Skirafting Utah: Monticello to Mt. Hillers.

[mikesee]

I recently joined Jeff Creamer for a novel traverse of SE Utah, using skis, feet, and boats to cover 7+ days of corrugated terrain.



I've written a bit of a travelogue on my Exposure page, and shared some moving images there, too.



Please have a look when you have a moment.

Thanks for checkin' in.

[jtb]

Wow, what a trip. Thinking of carrying a 7 day pack and rafting gear makes my back hurt. 7 days in F1's makes my feet hurt. Good on you for making it happen.

[mikesee]

Wow, what a trip. Thinking of carrying a 7 day pack and rafting gear makes my back hurt. 7 days in F1's makes my feet hurt. Good on you for making it happen.

Weird -- it made my feet hurt, too...

[Pherick]

The best I've yet seen made of this historic winter. That's amazing.

[dschane]

That is indeed a fantastic trip and trip report. Well done.

[fisheater]

Just a fantastic adventure, but also I admire how well you were able to document with photo and description in such an inviting format. Well done, is quite inadequate, but very well done isn’t much of an improvement.
Thank you for sharing

[bobbytooslow]

This is tremendous, thanks for sharing! I'm supposed to be on that stretch of river right now -- mapping the emerging waterfall near the North Wash access point -- but the weather pushed us back a bit. Is the water in that area getting a little spicy in a packraft??

[bastardsonoffhw]

Wow. I'm doing it wrong.

[mikesee]

This is tremendous, thanks for sharing! I'm supposed to be on that stretch of river right now -- mapping the emerging waterfall near the North Wash access point -- but the weather pushed us back a bit. Is the water in that area getting a little spicy in a packraft??

Can't say I saw anything like a waterfall anywhere near there. Lots of muddy water. Maybe even boily a few miles back. But there's just no gradient for a waterfall to emerge.

Spicy? It's class I+ for miles, with teeny, tiny bits of class II.

We packrafted the Grand Canyon a week before this trip...

[bobbytooslow]

Can't say I saw anything like a waterfall anywhere near there. Lots of muddy water. Maybe even boily a few miles back. But there's just no gradient for a waterfall to emerge.

Spicy? It's class I+ for miles, with teeny, tiny bits of class II.

That'll all change as the lake level drops (which should be postponed quite a bit by this year's big forthcoming runoff). Full story here.

Basically, the river is out of its original channel, from the Dirty Devil mouth to just below the North Wash "ramp." It is currently perched on lake sediment deposits, hence the steady gradient. But as it cuts lower (somewhere on the order of ~20 feet), it'll hit bedrock. Just like what has happened at Pearce Ferry, a waterfall is likely to result where the river flows across the bedrock ledges to rejoin its original channel (big green circle). We had expected to see it as soon as this summer, but the big bump in lake level should keep things as-is for a little while longer.

[mikesee]

That'll all change as the lake level drops (which should be postponed quite a bit by this year's big forthcoming runoff). Full story here.

Basically, the river is out of its original channel, from the Dirty Devil mouth to just below the North Wash "ramp." It is currently perched on lake sediment deposits, hence the steady gradient. But as it cuts lower (somewhere on the order of ~20 feet), it'll hit bedrock. Just like what has happened at Pearce Ferry, a waterfall is likely to result where the river flows across the bedrock ledges to rejoin its original channel (big green circle). We had expected to see it as soon as this summer, but the big bump in lake level should keep things as-is for a little while longer.

I'd heard/seen that before, but thanks for sharing.

Models I've seen only bring the lake back up to @ the Dirty D confluence this year. Have you seen something different or more recent?

[Todd Eastman]

Great trip and concept!!!

[bobbytooslow]

Models I've seen only bring the lake back up to @ the Dirty D confluence this year. Have you seen something different or more recent?

Here's the BoR's forecast from early March, putting the most probable summer high lake level at the dam at 3570'.




But according to NOAA's report on Monday, "The Lake Powell inflow forecast is 10.0 MAF (156% of average), which is a 2.0 MAF increase from the early March forecast." I don't know how much this will increase the projected lake level, and I don't know what kind of continued storm activity their models include.

Regardless, the water surface elevation at the bridge just upstream from the mouth of the Dirty Devil is at 3580' currently, while the water at the dam is at 3521'. Also unknown is how much sediment will be brought downstream from the high spring flows, and what the flows will do to the "mudberg" section downstream from the North Wash ramp, and how much that area will serve as an elevation control for the river upstream.

And who knows, maybe the flows will cut deeply into the sediment bank just upstream of the "Dirty Devil Headwall" escarpment in the above figure, and the river will return to its natural channel up there, stranding the North Wash ramp and saying "nevermind" to any waterfall. Or maybe winters like this will become the norm again, and none of this will matter (wishful thinking). Anyway, it'll be fun to watch!

[mikesee]

First, I wanted to share an overview map of our route:


Confluence of Green and Colorado visible top center. Capitol Reef far left. Lake Powell bottom left. Comb Ridge bottom center. S edge of La Sals at top right.

Second, I realize now I should have shared this in 'trip reports'. Can someone move it there? Thx.

[lowangle al]

Awesome trip Mike. That's quite the change in landscapes.