My Journey

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Ace.....I'm probably better suited for the junk mail pile but to each his own I say.....thank you.....

halseyt.....no cliffhangers to share but it was indeed an awesome spot to hang out.....there seemed to be a little of everything here.....

Sierra Valley.....the whole Mohave Desert thing stumped me as well.....there were tons of Joshua trees here but how this place got that name is a puzzle to me.....



And so it was that we spent the next ten days camped here.....most days we were active as we explored climbing walls, mountain summits, several remote canyons, 4 x 4 roads, and we nearly got into Utahs' fifth largest cave.....

One day while out & about in the Jeep we made a stop at the Woodbury Road Crags Climbing Site.....





We sure did like this spot although Tanner is now the only real climber in our group.....





While Tanner isn't much for bolted routes, never underestimate his ability to climb.....





That dog is nuts when it comes to climbing rock.....there's nothing stopping him it seemed.....





We spent an entire afternoon and went right into the early evening exploring the rock walls and we went well beyond into the canyons that led into the remote mountainess areas.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I don't have much more to say about the climbing site so I'll just share some pictures of Tanners' day on the rock.....nothing like a Golden Retriever climbing the rocks.....

 

[Arjan]

He's having a Blast !!!!

Thanks for sharing

 

[Ace Brown]

My previous dogs were great climbers but my Kenda is afraid of everything. Yesterday we crossed a narrow shaky bridge on a beaver dam. She started wining. I said get over here or stay there. I turned my back and suddenly she was there. Very frustrating for an outdoors man. I’ll bet Tanner could teach her some moves.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Arjan.....sure thing.....dogs & mountains.....life is good.....

Ace.....Tanner is truly in a league of his own.....he's climbing vertical 30' high rock walls that he probably shouldn't be climbing but there's just no way of stopping him short of the leash.....I'm astonished.....



It was right around Xmas when we first came to this area and that of course is also the time of the Winter Solstice.....the days are shorter and the nights are longer.....the nights now provided me the time to hang out with a good book (all used books bought in Cortez, Colorado last month.....there's an awesome used bookstore to be checked out in that town).....

Karakoram.....The Ascent of Gasherbrum IV.....was a great read.....



.....and the inscription on the used books' inside jacket intrigued me.....who was "Jim".....I wondered if it was owned by the famed mountaineer & climber Jim Whitaker.....I believe his wifes' name is Ann.....



High in the Thin Cold Air was yet another great read.....



And to finish my book reviews.....

Alone On the Ice gets 5 Stars.....amazing read.....

My Life of Adventure gets 0 Stars.....it sucked.....



There's probably nothing that inspires me more than reading a good book and so it was that during our stay there I seeked out another easy mountain to climb.....maybe five miles or so to the east was the summit of Scrub Peak (6,789').....



So one day we headed out in the Jeep and we headed up a rough, steep road which led to the summit of Scrub Peak.....





Eventually we dropped the Jeep and began the hike up.....





The one thing that just amazed me about this road was the steepness.....literally void of nearly any switchbacks.....therefore it went straight up the mountain.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Nice views up there.....







As we closed in on the summit, the road finally began to flatten out.....





.....and unfortunately the summit was covered in more towers.....



We hung out for a bit on the summit.....took a few summit shots.....





.....basked in our solitude.....and then made the return to our campsite.....

 

[tgil]

I laughed out loud as I came to the pic of Trapper with her popsicle. Scout loves to eat ice.

 

[pkripper]

Hope all is well, quite some time since the last update.

 

[Sierra Valley]

Hope all is well, quite some time since the last update.

Yeah you got me excited to waste some time at work following Jerry LOL. Hopes all is well.

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

tgil.....yea, she loves the ice & snow plus anything else that doesn't move.....sometimes I swear that dog is eyeing me for her next meal.....

pkripper.....all is good here.....I've done nothing remotely interesting for the past month so I've not been very motivated.....usually I'm just trying to stay ahead of my little adventures but not the case right now.....

Sierra Valley.....it's funny you mention work and reading this as I've noticed that the thread gets most of its' likes Monday thru Friday.....I doubt I'd get a single like if everyone was a bum like me.....keep on working.....it feeds my ego.....thank you for that.....



Our next climb, which would also be our last climb in this area, was to the summit of Tabeau Peak (4,500').....





We made two attempts to the summit of Tabeau Peak.....the first attempt (which was unsuccessful) was on December 23, 2021 when I decided to try it with both of the dogs coming along & also with both of the dogs on their leashes.....





Initially the climb was not too steep and the footing was pretty damn good.....eventually we crossed paths with a small herd of mule deer on the way up there.....and that's always a bonus in my book.....I also might add here that I was pleased that the dogs were on leash at that very moment.....





Now this peak was nothing like the last two peaks that we had climbed.....there were no roads to help us to the summit.....as a matter of fact there wasn't even a trail to be followed on this mountain.....



At some point up there I finally realized that I'd never gain this summit with two dogs along.....the route I had chosen turned into some Class IV climbing and dogs on a leash just wasn't going to work out.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Two days later.....on December 25, 2021.....when most people were at home opening packages and sharing that beautiful day with family, I was on the side & summit of Tabeau Peak.....trying to get that summit that was denied to me a few days prior.....





On my second attempt I decided on a new route & I also decided to leave the dogs behind.....my goal was to get this summit as quick as possible so I moved our "base camp" to my chosen trailhead.....to be as close as possible.....





From here I hauled ass up the side of that mountain.....one thing that I learned on my last foray was that this thing was steep.....and it looked to be sketchy up there as well.....





As far as sketchy goes.....well, it was the scree that laid upon the massive, steep slabs of rock.....one mistep would have brought on a pretty good slide.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

I won't lie to you.....I was nervous up there cause I just hate leaving my dogs alone.....the what ifs absolutely haunt me.....







But my desire to be in the mountains.....it too, in some obscure way, it too haunts me as well.....







The real crux of this climb in my eyes was working my way around the massive cliffs.....





But after a few hours up there in those mountains.....well, I had what I had come for.....I got my fix.....and it was a Merry Xmas.....albeit all alone with my two dogs in the wilderness.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

Most days while camped here included hikes into the various canyons.....there were many to explore.....







This particular canyon had several caves which we of course we had to have a look at.....







This small cave caught my eye when I spotted the large cloth spread out across the ground.....



This probably explains the homeless looking guy that walked by our camp a few days prior.....interesting to think that someone was living back here in these mountains.....



Another odd find in the same canyon was this plaque.....just randomly placed on a rock wall in the middle of nowhere.....

 

[YukonMontanaTannerTrapper]

When the clouds rolled in, light snow would cover the higher peaks.....







I guess the weather didn't much matter to us.....we were pretty much always out there trying to see what we could see.....







The days passed slowly here.....not sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing.....as we yearned to return to Montana.....

 

[pkripper]

Beautiful pics !