Fall Break Part Trois

I'd like to shake the hand of whoever decided that University of Utah students should have a week off in October each year.

Fall break in 2014 was about 2 weeks before my thesis defense. This was not a happy time. Julia, Dave, and Olivia were very persistent and convinced me to get out of town. It was very kind of them.

First order of business was to find a beautiful campsite along the rim of the Little Grand Canyon. That was easy enough.

Seems like a suitable place to have dinner and sleep.

The second order of business was to bike along the rim of the Little Grand Canyon and be amazed. That was easy enough too, since the trailhead started from our campsite and the Little Grand Canyon is beautiful.

Our trail followed the rim for several miles. It was great.

Enjoying the moonrise and sunset after the bike ride.

Tak for turen bike. Photo by Dave.

Glad to be out of the office. Photo by Dave.

The third order of business was to go for a hike that involved a little scrambling and one rappel. That was not nearly so straightforward but it was wonderful nonetheless.

The plan was to walk up one canyon and down the other. Dave and Olivia had picked out the Cow/Calf/Pine loop from a guide book written by Steve Allen that Dave had found at a thrift shop. Steve is quite the adventurer and has done some pretty cool trips in his day but it seems that somebody dumped that book for a good reason.

The hike up the canyon was very pleasant.

Towards the start of the hike. Photo by Dave.

The first sign of trouble was trying to decide where Steve recommended climbing out of the canyon. It came to a very abrupt dead end with a few places where it appeared we could climb out. So we went to the guidebook and found that interpreting Steve's less than precise description was challenging. After wandering about for 30 minutes, trying one option, and turning around, wandering around for another 20 minutes, we committed to a slope with a few tricky spots and eventually made it up to the rim. Julia did quite well with exposure.

What the heck Steve? Your words do not match this route.

A few steep spots made it even more fun.

From the rim, the guidebook began to recommend that we head towards landmarks that appeared to be surrounding us on all sides. There are a lot of small washes, rocks, and gullies in the desert. Apparently Steve thought that vague descriptions were more helpful than specific directions. We were told to look for a fork in the trail and head for rocky areas. Which of the 13 forks in the trail are you talking about, Steve? "Steve Allen is a jerk" became the phrase we used to motivate ourselves to keep moving and find our way back to the car. We are still mystified by what Steve meant when he suggested we would soon be seeing "inverted V's" everywhere on rock walls along the route. Suggesting the trail will become more rocky is not a helpful description. There were several rocks along the trail. Eventually we stood overlooking the canyon we had climbed out of earlier that morning. Steve Allen is a jerk (no offense).

We backtracked and followed a different fork in the trail toward some other rocks. Suddenly an iPhone in a backpack dinged. Service! We found ourselves on the little screen, got oriented, and trudged along.

Not only is Steve Allen a jerk, I have terrible posture.

Hey, I resemble that remark.

Eventually we found ourselves looking at a canyon that we were 86% sure that we were supposed to rappel into and hike out of. However the cliff we were looking at was a bit too long for the rope that Dave had been carrying around all day. Eventually Dave and Olivia found a suitable anchor and we scooted off the edge. Julia's first rappel was wonderful. Nice work wife.

Down the cliff we go! Much thanks to Dave and Olivia for
making sure we repelled correctly.

All arriving safely.

After some exciting down-climbing and inadvertent trundling we were at the bottom of the canyon and a pleasant hike to the car was all that was left.

Ha! We were right up there!

I have always been a blind-squirrel-type photographer. Eventually I will take a good picture. Dave is obviously a good photographer. His photos make looking back on an adventure even more fun.

While I was taking this photo...

Dave was taking this one. Photo by Dave.

And getting ready to take this one. Thanks
man. Photo by Dave.

After the hike we headed back to the campsite to soak in some more beauty on the canyon rim.

We all like the Little Grand Canyon.

After another extraordinary morning we took some "Sears catalog" pictures on the rim. Dave and Olivia framed this one for us as a Christmas gift. It captures the trip very well.

We didn't have to pretend we were having a good time for
this photo shoot. Photo by Dave's remote.

A few weeks later my thesis committee stopped asking me questions that I couldn't answer and said I would pass with a few minor changes and several major revisions. And then it snowed. So we went up to Alta to have some early season fun.

This is a 30 minute drive from our house!

Julia getting after it up the hill.

Julia getting after it down the hill.

Good times.