Spring 2010

This spring, Tan and Katie came to visit us from Boston. It was a short trip, but we managed to fit in a few great hikes in Arches National Park and Little Wildhorse Canyon. Later in the spring, Nancy and I went back to the Robber's Roost region to hike another slot canyon.

Arches National Park and Dead Horse Point

Our first hike was in Arches National Park, where we hiked in the Windows Section and up to Delicate Arch, the most iconic arch in the park. And unlike our trip with Mike, we actually made it to Dead Horse Point before sunset.

Casey, Nancy, Tan, and Katie in front of Turret Arch in the Windows Section.

Tan, Katie, and Nancy in front of North and South Window.

Tan and Katie in front of South Window.

Tan looking up at Delicate Arch.

Delicate Arch.

Casey, Tan, Nancy, and Katie with Delicate Arch in the background.

Casey, Nancy, Katie, and Tan at Dead Horse Point.

The view from Dead Horse Point.

Nancy, Katie, and Tan at Dead Horse Point.

We waited in the cold in order to watch the La Sals turn pink at sunset, but they never did; they just faded out.

Little Wild Horse

We had planned to hike in a slot canyon over by the Mazes District of Canyonlands National Park, but after driving over an hour on the dirt, mud, and snow to Hans Flat Ranger Station, we found the road was closed by snow (not typical for this late in the year) and had to head back out. Instead, we went to Little Wild Horse, which Nancy and I have been to before. This time was much more interesting, though, because the large snowfalls over the winter meant the canyon had standing water in parts, requiring a lot of fun scrambling on the canyon walls to avoid wet feet.

We stayed at the Comfort Inn in Green River the night before. The "Free High Speed Breakfast" was not as interesting as it sounded.

Here's Tan followed by Nancy bracing his feet and hands on the canyon wall to climb over a section of water.

Nancy being a good sport and pausing to smile at the camera as she made her way over the water.

Nancy working her way around a corner in a particularly curvy section that was filled with water.

A section of the narrows with the gang waiting for me to hurry up and take my picture.

Some nice texture in the ribbed and pock-marked walls.

Towards the end of the last narrows section, we reached a pond we couldn't cross. The walls were too far apart to chimney, and there were no shelves to stand on. We knew other people had been up this way already that morning, so we spent a while trying to see if there was some way we could keep going. Then we noticed the bare footprints in the mud stepping into the water and decided to turn back. The water was about 33 degrees Fahrenheit (some sections had ice, and there was still snow in places as well), and none of us felt like getting our feet wet.

Another view of the pond that blocked our passage.

Tan and Nancy working their way over a puddle with steep walls as Katie waited on the far side.

Nancy and Katie navigating around the puddles in a curvy section of the canyon.

Katie, Casey, Nancy, and Tan. The light here was great because the the canyon wall behind the camera was in full sunlight, giving us a nice diffuse red glow on our faces.

The cover for the forthcoming Tan and the Canyoneers album. Actually, I was just being slow packing up my camera and tripod after the last picture, and the three of them lined up perfectly with amazing light waiting for me to start moving. Instead, I had to pause for longer to take their pictures again.

We tried to set up a picture of us over the water in the longest climbing section, but it was a lot harder to get it framed and set up with us stable in position than we had hoped, so this slightly blurry shot was the best we got.

High Spur

In May, Nancy and I took a day trip to the Robber's Roost area to visit the slot canyon we'd attempted to reach with Tan and Katie. There was no snow blocking our path this time, and we were rewarded with a gorgeous canyon with several nice slot sections, each with a distinct personality. I don't know if the canyon has an official name, but I've seen it called High Spur or The Northeast Spur Fork.

Here's Nancy near the beginning of the slots.

In a section with some scrambling, there were two possible routes -- I took the upper and suggested Nancy try the lower, but it turns out there was no easy way out of the lower route, so she had to backtrack.

Me in a slot.

We had started at the head of a tributary slot, so we hiked back up the main slot to its beginning before exploring the lower end. At the top above the slot area, the wild flowers were gorgeous and abundant.

Some of the happiest Indian paintbrush I've ever seen.

There was one very deep, very narrow, and exceptionally straight section. If you look closely, you can see Nancy in the far distance, giving a sense of scale.

I liked the light on this shot

This section had broad, smooth faces, unlike the previous scallopped sections.

Nancy as we emerged from one of the long slot sections.

This section was striped, providing yet another interesting texture.

I like the way the light makes it look as if the upper canyon is in flames.

We climbed up out of the canyon at one of the middle entry/exit points, and looked back at one of the toothy slot sections.