Abandoned Factory

I love pictures of old, rusting stuff!  This place is probably a Superfund site and I couldn't believe it was just sitting there in the middle of nowhere with its chain link gate hanging alluringly ajar.  The whole time I was there I kept waiting for someone to show up and kick me out, but nobody ever came.  The place has an air of quiet toxicity.

The Machinery of Magical Thinking?

Luckily it seems like the first commercial scale tar sands project in Utah is still quite a few hurdles from being a done deal.  Economic uncertainty and an unproven technology leave significant doubt that this project has legs.

Company seeks first U.S. oil sands project, in Utah - Salt Lake Tribune

I went to the demonstration site for this project a couple of years ago on a tour of the Bookcliffs.  The project was small, but pretty ugly, sitting high in the East Tavaputs just north of the Grand County line.

 Tailings pit

Magical tar sands machinery

This is where the 11 secret herbs and spices are added to the process.

Mmmmmm...unwholesomeness

This is the worst type of energy development - one that is energy-intensive to recover, wrecks landscapes and produces lots of greenhouse gases.  We have to do better than this!

West Desert weekend

After a week of work I was ready for my first foray into my new back yard - Utah's portion of the Great Basin. I was struck by the vast silence of the place.  The occasional truck and a few herds of sheep were all that I saw.  This was a solo recon trip to get to know the lay of the land and identify places I want to come back to for a closer inspection.

Simpson Range

Keg Mountains

Keg Mountains

Drum Mountains

Drum Mountains

Drum Mountains

Swasey Mountain

Fish Springs Mountains

Fish Springs National Wildlife Refuge with Fish Springs Mountains in background

Yampa River Reality Check

Like many river lovers I was relieved when Shell Oil announced that they were abandoning their plans to secure water rights to divert water from the Yampa River to use for oilshale development.  But it got me thinking about some of the existing diversions from the Yampa.  There are two large coal-fired power plants drawing water from the river to cool the steam that drives their turbines.  There are numerous crop irrigation diversions along the way.  As I was recently driving west along US Highway 40, I thought about how the last undammed river in the Colorado River system was far from being an untouched wilderness river.

It was fitting, as I drove west returning from the east to Utah, to measure my sentimentalized and sometimes romantic associations with the Colorado Plateau against the realities.  Weird how I can be simultaneously immersed in the daily fighting to secure protection for this region and also romantic about it.  I guess we have to invent our own mythology when we love a place - a kind of idealized form that we can run our mental fingers over even when half a continent away to remind ourselves of the true essence of the object of our affections.

Also, I think the coal plants sucking water from our best, last river is also symbolic between regional and global environmental problems.  The coal plants take a little water, sure, but they also are contributing mightily to our climate woes.  Traveling what I thought was a route that would gently bring back to mind a more innocent time in my own past turned out to be a pressing microcosm of the most serious problems that confront us today.  High in the watershed of the Yampa, Hwy. 40 passes through Steamboat Springs, dependent on snow and skiers to deliver livelihoods.  An hour later you pass through Craig, home of the largest coal plant in Colorado, which supports the whole local economy but also undermines their neighbors upstream.  Downstream again to Dinosaur National Monument, where declining, endangered native fish like the humpback chub are clinging to life only because of the free flowing snow melt runoff of the Yampa - imperiled be reduced snows linked to global warming.

TRIP REPORT: High Water Yampa

So here are the photos from our recent Yampa River trip. An incredible trip that I am not yet ready to blog about at length. The river was pumping at 22,300 cfs at put in. More details to come!

TRIP REPORT: San Juan River

I know that I am finding my balance in life when I find myself on the river two weekends in a row. The opportunity presented to paddle the upper San Juan River, between Bluff and Mexican Hat, with my housemate Franklin, his girlfriend K-rissy and our friend Matt Gross (a Moabite in diaspora living in North Carolina. I didn't have to think long before accepting this invitation.

We rigged on Friday morning got to the put in at Sand Island later in the afternoon. Our friend Todd, a ranger with the BLM, was working there and saw us off, wishing no doubt he could come with us. With the river running at a swift 3,700 cubic feet per second, we quickly made some miles downstream, pausing to take in the amazing Anasazi petroglyphs at Butler Wash. We made camp above Desecration Canyon on a fine beach. Driftwood was plentiful and we whiled away the evening with a great fire and an amazing dinner of breaded tilapia, broccoli and cous cous.


We welcomed the next day with a lazy morning in camp, complete with breakfast burritos and coffee with a nip of Irish cream. We got off on the river, stopping for hikes to the incredible river house ruin and the rock art up Chinle Wash. Between those two hikes I took an unexpected swim to retrieve an oar ripped out of the oarlock after the oar caught in the sandy bottom of the shallow river. A little excitement in an otherwise calm stretch of river. We entered Lime Ridge and soon spotted a group of mature male bighorn sheep at the river edge. We made camp on a lovely ledge after several other camps we hoped for were already occupied by other boaters. It was a busy weekend on the San Juan. Another great dinner ensued, consisting of pork chops and applesauce. We retired to another large driftwood fueled fire and lively conversation.

The third day broke with warm sunshine into the gorge of Honaker and Paradox formation limestones, reminders of the great age of the rocks surrounding us. These limestones were formed by ancient seas that covered this region during the Pennsylvanian epoch some 300 million years ago. We easily navigated Eight Foot Rapid and Ledge Rapid. Afterward, I put on my work hat to check for signs of use or maintenance on a disputed ATV route along the river near Ledge Rapid. I would be saddened to see motorized vehicles in this beautiful and wild canyon, home to one of the state's most successful bighorn sheep herds.

By late afternoon we made the take out and shuttled cars. After derig we ate at a singularly impressive establishment in Mexican Hat, the Swinging Steak. This cowboy themed outdoor restaurant featured steaks cooked over a hot fire on a swinging grill, ensuring even heat. The old guy cooking the steaks sported a cowboy hat and a western shirt unbuttoned to nearly his navel, bristling with white chest hair. The place was straight out of a Coen brothers movie and provided a great ending to our river trip before our ride home.

This trip reminded me again of what a great river trip for a long weekend the Upper San Juan is. The past two weekends on the river have served to remind me how important traveling by river is to my sense of sanity and happiness.

TRIP REPORT: Dolores River (Slickrock Section)

I decided that this was going to be the year to see all of the Dolores River, at least the sections that are most typically run. Two years ago I ran the upper section from Bradfield (just below McPhee Reservoir) to Slickrock, a beautiful stretch combining the best of the desert and the higher country -- Ponderosa pines towering over the river. This upper section contains the most storied rapid of the Dolores, Snaggletooth.
 

By contrast, the Slickrock section is mellow water broken by the occasional minor rapid (never more than Class II despite the guidebook). The river winds its way through a serpentine redrock gorge, tall cliffs of Wingate sandstone rising up from right beside the river. We put in below Slickrock at the northwestern end of Big Gypsum Valley and traveled 36 river miles to the takeout at Bedrock, Colorado.

So, Thursday night after Spanish class, Lee and I went to the grocery store to outfit ourselves as lightly and cheaply as possible for our one-night river expedition. We decided to go backpacking style, the bare necessities. We would paddle an 11" NRS raft borrowed from a friend. We would leave behind or dramatically scale back most of the equipment normally associated with a raft trip. We brought my Whisperlite stove, canned soup for dinner, a couple of wag bags, and a firepan that was originally intended for baking turkeys -- all stuffed into our two drybags, no metal or hard edges in our rig.

Friday morning we left Moab early for Colorado. We drove to the takeout at Bedrock, dropped Lee's truck, and continued to Big Gypsum valley, pausing briefly in Naturita to buy what might have been the most bland and disagreeable breakfast burritos I've ever had the misfortune to eat. With some intestinal discomfort, we got to the uncrowded put in and quickly inflated our little boat and were off.

We entered the canyon (and the BLM Dolores River Wilderness Study Area) a couple of miles after the put in. Several layers of dramatic sandstone cliffs shot skyward as we were enveloped by the gorge. The river continued to twist like a snake through the ages of ancient desert's sands. We saw or heard no one -- only our own voices and laughter. We patted ourselves on the backs for going on a Friday and Saturday, beating the crowds of weekend warriors we knew would be behind us.


We camped at a small campsite that seemed to be reclaiming now that the Dolores sees less use. We ate our soup and burned driftwood in our turkey pan. I settled into my sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep beneath the starry sky. 

The next day we woke and coffeed and took our time getting out on the river, luxuriating in the beautiful canyon morning. After a few more miles on the river we stopped to hike briefly in Coyote Wash. After a few more miles, strong tail winds increased our speed toward the take out. We made it to Bedrock and Lee's truck. We deflated the raft and put our stuff away in about ten minutes, a record derig, and were on our way back to Big Gypsum for my truck.

This was a great two day trip, stunning views in a special place. I am glad that there is an opportunity to run the Dolores this season. Sadly, most of my years in Utah, the river has been unrunnable due to the operations of McPhee Dam. Surely there is a way to balance the need for water to irrigate a few bean fields with the greater imperative of keeping this river ecosystem healthy.