Since I've begun back country skiing in the winter of 2007, all of my focus has been on the Wasatch. Never have I ventured beyond the area bounded by Provo Canyon to the south and Logan Canyon to the north. I've heard rumor of people experiencing fine back country skiing in some of the lesser known ranges in the Basin and Range Country of Utah and even Nevada (Henry's, Ruby's, Deep Creeks, Stansbury's, LaSals). I've just never been able to pull off a trip to see if they were worth exploring. So when Art offered me the chance to join him and some friends down in the LaSal Mountains near Moab, UT, I knew I had to take the opportunity. Over the years on several Moab trips, I had only seen these distant and snow-capped mountains from a distance while at Arches National Park or Canyonlands or on Slick Rock. So the chance to explore these towering, less-traveled peaks on skis was too tempting to let pass by, even though I had no less than 3 other prior commitments that would need re-arranging that weekend. Not to mention my birthday was on that Sunday and missing those family events was not an option my wife was willing to leave on the table. So I simply had to be back Sunday morning.
The crew was comprised of Pete, Jesse, Aaron, Art, and myself. The gear would be towed in by sled and frame packs, or both. The destination was Geyser Pass Yurt in the central LaSal's. The goal was to explore as much of the area as possible in the 3 days we had allocated for the adventure (which we quickly learned would not even scratch the proverbial surface of this vast mountain range). The weather was to be breezy and balmy with no recent or pending storm in sight. In other words, fresh powder would be virtually non-existent on this trip. We could hopefully make some turns on corn snow, or at least soft slush. But it did not take us long to learn that this trip was not going to be about snow quality as much as experiencing new wilderness.
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| Gearing up at the trailhead |
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| I thought it would be smart to haul in a second pair of skis and boots...as if the pack wasn't already heavy enough |
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| Team McMullin, with Mellenthin overshadowing. |
The 3.5 mile climb to the yurt from the trailhead was not too strenuous, as it was all done on a snow-packed dirt road used by snowmobilers. We worked through the mixed aspen stands up to the coniferous forest near Geyser Pass. Soon after that, we found our yurt, although it took some trial and error searching episodes to land at it at the end.
I have never been yurt skiing prior to this trip, but I am told it is one of the finer yurts available. It was in good repair, with no leaks or drafts, allowing us to stay cozy and warm. It was well-stocked with living necessities, with my personal favorite being the cozy wood-burning stove.
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| Aaron, gearing up for the day |
After getting settled in, we were eager to explore our surroundings on skis. So a few of us went to find some sheltered north-facing snow. We had to make good time because afternoon was wearing on towards evening and snow conditions were firming up in all aspects. We were able to watch the moonrise on the way back from this short tour.
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| Jesse with Mr. Moon, near the saddle. |
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| Jesse had some weird questions for us back at the yurt over the fire that he was excited to pose to us... |
We finally found some decent snow on this north-facing aspect of a saddle near Haystack Peak. Granted, it wasn't Central Wasatch powder that has spoiled me over the years, but it was still 6" of smooth and soft snow. It made for some fun turns on the telemark skis.
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| Yes, telemarking really does require that much concentration on easy and low-angle terrain... especially if you're a rookie like this guy. And yes, its a super fun way to get down a mountain! :) |
That night back at the yurt, we brainstormed some plans for an ascent on one of the local peaks. That fire sure felt gemutlich with the full moon out our front door.
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| Our very own "live" Bob Ross painting in the yurt... |
We debated like we really knew the area and had strong preferences accordingly..., but in reality we had no clue where the good skiing was in this vast and new playground. We were all first-timers up there, making it a pure adventure, with all the associated real-time uncertainty, calculated risk, and dopamine drop-ins of any good adventure in wilderness. Ultimately, I feel like it was the path of least resistance to decide on skiing the peak that had been staring us down ever since we entered the yurt: Mt. Mellenthin. After a bit more research on the map, I was just excited to be above 12,000 feet on my skis, something I had never done before in the Central Wasatch since you max out your elevation on Nebo at 11,900-ish.
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| Heading for Mellenthin's summit at 12,645 feet, via it's North Face. |
As we approached the mountain, I felt like it was a boxer that was glaring us down across the ring leaning against the ropes, as it gave us the "evil eye."
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| Over these treetops, lies our goal |
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| From the treeline. Bring it on. |
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| Steep skinning on firm snow, even lower on the mountain |
The thinking was that the snow may be a little softer on the north-facing aspect of the mountain. In retrospect, I'm not sure why we thought the snow would be soft anywhere with massive exposure and daily wind scouring above the treeline with no storm in the past 2 weeks...but, hey, our intentions were still pure. At least we weren't short on communicating the team's options and opinions. And this is a good thing to do in new situations and terrains.
Signs of wind blasting and that high altitude freeze-thaw cycle were everywhere. Pete taught us a really cool Scandinavian word for describing that kind of snow, but it currently evades my memory and my spell checker right now, so I won't even try to write it here.
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| Art, getting in the zone |
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| Mandatory booting after the wind board became steep ice board. |
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| Not exactly powder up here. |
As the snow continued to turn to ice and the angle became gradually steeper, we decided to gain the east ridge rather than ascend straight up the North Face. Ridge climbing is generally easier and safer than exposed face climbing. Unfortunately, this was not the case here. The loose scree and ice board made booting up the ridge even slower and more precarious. We all wished we had crampons and ice axes (or at least the trusty Whippet) at this point to give us a bit more climbing confidence! But conditions were not safe with the gear we had and the going was very slow, so we played it safe and had to turn back about 2/3 up the mountain. I'm not sure if we broke the 12,000 foot mark when we turned around. Either way, our first view of the red rock from a snowy mountain did not disappoint.
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| Just below the turn-around point |
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| If we only had some fresh powder right about now! |
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| The view of Canyonlands and Arches from our turn-around point. This pic does not do the actual view any justice... |
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| Pete, resigned to turning back, with a very icy and steep background. |
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| Pointing to our tracks on Mellenthin...probably. |
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Art working it, with The Haystack behind him.
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| East side of Mellenthin is a completely different mountain, with some obvious history as well. |
We found some fun tree and gully skiing on the way back to the yurt. It calmed our nerves nicely after booting up an ice field.
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| Celebrating finding some softer snow |
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| Aaron, breezing through the trees. |
One of the coolest things about yurt skiing is that you have a private, clean mid-mountain lodge just for you and your friends! We took advantage...
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| Lunch time and de-brief. |
At this point, re-fueling felt so very good. We then decided to head back to the northern Haystack Woods. We wanted to see if we could find some more great snow in that sheltered northerly aspect, like we had the night before. En route to the Haystack Woods, we saw this sight that turned us on. Lots.
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| Fresh tracks on The Stack, calling us back. |
So we weren't totally alone after all (although we were pretty close) as evidenced by this pair of tracks descending the east face of Haystack. And they looked sort of soft and non-icey. Soft-ish, I would say. So we changed our plans and headed up the Haystack instead of to the woods. I was admittedly not excited about another ice board booter. And, to my great joy, the booter was already in place and was much softer and easier to navigate than what we had just done that morning across the valley. It was actually a pretty fun booter this time around, thankfully.
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| Much improved conditions over our morning peak attempt |
The views from the top of Haystack were stunning and rewarding. And we finally scratched the itch of getting on a high point down in the La Sals. Jesse and Aaron reported the name of pretty much every rock we could see. And we could see lots of them, in every direction on the compass, for miles and miles, spanning 3 states. Perhaps they invented some names while we were there as well, who knows...
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| The final approach on the flat top of The Haystack with perfect weather. |
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| On Top of The Haystack. |
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| All smiles this time around on the summit! |
The descent was soft, but rapidly stiffening up. It was still better than our Mellenthin descent by any measure. I could not stop thinking of how amazing this place would be if you could actually time it after a powder storm. Even 3" of fresh snow on everything would have made it a totally different ski experience. We never really found a good corn cycle either, unfortunately - it was always either too slushy or too icy. But the amazing wilderness and visual experience made up for what the skiing lacked. When I returned back to the yurt, I then had to pack up to be back home for Sunday. Art obliged to join me so I wouldn't fall asleep on the 4 hour drive home, with a nice stop at Ray's for a greasy burger.
I'm told by Pete and Aaron that the best skiing of the trip was actually Sunday morning, 12 hours after Art and I had left the yurt to return back home. I think they were just rubbing it in to make us feel bad since we didn't experience it. Then again, these pictures do make it look pretty sweet...
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| A vast playground to explore... |
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| Lots of cool lines on this peak... |
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| ...and this one... |
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| ...not to mention this one. |
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| Looks like true powder was eventually found after all... |
On the exit from the yurt back to the car, we were treated to an amazing desert-alpine sunset. This was the cherry on top of the cake of an already amazing experience in the mountains - not to mention a nice conclusion for my 40th year on the planet as well. And I even made it home in time for my birthday the next day with family.
No they are not the beloved Wasatch, but these reclusive La Sals are certainly worthy of the efforts required to get there. And we hardly even scratched the surface...I must return one day.
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| Goodbye La Sal's, goodbye 40th life year. |
