Ernie's Country
(Maze District, Canyonlands National Park)
Sunday, April 24 to Sunday, May 1, 2005

Weather:  On the cold side at times:  At least a sprinkle of rain each day, usually cloudy.
Present were:  Gordon, K7HFV;  Clint, KA7OEI;  Brett, N7KG and his sons Nathan (KD7YYN) and Alex.  We were joined Saturday by Mike, K7DOU and Tim, KK7EF.
Destination:  Ernie's country in the Maze District of Canyonlands National Park.

Images (152-976k each, .JPG):

Sunday, 4/24:

Finally leaving the Salt Lake valley at about 7pm, we headed south and red, arriving in Price at 9 pm.  After a dinner at JB's we headed over to the local Wal Mart only to discover that it closed at 10 PM - exactly the time that we'd gotten there - foiling plans to get a few minor supplies.

We resumed our southward trek, briefly detouring to top off our gas tanks in Green River, and then headed down U-24 toward Temple Mountain Junction.  Turning on to the appropriate dirt road we first headed south-southeast and then east, arriving at our traditional camping spot about 10 road miles from blacktop at about 10 after midnight.  Despite some clouds, none of us noted even a sprinkle of rain overnight.

No pictures taken on this day.


Monday, 4/25:

Monday morning saw us preparing a breakfast of whole wheat pancakes (supplied by Gordon) and some triple-bypass peppered bacon (provided by Brett) to fortify us for what lay ahead.  Leaving the camping spot at about 8:37 AM, we arrived at the Hans Flat ranger station 50 minutes (and 35 road miles) later to obtain our permit - and to give Cynthia, one of the full-time rangers, a bad time:-)  During our visit she mentioned that the second spring in Ernie's country (the closest reliable water source to our camp) had been dry for the two previous years, but had reportedly been running again this spring.  We left thirty minutes after arriving with permit in hand (despite Cynthia's reluctance:-) and headed off for redder rock and rougher roads.

About 50 minutes (and 13 road miles) later, we reached the top of the Flint Trail and, after making sure that no-one else was coming up, we started our descent.  Although the Flint Trail had been closed for a few days about a month earlier due to rockfall, we weren't sure exactly where this had happened:  We guessed that it was on the first part of the descent before the first switchback based on what looked like "fresh" rock and possible recent excavation.

Going down the steepest portion of the Flint Trail took only about 5 minutes (and just under 1 mile of road) but the elevation drop was about 700 feet.  It was another two road-miles to the Maze Overlook turnoff at 11:13 (about 10 minutes and another 100 feet of drop) and for the following 20 minutes we drove along a road with a cliff on both sides (the one on the right going up and the one on the left going down...) until we dropped again (another 400-500 feet) behind Teapot rock.  We reached the "Wash" cutoff at 11:45, about 6 road miles past the Maze Overlook turnoff,  where one can choose to either drive down the wash, a distance of 0.55 miles (a 3-4 minute drive) or go an extra couple of miles on the "real" road.  We chose the wash.

Perhaps the most arduous part of the drive is the portion that skirts along the slickrock just past Teapot Rock.  This portion of the drive certainly requires a high clearance, 4 wheel drive vehicle and at least a modicum of skill in negotiation of some potentially tricky spots, testing the metal of those vehicles driving on it in some of the higher spots. (Different types of metal leave different scrape marks on the rocks, you know...)  While I had relatively little difficulty and hit bottom only occasionally, Brett, in his Avalanche, would frequently drag the hitch receiver, making for some interesting-sounding noises.  The only part that I had trouble with was a customary spot coming out of a wash where I managed to get two opposite wheels off the ground and could go neither forward or backwards.  Fortunately, a few minutes of placing rocks under wheels by adding extra weight on the opposite corner of the car to lift a wheel off the ground (done by having Brett and Gordon standing on the opposite bumper) to place rocks under it allowed progress to continue:  Brett had a less trouble, requiring only a brief placement of a few rocks (a task for which we had just practiced) and we moved on.  It might be true that my advice of "Follow me and do what I do:  If it doesn't work, don't do that..." worked for Brett.

Passing the Golden Stair trailhead (the bottom end of it, anyway) at 1:30 (taking 2 hours and 20 minutes to go just 8 miles) we reached the Ernie's Country trailhead 10 minutes (and 0.9 miles) later at which time it began to rain.  Hard.

Since it wasn't even 2 PM yet, we were certain that the rain would let up and allow us to get to the base camp before it got too dark.  Sitting in his car, waiting for the rain to subside, Brett became aware that his older son, Nathan, had been concealing a worsening sore throat:  Inspection revealed a pair of inflamed tonsils - a condition with which one would not wish to start a week-long outdoor trip untreated.  Making several phone calls (the trailhead is just within cell phone range) to the doctor's office, the ranger station, and a pharmacy, he'd arranged for a prescription to be left by a local pharmacist to be picked up, after hours, at the Comfort Inn in Blanding, a mere 4.5+ hours driving time each way.  After some deliberation Brett left for Blanding whereas Gordon and I continued with our preparation, departing the trailhead for the base camp at about 6:35 PM.

With local sunset occurring at just after 8 PM it was pretty dark by the time we stumbled into our camp (the overhang) 2 hours and 10 minutes later (at about 8:45) and we proceeded to set up camp and make dinner in the twilight.  At about 10:30 we heard again from Brett (on the '61 repeater via the crossbander in the car) who had arrived in Blanding just before, as it turned out, successfully picking up the prescription.

That evening, I'd tried erecting a wire antenna for the 40 meter QRP CW rig that I'd brought.  The target was a small tree growing horizontally out of the rock at the top of the mouth of the overhang:  I'd tried repeatedly to toss a rope attached to a small stick over this tree, but in the dark, using a flashlight, I was spectacularly unsuccessful and eventually gave up the attempt.

Flint Trail GPS Track - This map shows the track of the drive from approximately Flint Flat to the trailhead

IMG02054 -  Various views from the Flint Trail overlook, into the land of the standing rocks.  See also #2060.
IMG02064 - Alex, supervising Brett's driving over a portion of the Teapot Rock road.
IMG02066 - A view of the "Mother and Child" from the Ernie's country trailhead.
IMG02069 - From the Ernie's country trailhead, a view into the fins toward Ernie's country.
IMG02072 - On the way toward the fins, one must climb this 200+ ft rock pile...
IMG02074 - A look back toward the Mother and Child/trailhead from the top of the rock pile.
IMG02079 - Some threatening weather in the east (yes, the storminess was moving from the east...)

Tuesday, 4/26:

According to an arranged sked, we contacted Brett again at 7:15 AM and he reported both that he'd been on his way back to the trailhead for a while and also that the antibiotic that Nathan was taking seemed to be having good effect.  Working at a leisurely pace Gordon and I prepared breakfast, collected rainwater from a large pothole near the camp for cooking (to settle the silt out of it) and had gone down to the spring to filter some drinking water.

At about 11:30, while we were at the spring, we received word from Brett that he was already very close to the trailhead so we headed off in that direction, arriving at the trailhead at about 1:00 PM.  Just an hour later, the entire group took off, heading for base camp.  Nathan and I moved a bit faster than the rest of the group, arriving at camp about and hour and 50 minutes after leaving the trailhead with the rest of the group arriving about 10 minutes later.

The remainder of the day was a leisurely one consisting of puttering around camp and relaxing.  On this evening Nathan and I scouted around, trying to find a possible route the area just above the overhang:  The idea was to attach one end of the antenna support to a rock or tree that might be up there.  We soon discovered that our hoped-for destination was beyond safe and sane reach so we returned to camp and I resumed the attempt to throw a rope over the small tree.  After many (many) attempts, I was finally successful - but the rope didn't come back down on its own.  Fortunately, Nathan was willing to stand on my shoulders (stabilized by his dad) and he was able to reach up and pull the end of the rope back down.  After putting up a makeshift center-fed antenna, I tried calling CQ a few times - but I could get no response.  It was getting dark, so I decided to put off the reconfiguring of the antenna to another day.

GPS Track of the trail to camp - This track shows the path from the trailhead to the overhang.

IMG02083 - Brett, puzzling on the "spine" where the route from the trailhead drops into the canyon by the first spring.
IMG02084 - Brett and Gordon wending their way down the spine.
IMG02088 - Nathan standing on the main trail at the western slickrock ascent that provides access to the camp.  #2089 shows another view of the ascent.

Wednesday, 4/27:

We left camp just before the crack of noon (at about 11:50) and headed down to the spring to filter the day's hiking/drinking water and, by 12:30, we headed off for the day's hiking destination:  Whitmore arch.

After some initial confusion as to the location of the ascending trail to the arch (confusion on my part - Gordon seemed to know where he was going but he obligingly let me discover the error of my ways...) we got to the arch at about 1:45 PM, had lunch, and took a few pictures.  After nearly an hour of relaxing and enjoying the scenery, we started to wander off in the direction of Whitmore Grotto, a short distance up canyon, across the slickrock.  Once again Nathan and I headed off ahead of the group, maintaining communication via radio, and after a half hour (with a few brief side trips, including a brief stop at "Extremely Delicate Arch" - see picture #2095 and others, below) we arrived at the top of Whitmore Grotto and looked down into it.

Not seeing any obvious standing water in the grotto, we found a relatively safe "diode" route (a route that can be traversed on one direction only) down into the bottom of the wash and proceeded to trek into the grotto, arriving at the top after about 15 minutes of walking, side-stepping over a few puddles, and climbing a few awkward pouroffs near the end.  At about this time we began to hear voices from above:  Fortunately for us we were hearing Gordon, Brett, and (especially) Alex trying to get a good view of where we were.

Following a few minutes of climbing around and picture-taking (and some urging by Brett who began to be worried about our being in a narrow canyon with some dark clouds appearing off to the west...) we headed back downstream.  After a short while, our route appeared to be blocked by some chock stones that almost completely blocked the channel vertically to about 20 feet.  Fortunately, these stones were very large and irregular, allowing us to climb up about 10 feet, squeeze through an opening, and climb back down the other side.  Shortly after this, we found a place where we just barely got purchase on the slickrock and were able to climb up, out of the canyon, rejoining the group at about 3:40, just in time to scurry to a nearby overhang to take refuge from the impending storm.

Despite the dark clouds, thunder, and lightning, the storm mostly passed by us to the west, leaving only a moderate sprinkling of rain in its passage.  Passing through Whitmore Arch (at about 4:10) we retraced our route (more or less) back to camp, arriving at 5 PM with plenty of time for dinner preparation before dark.

That night we attempted to talk back to Salt Lake via the crossband link but it soon became apparent that the signal from the car was very weak:  I surmised (correctly, as it later turned out) that the day's earlier storm had blown the dual-band collinear vertical over.

Whitmore Arch track - GPS track of my explorations around Whitmore Arch and Grotto.

IMG02090 - A view of the overhang, from one of the very few places along the trail where it (and its contents) can be seen off in the distance.
IMG02092 - Brett, Nathan and Alex under Whitmore Arch.  #2093 is similar, with a tighter zoom.
IMG02094 - A view through Whitmore arch.
IMG02095 - "Extremely Delicate Arch" - a tiny structure that bears a slight resemblance to it's near-namesake.  #'s 2096 and 2097 show Nathan for scale.
IMG02099 - Looking down into the head of Whitmore Grotto.  See also #2100.
IMG02101, #2102, #2104, #2109 - Nathan, near the head of Whitmore Grotto.

Thursday, 4/28:

On the way back to camp from Whitmore Arch on the previous day, I'd noticed that the front part of the sole of one of my boots was separating from the insole and starting to catch as I walked.  Not having brought any "Shoe Goo" adhesive (an item that I usually have with me for just such a case) I needed to go back to the car to get another pair of boots.  Leaving the overhang at 10:20, I arrived back at the trailhead in 50 minutes (finding, as expected, a horizontal antenna rather than a vertical one) where I changed shoes, refilled canteens, and replenished a few lunch supplies and used some bungies to wind-proof the verticality of the collinear, thus restoring the capability of the crossband repeater link.

Heading back, I got to a point overlooking Whitmore canyon, nearly a mile away from camp and called the rest of the group on the radio.  For the next several minutes we each weilded our signals mirrors, and I took some pictures:  Gordon, Brett, Nathan and Alex may be seen near the center of the picture (#2112) standing on the slickrock.  After this the rest of the group wandered down to the spring to replenish the drinking water, where I later joined them at about 1:25, and we then headed east toward the Dollhouse.

Having gotten somewhat of a late start we decided to do only a relatively easy and short jaunt down the "first wash" to the point at which it "cliffed out" short of the Colorado River gorge.  This path (which was 35 minutes - almost exactly one trail mile) from the spring to the 1st wash took another 1:40 (just over 1.8 miles) - by which time the sky had gotten a bit grayer and the air slightly colder than before.  Not being able to see the river from the cliff, we climbed a nearby sand hill to where we could just glimpse a small section of gray-green water in the distance and, after hanging around for 15 minutes or so, headed back to camp, arriving at 6.

On this day there was never much more than a light sprinkle for rain, but it was fairly windy and refused to get above the low 50's.  This, along with physical and mental exhaustion (including still-persisting fatigue from the long, arduous drive to and from Blanding) had taken its toll on Brett, who just didn't feel good and couldn't stay warm outside his sleeping bag.

The weather also seemed to have taken its toll on the already-marginal link from the Moab '76 repeater into the rest of the Sinbad system:  All that the Mike, K7DOU and Tina (Brett's wife, KD7YVE) reported hearing were a few bursts of noise and kerchunking.  Gordon, using his handheld, found a spot where he could hear the '76 repeater directly and reported that while I wasn't full quieting, that the difficulties seemed to be on the link from '76 to the rest of the world.  Expecting that we were, in fact, listening, Mike and Tina did deliver some bits of news and Mike updated on his plans for joining us - plans which now called for his leaving early Friday morning with Tim, KK7EF.

GPS Track to the Cliff - This shows the the track along the first wash to its cliff end.

IMG02112 - From a distance, the rest of the group standing on the slickrock.
IMG02115 - Alex, Brett and Nathan standing near the cliff at the end of the "first" wash.
IMG02117, 2119 - A few glimpses of the river from near the cliff at the end of the "first" wash.
IMG02121 - Globe mallow, near the cliff at the end of the "first" wash.
IMG02122, 2123 - Cliff Rose
IMG02126 - Toward the Dollhouse from the exit of the canyon with the second spring.
IMG02127 - Toward the Abajo Mtns., from the same location as #2126.

Friday, 4/29:

On this day Brett woke up feeling much better and the day started out slightly warmer with very little wind.  We decided, on this trip, to go up the "first wash" and try to get to Tibbett Arch near the top.  On this morning, we'd also heard Mike talking on the Sinbad system, overhearing his mentioning that he was already underway, having left only about a half hour after his original plans had called for.

Again, in with no sense of urgency, we left camp at 1 PM, went to the spring to supply our day's water needs, and by 1:30, we were on our way.  Striking off north in the 1st wash at 2:15, we passed the first major "wash junction" about 10 minutes later, climbed up and navigated around a pouroff within another 10 minutes, and just 10 minutes after that we found ourselves in a side-canyon taking an hour's break to eat lunch.  Soon after stopping, we were surprised to see, on the near ridge, two hikers going past:  At the time, we couldn't figure out why anyone would be walking there, seemingly so far out of the wash/trail, but it later became clear that this was a shortcut, bypassing a good third-mile of meandering wash with the trail cutting across a large sandbar.  After a brief - but not ultimately threatening - light rainshower we resumed our course up canyon.

This particular wash provides some neat edge-on view of the fins through which it passes:  With the seemingly ever-present clouds and the frequent wash of sunlight, some of the sky's blue was blocked, making the colors a bit warmer than normal, making for even better viewing.

Nearly an hour after leaving the lunch spot (almost 2.5 walking miles up from where we first entered the wash) Tibbet Arch came into view.  This is a skyline arch, backed by a dome of slickrock (as seen from most accessible angles.)  A companion to this arch, in the same side-canyon bowl, is a striking vertical spire with certain anatomical resemblances that one could not help but notice...

When I got into view of Tibbett arch I was 5-10 minutes ahead of the rest of the group, having maintained radio contact with the others, so I decided to head east into the bowl and past the spire:  I had done this because I had glimpsed what I'd thought to be another arch deeply inset in the extreme northeast corner.  While this side-trip gave me more views of the arch, I was disappointed to note that what might have appeared to have been an arch from the main wash was, in fact, just a pouroff.  It looked as though it had, at one time, sported an arch:  There were what appeared to be the buttress ends of a now-fallen arch on either side of the watercourse.

After the rest of the group arrived, we lingered a bit not only to take in the scenery but also in the hope that we would be able to take a picture of the arch bathed in the fickle sunlight.  Alas, nature conspired against us and the hoped-for dramatic highlighting never fully materialized so we started back at about 5:30.

The return trip was, as expected, even a bit more warmly lit owing to the lower sun angles providing increasingly deeper shadows and dramatic lighting on the fins - when the sun appeared from behind the clouds, anyway.  About 2/3 of the way back to the wash/spring trail junction, Alex noticed an interesting-looking bug crawling along in the sand (see #2145 and related pictures below.)  It seemed to be a larva of some sort - but it had striking black and yellow banding similar to that of a bee.  Later, upon showing the picture to Cynthia at the ranger station, she identified it as a cricket larva - which made sense in retrospect:  The threatening markings were no doubt an evolved deterrent to help this otherwise harmless creature survive.

At about this time we heard Mike call on simplex:  He was just coming around the back side of Teapot Rock (not having done the final altitude drop) and expected to be at the trailhead at sunset.

After a bit more than an hour, we arrived at the spring trail junction and another 45 minutes found us back at the overhang for the evening.  Further communication with Mike revealed that he wasn't even going to try to make it into camp that night:  He needed to ready his backpack for travel and rebuild a portion of a portable quad (to make up for pieces left at home) for use with his crossband repeater.  Needless to say, he ended up staying the night closer to the trailhead than us.

GPS Track to Tibbett Arch - This shows a track up the first wash to Tibbett Arch.

IMG02128 - Some of the fins passed on the way upstream.
IMG02129 - Gordon, Nathan, Brett and Alex, headed upstream.
IMG02131, 2132, 2133, 2134 - More fins...
IMG02135 - Tibbett arch along with its spire.
IMG02136, 2137, 2138 - More view of Tibbett arch (sans spire...)
IMG02141, 2143 - Yet more fins...
IMG02145, 2146, 2147 - The insect that turned out to be a very young cricket.
IMG02151 - Yet another dose of fins.
IMG02153 - Back at camp, Gordon attempting to enjoy his pre-dinner soup.

Miscellaneous fun:


Saturday, 4/30:

On this morning I awoke a bit earlier than usual - somewhat before sunrise.  Taking advantage of the nice lighting and lack of wind I ventured forth and waxed photographic in the dawn light, trying to capture some of the dramatic color, shadows and lighting of this hour.

A while later, we heard again from Mike:  He was making slow - but steady - progress in his commencement in his starting to begin preparation to get ready to backpack to our camp, so we proceeded at our normal pace, and had breakfast.

After breakfast, I decided to revisit the 40 meter antenna:  Up to that point it had been a sloping dipole with the upper end shortened (by foldinging the conductor back) to about 1/8 wavelength and the lower end similarly shortened.  I decided to try, instead, a "half-sloper" where the full 1/4 wavelength would be extended up from the feedpoint and much of the bottom half of the dipole would be laying on the ground as a counterpoise.  This seemed to help a bit end changed the tuning slightly, allowing a brief QSO with someone in California.

After breakfast and fiddling with the antenna, we wandered down to the spring get the day's drinking water and enough time had passed by the time we'd gotten our water filtered that Tim and Mike were getting close enough for Gordon to give a few of the explicit instructions as to how to find the slickrock access to the camp.  Nathan and I went up to meet them, with Tim arriving first, followed a few minutes later by Mike who, sporting a knee brace, was taking it more slowly.

After a few minutes to catch his breath, Tim reconfigured for day hiking while Mike stayed at camp to relax for a while and we returned to the spring to replenish Tim's drinking water supply and then headed out to visit the "Radio Site" at about 1 PM.  Reaching the wash at 1:40, we headed downstream, trying to remember the best way to make the transition from wash bottom to slickrock to gain access to our destination.  At a point about 1-3/4 of a mile downstream, we "stayed high" above the wash bottom for a bit (well, I stayed lower down, but paralleling their path.)  After a bit of stumbling around, we re-converged and stopped for lunch (at about 2:30) in the rocky top of a small drainage - a spot complete with seating.

After a 40 minute break, we resumed our course toward the site, still trying to remember what might be the best route.  As terrain became familiar we stayed fairly close to the larger hills, crossing a fairly large wash in the process.  At this point, I diverged again from the group, remembering something about following a wash up to its head.  A few minutes later we met again, proving that both paths seemed to work well, and we headed up a wide, flat drainage toward the mass atop which the radio site sits, reaching it at about 4 PM.

While it is interesting to investigate a solar-powered radio site in the middle of nowhere, seeing the radio installation is definitely not the main reason to visit this site:  The real reason for visiting is that this site provides a spectacular view of a long and particularly straight stretch of the Cataract Canyon on the Colorado river.  It is safe to say that there are very few other places that offer such a dramatic view of the 1100 foot deep gorge and nearly sheer cliffs on either side.

At this location we were able to talk again to Mike via simplex:  He'd been investigating the area around and above Whitmore arch, trying to find an access to the top of the plateau above the arch - an area reputed by the ranger (and maps) to harbor a number of arches.  Unfortunately, he wasn't having too much luck finding this access...

After enjoying the scenery and taking pictures, time and weather urged us to start back to camp at about 4:45.  On the return trip I was determined to follow the same drainage up which I had walked out to the main wash while the rest of the group (except for Nathan and Tim who followed me) more-or-less retraced their steps.  As it turns out, the drainage worked nicely with little technical challenge or brushy obstruction at all:  All that is required to follow this drainage back up from the main wash is to simply stay to the right.

By the time we'd gotten down to the main wash it was "sprinkling heavily" and was showing signs of actually raining.  Once in the main wash Nathan and I ducked under a small overhang - an act that seemed to convert the sprinkling into an actual rainshower - and decided to wait it out.  A few minutes later, Tim appeared, clad in his rain gear, and joined us.  Of course, Tim's ducking under the overhang seemed to cause the rain to stop, so we resumed our trek up the wash.

Eventually we rejoined the main party, converging in the wash at about the same time.  Sometime earlier, Alex had shed his jacket and was, at that time, enveloped in one of Brett's jackets.  The assumption was that he'd lost it somewhere after leaving the main wash, just prior to getting to the lunch spot - but it had not been spotted by anyone.  Nathan, Tim and I went ahead somewhat faster than the rest of the group and upon nearing the junction of the spring trail and first wash, Nathan spotted the missing (and now damp) jacket.  It was discretely stowed and we headed to the spring to gather and filter the water that we would need for that night's and the following day's cooking and drinking and we headed back to camp, arriving at about 7:15.

Because this was the last night of the trip for most of us, we decided to prepare the traditional cheesecake.  Somehow, we'd managed not to include a fruit topping, but Brett happened to bring some dried mangos with him:  These were spotted some days before as potential cheesecake topping and enough were reserved for that night's dessert.   The mangos were briefly boiled to re-hydrate them  and then allowed to cool while the cheesecake mix was assembled and allowed to set up.  After dinner, we all participated in this tradition, finding mango cheesecake to be delicious.

GPS Track to the radio site - This shows the track down the first wash and over to the radio site.

IMG02154 - First glow of sunrise toward the east
IMG02155 - First sun glow on the  red cliffs above Teapot rock.  #2161 is slightly later.
IMG02158 - Sunrise on Teapot rock
IMG02159 - Sunrise on the Golden Stairs
IMG02162 - More sunrise toward the east
IMG02165 - Dead juniper at sunrise.  Similar is #2167.
IMG02172 - Cliff, rocks, moon, sunrise glow...
IMG02173 - Brett and Co. reviewing some of the pictures on the camera.
IMG02174 - Mike, just having arrived at camp.
IMG02177 - Claret cup flowers on a barrel cactus
IMG02181 - Upstream, toward the confluence, from the overlook.  Similar is #2196.
IMG02182 - Nathan, Brett, Alex and Gordon, at the overlook, looking downstream.
IMG02184 - Clint, at the overlook, looking downstream.  Similar is #2186.
IMG02188 - Tim, at the overlook, looking downstream.
IMG02189 - Alex, Brett and Nathan, at the overlook, looking downstream.  Similar is #2191.
IMG02195 - From the overlook, looking downstream (with no-one blocking the view.)
IMG02199 - Toward Elaterite Butte, from the overlook.
IMG02201 and #2202 - The actual radio site.  This site ties a VHF frequency used by ranger's boats on the river back to the rest of the world via a UHF link.
IMG02206 - Red flowers of unknown kind.

Sunday, 5/01:

This was the last day of the trip - except for Tim and Mike who were planning to stay for another few days.  Again, I got up early this morning and wandered around in the waxing light and took a few pictures.

At about the time that the first sunlight hit the rocks near camp, I decided to make a cup of hot chocolate and was soon joined by Tim who had the same idea.  Lounging in our camp chairs, we watched the landscape brighten - and the skies to the west darken.

By a bit after nine Brett and his two sons were ready to go and started off toward the trailhead.  By this time, it had begun to sprinkle very lightly and the clouds had descended below the top of the red cliffs in the distance and  Gordon and I took a bit longer to get our packs together, not being in a great hurry, and consulted Mike's collection of 7.5 minute maps to answer some questions we'd had about the landscape and some names of features.

By the time that Gordon and I'd departed (about 10 AM) it was sprinkling less-lightly, but not enough to get one wet - even without a rain jacket - but enough to add a sheen to the slickrock.  This made the travel slightly more precarious when climbing the slickrock:  Not only is the friction of the rock slightly reduced by the water, but the wet sand that tends stick to ones shoes can reduce the grip even more.  In a few places there are some instances where a climb up a few feet of slickrock is counterpointed by a rather dangerous dropoff below, making some of the traverses rather spooky.  Fortunately, not being in a big hurry, along with taking a bit of extra care and time, allowed us to avoid any mishaps.

Gordon and I got to the car at about 12:30 and, as expected, the light rain stopped.  By about 1 PM, Brett had started ahead, hoping to get to the ranger station well before it closed while Gordon and I finished putting the last of our gear in the Jeep.  In backing out from the trailhead, however, I killed the engine and a particular quirk of my Jeep manifested itself:  If the engine is stalled before it warms up, it's difficult to restart.  Because the battery was somewhat weakened after a week of being idle, I quickly ran it down and radioed for Brett to come back. (I could have used the radio battery to "jump start" the Jeep, but the battery and jumper cables were buried under a lot of gear and Brett was only a few minutes away.)

Finally underway, we were wondering what the condition of the road would be after a rainstorm.  In past travels, we knew that the area near the junction to the Maze Overlook turnoff could be a bit muddy, but we soon found out exactly how far the slippery, Bentonite-covered road extended on either side.  After climbing up above Teapot rock, we occasionally found ourselves sliding around on the road, tires completely clad in a gray-green mud that was both sticky and slippery, offering poor traction.  Part way up we met an outfitter coming down:  We chatted for a moment and, as we parted company, he said "Welcome to the land of Bentonite..."  After a while, we noticed, by the tracks in the road, that he'd had chains on his tires.

Hmmm...

Going up further found us moving along that narrow ribbon of road with a cliff going up several hundred feet on the left, and another going down at least as far on the right:  It was a spooky feeling to drive along, taking a gentle corner (not going too slow for fear that one might not be able to move again if stopped...) and having the vehicle wanting to go straight, instead.  With a bit of care and determination, we made it to the base of the Flint trail's switchbacks.  While the switchbacks themselves are much steeper than what we'd already gone up, we knew that its roadbase was rock and sand and would not be so slippery or dangerous.  What we hadn't counted on, however, was one last Bentonitic hill just before the trail started up.  After the second (failed) attempt to get up it I started getting worried.  Fortunately, the saying that the "third time's the charm" proved to be true:  Picking a slightly better path on the road, getting a fast running start, and maintaining a delicate balance between applying power and not allowing the wheels to spin proved to be the winning combination.  (Brett, who had a slightly longer wheelbase and newer tires did not have to make multiple attempts...)

The rest of the ascent of the Flint trail was uneventful - as was the traverse across the top - until we were just two miles from the Ranger station where Brett reported that his car "felt funny" - followed quickly by a report of a flat tire.  We quickly dropped the spare to the ground, an act that caused it to rain heavily for a few minutes forcing us to erect a makeshift lean-to from a tarp attached to his vehicle.  Brett had also discovered that the jack handle had been broken, so we had to resort to using a small pair of vise grips to crank up the jack.  With the tire nearly far enough off the ground to allow replacement of the spare, the jack was starting to get very difficult to crank as it began to run out of height.  Eventually, we realized that the sand we'd stopped on could be removed from under the wheel more easily than the car could be raised...  (Duh!)

After reinstalling and inflating the spare tire to a reasonable pressure, we proceeded on to the ranger station - with at least 15 minutes to spare before it closed - just to give Cynthia a bad time (again) and for Nathan and Alex to get their Junior Ranger badges.  While there, we'd asked a few questions that we'd had over the course of the past week such as what that yellow and black bug was, who was Ernie Larsen, anyway (they didn't know much about him, unfortunately...) and a few others.

After spending about a half hour there and keeping them after their closing time, we finally left.  The rest of the drive back to Utah Highway 24 was uneventful - save the appearance of a rainbow over an outcropping of redrock (see image #2238.)

Once we were back to the blacktop, we sped toward Price, stopping for the traditional after-hike dinner of Salad and Pizza.  The drive through Price Canyon was memorable only by the constant drizzle that tended to obscure the lane markings at times, but this didn't slow progress much and we crested the point of the mountain, re-entering the Salt Lake Valley at about 11 PM.

For Gordon, who'd parked his Jeep at my house, the adventure wasn't over just yet:  By the time that he'd passed 45th south on the I-15 he was well aware of a cooling system problem as evidenced by the sudden appearance of a cloud of steam.  Using a pay phone, he called from and I went over to the 7-Eleven at which he'd stopped.  Fortunately, the heater hose had failed at one end and a temporary repair was effected simply but cutting off a few inches of hose, re-clamping, and re-filling the cooling system.  Fortunately, this was the end of the excitement for the trip.

IMG02216 - More sunrise glow by the overhang.  See also #'s 2221 and 2223.
IMG02234 - Gordon and Clint laden with backpacks, ready to head back to the car.
IMG02235 - Mike and Tim, just as we were ready to leave.
IMG02237 - A view from the top of the rockpile, toward the cloud-enshrouded cliffs.
IMG02238 - A rainbow spotted on the road back to U-24.

Comments about the remotely-controlled crossband system:

In the car, I left my PIC-based DTMF-controllable radio control unit.  This uses an FT-470 HT in power-save mode (13 mA average current) to operate as a simplex repeater or turn on a high-powered radio, a Kenwood TM-733A.  The TM-733A "remembers" its state when powered down, so it may be put in crossband repeater mode and have its power removed and still be in the same mode when power is re-applied.

The FT-470, being a dual-band radio, was set to be able to receive command sequences on either VHF or UHF.  This is important for several reasons:  In the event that the crossband radio gets "stuck" transmitting on one band or another (either due to a loose squelch or excessive loquacity on the repeater/system being monitored) one can use the "other" band to command the high powered transmitter offline.  (Also, it is illegal to have a control receiver only on 2 meters...)  In this case, the FT-470 was simply connected to a 1/4 wave vertical which worked adequately on 70 cm.

The TM-733A was connected to an MFJ high-gain vertical dual-band collinear.  From the location at the Ernie's country trailhead, it was possible to hear several repeaters of the Sinbad System, but there were some problems:  The best repeater for that location, the 146.61, had an unusable link from it into the rest of the Sinbad System, and it took 50 watts to get into the Moab 146.76 repeater with a steamy (but perfectly copiable signal) - but it's link to the rest of the world was alo flaky at best.  While other repeaters in the Sinbad System could be heard at the vehicle, the paths to them were not good enough to be useable.

Additional features of the controller include a simplex repeater:  This allow recording of a message of up to 20 seconds in length to be recorded and automatically be played back to allow two users - who might both be in range of the simplex radio but not with each other directly - to communicate.  An additional feature allows the remote metering of the battery voltage to monitor the current charge state to arbitrate the power budget to prevent overcharging by the solar panels (which can be mitigated by turning on the crossbander) or overdischarge due to the excessive use of the crossband repeater.

Miscellaneous other comments:

Comments about the images:


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This page updated 20050517  All text and images copyright 2005 by Clint Turner