Day 98 - Jasper Indian Ridge

The Skytram near Jasper Town carried me up 1000 meters to the near-top of Whistlers mountain (named for the whistle call of marmots). I then hiked to the summit 150 meters up further but then struck off down the other side toward Indian Ridge.

I passed through the wet valley and ascended the ridge on the left, making the my way up quickly, with the only challenge being a scramble detour to avoid snow, up loose rock to the left of the peak. The view was great in every direction but I especially loved the mountains to the south, with Mount Edith Cavell as a main actress.

As I slowly tramped along the wide ridgetop, sharp arete mountain ridges to the south and the snowy cone of Mount Robson, tallest peak in the Canadian Rockies, far in the distance, came into view.

Arriving at the far right ridge peak after an hour or so, I began my descent, following the guidebook instruction to "walk down the shale slopes to the stream." About a quarter of the way down, I realized I had descended one chute too soon as this route was too steep for waking, more like controlled sliding. I brought out my hiking poles and skied down the rock, letting my feet slide like you would on snow. This was my first real test using this technique and it worked brilliantly. Once down, I crossed boggy fields then countless little streams, climbed the hill back to Mount Whistlers and returned down the Skytram express to the van.

Still with daylight left, I drove the 75 km west to Mount Robson, the snowy cone I had seen in the distance. The cone was much larger from just below.

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Day 43 - Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef, a national park centered around a 90 mile ancient seabed reef was next on my list. A sensationally scenic three hour drive from Bryce, back through Escalante, and then through a national forest led me to the park. A stop by the visitor center to get the lay of the land and insider info on local free BLM campsites complete, I set out on Chimney Rock trail up the the top of the first reef to get a view. Yes sir!! The weather was ideal for hiking and the views completely blissful, but I was frankly tired today. I set out along the scenic road down the west side of the reef and remember wanting to take a nap-- but still having a sense of urgency to complete the desert portion of my trip-- I pushed on and set out to hike down the Capitol Gorge and Grand Wash canyons. The Capitol Gorge had a "Pioneer Wall" with inscriptions from the early 1900s and the Grand Wash had a nice narrow section with towering canyon cliffs all around. I took a photo of the surrounding reef...

Day 35 - Escalante River

Our group of eight intrepid but novice backpackers and two incredibly experienced guides gathered for breakfast at 8am to meet, greet and bulk up for 5 days in the Escalante River area. We laid out all our gear to ensure we had the needed hiking, camping and survival supplies and drove to our trailhead for departure. We hiked along a trail following the course of the Escalante River for a mile or so before getting to our first of many river crossings. Wet feet were not something we could avoid so we simply hiked across and sometimes down the river. When the river ran close to the canyon walls we knew we would have to find a shallow entry to the river, then cross the river to the bench on the other side. Guides Andrew Skurka and Alan Dixon offered instruction along the way on map reading and route finding and information on local vegetation and geology and how the knowledge of both helped make your off trail travel more efficient. For example in geology their were two main ro...

Day 54 - Great Sand Dunes

I awoke to clear skies, a dry mattress and pillows, a second hot shower and a waffle-filled motel breakfast. I decided to head east to Great Sand Dunes National Park in order to climb 700 foot sand dunes surrounded by snow-covered alpine mountains--a rare site. Just about every road in Colorado goes over a pretty high mountain pass eventually, and this three and a half hour journey didn't disappoint. And Great Sand Dunes didn't disappoint either. After securing a dune-side campsite and waiting out a rainstorm, I set out to climb the dunes for a sunset view. Great Sand Dunes is also famous for its Medano Creek wave-like flow and ankle-deep water, making it popular with young kids. I hiked through it and started climbing the dunes, first to a high dune on the east side and over to the next highest dune and then the next highest et until I got to the highest one-/ properly called High Dune. I sat down, setup my phone to capture a time-lapse of the beautiful sunset my eyes were ...

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