THE PUCKER FACTOR

After driving on various trails around here, all of us have noticed that some have more of a pucker factor than others.  With that in mind I have developed the "PUCKER RATING".  There will be a score from one (_*_) to 5 (_*_) depending on how frightened we get.  The Pucker Rating can also apply to hikes.  So far here are the scores:

Shafter Switchbacks -      (_*_)(_*_)(_*_)(_*_)
White Rim -                    (_*_)(_*_)(_*_)
Onion Creek -                 (_*_) Normally Onion Creek wouldn't get a score at all, but since we had to cross the stream so many times, and we could have been splashed by cold water, it gets one (_*_).
Pucker Pass -                 (_*_)(_*_) (Yes that's the name)
Delicate Arch -               (_*_)
Corona Arch -                (_*_)(_*_)

PUCKER PASS



Pucker Pass is a narrow steep canyon that starts near Islands in the Sky and ends at the Colorado River. While going down hill the views down the canyon are beautiful.

After a drive through Pucker Pass, we hiked to Corona Arch, one of the largest arches in the area.  Getting there involves walking on slickrock, climbing moki steps with the assistance of a cable placed next to them and climbing a ladder to get to a higher level.  The route is part of the reason for the pucker rating, but most of it is because of the crazy people who were repelling on a rope from the top of the arch.

CRAZY, JUST CRAZY

Spring Canyon Bottom:  (_*_)(_*_)(_*_)(_*_)(_*_)

This not a pretty drive like the Shafer Switchbacks.  This was one heart pounding 1000 ft decent from the plateau to the Green River along a road, such as it is, chiseled out of the rock into the side of a sheer cliff.  If the Pucker Rating went higher, this road would get it.  The road was soooooo narrow that loose rocks where push off the side of the cliff by our tires.  Talk about pucker.  We read in a guide book about the views, by we didn't notice them, all we saw was our white knuckles gripping steering wheel while our wives were whimpering in the passenger seat.  It was one hell of a ride.

With relief we finally reached the bottom and upon reaching the Green River we decided to have our last meal.  Because now once at the bottom, we had to go back up.  After our lunch, we conjured up enough nerves to retrace our route back to the plateau.  Back on level ground, we looked at each other and in our macho way said, "a piece of cake".

ON THE WAY DOWN

THE BOTTOM,  1000FT BELOW

LUNCH, OUR LAST MEAL

WHY ARE THEY HAPPY? WE STILL HAVE TO GO BACK

THERE ARE 3 BIG HORN SHEEP IN THIS PHOTO

HIGH PLACES DON'T BOTHER THEM

WE MADE IT TO HAPPY HOUR

Tomorrow morning bight and late, we head south toward Bluff, Utah.  We plan on staying in the tents for a couple of days, while exploring the local area looking for Indian ruins.  The Adventure continues.

EXPLORING MOAB

We've upgraded our living arrangements and we're staying in a townhome in Moab.  With all the comforts of home, it's nice to return from a day of hiking and exploring in time for happy hour on the patio overlooking the golf course.

The Moab area is well know for being an off road mecca.  The place can get crowded with both 4-WD vehicles and mountain bikes.  One challenge for the bike rides is to transit the entire White Rim, a jaunt that takes them 4 days.  They usually travel with a support vehicle.  For the 4-WD owner, the trails range from smooth graded dirt roads to the most extreme trails one can imagine.  Here's an example.




With names like metal masher, steel bender and hell's revenge, you can see that there are some really tough trails out there.  These being a bit over our head, we opted for some tamer options.

One trail we went on was Onion Creek,  A beautiful narrow canyon with the road crossing the creek over twenty times.  With campsites along the way, it is one of those places that we hope to return to.

ONION CREEK ROAD

Anytime one goes to Moab, a trip into Arches National Park and a hike to Delicate Arch is a must.  Cathie and I have hiked to the arch on at least 6 occasions.  Mike and Nancy had never been there so the hike was on.  The weather has been cool, but no rain to speak of.  Hiking to the arch is a good way to get warm, since the trail is mostly up hill.  With spring break starting, we had plenty of company on the way.  Mike tried and tried to get a photo of the arch with no one standing under it.  Finally he just gave up and he and Nancy walked under the arch for their own photo.

  MIKE, NANCY AND THE ARCH

THE OTHER SIDE

At the end of the day, there's nothing like a home cooked meal, with Mike doing the cooking.

THE CHEF

NOW THAT'S A MEAL

MORE PHOTOS

ON THE SHAFER TRAIL

LOOKING AT THE RIM FROM ABOVE

NANCY AT MUSSELMAN ARCH

ON THE EDGE

ON THE OVERHANG

JUST ANOTHER VIEW

END OF THE DAY CIGAR

THE WHITE RIM TRIAL

We left San Diego at a bright and early retirement time of 8:30 and headed north on I-15.  We pulled into Cedar City in time for dinner and decided to hold up in a motel for the night.  The next morning this is what we woke up to.

Several inches of snow fell during the night and it was cooooold.  We drove in the snow until Richfield, Utah, and with the wind behind us we made good time to Moab.  We stopped and picked up our permit at the Canyonlands Visitor Center for our campsite, at White Crack, on the White Rim Trail.  The exit route was still closed so we would have to drive in and return the same way.

THE WHITE RIM FROM ABOVE



The next  morning we started on the trail at 9:00.  The first part of the trail is on the Shafer Switchbacks which drops down from Islands in the Sky at 6,000 feet to 4,500 feet. It's on a very pretty road.  It's pretty steep, pretty narrow, pretty rocky and pretty scary.  The road hangs on the side of the sheer cliff the entire way down.  We made the bottom of the grade in one piece and started out on the Rim Road.

SHAFER SWITCHBACKS

MIKE ON THE SHAFER

THE SHAFER ROAD

It was 37 miles to our campsite and the ranger had told us to expect it to take 5 hours.  That seemed pretty slow to us until we were actually on the road.  Although 4-WD is not required everywhere, the road is so rough that in order to traverse many sections, 4-WD low range is the better way to go.  The views were sensational as the road hugged the edge of the rim.  At times the drop off on the edge went down 1000 feet, so it was best to pay attention.  Along the way we stopped at Musselman Arch, and while Nancy and I remained on solid ground, Mike and Cathie walked across the arch.  The top of the arch is about 4 feet wide and if one was to decide take a dive off the edge, you would have about 500 feet to think about the decision.

CATHIE ON MUSSELMAN ARCH

VIEW FROM THE EDGE

LUNCH ON THE TRAIL

It took us about 6 hours to reach our campsite, having traveled at a respectable speed of 6.7 MPH.  Our camp at White Crack is the most popular campsite on the trail and there is only one site, so we had it all to ourselves.  It is located on a point of land overlooking the confluence of the Colorado and Green Rivers.  The views were  unmatched.

VIEW FROM CAMP

After setting up camp in a strong wind, and rain showers, the sky cleared and we had dinner of ham and beans, which hit the spot.  Because of the cold, it was about 40 degrees, we hit the sack early just to keep warm.

The next morning we woke to calm wind conditions and sunny skies.  I got up before sunrise to make coffee and enjoyed to sunrise and the solitude.

WHITE CRACK CAMP

After a breakfast of warming oatmeal, we broke camp and headed out about 10 am.  We spent another six hours driving out, and enjoying the sites the entire way.  This was one fantastic road and we only saw only half of it.  The washout was expected to be repaired a couple of days after our trip.  At dinner that evening in Moab we talked about another trip on the White Rim to see what we missed.  It was unanimous, NO WAY, it's just too damn bumpy.

MIKE ON THE EDGE

JUST ONE OF THE VIEWS

A ROAD TRIP TO MOAB

We're heading out again, this time on a road trip to the Moab area. Friends Mike and Nancy will be tagging along for a 4 wheel drive adventure that starts out on the White Rim Trail in Canyonlands National Park. This is a 100 mile 4WD road that traverses the plateau below the Islands in the Sky district of the National Park. The trip usually takes 2 days and a permit is required for the over night stay. Last year a flash flood destroyed a portion of the road towards the end, so we will probably have to back track and return the way we went in. Here's a photo of the destruction.

If we survive the White Rim, then it's a week in Moab staying in a vacation rental (shown here) and exploring the numerous off road tails in the area. After that it's anybodies guess, but we intend on heading south to the area around Bluff, Utah for more exploring and perhaps discovering a previously unknown Indian ruin.  As is the custom, I will post updates when I have something to say and when WIFI is available.

LOOKING TO SAVE ON AIRLINE TICKETS?

We have all heard of extra fees charged by the airlines, but in England they've been writing songs about what fees some low cost airlines have been adding on.

ANOTHER RANT

It's been a while since I used my blog to rant, but it's my blog and rant I will.  The last time it was about Michael.  You remember him.

Anyway, this time it's about Charlie.  Unless your head is in buried the sand or you've been in the outback for the last month or two, you have probably heard about him.  In fact you probably heard about him EVERY DAY!  I guess I've got to hand it to him, because he is now getting more free publicity than he's ever got before.  He may be an idiot, but he's a smart idiot.

The other evening I sat down to watch the NBC evening news and the lead story was about Charlie.  This fine example of reporting was deemed more important than what was happening in Libya or elsewhere in the world.   The happenings with him were so important to CNN that they repeated an hour long interview with him in primetime.  Every day in the local newspaper there is something about Charlie.  So is Charlie's fault?

Perhaps the news media is to blame.  They spend an inordinate amount of time and energy covering everything that is spewed out of  his mouth and all the talking heads are clamoring to have him on their show.  So is this news?  Hardly, but since when did the news actually report the news.  Not for a long time in my opinion.  Yes, you get some news, but you also get a lot of crap.  The only news show I watched that didn't have something about Charlie was BBC.  So is the news media at fault?

I don't think it's either Charlie's or the media who's at fault.  It's society, which is made up of a lot of people who like to watch crap like that on TV and read about in the paper.  The media may feed it to them, but we all know, or at least should know, that the media is in it for the money.  Just like Charlie.

So as long as there are idiots out there who eat this stuff up, there will be people like Charlie, and business like NBC and CNN who will make money from it.

Ok, I've calmed down now.