Farmington Canyon, May 1, 2017

The gate at the bottom of the canyon is still closed so I had to ride the moto up Farmington Canyon. I'm short (5'8" on a good day) and my Yamaha is tall, requiring me to tip-toe at every stop, so getting around the gate was tricky. The road was dry up to about the Sheriff's cabin which is a mile below this spot. I rode up to here in the slush and the Motorcycle handled it much better than expected and lost traction just a few times, but no crashes. This is the upper parking lot where we use to drive to in my truck for great skiing, but that is no longer an option with the canyon gated and locked during the winter. This place is better known as the "Y," not for the the school in Provo but for the junction in the road, one side leading to Francis Peak, the other to Bountiful Peak. Not wanting to leave my motorcycle here because it is way too visible here - it's fairly light (260 lbs) and two rednecks to could easily lift it into a truck and drive away - so I turned around and rode back to the Sheriffs cabin where I parked the bike in the pullout, which is somewhat hidden from passing traffic. From there I put on skis and skinned up the Mud/Rice divide to the top of Mud/Rice Peak for some skiing. 

Yeah, who am I joking? My moto is not too well hidden here but I figure the thick-neck/small-brains of the world would drive by at 80mph and not even see the bike. Yes, I'm a wee bit paranoid, but the canyon is not well traveled this time of year with the gate locked, but enough people do have keys (cabin owners) that they might be emboldened to do things (steal motos) if they think they aren't being watched. 

Committed now with my skis on the opposite side of the stream, so I had to cross. I tried the log but it was so slippery I figured I would fall off and into the water that I eventually decided to wade the stream. I tightened my ski boots to "full pain" level and with my boots so tight very little water leaked in. That said, on the way out I didn't bother to torque the buckles and my boots totally filled with icy water, with my toes blue and numb when I got to my bike. With dripping soaked socks, and a 20 mile drive on a motorcycle, I removed my socks to avoid hypothermia, and it worked.  

But I get ahead of myself. this is from the bottom of Rice Creek drainage and I've got about 1,800 feet of vertical skinning to reach Rice Peak. 

Bountiful Peak from the Mud/Rice divide about 2/3 the way up.

Awww, always exciting to enter the upper Rice Bowl(r) or Mud Bowl (l). I have grand memories of skiing both. 

A small cornice-drop slide. Those small trees just below the ridge are total survivors, they have endured years of cornice falls, wind and heavy snow. Although, this year looks like it was tough on them, they have been stripped nearly bare of branches and they are bent down and almost buried.

Big cornice above Mud Bowl.

Looking over Rice Bowl.

looking for the best the access through the drift.

On top and taking in the view south toward Bountiful Peak.

Bountiful Peak under heavy snow. 

Antelope Island, which is no longer an island. Farmington Bay is mostly just a mud-flat. 

View SW towards the Oquirhs and the Stansbury Mountains beyond. 

I unintentionally set off a small wet-slide with my first turn off the top of Mud Peak and then this larger wet-slide broke out about 1/3 the way down Mud Bowl. I could hear it sliding so I cut left to get out of the way and then watched it slide another 400 feet down the bowl. This is the debris pile where it stopped and looks to be about 10 feet deep. 

My skin track up the final head wall. Rice Bowl on the right, Mud on the left (mostly out of view).

My ski tracks and the small wet-slide I set off with my first turn off the top of Mud Peak.

Ski tracks and wet slides, full view.

I can't explain it but I love the beaver damns in lower Rice Creek drainage. 

Two wet slides, enough of a hint to leave. Too unstable to be skiing alone.

Long ride home in wet socks, so I took them off. The forest service dude I met up here said he was going to unlock the lower gate today but he didn't because he thought the road was still too snowy. I rode the moto all the way to the Bountiful Peak junction with no problem, so he was being super cautious. That said, the kids of the world need all the protection they can get, so good call USFS dude. He said it would be unlocked this Friday, May 5, 2017.  

Finally! Some Good Corn. B-Ridge, April 5, 2017

At the top of Dead Tree Peak, trying to learn how to fly my new toy, and doing so while on a mountain while skiing is not the best place to learn. The drone is a total time waster, but I lucked out with a couple of good shots. 

Today was the first time I drove all the way up North Canyon since last spring. 

Meadows just below Kara's Pot Farm (KPF).

The 'Three-Nephites' over the drainage in KPF. Kind of tricky on skis when the logs are not covered.

Busy as a beaver . . . 

Oak brush and shorts, not the best combo.

The snow-stake (rock) completely free of snow.

Approaching Rudy's. 

Rudy's Flat

23 inches.

Altimeter is quite accurate   . . . blood from my fight with Gamble Oak. I lost.

Coyote slipping on the hard pack on a 38 degree slope.

Douglas Fir is easy to spot by their cockroach tails.

Dead tree in Dead Tree Bowl, Antelope Island beyond.

Tree-rock in the Mahogany where the summer trail tops out on Bountiful Ridge. 

Looking down a ski run I call 'Scott Cutler's Yellow Coat,' named for the jacket of a good friend. We (Scott, me and 4 or 5 more friends) camped here in the snow one late spring night when we were about 14 (about 1975). Scott was the only one smart enough to bring a warm coat and he was toasty while the rest of us froze our asses all night. 

The top of Scott Cutler's Yellow Coat. Most years one must down climb the rocks to start skiing, This year it was ski-able from the top, first time in about five years.

Tree wells everywhere, now even more pronounced with the melting snow.

Dead downed tree on Rectangle North. 

Tracks on upper Rectangle Run.

Heading up for run #2. Down on right, up on left.

Cornice over Rectangle Bowl, City Creek Canyon and SLC.

Bad boy! I almost lost it when the battery nearly died and I couldn't get it to fly to me (sun was so bright I couldn't see it on the screen). Panicked, I finally hit 'return to home' and it flew back up and landed itself  at the take-off. I just had to skin back up to retrieve it (about  3/4 mile and 1,000 vertical).  

Yeah, not too happy at this moment due to the almost-lost drone, but it all turned out OK.

City Creek Canyon and the central Wasatch beyond.

(L-R) Gobblers Knob, Millicent, Raymond, Superior, Monte Cristo, Dromedary, Broads Fork Twins, Thunder, Olympus, Lone Peak, with many unnamed peaks in between.

(L-R) Sessions, Big Black, Burro Mine, oh and my skis. . . .

(L-R) northern tip of Antelope Island, Raft River Mtns (barely seen in upper left), Promontory Point, Ben Lomand, Thurston, Francis Bountiful Peak.

For all the hiking I do over rocks and logs, these skis are in amazingly good shape.

Spring is here when the grass turns green at 7,100 feet. . . 

Another month and I'll be riding this.