As a southerly flow begins to make its way into Utah's red rock country, bringing with it cold winds and dry powder, I can't help but wonder if the spines and gullies are in. Memories of the great 2010 winter are still fresh, when the snowpack was fat and sexy....
Even at 7500' there was enough snow to take it all the way to the desert floor.
Some sweet looking lines at 10500', and a lot more wind.
trippy
the "look but do not touch" spines
Well, if I wasn't nursing two subperiosteal hematomas and a flesh wound (its a long story, but essentially I ate shit on to some rocks, hard) you know where I might be doing some exploring this week.
The Bald Mountain trail is a relatively unknown track in the Uinta mountains that begins at the rivers edge, and delivers you to the vast alpine plateaus at the roof of utah. At the end of the trail is an incredible area known as Red Castle. The trail is steep until the 11,500' contour line, at which point you step out onto the tundra, and for many miles the sky is big and views of the north slope and Utah's largest wilderness are massive.
Sitting in the relentless heat of the summer, I can't help but think back on the coolest campsite we've ever had. We plopped down our tent city in the middle of the glacier, surrounded by heavy mountains. The music never stopped, glacier cakes were always flipping, and by the 18th day our backs began to take on the shape of the community shelter. Dome life in Alaska...
After the most intense 3 months of my life, a real vacation seemed appropriate. While roasting away in my camper in Southeast Alaska, an email came in from a friend asking if I wanted to join him in Mexico the following month for some surfing. At the time, it sounded to good to be true. Next thing I know I've got my brothers and my Mom along for the trip, and what do you know, its her 60th birthday! perfect timing...
^ It took my brother Neil and I a few days to adjust to the immense luxury of the Four Seasons Resort in Punta Mita. After a two month ski bumming marathon, living like true dirt bags, it was a shock to find ourselves living this plush lifestyle. Nobody complained. I'm so happy that my mom was able to come along and experience this place with her three boys.
^ this was supposed to be a surf trip, but after a few google searches I was packing my fly-gear along too.
^ fly fishing from the surf was a new experience for us. While we never linked up with the fabled Rooster fish that Mexican surf fishing can be famous for, we had fun searching. We did manage to catch baby Jack Crevalle, Surgeon fish, leopard Grouper, and missed a few monster needle fish.
^ Unfortunately the surf was kind of bunk. But it gave me a chance to learn how to stand up paddle surf.
^rolling to the surf break
^although the waves were small, we were still able to appreciate the potential. I wish it didn't take me so long to discover Mexico, but now that I've been exposed, I'm positive I will go back.
I've been watching the dogs a lot lately, while my family members are out having way more fun than me. First it was my moms dog, while she enjoyed a distant beach on an island near Madagascar for nearly a month. Than my younger brother left for a ski bumming road trip leaving me fully in charge of our dog. And most recently I have acquired my older brothers animal while he's away in Costa Rica doing whatever it is one might do in paradise.
So I've been firmly planted, unable to travel away for more than a half day, patiently waiting for my chance to move. Typically this would be a non issue in Utah, but with the sad state of this winter I have been getting antsy. Luckily I live in an area where I could never get bored, a little fishing and biking here and there, and more days skiing flat groomers than I care to admit.
Retallack powder mining, its a one of a kind experience. Karl the Gnarl is a one of a kind experience. You'll have to see for yourself at the legendary lodge in British Columbia...
Until then, enjoy this video which tries to somehow capture the energy. This piece was created with footage from an even larger project, Retallack: The Movie. Check it out fromInspired Media Concepts.
"During the winter of 2011, my brother Neil and I were presented with a once in a lifetime opportunity. We were to spend two months embedded in the heart of the Kootenays at the legendary Retallack Lodge. The mission was to shred pow with our good friend Tanner, who was on his comeback, and to help film Retallack:The Movie for Inspired Media Concepts. I took the role of the dedicated time lapse junkie, while Neil was a true on slope camera master. This video is a showcase of our skills behind the camera, as well as a few of our favorite long lens shots from Retallack:The Movie. Time lapses make way for deep powder mining, and a trip into the heart of the "silvery slocan" to see how silver miners conquered the mountains a century ago. Mining for powder in the Selkirk mountains is serious business, and we found out just how serious it can get. We hope you enjoy our short film, and perhaps absorb just a sliver of the energy that is Retallack Lodge in beautiful British Columbia."
Maybe you have heard about or seen the t.v show, Hillbilly Handfishin'. Its pretty lame. A few weeks ago, on a crisp fall morning, Neil must have been inspired by the show, because he caught this hog of a trout with his bare hands....
I shit you not. This thing literally floated into Neil's lap. Now, if I were to leave the story at that, I'd have you believing that Neil is some kind of jedi angler, but as much as he would like to believe, thats just not the case.
On that crisp fall morning, Neil and I were sitting in our boats alongside a stretch of river that we like to float on a regular basis. In 5 years, we've never seen another person floating, so it came as a shock when a big blue raft came bouncing down around the corner. We were in mid conversation, talking about the river and how maybe the fishing wasn't as good as it used to be, and where did all the hogs go etc, etc. And wouldn't you f*ckin know it, its a utah DWR electroshock fish survey team!!!
They floated by, and we said hello. The guy in charge told us about the large number of fish in the river. No shit. Before we knew it, fish were floating to the surface, squashing any of our doubts about where the fish had gone. I took off downstream chasing a large incapacitated rainbow trout, a huge tiger trout to my right, when Neil casually says to me, "Ian, look..." I turn around and he's just sitting there with this honky tonk brown trout and a big grin on his face! We just laughed for a bit, thinking how ridiculous this was.
The actual fly fishing that day was already pretty slow, but after the survey team raked the whole stretch and floated every fish to the surface, I'm pretty sure everybody lost their appetite. We didn't catch shit except for a couple little guys who probably managed to avoid the zap. It was a rad experience nonetheless, for a brief moment, like jedi anglers.
Sometimes it can be difficult to get back into the mountains. The business has to come first, or else there can be no play. I feel blessed to spend a lot of time in the places that I love, but it seems as though I could never get enough. The idea of not being able to do these things is always driving me hard to make the most out of every trip, however long or short.
My brother Neil and I had a break in between jobs, giving us one night and 48 hours to get back into the mountains. We're lucky to live at the western entrance to the Uintas, a vast wilderness to explore, and also where we got our start in fly-fishing. I've become so familiar with the land, that if feels like my home. Yet its impossible to see it all. Using the maps to find a new place with a squiggly blue line that leads to some small blue dots is where it all starts. Its what we're all about.
We thought we'd explore a bit of the North Slope of the Uintas. The one billion year old wrinkled core of the range runs west to east for 150 miles, with long glacially carved river valleys running north and south from the crest the entire way. This anomalous feature is the largest east/west oriented mountain range outside of Alaska. Once we made it to the north slope road, we headed east up and over the great basin divide and into the headwaters of the green river.
^ we turned off the main north slope road and began driving up a valley to a trailhead along the west fork blacks fork. One river crossing which was perfectly handled with Neil's land rover. His rig is necessary for accessing some of the hard to reach trailheads that encompass the Uintas.
^the first few miles of trail brought us through a sad forest of dead, bark beetle infested conifers. This is a characteristic that has become widespread throughout the Uintas and a majority of vast timbered lands all the way to canada. Its primed for a massive fire, and only a matter of time before the Boy Scouts of America set it ablaze, again. Once we reached the first meadow we encountered a heard of sheep and their shit. Not very pleasant but its the land of many uses so you just have to avoid the loud, smelly bastards. After we passed the sheep, the long meadow began to open up, along with the river and the views
^ We rigged up our rods with some bushy dry flies and began leap frogging our way up the river, hitting every choice hole along the way.
^ I fully lost track of how many fish we caught on our way up the river to camp. Most of the fish were small and feisty brook trout which at times seemed like that was all that existed. However I knew that this drainage harbored some native trout. As a naturalist, I lose my shit when a beautiful native cutthroat trout comes to hand amidst a sea of invasive brook trout. This colorado river cutthroat has evolved over thousands of years to live in this stream, evident by his vibrant camouflage to match his environment.
^ with no real destination in mind other than a camp with a view, our plan was to hike along the river and fish until we found what we were looking for. The numbers were adding up both in terms of miles and fish caught. It was time for a break.
^ click image to view larger version.
After about 5 miles, we found a sick camp spot in one of the upper meadows with some beautiful water running through it. Once the sun dropped behind the massive valley walls, the fishing was elevated to another level. I kid you not we were catching fish every cast. we fished for one hour before dinner and probably had over one hundred fish between the two of us.
^ Flash 360 Panorama. Use the controls or click within the image and drag it around.
^ another colorado river cutthroat that fits in my hand. Most of the fish were small but had lots of character and vibrant colors. Most importantly, the trout were not afraid to eat my fly as it floated through a corner pocket again and again, each time finding itself lodged in the mouth of the next eager fish.
A good camp trip to the uintas is not complete without a fast moving storm cell. We retreated to the tent just in time to get pounded with rain for about 20 minutes. Eventually the massive thunderhead moved to the next valley as it glowed with the last rays of sun.
The next morning we ate a large bowl of jah's oats before our ambitious trek into the alpine. We had 17 miles to cover before we could begin the drive back home. My plan was to hike to a particular ridge line to shoot a 360 panorama, and fish a little blue dot on the map that I suspected may hold some native cutthroat trout.
^ we cracked through the treeline and made out way on to the alpine tundra. The wild flowers were just starting to come into bloom across the high terrain. Its a harsh life for them this summer with only a few months to grow between snowflakes.
^click image to view larger version
I had scoped out a spot on the map where I would be able to shoot a 360 Panorama. This ridgeline acts as a divide between two great river systems. Neil sits on the left in the Great Basin at the headwaters of the largest river in the country to never reach the ocean, the Bear. And I sit on the right of the image in the headwaters of the green river and colorado river drainage, one of the american west's iconic bodies of water.
^ flash 360 panorama. Use the controls or click inside the image and drag it around.
^ On our way down from the pass, we would stop at this beautiful alpine pond that sits above all else at the head of the valley. I made a quick stop to photograph these paintbrush flowers. While I was fussing with lenses and getting raped by mosquitos, Neil was down at the pond tied into his second fish. He's on the left shore but he's hard to spot within the carpet of flower buds. Before I headed down, I tied on a little black flying ant that I had crafted the day before at my tying bench at home. Soon after his first flight, he was firmly tucked away in the corner of a cutthroat trouts mouth at 11,200 feet.
Being at elevation and exposed to the wind, lots of terrestrial insects are blown into the pond. A fish would swim from 20 feet away as soon as the ant hit the water and slowly gulp the insect as if he knew what he was looking for.
^ Native fish on ants above treeline is what we're all about.
^ At 4:30pm I caught the last fish of the trip which marked the beginning of our long trek home. We still had to pack up our camp and hike 10 miles back to the car. Its a great feeling of accomplishment when you have a successful trip to an area that you've never seen before. After exploring one long, blue squiggly line and a blue dot, its time to move on to the next.
^ It took my brother Neil and I a few days to adjust to the immense luxury of the Four Seasons Resort in Punta Mita. After a two month ski bumming marathon, living like true dirt bags, it was a shock to find ourselves living this plush lifestyle. Nobody complained. I'm so happy that my mom was able to come along and experience this place with her three boys.
^ this was supposed to be a surf trip, but after a few google searches I was packing my fly-gear along too.
^ fly fishing from the surf was a new experience for us. While we never linked up with the fabled Rooster fish that Mexican surf fishing can be famous for, we had fun searching. We did manage to catch baby Jack Crevalle, Surgeon fish, leopard Grouper, and missed a few monster needle fish.
^rolling to the surf break
^although the waves were small, we were still able to appreciate the potential. I wish it didn't take me so long to discover Mexico, but now that I've been exposed, I'm positive I will go back.
