00

Posted to the WDTL on 18 May 2009:

It's not really the west desert, but I've been spending a lot of time in the southern Sierra for work. It involves crossing the Mojave Desert and the dry foothills near Bakersfield. I love it for some of the same reasons that I love the four corners: big, empty, and rugged. Well, this being California, it isn't so empty. My first stop is always Mesquite, which I don't hate as much as most people do. Then, there is Vegas, which I hate far more than most people seem to. (It is a hell-hole that could cease to exist as far as I am concerned.) I usually stop in Baker, just because it is such an arm pit, and I like arm pits. Barstow isn't much better and I usually pass it by. But, once you get out past Edwards, it becomes really beautiful. There is Mojave and Tehachapi and Keene. I turn off at Caliente and wind my way over to the Walker Basin. Wow. I love Utah and the four corners, but if you want to buy me a few hundred acres of the Walker Basin, I will be happy there, too.

West Desert V

2009-10-29T07:44:00.001-06:00

Posted to the WDTL on 3 May 2009:

We drove toward the Gap with a huge storm brewing. A few drops spattered us as we passed the southern end of the Little Salt Lake. The deluge hit as we entered the Gap. Ellen said we had an ocean on our windshield. We did, but it was gone by the time we reached the Minersville Highway. From there we drove straight to Lund. Lund has a population of five. Maybe. But it has two little abandoned (and now vanalized) railroad houses that we like. Valerie wants to move one home for a studio. We turned north past the pig farms and, by the time we hit Jockey Road, Ellen was asleep. She didn't miss much but, after we'd passed the road to the mine, I wasn't really sure where we were going. We passed some hand-carters and finally stopped at an old corral, but we still had nowhere to camp. We turned around and went back to an abandoned gravel pit. It wasn't very picturesque, but the girls were ready to quit driving. We were probably 80 miles from Parowan, but it had taken us about three hours to get there.

After erecting camp, Ellen and I took a walk down a little wash nearby. We were in a pinyon-juniper forest and it showed signs of heavy cutting, even half a mile from the road. Most of the fence posts between there and Minersville must have come from that forest. Nevertheless, there were plenty of trees and they collectively blocked our views of the surrounding area. So, we had just ourselves and our little wash. Which was quite enough. We were out of the wind and the temperature was just right for walking. The air smelled of pinyon and sage. Ellen chattered on about the flowers she found—penstemon, indian paintbrush, and some little native snow-in-summer type plants. We found coyote tracks and scats; we found old horse poops; we heard the call of a crow; and, where the wash entered a little meadow, we startled a grazing cow elk. On the way back we found a couple of resting rocks; we sat there while Ellen dumped the sand out of her shoes. A few minutes later we arrived in camp—just in time to open a bottle of two dollar wine and start cooking dinner.

In the morning, we left Valerie to paint and we drove over to a spring just below the Tetons—three or four little knolls with a grand sounding name. From there I hiked to the crest of one of the, well, Tetons, while Ellen sat on a rock about half way up. I had unimpeaded views across Pine Valley and all the way to Indian Peak. Ellen started to call, so I went down and we drove back to camp. I got Ellen a snack and we packed up the camping gear. The sun was out and it was hot. With the windows open, we turned back down Jockey Road and drove to the confluence with Blawn Wash. We turned there at the old windmill and continued down the wash. Blawn Wash Road was in very good shape and within minutes we were in front of Broze Knoll. We set up Valerie to paint and made lunch. After a while it was time to go and Ellen went to sleep on the seat as we drove back to Lund. From there, it was a straight shot back to the Gap and Parowan beyond.

West Desert IV

2009-10-28T12:08:00.001-06:00

Posted to the WDTL on 26 April 2009:

Twice this year I've driven to Kernville, California for meetings. From Parowan, one can drive all the way to Barstow on I-15. There are three words for that trip: Boring, boring, and boring. (The only interesting part is Las Vegas. Instead of boring, Las Vegas is hot, dusty, garrish, and traffic-choked. It is, in short, a hell-hole. But, I digress.) To break up the boredom, I've taken two large detours. On 23 January, I did a 200 mile drive-through of the Mojave National Preserve. It was cool and wet, of all things, and the landscape had the expectant feel of spring. On 21 April, I did a 200 mile drive-through of Death Valley National Park. It was already hot—106F—and one sensed that spring was, perhaps, past. Neither the Mojave nor Death Valley is beautiful in the typical sense, but both of them are large, rugged, and harsh, which makes them attractive. They say that the best time to visit is between Thanksgiving and Christmas—the crowds are gone and the weather is moderate. I may want to take them up on it.

West Desert III

2009-10-27T09:53:00.000-06:00

Posted to the WDTL on 22 March 2009:

The wind gusts were hitting 45 mph this morning. At church, the preacher said that one of the local farmer's hens was facing away from the wind . . . she laid the same egg six times. Har. With all that wind, there was a terrific salt storm rising off the Little Salt Lake and blowing up the Parowan Valley. I wanted to see it, so after church I drove towards Minersville and around through the Gap. Ellen was with me and I told her that we were hunting dust storms. Before we got to the Gap we encountered a bad one just on the west side of the little mountain range there. It was worse than fog. I couldn't see the road and Ellen said that it made her eyes water inside the truck.

West Desert II

2009-10-26T07:42:00.001-06:00

Posted to the WDTL on 10 February 2009:

Today I went out to Three Peaks. It may be my last visit. It is a beautiful and interesting place, but it looks like another ATV sacrifice area. I don't want to be there with the motors. But, today it was cold and windy. It had snowed hard all morning, and the sun was just breaking out now and then. Besides, it was a Tuesday. So, the place was quiet. And I loved that. I think the loss of the quiet is the thing that is making me miss Escalante so much. That deep silence became a friend to me, and now it is gone. There is no silence in the Parowan Valley; none in Cedar City.

West Desert I

2009-10-25T15:45:00.002-06:00

In February, I started a sister blog to the Four Corners Travel Log and called it the West Desert Travel Log. After moving to Parowan, I expected that we would spend as much time in the Great Basin as we did in the Four Corners. But it hasn't worked out that way. In fact, with the exception of two posts that I generated during May while on the road for my job, I've had only one entry since March . . . and not a single post of any kind in almost six months. The West Desert Travel Log simply isn't. And, so, I'm going to shut it down. I will incorporate its contents into the FCTL by copying them over . . . one per day for the rest of this week. After that, any trips west will be posted here despite being slightly off topic. We will call them "geographical oddities." So, without further explaination, here is the first entry from WDTL. It is from 8 February 2009:

You knew it was coming. I promised it when we moved. The sister blog to Four Corners Travel Log has been born. Welcome to the West Desert—very different from the Four Corners, but beloved for some of the same big, empty reasons. For me, the West Desert starts right outside our door. For the sake of geographic simplicity, I-15 makes up its eastern boundary, and I-15 is in our backyard. Well, not really, but close enough. Today, we crossed the border and started west. The first big feature is the Little Salt Lake, but just beyond that is the Parowan Gap. "Discovered" in 1850 by the Parley Pratt expedition that founded Parowan, the Parowan Gap is well known for its incredible 1000 year old petraglyphs. We hiked, picked up rocks, and froze in the February wind. But, it felt good to be out seeing a little of the country—the West Desert.

New Home Bench, Utah

2009-10-20T11:55:00.004-06:00

We needed to meet some other painters and photographers at Calf Creek on Saturday, so we drove over to the east side on Friday afternoon. I was planning to camp somewhere between Head of the Rocks and New Home Bench. I didn't turn down Spencer Flat because I figured that would be too popular. Well, I may have made a mistake. New Home Bench was crowded and we had to go half way to Salt Gulch before we could find a place. In the end, it was too close to the road and the traffic kept us up half the night. What the . . . ? This is Garfield County, Utah . . . where is there to drive to at 11:30p?

Of course, it was worse in the morning. When we lived in Escalante, I wouldn't go near Calf Creek because I couldn't stand the mayhem. Well, it was our planned meeting place, so we had to ignore the yuppies, hippies, and euros for a change, and deal with the carnival. V came up with a couple of nice little paintings and E got to wade in the creek, plus we had a good time talking with Irene and some other painters. By 2p we were worn out and we went back up to Salt Gulch for a nap. The nap was followed by a hike in Big Gulch and a spaghetti dinner.

On Sunday morning, I took a run down the Escalante River to Phipps Wash while the girls went upstream to the natural bridge. Even the lower end of Phipps was full of tourists, so I never did have an hour of silence, but I guess that is the price one pays for visiting the Calf Creek area in early October. I messed around in one of the side canyons and missed Phipps Arch, but I did find the Maverick Natural Bridge. By about 1p we were all at the bridge and loaded up for another hundred mile drive back to Parowan.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/CalfCreekUtah#

Pardner Canyon, Utah

2009-10-12T10:38:00.004-06:00

We needed to deliver 20 pieces of fine art to the Anasazi Museum in Boulder on Sunday, so we left home Saturday afternoon and drove over to Tropic. We stopped there and talked with Ms. Irene at the gallery for a while, before looking for a place to camp. We had always gazed up Pardner Canyon when passing it on Highway 12, but never taken the time to stop. So, after Henrieville and before the Blues, we started looking for an access point. We soon found a little two track and headed north. The road was badly eroded and full of washouts. We made it probably half a mile before an impassable washout stopped us in some waist-high sage-brush. It wasn't the perfect camp, but it wasn't bad either.

I'd forgotten the Pentax, so I took the little Canon and walked up the road for a while before dinner. The temperature was pleasant, the fall colors were beautiful, and the canyon was silent. It was a good hour for hiking. I came upon an old homestead along the banks of Dry Creek and spent a few minutes looking around the cabins and corrals. There was a giant rat midden inside the cabin and sagebrush had taken over the door-yard. It seemed kind of homey nonetheless. After dinner, we sat around a fire of pinyon sticks while I read aloud from J.W. Powell's seminal Canyons of the Colorado.

In the morning, we all scrambled over to Dry Creek and the girls played in the wash while I climbed half-way up one of the buttes. We jumped in the truck by about 10a and weaved through the yuppies and the tourists on our way to Boulder. It was good to see Brenda and Torianne at the Anasazi, and the art show looked great, as always. On the way back we hassled Auggie at the Escalante Visitor Center and dropped the camper in Tropic where we'll pick it up later in the week. We were back on the west-side (Parowan) by 5p after another 300 miles of southern Utah driving.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/PardnerCanyonUtah#

Robinson Reservoir, Utah

2009-10-05T19:34:00.001-06:00

I went back to Robinson Reservoir this morning to see if I could make a good picture. When I was there on Saturday, the wind was blowing so I didn't have the reflection I wanted. Today, the lake was calm, but the sun was directly behind the line of aspen trees I wanted to shoot. My pictures were better, but not great. On the other hand, it was a beautiful morning and a good opportunity to show Sophie T the area. We stopped in First Left Hand a couple of times to look around. We found a mining claim that I had not noticed before and Sophie took a slide on some scree.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/RobinsonReservoirUtah#

Escalante, Utah

2009-09-27T16:37:00.005-06:00

We've spent little time in Escalante since we moved. And that is a shame. We still love the area and the people who live there. But, last week was the annual plein air painting competition, so Valerie had an excuse to spend the week painting and taking advantage of Ms. Sharol's hospitality. Her output was excellent, and she had several very nice works to submit to the competition. Unfortunately, the judging seemed to favor the surreal and the, um, weird over the skilled and the beautiful. There were a number of masterful works that received not a mention. Valerie's was one of them, but her friend, Randy Russell, the water-colorist, was surely robbed. It seems strange that a "plein air" competition would reward something other than the strongest representations of that beautiful place, but if that is the trend, I guess we will reconsider next year.

In any case, Friday and Saturday were art festival days, and that gave the rest of the family an excuse to spend some time in Ellen's home town. We drove over on Thursday afternoon and camped in Dead Mare Wash. We ran into Dirk Durfey and one of his boys at our camp, and that made it feel like we were back where we belonged. On Friday, we went into town and had time to see the Mortensens, Keefe, Keith Adams, Mrs. Young, and some of the locals, but the afternoon was hot and the festival was slow so we went back to the Upper Valley and spent some time hiking in Henrieville Creek.

On Saturday, I didn't feel much like going into town. It's not that I didn't want to see some of the pards and help with the festival, but it was hot and the art festival seems to draw all the weirdos. I'd had a poor night's sleep and I thought that if I saw one more long-hair with an "all who wander are not lost" bumper sticker, I might deliberately drive the Chev through a V-dub. So, Ellen and I went back down the Blues and poked around in Henrieville Creek for a few hours. She found a coyote scat, full of rabbit fir, and I found one from a skunk, full of russian olive berries, and it was more like what we love to do than to watch the hippies and the yuppies pretend to discover Escalante.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/HenrievilleCreekUtah#

Ashdown Gorge, Utah

2009-09-13T17:20:00.004-06:00

Every time we drive Highway 14 from Cedar City to Todd's Junction, we wish that we could stop where Long Hollow meets the highway. It is such a dramatic spot, and it looks like it would make a good picture. Well, this weekend we tried to get there by hiking Ashdown Creek, from Potato Hollow to the Highway. Unfortunately, we didn't give ourselves enough time. It is probably only a mile or two as the crow flies, but the canyon is narrow and rugged. We went down past the confluence with Rattlesnake Creek, but had to turn back. It reminded me of hiking in Zion: It was a lot like the Virgin River, or even the Subway. Speaking of Zion, I saw a newspaper article that mentioned the possibility of converting Cedar Breaks to a national park and adding to it the Ashdown Gorge Wilderness. I guess that is alright except then the Parkies would get ahold of it and start making you get a permit and listen to their "be sure to carry lots of water and don't touch anything" talk with a bunch of yuppies. There'd be no more rambling around that part of the country by yourself with a bag of seeds and a crappy old camera.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/AshdownGorgeUtah#

Vernal, Utah

2009-08-18T18:56:00.007-06:00

It was high time to see the cousins again, so we agreed to meet in northern Utah at a yurt on the Ashley National Forest between Vernal and Dutch John. We succeeded in finding the Lynips in the Firehole country, not too far from Rock Springs, Wyoming. We caravaned as far as we could and then loaded everybody into the Chev for the long, hard road to the yurt. It was, as you might have predicted, a disaster:

There was the mud; the back to back to back thunderstorms; numerous failed mouse trappings; a swan dive from the top bunk for Ellen at one in the morning; and finally my loss of patience with the hunters driving through our camp. We were lucky that the cousins didn't demand to go home.

On the other hand, we had a beautiful trip to Dinosaur National Monument, some good conversations, a slumber party, a few great meals, and several hours for Bluie and Pinkie the horses to work with their wrangler.

It was tough to say goodbye, but by dinner time on Sunday we were camped along the banks of the Muddy just south of Ferron in our kind of country, big and empty. We made it home early on Monday and started planning for next year's trip to North Fork, Idaho.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/LimberFlagUtah#

Cabin Hollow, Utah

2009-08-02T12:30:00.004-06:00

We went over to the gallery opening at Clarkes. (http://www.thegalleryatclarkes.com/) The gallery is worth a visit. But, be sure to bring your checkbook, you won't want to leave without spending at least four figures. On the way home, we got off Highway 12 at the top of the dump and drove north along the John's Valley Road. We were looking for a pretty little corner with a few rays of setting sun—maybe something for a painting. We turned west again towards Tom Best Spring and worked along the south end of the Sevier Plateau. We never got the right light, but we did make a run up the east fork of Hunt Creek and then over to Cabin Hollow where we picked up the highway again. We found this little double window in Cabin Hollow. It will make a nice shot this fall when the tourists are gone and the light is good for most of the day.

Brian Head Peak, Utah

2009-07-12T14:32:00.003-06:00

Valerie went to Ouray, Colorado for Plein Air Southwest sponsored by the Outdoor Painter's Society (http://www.pleinairsouthwest.com/). The rest of us stayed in Utah and decided to see if we could get some good pictures of the Horse Valley Fire (http://www.utahfireinfo.gov/fire/dixie_nf/horse_valley.htm). So we went up to Brian Head Peak, but didn't have any luck. There was plenty of low hanging smoke, but with the exception of the occaisonal white puff, no well established plume. It didn't help that it was before lunch. The biggest columns, the ones visible from Parowan each day, have occurred late in the afternoon after the high temperatures and winds have had a chance to work. So we went over to Sidney Valley and walked along the creek.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/BrianHeadUtah#

Gallatin Gateway, Montana

2009-07-06T14:16:00.003-06:00

No part of Montana is in the Four Corners, although it does share a place on the earth with Wyoming and Idaho. In any case, the Bensons had booked a fly-fishing vacation on the banks of the Gallatin River for us, and we weren't about to turn them down, especially since they would be on hand to clean our fish and keep our wine glasses full. When we arrived, I found that I would be bunking next to the kitchen, which was overflowing with food. This provided a good opportunity for me to protect the household from mice. (Unfortunately, by the time we left, the score was 3-0 in favor of the mice.) It also proved that there was no need for me to catch fish in order to survive, which was good because that fly-fishing business looks too fiddly for me. I hear that Grandpa Benson is pretty good at it, but Chris and Matt spent a good part of each day gearing up and then untangling everything. I have enough trouble facing the ordinary frustrations of life without that. In the end, though, a couple of beautiful trout made it into the cooler . . . which is more than I can say for the mice.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/GallatinGatewayMontana#

Midway, Utah

2009-07-05T12:27:00.002-06:00

Valerie entered the Midway Art Association's Wasatch Plein Air Paradise competition this year(http://www.midwayartassociation.org/). She used the camper for lodging and we parked it at the Wasatch Mountain State Park. Ellen and I delivered her there (and picked her up). We also spent Saturday, the 27th, hanging around Midway. My, how it has grown. It was busy, busy, and busy. Of course, then we went over to Heber City and discovered what busy really looks like. Valerie said that it reminded her of Moab. I started drawing for her the nostagic picture I had in my head of Heber circa 1989. Back then, I said, you could get a haircut and a bad cup of coffee right on Main Street for about $4.50 total . . . and you could do it without being run over by a yuppie. (I sure am turning into a grumpy old man.)

Cedar Breaks, Utah

2009-06-14T08:06:00.002-06:00

Operation Baba was in Utah this week. Unfortunately, I was working a lot, so we didn't spend much time in the mountains. Finally, on Saturday, we made a run to Brian Head and Cedar Breaks. The road to Brian Head, however, was still blocked by snow and, even with the Chev, I wasn't going to try it. So, after dodging the flip-flop wearers strewn around on the road who seemed to be surprised to find that the Utah mountains were not the right place for beach-wear (does the whole fat world wear shorts and sandals everywhere they go?), we did the short tour of Cedar Breaks. It snowed hard the whole time, but it was beautiful and Baba enjoyed it. After that, we went down through Cedar Canyon and stopped a couple of times in the vicinity of Moots Hollow to look around. I think that is a spectacular part of the canyon and would like to explore it more but, of course, Highway 14 is like the Daytona 500—it is dangerous to even take your foot off the floorboard for fear of being run over from behind. Finally, we finished our tour in Cedar City where everyone in the truck got a prize at the Thrift Store for a grand total of $2.75.

Sevier Plateau, Utah

2009-06-07T16:56:00.003-06:00

We made the turn to Tom Best Spring at about 12:30. Ellen was tired of driving around but it probably took us another 30 or 40 minutes to find an old cowboy camp with a good view of Barnhurst Ridge. I set up the camper while Valerie made lunch. When Ellen went down for her nap, I wandered up the hill behind camp to a little sub-ridge. The Sanford Fire had burned the hillside about seven or eight years ago and the disturbance had stimulated an old aspen clone. The young stems were thicker than the hair on a dog and were obviously providing fodder for the local elk. The best way through was to follow their trails. At the top was an old stand of Mountain Mahogany that had been thoroughly burned. Coming up through the blackened stems was a patch of elderberry. Standing there, I could see the Griffin Top, Escalante Summit, Barney Top, and the Table Cliff Plateau all the way to Powell Point. It was a horizon line that fit my eye like an old friend.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/SevierPlateau#

Little Creek, Utah

2009-05-31T20:39:00.002-06:00

Not many posts in this blog during May. I guess we've been too busy at The Homestead. Actually, we've spent a fair number of days poking around in the local canyons—First and Second Left Hand near Parowan, and Red Creek and Little Creek near Paragonah. Yesterday, Ellen and I went up Little Creek and tried to circumnavigate Iron Peak. The road was pretty rough and it was slow going. The Chev didn't much like it and Ellen was tired of sitting there. So we turned back and found a place where we could skitter down to the creek. We also found a Pituophis catenifer deserticola, a Great Basin Gopher Snake.

Henderson Hill, Utah

2009-04-19T20:19:00.003-06:00

We drove up Second Left Hand Canyon pretty early this morning. When we had a view of Noah's Ark, we dropped Valerie off to do some painting. Then we went up the road to the end. At least, we went as far as the snow would let us, which was probably a couple of miles. We got stuck only once and I was able to dig out in a few minutes. (Last time it took at least a half hour and then a guy came by in his F-250 and hooked a chain to the Chev.) We got out of the truck and scrambled up the back side of Henderson Hill until we were on a ridge with scattered hoodoos. It was sort of like Cedar Breaks or even Bryce Canyon. The sun was warm and we could hear the creek during the climb. It was a nice break after a cold week.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/HendersonHillUT#

St. George, Utah

2009-04-14T16:55:00.004-06:00

Valerie showed at the St. George Art Festival last Friday and Saturday. It wasn't necessarily a great show for her, but it was a break-even effort and she made some good contacts. The best painter at the festival was Arizona-based Charles Thomas. He is represented by a southern Arizona gallery (http://www.galleriatubac.com/artists/thomas/), but he shows in St. George each year. My favorite painting was entitled, "Escalante." Thomas had applied the paint with a palette knife so it was rough and blocky—a little abstract but with a real feel for the area, actually, around Cannonville.

Park City, Utah

2009-04-06T20:10:00.002-06:00

It was time for my yearly ski vacation in Park City. So, I went up to Mark and Kristi's place on Friday afternoon and drank their beer and ate their food. It was a good start. On Saturday morning, Mark had to go blasting, so Jason made me breakfast while I spilled a gallon of coffee all over the kitchen. By the time I had that cleaned up, Cylvick was calling me every five minutes to say that he was waiting for me on Crescent. When I got there, we went straight to Jupe. By the time we caught up with Mark, we'd done a couple laps in Scotts, toured Pinecone Ridge, and latched on to Tall Paul. From there it was a hike to High West, a hike to the North Shoulder, and a couple of beers at the Summit House. After a pair of cruisers, we called it a day. Mark had to go to the patrol banquet, so Cylvick agreed to play host to the free-loader. By the time I got my crap off, he was already waiting for me in Wanship. We toured his office (http://www.ziprider.com/) and went home to see the family. We had a beer, a martini, and a bottle of wine while we excoriated capitalists of all stripes. After a good sleep, Sarah mixed some pancake batter and we drank a pot of coffee. It was time to take my memories of good food, great snow, and outstanding friends back to southern Utah.

Rock Springs, Utah

2009-03-16T17:52:00.003-06:00

We had to go to Tropic to drop off a few pictures for the new gallery at Clarke's (http://www.thegalleryatclarkes.com/), so we continued on to Cannonville. At first we thought we'd camp at Kodachrome, but the campground had four or five parties in it. Ellen, a girl after my heart, said, "We don't want to camp here with all these people." No, we didn't. So we went down on the Monument and turned on the Rock Springs Bench Road. After a while we got into a little trouble with the truck and the trailer in a steep, muddy wash. We turned around and went back out to the corral. There we found a really nice little camp just off the road. We hiked, climbed the sandstone around camp, and went to bed when the sun set. It was a pleasant until about 5 am. At that point, I realized that it was cold—too cold for my sleeping bag. It started warming up again by about 9 am, but those hours between 5 and 9, whew, they were cold. After breakfast we drove down the creek a little way and looked around. It isn't too far down to the Paria, but I wasn't going to make it with a little girl. So, we went back, packed the camper, and drove home.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/RockSpringsBenchUtah#

Second Left Hand Canyon, Utah

2009-03-08T21:03:00.004-06:00

It snowed a lot yesterday. But today was warm and sunny and I wanted to see if I could get up the canyon. I forded the creek and mucked my way through the melting snow and mud for about a mile. When I found a place to turn around, I left the truck and went on by foot. I got to a formation called Noah's Ark (look at the pictures to see if you think it looks like that, but don't expect to see any kangaroos). It was big, beautiful, and quiet--the way I like it. Plus, I needed some wood and I found some. Can anyone tell from the cone what it was? The correct answer wins first prize, but Lannom doesn't get to play.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/SecondLeftHandCanyonUtah#

Snowbasin, Utah

2009-02-15T08:38:00.008-07:00

There was no way I was going to let Wally have Benson all to himself on Valentine's Day. So, I left Parowan at 6a on Friday and drove to Snowbasin. It was, once again, a case of letting my heart over-rule my better judgment. I soon discovered that I had bitten off more than I could chew. Benson rides like an expert; Wally skis like a bat-out-of-hell; and Jordan finally gave up on me and took some laps on his own. I guess the only good news was that we didn't hook up with the sixty-something Harley riders who, I am told, stopped only to share a flask while riding the 'dola. Fortunately, just when I thought my rubbery quads would finally desert me for good, Wally called last run.

The test of endurance wasn't over though. After gorging ourselves on moose tacos by Katie, we went for a tour of neighborhood homes. My bedtime came and went as we viewed fine art, drank red wine, and solved the world's problems. In addition to enjoying the good company, I also had the benefit of becoming so drowsy that I was able to fall asleep back at the bunkhouse with the Benson buzz-saw running at full throttle.

In the morning we drank a couple of pots of coffee and ate bagels while the snow piled up outside. By the time we got on the road, the 45 minute trip to the Salt Lake Airport had turned into 90 minutes of terror. So much for a leisurely morning. I barely slowed down to push Benson out the door at Terminal 1. If his flight was cancelled, so be it, I needed to save myself. Of course, this being the Wasatch front, once I got off the benches and south of town, it cleared up and I had unimpeded views of Sandy and Draper as I headed down the freeway. I made it back to Parowan before dinner; tired but thankful for a Benson/Wallace sponsored ski vacation.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/SnowbasinUT#

St. George, Utah

2009-01-31T15:46:00.000-07:00

This was the last day of the art exhibit celebrating Zion National Park's 100th anniversary. We went down to St. George to see it. It had two parts. On the ground floor was a juried exhibition of new works created by contemporary artists specifically for the centennial celebration. Valerie had submitted works to the jury and had not been selected. So, we were wondering what kind of pictures got in. In addition to the usual stuff from painters whose work I don't tend to like—for example, Bonnie Posselli and Jim Jones—there were a handful of very strong paintings from some unfamiliar artists. My favorite was probably Salt Lake painter Anne Penrod's vivid abstraction entitled The Road Less Travelled. It was like she had done Maynard Dixon one better with her strong blue shadows and bright blocks of color.

Speaking of Maynard Dixon, the second floor was taken up with an historic exhibit of works from a variety of artists starting in 1870. Aside from a very nice little painting by Franz Bischoff (and a watercolor from Wallace Lee), I thought the historic part of the show served only to highlight the remarkable skill of Dixon and his reported friend LeConte Stewart. Dixon and Stewart stood out as two of the best painters in the building and it would have been fun to sit with them, circa 1935, to see them strut their stuff.

http://annepenrod.com/welcome.html

Parowan, Utah

2009-01-18T18:52:00.003-07:00

When I was guiding in Idaho a few years ago, I remember watching a golden eagle strike a flying chukkar in mid-air. The eagle followed the crumpled chukkar to the ground and began to eat it. I didn't have time to watch, but I was reminded of that incident today when we came home from church. Right in front of our house, a small hawk--a coopers or sharpshin?--had knocked a mourning dove out of the air. The two birds had just landed in the street when I pulled up. I drove up next to them and looked down. The hawk cocked me a weather eye, but otherwise refused to move. As I turned to park, it carried the dove off the street in two short hops. It was obvious that it couldn't haul it away. So, despite our presence, it settled down next to Ellen's swing and began to pluck the dove. With the feathers out of the way, it ate the breast, head, and neck before settling down to rest. Altogether, it hung around for probably two hours--even with me running the chainsaw. When it was gone there were mostly just bones and feathers.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/ParowanUtah#

Pipe Spring, Arizona

2009-01-17T16:45:00.004-07:00

We drove down through Hurricane and Colorado City to Pipe Spring. It took about two hours. That's not bad, but I don't think we'll go back. The Spring has a somewhat interesting history and a very nicely restored Mormon pioneer structure to tour, but that is about it. The whole visit takes an hour. I guess I wouldn't pay $10 to go in there again. The old boy working in the gift shop did point out that the road to the cane beds actually connected to the Coral Pink Sand Dunes road. So we tried it. It would have been fine in the Chev, but it was pretty rough and muddy for the Sable. Fortunately only three or four miles of it were unsurfaced. We then paid another $6 to go into the State Park. Again, not worth it. We basically paid for parking when we later found free parking a mile up the road. The dunes are beautiful, but it is an ATV sacrifice area where the motors are forever roaring. We drove out to Highway 89, up through Carmel Junction, past Maynard Dixon's old studio, and over the mountain on Highway 14--another 200 mile loop.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/PipeSpringArizona#

Escalante, Utah

2009-01-01T19:50:00.004-07:00

We've left Escalante now. Our new place is at 200 East and 300 North in Parowan. But before we left town we were staying at Ms. Sharol's. She has a very hospitable house south of town just under the Escalante Rim. One Sunday in December, I noticed a couple of coyotes chasing the rabbits that Ms. Sharol likes to feed. They hunted one down in the rabbitbrush on the north side of the house until it got away when they weren't looking. They gave up on that one and circled back to the south side. I couldn't see them anymore, but the next thing I knew there were a couple of crows in the pinyon by the north side rabbitbrush. "They got one," I thought. After a while when the crows were gone, I walked down there and searched around until I found it. Nothing but a couple of tufts of fur and some blood in the snow. (And I thought food came from the grocery.)

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/EscalanteUtah02#

Antone Bench, Utah

2008-12-04T10:12:00.004-07:00

We sold our house in Escalante. We had to move out by the end of November. It was a horrible amount of work. Too much crap. I was so tired of it by Sunday that I decided to run to the top of Antone Bench via the Roundy Trail. Well, run isn't really the word. It is about a 1600 foot rocky vertical slog to the top of the bench. I wasn't running so much as sweating and complaining and feeling sorry for myself. There was snow under the pondos on top of the bench and the wind was cold. I went over to the east side and looked out over the canyons of Mamie Creek and Death Hollow. It was a spectacular view all the way to the Henrys. Since it gets dark early in late November, I had to turn right back around and get off the bench before 5 pm. I didn't want to be scrambling down the trail after the sun set. Whew. Then it was time to turn in the keys and say goodbye to the Escalante house.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/AntoneBenchUtah#

Camp Flat, Utah

2008-11-03T15:45:00.007-07:00

We went up to Camp Flat on Saturday afternoon and, well, camped. The dutch oven pizza was not ready until late, but the death of daylight savings time provided an extra hour of credit. We sang at the campfire and roasted marshmallows. The night was not cold, so it was easy to sit out until bedtime.

In the morning, the wind was blowing and the clouds were skudding. At first it didn't look serious, but as soon as we started cooking breakfast a thunderstorm rolled in. It produced the brightest rainbow ever and was, in fact, quite beautiful. Not knowing how much moisture was in the storm, however, and not wanting to be stuck up on the Collett Top until the flood was over, we packed up the camp without finishing breakfast. We hurried down past Daves Canyon figuring that we'd want to get through the wash before the water got too deep. It was raining intermittently, but it never amounted to much and we needn't have worried.

So, we stopped in the wash and hiked around looking for some petroglyphs. We found a couple of panels four or five miles out of town. When we got home around lunch time, we finished cooking breakfast and had . . . brunch.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/CampFlatUtah#

Escalante, Utah

2008-10-13T19:39:00.005-06:00

They said it was going to snow. It was going to snow on Saturday, on Saturday night, on Sunday, on Sunday night. Nobody felt much like camping. Of course, this is Escalante, so, in the event, it was sunny, sunny, sunny, and sunny. It was, on the other hand, quite cold. Cold enough that we welcomed a fire in the woodstove and a roof over our heads.

On Saturday morning we took a short walk in the Lower Box with Kelly and Martin. When we got back for lunch, Tom and Margy were in the neighborhood, so we fed them all some spaghetti sandwiches. Then I sent the five of them to Horse Canyon while Ellen and I had a nap.

Tom and Margy brought the fruit and wine for dinner and we sent Martin for the brats. Afterwards, Kelly brought out the Knights-of-the-Universe-World-Warlord-Domination board game. She and Martin let me win so that I wouldn't regret staying awake until nine pm.

In the morning, we all went down to Phipps Wash. It was probably snowing a little on Boulder Mountain, but it was bluebird on the Monument and there wasn't even any wind. It was a perfect morning for wandering around on the slickrock. We left Valerie and Ellen after a while and the five of us made a quick run down to the final dryfall above Phipps Wash proper. Tom's two fake legs (as Kelly calls them) were tired by then so just the four of us scrambled to the bottom. It is a beautiful spot and I always enjoy the trip down there.

At lunch, the seven of us killed a large pot of Valerie's chili . . . and then we sent everyone home . . . just in time for another nap.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/EscalanteUT

Gates of Lodore, Colorado

2008-09-15T07:53:00.006-06:00

Mark started out calling me a rent-a-guide. This was generous. By the end, I think that even he realized I was simply a parasite: I relied on him to keep me safe on the river; I relied on his wife to feed me; and I relied on The Kid to do all the dirty work around camp.

Speaking of camp, our first one was at the take-in. It was not necessarily notable except for the swarms of mosquitos. I'd like to blame Mark and Kristi for those since their trip planning and execution was otherwise flawless, but I think Titi's explanation was best: They came with her from Minnesota.

After a couple of long hard days on the creek, softened only by a small ration of beer, wine, and gin, we made camp above Triplett. This is where the fear and loathing began. The roar of Triplett in our heads all night left us queasy (or was that the roar of half a dozen martinis and an after-dinner romp through Zimmy's psyche?). Then, after a nail biting run that almost sent me for a swim in Triplett's first pour-over we fetched up on the shore above Hells-Half-Mile. It was here that I was reminded of an important life lesson: You can always make things worse, but you can't often make things better.

We watched another group float through Hells and I realized that a lot of fancy maneuvering was completely ineffective and might send me over Lucifer backwards or upside-down. And so I thought, "To hell with it, I ain't going to try to pull in behind this or that pour-over or try to dodge this or that lateral, 'cause that will only make things worse. I am going to paddle straight down the tongue, straight into the pillow on the right side of Lucifer, and, if I have to swim, hopefully it won't be until after that." And, I didn't. Swim, that is. So, I think that means that I can paddle as good as Lannom (http://searching4whitewater.blogspot.com/).

As for sleeping, however, I will never match Mark. He claims to have slept soundly--after half a dozen mixed drinks by Ms. Mayhem--on a matrix of box elder roots approximately three inches in diameter. Oh, and did I mention that it was raining, which is why he was under the tree?

When we arrived at Jone's Hole for our last night, the rainy weather had set in for good. We could tell because Kristi set up the Moss (and because the dime sized hail was painful). While the light was beautiful, the storm put a bit of a damper on our dress-up party. Rich didn't find the child's-size grass skirt to be quite the thing for a September hail storm, and JR's boa couldn't stand up to the rain.

The rain at the put-out was worse yet. This is because I unwisely paddled Split Mountain and arrived at the ramp soaked to the bone. If it weren't for the warming effect of cleaning two groover boxes, I might have been hypothermic. Actually, Rich helped me with the groovers and it is a good thing he did: I think Kristi was feeding us glue all week . . . let's just say that it was a sticky job.

I didn't arrive in Escalante until about 11:30p. I was tired, but it was a good tired. Another great week on the creek.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/GatesOfLodoreCO#

Pine Creek, Utah

2008-09-01T16:23:00.001-06:00

On Saturday afternoon it rained hard. Ellen and I went up to look at Pine Creek. The creek was flashing, the wall of Antone Bench was a steady cascade, and there were plenty of places where debris was flowing over the road. We didn't get out of the Chev. On Monday, though, we went back. The creek was shallow, the weather warm, and we hiked upstream for a while. After a chocolate cookie snack, we hiked back down for dinner.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/PineCreekUT#

Escalante, Utah

2008-08-07T15:14:00.001-06:00

On Wednesday, we experienced the first real rainstorm of 2008. And, in this country, when it rains like it rained on Wednesday, flash floods are the result. So, we went flood hunting. I would say that Alvey Wash, which is normally dry at this time of year, was running at about ten to fifteen thousand CFS. That is right, I said "thousand." It was a powerful flow. Plus, when Upper Valley Creek and Birch Creek got together, they made an impressive cascade at the turn-off to Main Canyon.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/EscalanteUtah

Virgin River Canyon, Utah

2008-07-31T13:25:00.007-06:00

First, it is worth noting that this is not an easy walk. This is a long, moderately difficult hike that should not be attempted without the proper attitude. Which I, of course, did not have. The only thing that saved me was that Jonathan brought me a professional walking stave and he, and Jenny, and Kelly, and Martin carried all my food and water. That allowed me to concentrate on putting one sore foot in front of the other and stiffling my cries.

Second, this is not a trip for solitude. Many, many people hike this canyon each day and the take-out is at Sinawava. (Valerie called it the back-door to Disneyworld.) Let's just say that one is less likely to be trampled at a Who concert. This is a very unpleasant feature of Zion National Park and summers there are to be avoided.

All that being said, this is one of the most beautiful trips I have ever done. The walls are soaring, the flora is verdant, the river is refreshing. The hiking is never boring. Around every corner is a sight more beautiful than the last. The six or eight miles from the mouth of Deep Creek down to Orderville Canyon are spectacular. This is a place that one must see to believe. If you get the opportunity, and you are modestly fit and not too whiny--at least no whinier than I am--you have got to do this hike.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/VirginRiverUtah

Escalante, Utah

2008-07-07T11:44:00.005-06:00

We're selling our Escalante house. We've lived in Escalante for five years. And it is a great place to live. But we want to be closer to the four corners. So we have our eye on southern Colorado. In the meantime, we want to sell. The house is comfortable and it comes with five bedrooms--one of which we have used as an art studio. Dean Gledhill is helping us with the sale. A link to his website is attached.

http://www.toprealtyutah.com/
http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/HomeForSale

Barker Reservoir, Utah

2008-06-19T16:46:00.005-06:00

For the Father's Day weekend, we went up to the Barkers. We camped in the Gates Group site and it was pretty warm when we set-up. A nap in the shade was comfortable, though. After burgers on the grill, we went to Upper Barker and put our feet in the water. Then we went back for a campfire and marshmallows. On Sunday morning we hiked around Lower Barker and put our feet in the creek. When we packed-up, it seemed hot. By the time we got back to town we knew why: It was 97 degrees. The long cool spring was over. And so was the quiet fire season. The Corn Creek Fire was putting a big column of smoke over Escalante.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/BarkerReservoirUT

Montpelier, Idaho

2008-06-05T08:59:00.004-06:00

On Saturday we drove to Idaho. Idaho is not one of the four corners states. Idaho is not near Escalante. Idaho is not convenient. Idaho is, however, better than Montana. We wanted to see cousin Catherine and cousin Johanna. They live in Montana. We did not want to drive to Montana. So, we drove to Idaho and made Catherine and Johanna drive there, too.

We stayed in some cabins, swam in the pool, and enjoyed the swing set. I mean, we really enjoyed the swing set. On Sunday we drove over to Bear Lake and played in the water. Then we went for a hike in Home Canyon. But, what we liked the most was the pool (again) and the swing set.

We had to drive all the way back to Escalante on Monday. We had mosquito bites and memories of cousins to keep us company. Now we need to find Uncle Keith a job in the southern Rockies so Catherine and Johanna aren't so far away.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/MontpelierID

Mese Verde, Colorado

2008-05-15T16:50:00.004-06:00

From Boulder Mountain one can practically see Mesa Verde. Well, not really, but, as the crow flies, it just ain't that far away. But, not being crows, the only way for us was to drive down to Hanksville, cross the river at Hite, go all the way north to Monticello, and then through Cortez. It was a long way. We went down on Saturday and stayed with Valerie in an historic hogan near the museum. We did a few short hikes on Sunday, but a trip into Cortez on Monday and another on Tuesday used up the rest of our time. This one was mostly about driving, I'm sorry to say.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/MesaVerdeCO

Cedar Wash, Utah

2008-05-08T16:06:00.003-06:00

Mark and Kristi came down for wind season after the resort closed. They came to Escalante on the day that Valerie left for Mesa Verde. So, they knew that they would be cooking for themselves. And washing the dishes. Plus, Ellen wasn't feeling well, so Kristi got to practice medicine for free. All in all it was a good deal for the Orlemanns. We tried to go for a hike at Cedar Wash Arch, but Ellen wasn't up for it, so we sent them to Egypt. After a couple more days with the Monument gnats, they returned to town for showers. We let them buy us dinner, make us breakfast, vacuum the house, and cure the common cold. OK, I made up the part about vacuuming. But, really, Ellen was sick, and I ain't much of a house dad.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/CedarWashUT

Durango, Colorado

2008-05-05T15:42:00.005-06:00

I went to Durango for work. I was indoors all day. But, in the evenings, I looked around. The Animas Valley is beautiful. I can see why it is spralling with commuters. I drove up to Purgatory. It is trying to be a resort now, too. The whole place is beautiful. The whole place is busy. Busy, busy, busy. Welcome to the new west, I guess.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/DurangoCO

Pet Hollow, Utah

2008-04-21T15:31:00.006-06:00

On Saturday we went up the Pet Hollow Road until we got to the Forest. We found a place to camp in a wash on the oil field. It was a pretty nice afternoon and the sun was warm. But the wind was just starting. Once it started, it didn't stop. It blew and it blew and it blew. It blew hard and it blew cold, and it blew some more. And did I mention the wind? We went for a hike in Pet Hollow, but had to eat dinner in the camper to keep the sand out of our teeth. It was windy all night, and all day Sunday. We hiked some more, but finally went home for a Sunday afternoon nap out of the wind.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/PetHollowUT

Fine Art in Salt Lake City, UT

2008-03-31T15:32:00.006-06:00

I made this picture in Alvey Wash last year. Valerie subsequently did a painting from the same area. That painting, and a dozen others by Valerie, will be on display at the Wine Store (255 S 300 E) in Salt Lake City starting next weekend. Valerie will be showing with Joshua Baird, a painter from Kanab, Utah. For this exhibit, the two artists have agreed to donate 10% of any proceeds to the Grand Staircase Escalante Partners. Check out websites for Baird and the Partners, below. Plus, Orlemann and Baird made the front page of the Southern Utah News. Check that one, too.

http://joshuabaird.typepad.com/

http://www.gsenm.org/

http://www.sunews.net/weekly/frontpage.pdf

Alta, Utah

2008-03-20T06:43:00.003-06:00

On Monday I drove to Park City. On Tuesday I skied Alta with Mark and Kristi. Since it was my only ski day for 2007/2008, Mark thought we should warm up with a short hike to Gunsight. It was cloudy, the wind was blowing, and the light was flat. I couldn't see what I was skiing so I mostly skidded down on my edges. It wasn't really skiing, but, hey, there is no shame in a traverse. After that, we took a few runs on the Albion side. That helped me gain some confidence, especially after Mark let me ski the Rabbit. We went back over and took a couple of laps on Wildcat. The light was really flat and Kristi was having trouble seeing, so we took a break and sent Mark back to the truck for a couple of beers. He reached into the case, pulled out two bottles, and carried them back to us across the parking lot. One of them was empty. Kristi got a good laugh; Mark was really depressed; and I insisted on drinking at least six ounces out of the full bottle. Later, Kristi took a break in the lodge and Mark and I skied a bunch of laps off the High Traverse, including Alf's from the top. It was really fun, but my legs were done by about 3:30. After I fell on my face in front of some beginners side-stepping down Corkscrew (they were side-stepping, I was trying to ski), I told Mark that we'd better call it a day before someone got hurt. We headed for tacos at the Lone Star and, by Friday, my legs had stopped hurting. I truly enjoyed my 2008 ski day and I can't wait to do it again in 2009.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/Alta

Spencer Flat, Utah

2008-03-17T13:22:00.003-06:00

On Saturday we went over to the Spencer Flat Road and found a place to camp. It looked like it might turn out to be a nice afternoon and we hiked down the slickrock towards Phipps Wash. In the event, the wind picked up substantially and the temperature dropped. Making dinner was unpleasant and we ate a lot of sand (Ya ate what?). Then, we ended up sitting in the camper--which I hate--because it was too cold and windy to go outside. By nine it was lights out and we had all dropped off to sleep when I heard a couple of voices. I thought I was dreaming, but, no, we had visitors. I am not kidding. Nine-thirty at night, in the middle of nowhere, cold, dark, windy, and we had visitors. They were looking for a place to camp. And, they found one . . . right next to us. Unreal. We were surrounded by probably five million acres of totally empty public land, we were camped, it was night, and someone pulled right next to us and set up their camper. What can be said? It is a free country.

Anyway, the next morning it was cold and gray. We drove out to Big Spencer Flat and climbed around for a while. The girls picked up a few clinkers--round as baseballs--and we took turns tossing them at things. It was snowing by the time we left. Back in town it was a blizzard. We ended up with about another three inches.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/SpencerFlatUtah

Collet Canyon, Utah

2008-03-10T16:19:00.006-06:00

The Tiptons were in Salt Lake. Jennifer was in class all day, so I begged Rob to bring the kids to Escalante. They showed up on Thursday afternoon--Rob, Harrison, Lillie, Sophie, and Madeleine. We went out to Calf Canyon for a picnic. The kids climbed the rocks while Valerie grilled burgers. Rob made a fire and I stood around with my hands in my pockets (Valerie had forgotten the beer). Ellen dropped her burger in the sand and cried about it for a while. We gave her another. It got dark fast and we went home early.

The next morning, all eight of us went out to the Collets. It was a lot of fun to ride in the back of the Chev. We climbed the slickrock, found the dinosaur tracks, and had a snack. We tried to drive up the Left Hand Collet Canyon, but the road was pretty bad and we ended up in the wash. Rob broke Madeleine's glasses, but I fixed them. Finally, we turned around and drove straight back to town: The Tiptons had to be back in Salt Lake by dark. Valerie asked, "Do you have any more friends like that? Let's invite them, too."

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/Tipton

Lee's Ferry, Arizona

2008-01-28T16:16:00.006-07:00

Baba and Poppop were visiting Sedona, Arizona. We took Ellen to see them. It was the Blizzard of '08. We drove through a storm on and off from Escalante to Page. It was pouring in Page. We spent the night and found things a little better in the morning. So we went down to Lees Ferry. It was beautiful there--warm, sunny, quiet. We hiked up to the old ferry site and imagined crossing the river 80 years ago. During the afternoon we drove to Sedona. What can be said? Sedona has its good points, but is, um, busier than what we are used to in southern Utah. It was, however, great to see the folks, along with Art and Judy. The next day we drove back to Page. It was a beautiful evening in Page, and we spent another night. That was our second mistake. On Sunday morning it was snowing. It never stopped. Between Kanab and Escalante we were driving in the teeth of a blizzard. Much of Highway 12 was not plowed, and by the time we got to the Upper Valley we were surfing through eight inches of snow. It was a long day.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/LeesFerryAZ

Bryce Canyon, Utah

2008-01-07T16:17:00.004-07:00

Valerie wanted to play in the snow on her birthday. So we went up to Bryce Canyon on Thursday afternoon and stayed at Ruby's Inn. The snowpack was thin, hard, and crusty. Not much good for play. But, we went for a nice walk as the sun set. The next morning we went for a hike in Red Canyon, on the Dixie. Again, the snow was crusty, but the hiking was good. Until, as the sun got warmer . . . there was enough soft snow for a little play.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/BryceCanyonUT

Cathedral Valley, Utah

2007-12-31T16:23:00.005-07:00

I wanted to see the east side of Capitol Reef. We went down the Burr Trail from Boulder until we got to the Notom-Bullfrog Road. We went north from there with the reef on one side and Tarantula Mesa on the other. When we got to Notom, we went East. The sun was low in the sky and the lighting of South Caineville Mesa was spectacular. We had dinner at Blondies in Hanksville and spent the night in Caineville. In the morning we headed up Caineville Wash right at sunrise. Again, the low winter lighting was incredible. We got to Cathedral Valley by mid-morning. It was too cold--and the day was too short--to do much more than a drive-by. But we went up to Hartnet Junction and down the west side--across the Bentonite Hills and over the river ford near Notom.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/CathedralValleyUT

Forty Mile Spring, Utah

2007-11-01T16:25:00.004-06:00

I spent the fall in California. But there was one week off at the end of October when went down Hole-in-the-Rock for a few days. We camped by Forty-Mile Spring. That gave us time to climb on Dancehall and Sooner Rocks. Plus, there was hot-chocolate and a campfire. The only disappointment was that the washboards just about destroyed the camper. (Low quality engineering.)

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/FortyMileSpringUT

Cortez, Colorado

2007-09-10T16:34:00.003-06:00

Valerie was invited to an artist's reception at the Cortez Cultural Center as part of her Aspen Guard Station Artist-in-Residence Program. We went early and spent some time looking around. We drove out and stood on the monument marking the Four Corners. We played by La Plata Creek. We did a quick loop through the Valley of the Gods. We went down to Aztec and wandered through the Ruins. (We returned via Farmington, which was very unpleasant.) And, we spent a lot of time in the campground swimming pool. Finally, there was the reception--which was well attended after a nice write-up in the Cortez Journal.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/CortezCO

Blue Spruce, Utah

2007-08-06T16:42:00.002-06:00

During August, we spent one day at Posey and one rainy night at Blue Spruce Campground. While we were there, we found the Jesus Aspen. We also played by the creek and wrestled around in camp. On the morning of the fifth, we went for a hike and discovered a forty inch Ponderosa Pine that had blown over a few days before. It was to become the major portion of our winter fuel for 2007/2008.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/BlueSpruceUT

Cuchara, CO

2007-07-12T08:11:00.003-06:00

Pagosa, Alamosa, Cuchara, . . . Salida, Delta, Fuita. This was the grand tour of southern Colorado. We drove over Boulder Mountain, through Capitol Reef, into Hanksville, and across the river at Hite. We stopped for gas in Monticello, eyed Dove Creek, felt the rain in Pleasant View, and spent the night in Dolores. We passed Mancos, Durango, Bayfield, Pagosa Springs, South Fork, Del Norte, Monte Vista, Alamosa, Fort Garland, and La Veta. We spent three nights at a dude ranch in Cuchara. We slept in a cottage, rode the horses and hiked. Then we returned. Down to Walsenburg, up the freeway to Pueblo, west to Canon City, and along the Arkansas to Salida. Over Monarch Pass, through Gunnison, a two hour drive-through of the Black Canyon, and the night in Montrose. The next day we passed Delta and Grand Junction, stopped in Green River, and turned south to Hanksville, completing the loop. Then, back through Capitol Reef and over Boulder Mountain. Twelve hundred miles in six days.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/CucharaCO

Stump Springs, UT

2007-06-11T08:15:00.002-06:00

It hadn't been too hot in Escalante, so we thought the temperature would be comfortable up in Stump Springs. It was. But, to our dismay, the gnats were out. We had dinner inside and went for a short hike. By the time the sun set, the bugs didn't seem so bad. After a very quiet night, we hiked for a couple of miles under Powell Point. The sun was pretty hot by late morning, so we packed up and went back to town for lunch.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/StumpSpringsUT

Circle Cliffs, UT

2007-05-03T08:28:00.002-06:00

Five of us went down the Burr Trail headed for Lampstand Road. After a stop in Long Canyon, we spent a couple of hours driving around the Flats lookin for a place to camp. It was hot, and most of the roads were washed out several miles in. After a few camper backing lessons, we found a shady place near on old mine on the northwest edge of the Flats. The next morning--and without the camper--we bounced our way over a break in the cliffs and down into the Gulch. When we reached a deep washout, we parked the truck and hiked to Stair Canyon. It was getting hot by then, so we sat in the shade of a juniper tree to have lunch. The afternoon was spent, likewise, in the shade--mostly napping. On the third morning, we set out to drive a loop around the Onion Beds on the east side of the Flats. The roads were not good, and we found no onions, but the views down into Muley Twist Canyon from the western edge of Captitol Reef National Park were well worth the effort. By the time we got back to our camp, the winds had picked up and a few sprinkles were reaching us out of the virga hanging from the clouds above. It was still cloudy the next morning and the clouds kept us cool as we cleaned-up. We stopped for one more short hike where the Burr Trail crosses the Gulch before returning to Escalante.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/CircleCliffsUT

Horse Canyon, UT

2007-04-23T09:17:00.002-06:00

We spent just one day in Horse Canyon--a cold, rainy day in April. In some ways Horse Canyon is no different from any of the others that surround it. It has the same low, broken, buttery walls; the same pinyon and juniper shrubs; the occaisonal ponderosa or douglas fir; a dry, sandy, somewhat-cobbly wash; and a few crusty cow pies. But, upon closer inspection, there are a number of interesting things to see. We found a Moqui grainery, a layer of sandstone full of ancient leaf and log imprints, and a camel shaped rock to sit on.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/HorseCanyonUT

Alvey Wash, UT

2007-03-19T09:34:00.002-06:00

We left Escalante late on a Friday afternoon headed for Death Ridge and the back side of Canaan Mountain. We got a little past the mouth of Horse Canyon when we noticed a likely camping area and decided to look at it before going up the ridge. After crashing around through head-high sagebrush for a few minutes, we found a little sandy cove under a small dryfall and decided to stay there. The late afternoon sun was hot, and we wondered if we'd camped down too low. The heat quickly disapated, however, and the night became very cold. We were only barely warm enough and were thankful to see the sun again the next morning. We spent Saturday hiking around the area and napping in the warm afternoon. Later, we drove up on Death Ridge and looked at an old line cabin on the edge of the oil field. We drove half way down the road to Trap Canyon to look at a campsite we'd thought of for the weekend, but we soon decided that the road was too rough for our little camper and were happy with our decision to camp down in Alvey Wash. After a warmer night, fortified with extra sleeping bags, we cleaned up camp early and made it back to Escalante in time for church on Sunday morning.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/AlveyWashUT

Harris Wash, UT

2007-03-12T09:21:00.002-06:00

We didn't leave home until dinner time on Saturday evening. We stopped where Harris Wash crosses Hole in the Rock Road, but the road into the wash was too narrow for our camper. So, we continued to Harris Wash Road itself. Once again we had to back out when we found that the road to the trailhead was too sandy and narrow. We backed the camper to the corral and stayed there. The evening was beautiful--warm and soft, with great light. During the night, Ellen heard some coyotes and started to cry. She asked to come and sleep on our bunk. In the morning, we took turns hiking upstream and climbed the rock behind our camp. After a nap in the warm afternoon sun, we cleaned up and returned to Escalante in time for Sunday dinner.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/HarrisWashUT

Kodachrome Basin, Utah

2007-02-22T14:39:00.002-07:00

It was a warm holiday weekend in February--probably reaching the sixties during the day--and we decided to enjoy the relative luxury of an outing at a developed campground. We went down to Kodachrome Basin on Sunday afternoon and found that we were sharing the state campground there with one other party. We got set-up in time for a nap and did some hiking in the weak winter sun before dinner. We'd forgotten the briquettes, so the dutch oven had to go directly in the campfire. It snowed or rained during the night, but it wasn't cold enough to freeze. On Monday morning we hiked for a couple of miles on one of the park's trails. By lunch time the wind had stiffened and our early morning sun was gone, so we packed up and spent the afternoon at home.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/KodachromeStateParkUT

Deer Creek, Utah

2006-10-29T21:17:00.001-07:00

Kass and Rachel came from Tahoe and we spent 48 hours on the Burr Trail--Deer Creek, the Gulch, Long Canyon. The days were short and warm; the nights were long and cold. We stayed a Deer Creek Campground. It is pleasant enough, but busy. The road serves as the driveway to a private ranch and there are numerous daily arrivals and departures.

http://picasaweb.google.com/aorlemann/DeerCreekUT#