solo bike packraft tour

i'm going to try to keep the words to a minimum, and let these photos do some talking.
but what we have here are images of the first 5 days of a 9 day solo mision around southern utah
dates may 13th thru 17th.
starting on the green river at hardscrabble bottom on the green river.
after 8 miles or about 2 hours on the green i took out at millard canyon in the maze.
the end of a very little used road at the north end of the maze.




sunset and the end of day 1, was amazing and very welcome after 10 hours of mostly climbing on the bike.


day 2 consisted of an early rise to beat the "crowds" in horseshoe canyon
hiked down to the big panel ( via the deadman trail) and had a very peaceful time in the canyon.



this storm came out of know where and had me hightailing it out of there!


didn't seem to bother these two though....



my back pack is under and attached to my bike for a 4 mile hike across the canyon to avoid the 40 mile washboard alternate route.




will someone tell the park service that the washboard prevention program is not working on the maze access road! got pretty pounded along this part.



just the beginning of the wind and rain storms that would haunt me for most of my journey.




the end of day 2 , still pushing my bike through unreal scenery.
look close and you can see the road winding through that red desert.



camp and temple mnt. on the back side of the san rafael swell.


day three started with the discovery of this old mining camp


some very favorable lighting, and some really cool old work boots.

left the bike behind again and did a sweet canyon loop through ding and dang canyons.
a few stemming, to avoid getting wet, problems, but over all straight forward canyoneering loop.


lunch consisted of white knuckle down hills, epic hike a bikes, and unmatched scenic vistas.



whoa.. a rideable section!!


not so rideable....


scary.... was rethinking my choice of a helmet free tour.


afternoon consisted of a very long...... 14 mile hike to the tositch butte area and the put in for the chute. which i would float the next day.



had to put out a few fires along the way.


the muddy creek!! a very welcome sight after a long long hike across barren desert.


day 4 and the last time i'd see the sun like this for the rest of the tour.
so after not sleeping very much the night before....dawn broke and it was time to boat the chute.
it was kind of like getting up christmas morning as a kid (so excited), the unknown, what would be under that tree, ect..... but this xmas morning could be a bit different. i wasnt sure if i had been a good boy, and was a bit worried about santa(the chute) giving me a royal ass kicking!
once you enter the chute, you are in a (hopefully) boat able slot canyon, with no way out for several frozen miles.
all went well and i made it out alive.


no turning back after this corner.......





a refreshing open area with sun, and the biggest cottonwood i've ever seen.
look close at the flood debris in some of those lower limbs.
at least 20 feet higher than the current river level.


got back to my bike, picked it up, and continued down stream for another few hours to the factory butte area.


a less than ideal take out



factory butte, the henry's, and a bitch ass head wind .


ended day 4 at the old dump in hanksville, under rainy, and heinously windy conditions.
it was a rough night.


day 5 started with this sweet view of the pass in the henry's that i'd be riding over.




i wore most of the clothing i had for the 5 hour climb to the summit, and got snowed on for several hours, but it honestly wasnt as bad as i expected.


first one through



the "cowboy route" out of the henry's down down down to poison springs rd.






the dirt route under highway 95. for all you purists! NO PAVEMENT

ahhhhhhhhhhh the dirty devil river and day 5 camp.
this was the first day that i stopped before dark and it was a welcome respite after the big snow day over the henrys.
of course it rained on a off all night and morning but we'll cover that in my next post!
days 6 thru 9, when the weather actually got bad, i mean realllll bad!