We added a new gallery: Outings>Backpack Trips>Stevens Arch



Stevens Arch as viewed from the Weeping Dinosaur bench.

A note from Rob:

As our winter slide scanning project nears completion we wanted to share a family backpack trip we did over Memorial Day weekend in 1999.  Julie and soon-to-be husband Matt joined Christy and me for a trip down lower Coyote Gulch to Stevens Arch.

For me, it was exactly 30 years after my first trip to Jacob Hamblin in 1969 and provided many contrasts.  Most notably, we traded cows for campers.  As much as I prefer cows, I would have to admit the canyon vegetation was much healthier and despite tents on every viable campsite the canyon was still spectacular.  

 

Ready to get truckin - Matt, Julie, Christy and Rob’s excellent JanSport backpack. 

You will note the rich Kodachrome color but a lack of sharpness in this batch of images.  I was between cameras in 1999 and have no idea what we were using.  Thus, we see that great film and scenery can’t compensate for a poor lens.

 

A brief escape from the snow and ice…

Its 700 miles from our frozen, snow covered driveway to the beaches of California’s  Newport Coast.  

For us it’s a day and half of driving, but with our long-time friends, Tony and Ilene the drive was quick and fun.  Thanks to their sons connections at Marriott we found ourselves in a setting that made winter a distant memory.

 Nearby Crystal Cove State Park provided the backdrop for morning walks and great views.

Alas, all to soon we were back on the road heading north through a Cedar City snow storm and home to a driveway that had to be shoveled in order to get the car back in the garage.

Now, the sound of the ocean waves seems like a far distant dream…

Reelin’ in the years…

One of the highlights of our recent trip to Southern California was enjoying an evening with Cliff and Liz. 

Rob, LuJean, Cliff and Liz – photo complements of Liz’s iPhone.

It was fun to get acquainted with Liz.  We especially enjoyed hearing about her younger days in New Jersey and when her family did a cross-country excursion in their VW bus.  Turns out Cliff also had a bus which he loved driving on dirt roads when he lived in Denver.  Aside from sharing VW stories, Cliff reminded me of cold, wet times at Dead Horse Lake in the Uintas (a trip I had managed to forget) and fun times touring southern Utah with Hank as a viola duet.  Cliff and Liz live close to the beach in Culver City with three high schoolers while their oldest studies forensic psychology in New York.

It was great fun for us to meet Liz and once again enjoy Cliff’s contagious smile.

A Time Warp at Café Rio



L/R:  Jeff & Sheri, Nancy & Sam, Linda & Gordon, LuJean & Rob's chair.



So here we are after how many years?  The picture is a little fuzzy, but that may be a good thing.  How miserable would it be for the wives as the guys relived adventures during the 70’s?  Apparently not so bad, since Sheri generously offered to host a BBQ on Jeff’s new deck.  Meanwhile, Gordon suggested we climb Lone Peak.  LuJean is already excited for the next “rendezvous.”  When we come up with a date, we will notify Quill Traders far and wide…

2013 Auto Show

Once again we found a splash of color amid the dreary January inversion at the Auto Expo.  The most stunning feature of the 2013 line-up was the staggering prices.  Glad we were just there for fun and not shopping.

Official portrait courtesy a nice Jeep rep from Michigan who had to drive to Park City to see the mountains.  L/R: Alexander, Julie, Spencer, Maddie, Kate, Thomas, LuJean and Rob.  Sadly, Matt was home with the flu.

 Maddie found a VW Bug that seemed a good fit.




Ford styling was impressive this year.


 Thomas was set for a test drive while Alexander enjoyed Range Rover leather.

Julie was torn between the practicality of the Honda Odyssey and her love – the Volvo wagon.

Of all the designs the Mercedes was among the most beautiful but Rob’s sticking with the timeless simplicity of  Jeep.

Up the Grand Staircase

Our 2011 and 2012 Jeep Trip series is Frederick Dellenbaugh’s fault.  Had he not published A Canyon Voyage back in 1908, we might have gone on a cruise.

Actually, LuJean doesn’t like ships any more than I do, so after doing a little reading*  I decided a chance to climb the geologic blocks of the “Grand Staircase” seemed like an interesting alternative.  It’s something Dellenbaugh would have thought worthwhile. We would begin at the Colorado River at Toroweap and visit successive strategic overlooks, ending at 10,000 foot Powell Point on the southwest edge of the Aquarius Plateau.  From there we would retrace the 1872 journey of A.H. Thompson and Dellenbaugh to the Dirty Devil River via Pleasant Creek and the Henry Mountains.

Pleasant Creek begins on the top of the Aquarius Plateau and flows through Capital Reef.

Since first photographed in the 1870’s, the image of Toroweap Point has been iconic, yet it’s not likely anyone you know has been there. Although easier to reach than it once was, it remains challenging as I discovered when I stopped by the BLM office in St. George.

                                    

“Last year a fella with a rented SUV had two flats in the first fifteen miles” a ranger warned. 

“It can cost as much as two-thousand bucks for a tow out of Toroweap,” a nearby gentleman helpfully volunteered.

When I mentioned our delima to our neighbor, Guy Brown, he simply said “you need to rent** a Jeep Rubicon.”  Since I love jeeps anyway (my first two “cars” were jeeps) it was an easy decision.  LuJean and her sister Beth were up for an adventure so off we went.

*  Some excellent books that inspired these trips:

Clarence Dutton, Tertiary History of the Grand Canon District

Frederick S, Dellenbaugh, A Canyon Voyage

Frederick H. Swanson, Dave Rust – a life in the canyons

George C. Fraser, Journeys in the Canyonlands of Utah and Arizona, 1914-1916

Elias Butler & Tom Myers, Grand Obsession – Harvey Butchart and the Exploration of Grand Canyon

W. Kenneth Hamblin, Beyond the Visible Landscape – Aerial Panoramas of Utah’s Geology

Chinle Formation near the Old Paria townsite.

**  Guy sent us to Brian at Rugged Rental in Salt Lake City who rented the new Rubicon’s to us – a bit more expensive than a Ford Fiesta but not bad for a vehicle that can literally go anywhere and is a blast to drive.

Fun times scanning Kodachrome slides…

1984 - Christy & Julie at Capitial Reef

Another box and a half are complete taking us back to 1976 - with a few more surprise

discoveries.

1988 - Happy Mothers Day!

1976 - Death Hollow

Meanwhile, the weather couldn’t better for scanning.  The inversion was swept away by a massive snow storm.  It has been snowing for days.  The highs next week will be in the 20”s with a strong possibility that the inversion will come back.  Aside from needing to take a 401K withdrawal to pay for the heat, the weather couldn’t be better.

Snow shoveling had to be suspended due to avalanche hazard.

LuJean’s reindeer is up to his eyeballs in snow…

19" at our official measuring station.