Backcountry Skiing Utah - Tushar Mtns (day 2)

Alright, we learned our lesson yesterday – you don’t need to skin four or five miles to find some good skiing here. Name of the game today was to find a ratio of skinning to skiing that is closer to 1:1.

Daily ritual of drying out our gear in the sun

Breakfast burritos...nice (photo by Rich)

We tackled a slope much closer to the RV that backs up to the property boundary of the ski resort. This ski resort, by the way, gets close to zero traffic. I think the four of us put down more tracks this week than everyone at the resort did. We skinned 30 minutes to get 800ft of vert…much better approach today!



At the top...you can see where we skied yesterday in the background

Rich, Sean, and Brian on the first pitch

We did two laps here and headed back to the RV for a late afternoon lunch, beers, and frisbee – we had the place to ourselves so it was the perfect place to hang out and relax. Then we went up the closed section of route 153 so Sean and I could try snowboarding and Rich and Brian could try skiing...we should probably stick to what we know. We switched gear back and built a kicker and hit some jumps before dinner.

Me trying to hit the jump switch...sad effort

Rich landing switch

Tushar Mtns – backside of Eagle Point

Getting there: I-70 turns into I-15, head south to exit 112 at Beaver, UT. Take route 160 west of the highway into town, turn left onto route 153. Drive past Eagle Point Ski Resort to the road closure just past Puffer Lake.

Route: We followed the shoulder of this slope from the road up to the Eagle Point border. This provides a good section of open slope which drops into aspen glades with a mix of conifers. You can easily get multiple laps in on this route in one day. You'll have to make a quick climb out of the basin back to road level but that only takes a few minutes.

Precautions: Standard avalanche safety warnings - see Tuesday's post for more local info. Make sure you stay off the ski resort property - it is private land.

Today's downhill is in yellow, RV parked on red

Backcountry Skiing Utah - Tushar Mtns (day 1)

We got an early start today to finish our drive to the Tushar Mtns. We drove up route 153 past Eagle Point ski resort to the seasonal closure.

This area of the Tushar Mtns is outside Beaver, UT

There was a large paved area plowed out on the side of the road – this will be our home for the next few days.

at the road closure

Since its mid week we don’t expect to have any company. We got our gear together and started skinning up 153 past the road closure. We got lured into this approach by an existing snowmobile track (big mistake).



Skinning up the road (photo by Rich)



This is the top of a bathroom - no shortage of snow. This is where we turned left off the road

We took the long way around to get to City Creek Peak and its subpeak to the north. We skinned for a long time for not that many turns but we still got some good skiing in today.

At the summit (photos by Rich)

Brian

Rich

We ended up having to put our skins back on in the Cullen Creek drainage that led to Puffer Lake near the RV...now we’re just pissed off. The sun was setting by the time we crossed the lake and we were all exhausted.

Skinning across Puffer Lake to the RV (photo by Rich)

Once back at the RV though, it was time to celebrate Sean’s 34th birthday. We popped the cork on a bottle of Russell’s Reserve 10yr Kentucky Bourbon and soaked up the last sun light of the day.  Before we knew it, the bottle was empty and it was time to eat Brian’s awesome chili. Still not roughing it. All in all, a good day in the mountains.

Russell's Reserve 10yr Kentucky Bourbon...awesome

Tushar Mtns – City Creek Peak Area

Getting there: I-70 turns into I-15, head south to exit 112 at Beaver, UT. Take route 160 west of the highway into town, turn left onto route 153. Drive past Eagle Point Ski Resort to the road closure just past Puffer Lake.

Route: We took the loooong way around on the closed section of route 153. I recommend skinning across or around Puffer Lake and heading up the Cullen Creek drainage. There is a lot of skiing to be had on City Creek Peak and its subpeaks.

Precautions: Standard avalanche safety warnings - see yesterday's post for more local info. Also, watch out for open water on Puffer Lake. Skin around the lake if you aren't sure whether or not the ice is thick enough.



City Creek Peak downhill shown on green arrow, RV parked on red



Backcountry Skiing Utah - La Sal Mountains

Day two of our adventure started with opening the RV door to 12-14 inches of fresh powder and an overlook of the Utah desert at sunrise. So far so good.



Sunrise over the UT desert...hard to believe Im standing in over a foot of fresh snow

 

Parked at the trailhead on Geyser Pass Rd

 Three snowmobiles passed on the road when we were getting ready to leave – thanks for cutting a skin track for us guys! We skinned up the road to what looked like the best point to turn toward Mt Tukuhnikivatz and Mt Peale.

Getting ready to skin up the snowed in road

Off we go...

We spotted a lower lying slope in the Laurel Highway area that looked like it could give us a good vert without posing an avalanche danger. Time to cut our own skin track.



You can see our planned route behind Brian

This proved to be a good choice – making turns in shin deep powder. We ended up doing two laps on this slope before skiing the rest of the way back to the RV (some in aspen glades, some on the road).

Rich carving up the powder with his split board

A grader came through between laps and cleared the road - Rich came close to getting run over on the grader's second pass. Maybe we can get the RV out without too much effort!

Rich surfing his board after he and Sean both smacked trees right next to each other

We got back to our rig mid afternoon and decided to head toward our main objective – the Tushar mountains outside Beaver, UT. We packed up our stuff and started work on getting the RV out. At this point we had dug out all snow around the tires and the stupid thing was spinning on bare ground – impressive capabilities. We finally popped it out after rocking the transmission between drive and reverse until I thought it was going to fall out on the road. Off to the Tushars…warm and sunny in the valley…open beers now.

Driving back up 191 from Moab to I-70

We drove to the San Rafel swell along I-70 and drove north on a dirt road out of sight of the highway to camp for the night. Sean grilled NY strips and baked potatoes…we’re not exactly roughing it.

La Sal Mtns  - Laurel Highway Area

Getting there: Drive south out of Moab, UT on 191, turn left at sign for Ken's Lake and La Sal Mountain Loop Road. This road turns into Geyser Pass Road, stay on Geyser at all junctions and park at the trailhead  parking lot on the right side of the road (approx 9,600ft).

Route: From here, we skinned about a mile up the road because it hadnt been plowed out yet after last night's storm. It was difficult to tell where exactly we were in the Laurel Highway area because there were still a lot of low lying clouds on the mountains. There are a number of options in and out of the trees close to the road if you dont want to do a long skin.

Precautions:
Same as the precautions I've listed before - backcountry skiing requires avalanche gear and training. Checkout http://utahavalanchecenter.org/ for local avalanche forecasts and other information.

Backcountry Skiing Utah - the trip from Colorado

Today begins our week long backcountry skiing adventure in Utah. The idea for this trip was hatched between Sean and me after drinking a fair amount of whiskey and beer at the Warren Miller film last November – isn’t that how all brilliant ideas are formed?? The four of us (Sean, Rich, Brian, me) are living and skiing/boarding out of a 25ft Cruise America RV until we drive back home to Colorado next Sunday.



All the gear laid out on Sean's driveway - yes, it all fit

We decided not to have the RV dewinterized so we used the bathroom for storage and took our 'business' outside all week



We drove from Denver today through a mix of rain and snow to the La Sal mountains southeast of Moab, UT. We tried really hard to conduct a thorough search for information on the legality of drinking in the back of an RV on the road. Since we didn’t find any information saying it wasn’t allowed…party on. Now I remember why we thought an RV was such a good idea!



OUCH! First fill up in Grand Junction - one of many

Rich had last shift driving and the rain we drove through in Moab quickly turned to snow as we drove higher and higher on Geyser Pass Rd. He did a good job (for a British guy) driving the RV through at least eight inches of fresh snow. We pulled off at a trailhead parking lot on Geyser Pass Rd when the RV just wouldn’t go any further. We think we are within a mile of where we wanted to be so we’ll sleep here tonight and reassess in daylight since the RV is stuck. 

Brian and Rich storing the gear in the cargo area in the snow storm after getting the RV stuck for the night

Snowshoeing in Rocky Mountain National Park

Despite the best intentions, it always seems more difficult to go to the mountains during the winter. It’s just too easy to hang out at home where its warm and you can sleep in. Inevitably though, the overwhelming urge to throw a backpack on and hit the trail pulls you out of your climate controlled comfort. That’s how this weekend went for me. It had been too long since I went into the mountains with my camera and tripod so I called my father-in-law, Jim, to see if he wanted to make a quick trip to Rocky Mountain National Park. Jim has an A-liner camper so we weren’t exactly roughing it. We drove up to the park from Colorado Springs on Saturday afternoon and stayed through Sunday. Getting a campsite wasn’t overly challenging – most people head for home or their hotel room when the sun begins to set in February. We setup camp in Moraine Park campground and then headed to Bear Lake for sunset.

Longs Peak and frozen Bear Lake at sunset

Bear Lake was ours to explore in solitude, which if you have ever been to Bear Lake in the summer is a rare experience. The wind was gusting pretty hard but that’s the price you pay for it to be 35F after sunset at 9,500ft in February.

Closeup of Longs Peak and Keyboard of the Winds with my 70-200mm

We waited for the last light to fade and then headed back to camp to grill some steaks by the fire and have a few drinks. We climbed in the camper for the night pretty early because the wind was too much for the fire. We went to sleep (briefly) to the wind rocking us around. Sometime around 2:30AM the wind gusted so hard it separated the roof and we could see moonlight. Not good. I suggested we rotate the trailer into the wind for better aerodynamics. I guess the positive side of having been awake listening to the wind for hours was it wasn’t too much of a shock to have to go outside. This seemed to stabilize the situation a little but sleep was still aloof so I patiently waited for morning so we could get moving on the trail. We started from the Bear Lake trailhead again and set off for Dream Lake.

Dream Lake with Hallett Peak in the bacground

The wind at Dream Lake was ferocious but it was nice enough to blow all the snow away so I could take some detail shots of the fractures and air pockets in the ice. Once again, we had the place to ourselves. I love coming here in the winter!

Ice detail in Dream Lake

I finished shooting at the lake and a few people showed up…damn, time to move on. We planned to take the trail to Lake Haiyaha which we couldn’t seem to locate. We bushwhacked up the slope where the map said the trail should be until we eventually crossed a good skin track and followed that. It might not have been the normal trail but if offered some incredible views of Longs Peak.



Longs Peak and Storm Peak getting blasted by Chinook winds



Lake Haiyaha was in a whiteout from blowing snow so we kept moving down the trail to loop back to Bear Lake. One more shot despite the wind...



The wind forms interesting looking satrugi in the snow



To get there:

You can access Moraine Park Campground (open year round) and the Bear Lake Trailhead by entering the national park through the town of Estes Park (less than 1.5hrs from Denver on a good day). It costs $20 for a seven day pass to the park – they will give you a map at the entrance station that shows campgrounds and trailheads, etc. Moraine Park Campground is on the way to Bear Lake.

Route:

There are a lot of variations of this route you can do to explore more. We started at the Bear Lake trailhead (ample parking all day during the winter) and hiked to Dream Lake (approx 1.1 mi). This stretch is well traveled and snow shoes are not necessarily required if you stay on the packed trail. From here we hiked to Lake Haiyaha (approx 1.0 mi). This part of the trail (not even sure we ever found it) doesn’t get used very much in the winter so snow shoes are a must. Expect to sweat a little bit going up for a short distance – the views will reward you though. From Lake Haiyaha we were going to snowshoe to the intersection with the Loch Vale trail and loop back along Glacier Gorge to our trailhead. Instead, we found a well used winter trail down the next drainage southeast of Chaos Canyon (maybe another mile). This took us to a major trail junction where we followed the sign 1.0 mi back to Bear Lake (uphill, not the best finish).

Precautions:

Winter travel in the mountains can add new challenges to your trip. Allow extra time to get through your planned route and be prepared to break trail through deep snow at times. Keep in mind days are shorter so plan accordingly. Also, even on a clear day, high winds and blowing snow can disorient you and obscure tracks. It is relatively easy to find routes in this part of the park that avoid avalanche paths but we did see a small slide and others were reported in the park the same day so be aware.

Skiing Mount Trelease

The week between Christmas and the New Year is always a difficult week to work...motivation is typically at an all time low. That being said, Sean, Brian and I took the day off, threw our gear in the car, and hit the road from Colorado Springs (after Brian overslept and picked me up an hour late). Our plan was to check out the A-Basin side of Loveland Pass but as we got close to the turn off for the pass I spotted some glades on the north side of I-70 Sean and I had been scoping out from the highway on a previous trip. So we decided to ski the glades on Mount Trelease (12,477 ft). It was 18F when we got out of the car and the temperature dropped from there as a new storm system rolled on to the Continental Divide bringing some fresh snow with it. We were happily surprised to find a lot of great Colorado powder to ride and only saw two other people on the mountain.


Leaving the parking area

Looking back toward Loveland Ski Area



Brian contemplating the top of our route

Why backcountry snowboarding is a hard life: Brian, gloves off, adjusting his bindings over 12,000ft at about 0F with blowing snow. This process took about 5 min.

Sean tearin it up

Brian throwin some powder

Sean dropping into the tight trees after some great powder turns on open glades


To get there:
From the Denver/Colorado Springs areas - head west on I-70 until you are almost to the Eisenhower Tunnel. Take exit 216 where there will be a dirt parking area on the north side. Park against the cliff band, this is the base of Mount Trelease.

Route:
Leaving the parking lot is fairly obvious because there aren't many options to skin or snow shoe past the exposed dirt face. Once through the initial steep entry there is typically at least one good skin track to follow unless there has just been a fresh dump of snow. In that case, break a sweat to get first tracks! There are a lot of well spaced trees on the upper portion of the mountain but it does get a little choked as you drop close to the parking lot.

Precautions:
This area might be close to the highway but safe backcountry travel habits and gear need to be used. There is a good mix of terrain and potential avalanche danger so be prepared.

Backpacking in the Grenadiers

I planned to do an adventure race outside Glenwood Springs, CO with my friend Jason from Connecticut the weekend of 11 Sep. I traveled a lot for work this year which means and I ate and drank way too much and exercised very little. Since I wasn’t getting the proper training in to make sure I didn’t die during the race…I wimped out. To make it up to Jason I promised to plan a sweet backpacking trip in the San Juan Mountains. We settled on Labor Day weekend and headed to the Grenadier Range outside Silverton.  We drove from Colorado Springs Friday morning, grabbed a bite to eat in Silverton and hit the trail from the Cunningham Gulch trailhead (10,480 ft). This is the Highland Mary Lakes trail which climbs steeply to tree line over the first two miles before it opens onto rolling alpine meadows dotted with beautiful crystal clear lakes (full of trout).



While still in the trees the trail follows close to Cunningham Creek, the steep grade has its benefits – lots of waterfalls

Once out of the trees, we made our way past Highland Mary Lakes, dropped our packs and setup camp at the second of the two Verde Lakes (12,200 ft).


Our campsite, tucked into a depression next to the lake. This was the first trip trying out my new tent - the REI Arete 3 (great tent)

On the second morning we crawled out of the sleeping bags to frosty predawn air and hiked to the summit of an unamed point next to camp to photograph sunrise. From this point we had amazing views of the Grenadier Range with Vestal and Arrow Peaks front and center. To make the morning even better we could hear and see elk bugling far below in the gorge. We also saw a mountain goat skipping across the face of a mountain behind us.

Dawn in the Grenadier Range

After a quick breakfast we did a large full day loop that took us to the summit of Whitehead Peak (13,259 ft) and Mount Rhoda (13,402 ft), connecting to the Whitehead trail, past Lost Lake, and over a steep saddle back to camp. We were pretty tired but found the energy to catch some trout before dinner. Jason was pretty mad at me the night before because the fish were hitting my "gaudy" lures left and right but wouldn't touch his flies. He had a better night the second night and I was thinking more about photographing sunset...

Jason (left) and me on Whitehead Peak. You can see the famous Wham ridge on Vestal from here



Hiking the ridge line to the summit of Mount Rhoda



Lost Lake from the saddle between the lake and our camp

 I decided to throw my pack on and head back out to a small alpine tarn we found while exploring the ridge above Elk Creek. The wind calmed down and the setting sun lit up the sky - I'm glad I didn't give in to the idea of lounging around camp.  As the last light faded from the clouds over Vestal and Arrow, I threw my camera gear in my pack and started hiking fast to scale back down the rock face I had come up before it got too dark. Once in the willows around Lost Lake I was making great time...until I met a momma moose and her baby 40 yards away. It was a tense 60 seconds while we stared at each other figuring out what to do. Fortunately for me, she chose flight over fight and took off up the ridge.
 



The tops of Vestal and Arrow Peaks reflected in a secluded alpine tarn

To get there:

Drive through the town of Silverton and turn onto CO 110 toward Howardsville. In Howardsville (not really a town) turn right onto FR 589. The trailhead is approximately 4 miles up this dirt road. We took my Subaru Outback without any problems but it can be rocky. If you feel like abusing you passenger car, you can make it all the way to the stream crossing just shy of the main parking area.

Route:

Start at the parking area for Cunningham Gulch and Highland Mary Lakes and get ready to sweat. This trail is easy to follow but doesn't give you very many breaks in the first two miles. Once above tree line you will wind in between the Highland Mary Lakes chain. After the lakes the trail tends to fade in and out of the tundra - shoot for the low ridge in front of you, there is a large wooden pole at the top of it. Head for the pole it will get you to a point where you can see Verde Lakes. From here there is a lot of terrain to explore. You can connect with the Continental Divide trail for some extra alpine exploring.

Precautions:

We spent the whole long weekend above tree line. There is no protection from thunderstorms up here so be prepared to seek shelter the best you can. It can be very windy and cold on the exposed tundra - you can get hypothermia from prolonged exposure to the cool wind. Wear wind blocking layers and drink plenty of water. Jason ended up exhibiting some symptoms of mild hypothermia after hiking the Continental Divide Trail all day. I remember saying "J- put on your jacket" and he responded in a yell "NEVER". He was wrapped in his sleeping bag while I filtered what seemed to be gallons of water for him the rest of the day.

Jason on the way back to the car, the largest of the Highland Mary Lakes in front of him. Old elk antlers strapped to his pack (dont ask)