Temple Mountain Journey 2010

This is how the trip began: About a year ago, sitting around work reminiscing about the good ol' days, the campout of 2001 was mentioned. It was a ton of fun and I thought it would be nice to have another one. Of course there were not a lot of us old timers still around so I figured it was up to me. I started to mention the idea to a few others and see what kind of a vibe I would get. Soon the season was over and this year came up. Many people began asking again about a campout. So anyone who knows me, if I say I'm going to do something I always follow through with it! Enter Temple Mountain Journey 2010! This campout was designed mostly with two goals in mind. 1- A non company sponsored campout oriented towards EMT's and 2- hopefully some people will go that enjoy rappelling so i can finally do the technical stuff in one of my favorite places in Utah! Christy and I have had the tradition of visiting Temple Mountain every year for spring break. We have been to the area at least 7-8 times and know the area well. The game plan for this trip went like this: I would drive down with the trailer on Thursday and set up camp. Thursday-Friday co-workers would show up. Friday we would hike a small non-technical slot canyon and Saturday we would do a 6-8 hour technical slot canyon. Sunday morning we would visit the goblins in Goblin Valley State Park and everyone would leave Sunday afternoon. Sunday night till Tuesday morning I would be by myself until Christy was done working everyone's shifts who came down (yes, it was a small ploy to get some extra money!) Tuesday through Sunday we would be there with some other friends visiting throughout the week. So the plan was 11 days of camping! This is how the trip actually turned out:

I was hoping to get out of town around 10am on Thursday. I took a lazy day to get things in order and didn't actually leave until 2pm. Christy had her oil changed in the Subaru and I noticed it was leaking as I was getting ready. Enter jinx numo uno! Once I finally left Salt Lake and headed down I stopped at my sisters house in Price. Instead of trying to drive 100 miles with tons of water, I stopped in Price to fill up all my water jugs. This in theory saves on gas. I think. So last year I found the trailers water tank to be cracked and leaking. I had to get it fixed prior to this trip. So when I started to fill the tank up with water I was a bit frustrated with it still leaking. Jinx number two! Oh well, what do you do? No shower for 11 days, won't bother me any; Christy however? So after filling up and saying hi to Natalie I was on my way. Somewhere along US-6 I was able to see a beautiful sunset over the San Rafael Swell. Finally rolled into camp around 8pm or 9pm, being the only one there, and set up camp.
The next morning I poked around the cliffs and waited for everyone to arrive. I invited 20-30 people from both places of my employment. I wanted to make the trip worth something besides just fun camping. So I promised people, since I'm an instructor, CME hours. However this is how it was to go down: 2 hours of CME talking about burns while hanging out by the fire. 2 hours of environmental emergencies while hiking down the slot canyon. 2 hours of trauma (suspension trauma and long falls) while rapping down the technical slot canyon. We all need the hours, why not do it in a fun environment? So all day I waited for the invitees to show. It wasn't till around noon - 1pm that some arrived. Here is a picture of the campsite looking down from the cliffs above:So finally I had some people show. John, Jenny and Russ. John and Jenny work at Gold Cross and Russ is one of John's friends. After talking for a bit and what not, they finally set up their tent and when no one else showed I decided to take them down Crack Canyon. It was a ton of fun taking new comers down a gorgeous canyon! Here are some pics of the hike:

We came out of the canyon after the sun had set and was still light enough to find the car. There was still a lot of snow but nothing that halted our hike. I found the many dry-falls that were hard to negotiate in the past were rather easy this time. I also was able to go further down canyon then in times past. No matter how much I visit this canyon it always seems to offer something new. It was kinda cool to walk out of the mouth and look up to the ridge and see a deer sky-lined. I had never seen a deer in that area before. Interesting! So back to camp we went. And like always, the sun goes down in the desert and the COLD comes full force. So we started the fire. I was kind of disappointed no one else had showed. But around 10pm or 11pm some more guest arrived. Kendra and her sister Erin showed up. I work with Kendra at the University. Since they arrived so late and had no idea how to set up their tent I offered them the other bed in the trailer. Of course they accepted especially once they found out I had a heater! Go figure!! So we all hung out by the fire until 1am or so. It was a lot of fun, like always!

The next morning we awoke to some large cumulus clouds forming. Knowing I would be guiding this group of misfits down a technical slot canyon I was a bit cautious on the dangers. I stressed the need to get up and get going if we were to hit the canyon prior to the big storm rolling in that was predicted for the weekend. We didn't get going till late but by then it looked like the threatening weather was still a ways out. And yes, I know how flash floods work! I also know how the topography of the area layed out so my concern for the flash's was minimal, still there, but minimal. We all loaded into the 4-runner and began the hour drive to the trailhead of Baptist Draw. Several months ago I made a day trip down to the area with my Dad and brothers to scope out the hike. I wanted to make sure I knew the area prior to taking people. So an hour drive and this is what we found:

The road in was muddier than hell! I was worried. The further we went into the backcountry the worse the traveling got. We finally arrived at the turnoff to take a small 4WD road into the trailhead. If you look closely at the picture above, you can see the trail marker for the road. However, you can't see the road. There are footprints going down the road, but no road! At that point I called off the hike. It's always better to come back another day than die trying to do it! There's number three! So now it was plan B. What is that you ask? Well let me tell you. We climbed back into the car and drove right back to camp. Drove another ten minutes or so the other direction and parked in Horseshoe Canyon Wash by Goblin Valley. I heard and seen beta on a pothole arch just inside the reef. I thought it would be fun to try and rap down it. Not knowing if there were even any anchors above, I thought it would still be a good hike, especially since it was on top of the fins and not in a slot canyon.
Once we visited the arch and saw the petroglyphs inside we bushwhacked our way to the top of the fin and attempted to find the pothole in which we would go down. It wasn't too much of a hike and found it quickly. And yeah, some great anchors!!! So we all harnessed up and as I set up the ropes and the crew took pictures and tried to calm their butterflies, I took the time to practice some of my rope rescue skills. The rap would be about a 70 foot vertical drop, first 20 feet being against rock and the last 50 feet or so being free from any object!Kendra, Erin, Russ, Jenny and John.
My two great anchors. Each stump was about 12 to 14 inches round. Solid in the ground. Live trees, great root systems, solid as cement when kicking them! Each tree would get a wrap-three-pull-two anchor. Then I would take my 8.6mil half-static rope and double up the rope for each anchor and bring it out to a focal point with a figure eight on a bite. Once the anchors were set and the 50m 11mil rope tossed over the side (or down the hole), I set up a few other things on the rope for the "just in case" scenarios. Totally not needed but practice makes perfect and you perform the way you practice! After making sure everyone had their harnesses on right and rappel devices secured I went over a few other things and it was time to have some fun! John was first to go, since he had the most experience and I was comfortable with his skills. Once he was at the bottom he would be the "fireman's belay" for everyone else.

Then one by one everyone went down, hiked back up, and went down again and again. I guess it must have been fun to keep doing it!

It was a good time had by all, even if cell phone coverage ruined the outdoor experience for some! Since we stayed up there for a few hours and enjoyed the experience the storm was soon upon us. The dark black clouds crawling and inching their way closer and closer meant it was time to get off the mountain. Especially when I realized I parked the car in the wash! So we finished up, packed up and hiked out. We got out and back to camp just in time. Now the real fun began!

Once we got back into camp Kendra and Erin left for town to take care of some family business. John, Russ and Jenny were getting ready to head in for shakes when we were visited by the park ranger. He had news for us that made jinx number 5!!! I was planning on staying in camp but because of the events that were unfolding decided to join John, Russ and Jenny for a ride into town. It had started to rain and snow a bit but driving was not that bad. Once into town we got our business taken care of and headed back to camp. It was dark by the time we left Hanksville. Half way back on Highway 24 the belt broke on John's Nissan and we soon found ourselves stranded on the side of the road out in the middle of nowhere. And of course, I left the spot tracker in my car! After weighing the odds we were able to flag down some passing motorist. They were kind of nice to give me a ride back to camp. Two guys who were heading to Moab after coming out of Cataract Canyon by Lake Powell. So I got back into camp and grabbed the 4-runner. I drove back to the others and luckily had a tow strap. (OK, not luckily, I'm an Eagle Scout; I'm always prepared!). It was shorter distance to drive back into Hanksville than to Green River. So we towed the Nissan back into Hanksville and being late Saturday night we asked the gas station attendant if it was OK to park the car in the lot and if there was a mechanic shop in town. He gave us the name and number and we headed once again back to camp.

Since the storm had arrived and I knew it was going to be a bad one I put everybody in the trailer. Tent sleeping in cold weather with 6-12 inches of snowfall doesn't sound like a fun time. I had the space and means to put everyone in so that's what I did! The next morning Kendra and Erin left early for home. I was hesitant about letting them drive in the snow but they needed to leave. After we all got up and got ready for the day we drove back into Hanksville to call the mechanic. This is what we woke up to on Sunday morning:

The mechanic said he wouldn't be able to fix the vehicle till Monday and still needed to get parts from Green River. Seeing how everyone needed to be at work Monday morning the thought of being stranded another day wasn't pleasing to them. Knowing it was just belts and nothing seized, I thought it wouldn't be too much of a hassle to try and fix it myself. One thought led to another and we soon found ourselves working through the problem. Jenny called up to price at the Checker Auto and found they had the belts we needed. I knew Natalie's husband Brian was a mechanic and surely had some tools I could borrow. I called Natalie and we both came to the conclusion it would save time and energy if Brian picked up the belts and came down to Hanksville. Natalie got off work an hour early and their whole family made a trip out of it. Within an hour and a half Brian was elbow deep in John's Nissan getting the old belts off and the new ones on. I want to say it was about five or six before we were in business and driving back to camp. THANK YOU BRIAN AND NATALIE FOR COMING DOWN AND HELPING US! We got back to camp with just enough light to brake it all down and head for home.

I was suppose to stay but seeing how one thing led to another and discussing with Christy back at home it was found to be in the best interest to call the trip over. Not knowing if John would make it back to Salt Lake without more car failures or not I decided to follow them home. The drive home was long and tiredsome. And I didn't realize daylight savings had hit until I was driving out of Spanish Fork Canyon. I finally drove into the driveway around 1am.

Overall the trip was yet another one for the memory books. It seems every year I have a bad trip. Hopefully this is the one for this season! There were some fun times, challenging times, stressful times, but most of all exciting times. Some stories can only be told over beers, others can be written. Hopefully the trip doesn't go down as a negative one, but will be a positive one for all to enjoy and look back on with a smile. I guess life is what we make of it!!!