[pct-l] Turkey, sweet potatoes and red sand - a trip report

[pmags at yahoo.com (Paul Magnanti)]

For those who may be interested, Thanksgiving spent in
the canyon country of Utah. Links for pics at the end.
Enjoy!
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We all have our Thanksgiving traditions. Some involve
going to Grandma's for turkey, mashed potatoes,
stuffing to be with a large extended family. Others
may have a quiet celebration with a few close friends.

For the fourth year in a row, I went to the Utah
desert to celebrate Thanksgiving. The Utah desert is a
place of immense and unique beauty. Harsh in some
ways. Full of mystery and one of the most remote
places in the lower 48. The Henry Range, for example,
was the last range to be surveyed in the lower 48.

Years previously went to Escalante National Monument
(one of the largest tracts of public land in the US,
including Alaska). , this year something different.
Went to Robbers Roost area. In the past this area was
known as a hideout for outlaws in 1880s/1890s, was
used by bootleggers in the twenties and is of course
the setting of "Abbey Country" and was populated by
the fictional Monkey Wrech gang.

Drove up after work Wednesday and made good time until
we were stuck in a dead stopped traffic for 2-3 hrs! A
semi overturned..and there was a rockslide that closed
down I-70. Made it to camp at 6am! :O

Woke up at 10:30 or so and went hiking to Robber Roost
canyon to strech out our legs a bit. Beautiful scenery
in this canyon. The canyon country is immense. Looks
like pictures of Mars above; is lush and full of
wildlife at the bottom.  Explored a bit and made our
way back to camp. Made a campfire and had our
Thanksgiving dinner. Turkey, potatoes, home made
tarts,etc. All very yummy food..all very delicious.
What better way to spend the holiday than be with good
friends, yummy food and hot chocolate with a liberal
amount of mocha caramel liquer? :-)

Friday morning some of us did Moonshine Wash. This
slot canyon was named for the bootlegging acitivites
that took place there in the 1920s. If you are not not
familiar with a slot canyon it is a narrow and deep
opening formed by floods. Water is the influencing
factor in the Utah desert. It gives and destroys life.
Forms the land.  Too much and too little water is the
duality of the desert. 

After playing in the slot we had some time so took a
short trip to Horseshoe Canyon, an annex of Canyon
Lands National Park. This canyon is also very pretty
and he an amzing amount of petroglyphs. We did not
hike far enough in to see "The Gallery", but did see
the first set. According to teh info kiosh, these
petroglyps are nearly 2000 yrs old! Made our way back
to camp and had another great night around the
campfire.

The previous two days we had split intp two groups:
those who wanted to do more technical adventures and
those who wanted to do more sauntering. Saturday we
joined up to do Blue John Canyon. This canyon is both
a wide canyon and has some slot areas. The canyon is
esp. infamous now because of Aron Ralston (i.e the guy
who cut off his arm!). We hiked a bit, made our way
into the canyon and clambered through the jungle gym
known as a slot canyon. Was a bit colder this day and
had intermittent sleet. Still, was fun. Traveler (my
good friends' new dog) was a champ goinh through the
slots. We had rigged up a harness for the dog. I'd
climb up an obstacle. Josh would hand up traveler, I'd
pull Traveler up. Josh and Marni dubbed me "Uncle
Mags". :-)
As a side note, I must say Marni is in total Mom mode
with their dog..but that is another story! 

Sunday morning we woke up to fresh snow. So beautiful
with the snow covering everything. Had a great big
breakfast in Green River, UT and made great time going
back...until Silverthorne on I-70. What is normally a
1.5 hr drive back from Silverthorne took 6 hrs! At 11k
feet or so, it is a stretch of highway that can be
interesting in bad weather! Saw much overturned
vehicles (ALL of them were SUVs!), people skidding.
Made for some white knuckled driving to say the least.

Got back to Boulder at 10:30 PM. Did my laundry,
cleaned out my gear. Collapsed.

Was another great trip and a wonderful way to spend
Thanksgiving.


Pics at:
http://gallery.backcountry.net/rr04




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The true harvest of my life is intangible.... a little stardust caught, a portion of the rainbow I have clutched
--Thoreau
http://www.magnanti.com