Mikes house, Buskskin Gulch

Friday Feb, 13

                I felt like crap and was woken up by 2 screaming kids jumping all over me. When they finally went off to school I went back to sleep for a bit. I spent the whole day sitting on the couch playing, and proudly beating Super Mario World on Super Nintendo. Sense I felt like crap I didn’t want to go out and told Mike and Nichol I would watch the kids tonight if they wanted to do something for Valentine’s Day. They quickly took me up on that offer. When they both got home they told me the instructions and what to make for dinner. Once they left I had the kids help cut of the hot dogs to put in the mac and cheese. It was a wonderful meal full of “he got ketchup can I get ketchup” and “she got juice and I didn’t”. After dinner Mel went on Skype with her grandma from back in Wisconsin. That killed a lot of time while Landen and I gamed it up with some Donkey Kong. After I got the kids in bed I sat down with a glass of wine and watched some tv until I fell asleep. 

Saturday Feb, 14

                Mike took Mel and Landen to hit some golf balls in the morning. Then stopped back home to pick up Nichol and go to a kids work shop at Lowes. They all got back around 2:30 and Mike already looked like he had had a long day. Him and I did some running around and picked up some meat for tomorrow and brats for lunch. We had a few beers while the brats sizzled away, and did some cleaning up around his yard. Nichol cooked up some really good salmon for dinner, then mike and I hit a few bars around town.

Sunday Feb, 15

                Nothing really happened today but for dinner Mike made bacon wrapped tenderloin with twice baked potatoes. Right up there with the fresh grouper in Florida, this meal was amazing.  After dinner the kids went off to bed and the 3 of us sipped on some good wine while watching tv and joking around.

Monday Feb, 16

                I still wasn’t feeling the best and took it easy for one more day. Both Mel and Landen had separate fun runs at their schools. For me the words fun and run don’t belong in the same sentence, but to each his own. 

Tuesday Feb, 17 

                Mel had off school and mike worked from home. I still haven’t cleaned out my car sense the Grand Canyon and it was defiantly time. Along with Mels help by asking me what each and everything I took out of my car was, I was done in no time. Next I took a shower and looked up what to do next. I found a list of 10 life changing hikes in Utah and started looking into it. They are mostly places I’ve been but not the exact trails, so I decided I would try to hit some of these along the way. First up, Buckskin Gulch. So I looked into it and decided to hike certain portion. I printed off and map (which I left at mikes house). And started packing. I said my goodbyes and headed north around 3 pm. I got to Page AZ, which is about an hour from the trail. Pulled into Walmart and watched some movies until bed.

Wednesday Feb, 18

                OK! Finally time to get back at it. I apologize if my decline in health brought my story to a lull. I’m extremely grateful and lucky to get to spend time with my friends all over the country, but I am not a house cat! I was up early and excited to explore again. But first things first, hotel breakfast. Of course with some take away food for lunch. Then the hour drive to the trail head. Which happened to be down the same dirt road as The Wave. I started off strong with many miles to cover. I was expecting about 12-16 depending on how it went. I got through the slot canyon that gets you into Buckskin. Here is a large open space shaped like a T. I took the south fork and kept on marching. About 100 feet in I came to a spot where I had no choice but to cross water. I was ready for this and changes into shorts. With my boots tied to my pack I waded in. it was deeper then I expecting and had little choice. I went back to dry land and stripped down. So now completely naked with my pack above my head I made it through my big 15 foot obstacle. On the other side now I started to dry off all ready to put my cloths back on. By the way its about 40 degrees and no sun in the canyon. The water is hovering just above freezing and the bottom is covered in thick mucky slime. As I am drying off I look ahead, just to see another spot waterlogged. I figured why bother getting dressed. I walk over and start in. at the point when I could no longer touch the bottom I remember this is rated the most dangerous hike in Utah. I’m expecting miles of hiking. And im naked, and alone. This simply is not going to work. I headed back. I got back across the first obstacle and redressed. I hiked back to the car in defeat and drove to a different parking area. This trail leads to that same T intersection but come at it from the north. This turned out be a beautiful hike through a wide open valley with many good features along the way. While hiking I ran into a couple in their mid 30’s with 2 very small dogs in toe. We started talking and they have done a ton of hiking all around the US and most recently in Utah. This was perfect! I’m always craving good information from experienced hiker from the area. Lee and Natty live in Salt Lake City and were a huge positive part of my trip this year. We hiked together and chatted as the valley narrowed into the Buckskin Slot Canyon. I knew at least one part of this hike was going to be wet. Turned out about 3 parts were wet. But we were all able to cross just fine. The last stretch was a long one, about 30 yards in knee deep water. And it was freezing. Lee would grab the pack and natty the dogs. We made it back to the T junction and with the large opening sat warming up in the sun sipping on some homemade wine Lee brought along. We took the west canyon of the T out back the original way I came in. when we made it back to the trail head parking lot they informed me that they stashed a bike down here so they could send someone to get the car. Lee peddled off while Natty and I walked and talked. When Lee picked us up we started driving back to my car. This is a horrible dirt road with deep ruts, large rocks, and steep valleys. I drove it at about 30 mph. Lee on the other hand is very used to these conditions and went about 60. All was fine and good until the last valley before my car. Lee’s car went down the valley and bottomed out. Not thinking twice about it we went the last 200 yards to my car. Here we all realized something was wrong with Lees car. He started checking under the hood and couldn’t figure it out. Then he looked under the car and saw it. When he bottomed out he actually hit a rock in the road, which shattered his oil pan. This cut any chance of them driving out here down to none. So Lee asked me what I wanted to do. I could drive them to the lodge they stayed at the night before or a 6 hour drive back to Salt Lake City. Surprisingly they ran into one of the few people with an open schedule and unlimited time. I Tetris’ed the fuck out of my car and fit both of them, the 2 dogs, and everything they needed to bring back home. And we were off. Along the way we talked about all the stuff to do around Utah and one of them is hot springs. In fact there was one on the way. Why not! After a long day of hiking through ice cold muck that sounded perfect. The place was called majestic hot spring. Natty stayed with the dogs while Lee and I took a dip. While we were soaking there were about 10 high school kids that snuck in without paying. The owner came out and, way nicer then I would have been, had them leave. From here it was back on the road. We dropped Natty off at her brother’s house where she had to baby sit hers brother kid. Lee and I went to his house. Only one more problem, Lee doesn’t use keys. He uses the garage clicker, which is still 6 hours to the south. After popping open a window we made it! We were both exhausted and sipped on some more homemade wine while he showed me around. 

 Getting to the first slot canyon that lead to Buckskin

 First obstacle, had to get naked to cross 

 The silty much you would end up walking through

 Open valley that narrowed into Buckskin

 After I met Lee and Natty

 Border line freezing water

 Getting warm in the sun

 Slot canyons are my favorite places to explore

Mikes House, Grand Canyon

Saturday Feb, 7

            Today I smoked some chicken breast and made bbq pulled chicken for dinner. Tonight we decided we were going to hit the bars, so mike got a babysitter for the kids. Their friend Ashley came over then she drove us all to mill ave. where we went to a new bar, near where Mike used to live. We grabbed a drink and waited for Ian and his wife Kaitlin to show up. Ive know these people sense I first started traveling and it always a pleasure to see them and have some time to catch up.

Sunday Feb, 8

            Everyone was in rough shape this morning, except the kids. Mike and I spent a good part of the day playing old school Donkey Kong on super Nintendo. We finally had to do something with our day. Every year Mikes plans a project for us to do while I’m around. And by planning I mean fix something that is broken, there is no planning involved. This year it was the roof over his awning by the pool. So we made a few trips to the store and finished up after dark. Coming back from the store on the final trip, mike blew a tire a few blocks form his house. And apparently WE decided I would take care of it tomorrow, along with any finishing touches with the roof.

Monday Feb, 9

            So in the morning I drove mel to school and took mike to work. Then I had to fill mikes spare tire.(why would you carry around a flat spare tire?) and swap it out with the popped one. I also realized all his tires were shot and needed to be replaced. After that I finished trimming and sealing up the roof. This got done just in time to pick up mike from work and take him home. Now off to the tire shop and drop him back off at work. With everything finished I packed up and headed north. It has always nagged at me that I never went fishing at the bottom of the Grand Canyon. I would see rangers walk by with stringers full of trout after fishing for 20 minutes. Then I decided I could just go do it. I had to pick up a few things in flagstaff but I was pretty much ready to go. So I drove to a town just south of the park and called it a night.

Tuesday, Feb 10

            I slept kinda bad and woke up later then expected. But I knew I still had plenty of time to hike down. I drove to the backcountry office and planned out my trip. I thought were more options for trails to get down to bright angle creek, but the only one that really makes any sense is the one I’ve already done twice. South Kibab down and Bright Angle up. So I packed up in the parking lot and drove over to the shuttle. I think all the people and tourists really get to the workers here, just about every shuttle driver has a serious chip on their shoulder. I took the bus to the trail head and started down. This was the clearest view of the canyon I have ever seen. I made it down in 3 hours and found a camp site. The only tent I have is a 4 person full dome summer tent, and I have always had issues with it. Wind breaks it, too windy to set up, its big and heavy. So I have been going without. I just put my ground pad and sleeping bag right on the ground. I talked to the ranger about fishing and walked by the creek to scope it out. I talked to another ranger who was checking the fish trap near the mouth of the river. Ever sense the first year I have been down here they have been trying to kill off the trout and re-introduce the native humpback chub into the creek. I knew about this, but I did not know the extent they have been working on it. They electro shock the entire creek every month and the mouth of the river every night. My hopes were fading fast. But I still had some time before dark so I tied together some flies and started casting. I didn’t have any luck but I wasn’t to worried. I was in a rush to get a little fishing in before dark, I’m sure I’ll have better luck in the morning. Back at camp I made some dinner and waited around until Phantom Ranch opened up. The moon has been coming out very late at night, so the stars are amazing for the first part of the night. I laid around staring up for about an hour. When the ranch opened I bought and adult beverage and played solitaire for the night.

Wednesday Feb, 11

             I slept like shit and woke up with a headache. I realized I was sick mel had a bad cough and headache that I must have caught. I went right to fishing today. I spent hours walking up and down that creek, and I didn’t so much as see a fish. I took a break during the day and went to phantom to read a book for awhile. Then I was back at it. I tried using a lure instead of flies this time. Results, same. I finally gave up around dinner time and went back to camp. While I was cooking I watched my neighbor try to set up a hammock. It took him about an hour to tie it from a tree to a pole in his site. When he finally got it all set up, he sat down. It was like watching a cartoon. Just as the look of contentment came over his face the whole thing collapsed and he hit the ground. When he started to set it back up I had to say something. I told him you can’t tie anything to the trees down here, and if the ranger sees he will make you take it down. We got to talking and he was a first time backpacker. He packed some very strange stuff, a tarp but no tent ground pad or sleeping bag, canned food but no can opener or stove, but he had some beers. The best thing he brought was those beers, he gave me one while I let him use my stuff! After that we hung out for a while talking about our travels. He has been on the road for about a month along the east coast then cut across through Denver. After that I walked up to the dorms to take a shower. With that taken care of I headed to phantom ranch. I sipped on some wine while playing more solitaire until my camper friend came in. we played some cards and I told him my plan. I planned on just sleeping in the dorm bunk bed. I checked it out when I took a shower and there were 2 beds open. I told him he was free to take the other one. He wanted the full “camping experience” so turned it down. But as the temperature dropped he finally saw the light.

Thursday Feb, 12

            I still slept like crap in the dorm, and I woke up realizing I had to hike out. I talked to a guide that was staying in the dorm also and he had some medicine for me. That made it a little better but I still packed up and headed out. The first half of the hike brings you to another camp ground called Indian Garden. This is only the first half in overall distance, it’s only a quarter of the elevation. The last half, especially the last mile is a grueling grudge to get to the top. Only made worse by seeing all the smiling day hikers passing by. I made it out and took the shuttle back to my car. Then I started the drive back down to Phoenix but I had to take a nap soon after starting. I got back to mikes house and hung out for the night.

 Colorado River

 Where the Bright Angle Creek meets the Colorado River