One Corner of Fun - Part 1

I was tempted to title this travelogue Four Corners of Fun since it is all about my recent trip to the Four Corners region, however, then I realized I only saw the stuff near one corner! I guess that just means I need to go back at least 3 more times! For those who don't know the Four Corners term is commonly used to describe the area where the states of UT, CO, AZ, and NM meet.

For the last two weeks (and an extra weekend) I travelled all over the southeastern corner of the great colorful state of Utah trying to satisfy my need for sun, solitude and fun. I think I found a fair amount of the latter two, but I could have used a little more sun. Since this is going to be a long story I have decided I will break it up into parts. Here is part 1:

I started out by driving to the San Rafael Swell via a stopover in Walla Walla, WA. Both at the beginning and end of my trip I got to stop in and see a couple of my best friends Beezer and 'Brielle. They have just set down roots in WW and are in full nesting mode, preparing for their impending stork visit.
I really enjoyed relaxing with them and taking a break from the endless driving. I only half-heartedly wish that I could have relaxed in their laid back abode for the entire two weeks, but then again I would have eventually gotten bored of drinking beer and playing horseshoes! NOT

My plans for the first part of my vacation were to do a 4 to 5 day backpacking loop down Muddy Creek and through Mud, Cistern and Chimney Canyons. These canyons are located near the southern edge of the San Rafael Swell on BLM land. Based upon my guidebook the first day of the loop promised to be fairly exciting as Muddy Creek flows through a section called the Chute which is a length of 20 foot wide narrows where the walls soar 500 feet above and the creek oftentimes runs from wall to wall.

So on the morning of Monday April 16th I started down Muddy Creek from my car camp. Only a 1/2 mile from the car I encountered the first river crossing and soon realized that my feet were going to be really cold and wet for the entire day. The river was generally less than knee deep but the water was pretty dang cold. I am guessing some of the water may have even been snowmelt since I saw snow in the hills on the way to the creek the day before.

As the day warmed and I started enjoying the scenery of the deepening canyon I noticed that some very large and dark clouds were forming above the canyon rim. I really wanted to get to my first camp on the other side of the Chute but started to worry a little about the possibility of a flash flood. A flash flood while I was in the narrows could be a disaster. Especially considering the fact that the guidebook mentions a log-jam 25 feet above the canyon floor in the deepest section of the narrows and I don't swim!

So I picked up the pace and soon entered the narrows where I was wading in water more than walking on dry land. It was exhilarating moving quickly down canyon, rounding countless bends as the walls rose above, nearly blocking out the ever darkening sky. Although the creek was still relatively small it had an ominous roar due to the echoing walls. After awhile, I came to a place where the canyon temporarily opened allowing me breathe a little easier knowing that I could climb above a flood here. After taking a short break and wondering whether or not there was an escape route from this particular area I plunged forward as the canyon became ever more narrow. About a 1/2 hour past the opening I came to a place where the wading went above my waist and my pack starting getting wet. I searched in vain for a sandbar which would allow me to go forward without swimming. Because the possibility of a storm threatened, I did not have the time to waterproof my backpack for a swim, and I wasn't willing to try to swim the deep section by myself, I quickly decided to turn around. Maybe I could find another route or come up with a new plan back in the open section of canyon.

About 20 minutes later I was in the open section of canyon between the two narrows when the sky broke open and I was pelted with pea sized hail for about 30 minutes. Even more dramatic than the hail were the near constant thunder and frequent lightning flashes. I made a couple halfhearted attempts to setup my tarptent but soon realized I couldn't get the thing setup in the gusting wind and loose sand soils. After the hail stopped I clung to the hope that I could find a canyon escape route where I would be able to bypass the narrows. So I started climbing up one side of the canyon towards a high route which the guidebook refers to as the pasture track. A 1/2 hour of searching later I had only found insurmountable obstacles of vertical rock and soil so I backtracked to the bottom of the canyon where I was promptly greeted with constant rain. I found a small overhang of rotten rock where I was able to hide from the deluge and watch small lakes and streams form on every piece of dry ground outside my ad-hoc shelter. After about an hour and a half I realized should take advantage of my relatively sheltered position and brew up some dinner. So I quickly cooked a meal which helped warm me up.

Around 6:30 PM the rain finally stopped and I looked out to see that the river was not too much higher than before the rain. Since the sky was still gray and likely to rain all night I decided to use my food energy to get me back to the trailhead before I really got soaked. So hightailed it back to the car with my tail between my legs, arriving just before dark and another bit of rain.

Due to my weather misfortunes and bruised confidence I settled for a day hike on Tuesday. For this trip I was to follow an old mining track high above Muddy canyon, bypassing the narrows, and then dropping down into Chimney Canyon. For the first section of the hike I had to traverse back down Muddy canyon for awhile. Consequently, I nearly ran into a sleeping herd of wild horses! I had been wondering about the large piles of horse apples in the canyon and these 6 horses provided a great answer. These horses appeared to own this canyon and seemed to looked at me as an interloper. They watched me cautiously but with the confidence of wild animals in a pack. It was obvious who the alpha male was as he stood between me and the others, ready to teach me a lesson if needed. It was impressive to see such beautiful and wild large animals in such an amazing canyon.

The day's hike got even better when I climbed up onto the high "pasture" route and could see the vast canyons below. Because the route followed a high bench of the Muddy canyon drainage it's length must have been double that of travelling at the base of the canyon. Up here I had to skirt around every small side canyon which drained into the Muddy, making for a very long hike.

But it was absolutely awe inspiring looking out over the vast sculpted landscape below me with an unbroken blue bowl above. Later in the day, while walking along daydreaming I must have caught some movement out of the corner of my eye because somehow I picked out a couple of silhouetted heads and antlers/horns from all the scrubby vegetation. I set out to get a little closer and before long I was watching 6 pronghorn antelope or bighorn sheep who were watching me! I am still not certain if they were antelope or sheep without a full curl? You can see from my photo that they only let me get so close. They obviously weren't too interested in me because after a little while they hopped down some steep slopes to disappear in the canyons below.

I finally made it to Chimney Canyon and hurried down as far as I could afford to go before turning around for the day. Before long I came to a couple of waterfalls and pools which would have been a serious obstacle if I was coming from down canyon (my original plan). Climbing down one of these falls without a rope and belay was out of the question, at least for me, since It was a 20 foot class 4 to 5 climb. So I revelled in my solitude and took a quick skinny-dip in one of the cool pools. I'm no nudist but I enjoyed sitting naked in the sun while every bit of water slowly evaporated from my skin.
On the way back I had a blast doing a little running in order to cover the distance a little faster. It was truly exhilarating running all alone above the canyons, racing to get back before dark!