Time to check out the bowels of a mountain range...
|
|
|
The legendary JT Weldon piloting Tunnel Falls. His fearless crew: Jim Ingram, Scott Northrup,
Derek Darling, and Dave Roy.
|
A breif summary: 8/23 After frantically updating this website, got a late night ride to Gore
Canyon with the crazy Kiwi riverboarder (sledger) Gary Pera. A river board (sledge) is a thick
wake board with
handles. Gary dons a full wetsuit and flippers and is afraid of nothing! Arrive after midnight
and camp out in the sage. 8/24 Rafting down Gore Canyon in a flotilla of 6 rafts. The raft
I'm in flips just before Gore Rapid (luckily everyone gets out before swimming into the gnar!),
and wraps in Kirschbaum's Rapid. The race is tomorrow; lots of rafts and kayaks in the canyon
practicing and lots of excitement and carnage to watch and help clean up. 8/25 Race day! A
clean line through Gore Rapid (whew!). 75 yards from the finish we flip in Kirschbaum's Rapid!
We all swim to safety except Gary who climbs atop the upside down raft and surfs it over the
finish line! Our finish time (they stopped the clock when all of us had walked down the bank past
the finish line) placed us 27th out of 31 rafts. Partying ensues. Big screen coverage of the
days action play at the campground. Awards, live music, and a bonfire are among the nights
attractions. 8/26 Get it together in the morning. A posse forms for a kayak and sledge run.
My first time down in a kayak. I make it
down with clean lines! Paddled hard this spring, but have only paddled once since the hiking
started. Felt good--all the rafting action was a good warm up! Friend Nathan Sullivan takes me
to Big Creek Lakes to start the hike through the Park Range. Bought him dinner in down town
Walden. Thanks Nate! Set up camp on the edge of a vast marshy meadow. 8/27 Wake up in the
middle of the night with a thick layer of frost forming. Crawl to the bottom of my bag and wait
for sunrise! Brrrrr! Haul all my stuff to the sandy beach of the lake for breakfast and to let
everything dry out. Hike around the lakes a bit--exploring memories of a childhood family
camping trip. I caught my first fish here! Sandal blowout! Fixed it with my sewing kit and duct
tape. I lost the sandal in my last swim in Gore Canyon. Thought it was just sucked off my foot.
Probably the beginning of the blowout. Was panicked losing one of my only two shoes! Luckily it
turned up--someone snagged it out of the river and it made it back to me! Hiked to Seven Lakes
to camp. 8/28 A sinus cold begins to set in. Hike south over rolling slopes at tree line to
Mount Zirkel (12,180'), the crest of the Park Range. Fun scramble made difficult with a full
pack traversing from the north subordinate summit to the true summit. Heading south east to Red
Dirt Pass, lightning pops from the clouds brewing overhead. I flee down steep talus to the valley
floor in light rain. Set up camp, eat, and nap. The afternoon clears and I'm anxious to move on.
Pack up and head for the east side of the Divide to Peggy Lake. The late afternoon storms circle
around but never close in. Glad I made it! 9/29 Up to the Divide and across Flat Top Mountain,
a grand boulevard at 12,000', two miles long and a half mile wide. Down and east to Bear Lakes.
A relatively easy day, but I'm bushed battling a cold. Set up camp. Nap in several places
while exploring the lakes. 8/30 Head south and west across an endless boulderfield to summit a
peak on the divide west of the lakes. Head south through grassy meadows and stunted trees to the
base of Lost Ranger Peak. Up and over into a scoured post-glacial highland. Down to Upper Slide
Lake for camp. Intermittent rain. 8/31 Up early. Cold, windy, unsettled weather. Summit
Mount Ethel in the early a.m. Think if the weather got its act together it would snow. The
desicated snow fields are ready for it! Cruize on out to Buffalo Pass. Pass many parties on
their way in for the Labor Day Holiday. Many are hunters, most on horseback. Not three minutes
after I walk out, Mom and Dad wheel up. Telepathy?
|
|
|
Unidentified kayaker running the meat of Gore Rapid.
|
|
|
Seven Lakes.
|
|
|
Rush hour, Flat Top Mountain.
|
|
|
Dinner.
|
|
|
Happy to be on the summit of Mount Zirkel, the north ridge behind me. Guest photographer: Dave
from Steamboat Springs. Thanks Dave!
|
|
|
Snowfield Rorschach test, Mount Ethel. Rawr-Shok!
|
|
|
A long view back north to Mount Ethel.
|