Wet Gear & High Spirits

The sun rises over Rifle Gap, and it’s time for trek to once again ride. After a quick birthday celebration for our very own Noah (which will end up spanning 3 days and many many cakes) we hopped in the “Big Momma” bus and headed West. After a 6 hour bus ride with frequent stops in eclectic rural Coloradoan gas stations, we arrive in Bear’s Ears National Monument to begin our 16 day backpacking expedition over mesas, through cacti, and around many many drainages. The first night included a scorpion sighting, a water run back to the bus, and a bit of mischief that would catalyze a full scale prank war later in the expedition. The stars swirled across the sky, and we went to bed with hearts full anticipation for the adventures ahead. 

Day 2 brought our ascent up to the iconic Jacob’s Chair, a butte scraping the sky that served as our guiding beacon throughout the expedition. On the way, Jono acquired a rusty butter knife that he cleaned and turned into a handy piece of group gear. After a short yet grueling 3 mile day, we camped underneath Jacob’s Chair. This campsite boasted impeccable (or immaculate as Kiran would say) views of Bear’s Ears, a water pump, and a game camera that took intermittent pictures of our campsite activities. After breaking said water pump and interfering with the game camera’s photos by accident, we struck off to our next campsite. 

On day 3, we learned just how much time it takes to descend off of mesas and move through canyons. A seemingly easy 4 and a half mile day quickly turned into an odyssey of a 9 hour hiking day. Some highlights include several scouting missions to find safe routes, our first time hiking through a canyon, a tarantula sighting which caused Kiran to sprint in a circle, and a nighttime arrival into camp. Exhausted, we fell asleep under the calm Utah sky, unaware of the impending windstorm that would arrive 24 hours later.

Tired from a ‘crank of a day’ yesterday, on day 4 we took a rest day… or so we thought. While the morning included mellow activities like a canyon run and painting, that afternoon we decided to descend into a canyon for a day-hike. After exploring some epic nooks throughout the canyon, we reached a seemingly impassible obstacle. But not for Erin. As the rest of the group decided what to do about the water that filled the canyon floor ahead, Erin plunged in, and led us as we waded in dark brown water for the next 200 yards. With beautiful slot canyon walls filling our eyes and Jono’s shrill cries of cold filling our ears, we continued deeper and deeper. After our canyon escapade, we were excited to rest and dry out. The wind had other ideas. As we prepared for dinner, the gusts grew and grew, culminating a full on gale. With sand zooming across our headlamp beams, we trudged through the night to new mid (tent) locations out of the wind. We settled on a drainage, which seemed perfect – except for the fact that water flows through drainages. We all woke up wet, but no one suffered more than Piper, Clay, Jono, and Sarah, who had the joy of waking up to a stream running through their mid.

With wet gear and high spirits, we struck out on the morning of day 5. Well-rested, we sped across the desert, and landed in camp for a couple lessons. A spontaneous desert snow hindered our abilities to dry out gear from the night before, but nonetheless we had a splendid time huddled under a ledge, sheltered from the elements. 

On day 6, we continued the positive rhythm as the desert sun once again shone down on us. Sam was even able to dry out his brown fleece: his warmest, and only, warm layer. With stunning views of the canyons and Jacob’s Chair, we turned in early. It should be noted that it was on this night that half of our headlamp batteries spontaneously decided to die. 

Mesa Day! On day 7, we rode. And we rode hard. Our route included summiting a mesa and subsequently walking on top of it for 8 miles before descending off that mesa and hiking some more. In order to get on top of the mesa, we needed to set up a handline, a tool that helped us navigate more ‘sendy’ terrain. After hiking on the mesa for 8 miles, an endeavor that involved Kiran and Sam explaining the entire plot of Game of Thrones, we dropped off the mesa using routes scouted by students. In the dark! We arrived into camp weary yet content that night. 

Day 8 is spa day. Peter changed our lives by introducing the cucumber on the eye method, and Oscar cheffed up the most decadent pancakes in all of Bear’s Ears. Battered from the night before, and Sarah in desperate need of the ‘dogpound’, we decided to rest. We also had 2 hours of solo time, where we spread out throughout the landscape to be alone and more connected with the land around us. Aside from a mid blowing down on top of Kiran, we had a mellow sleep that night. 

On day 9, we tried out independent student travel, where instructors trailed us by an hour. Heartbroken from not spending the hiking day with instructors, we rolled into camp after a smooth road day. That afternoon we camped on the rim of a canyon, and had our first community meeting of the expedition. 

On day 10 we re-rationed. After a short hike to our bus, and a 10 minute bus ride where Sydney cultured us with her music, we picked up food for the last 6 days of the expedition. Bernadette was devastated to find that the Nutella she stashed had disappeared. It turns out she was betrayed by her very own cook group in this devious prank. We Camped on the rim of White Canyon that night, where we would reside for the next 2 days. 

Halloween! Not really- we decided to celebrate 2 days early because we were so excited. Our festivities included a spoooooky bake-off where our 3 judges were appalled by the concoctions that their students baked. After that, we held our talent show in the tombstone theater. An audience of awe-inspired students and instructors looked on as everybody displayed their talents, including a collab from Claudio el Caballero and Ghost Shalom (Clay and Jono), backed by beatboxing from Kiran and Peter. They told of unknown horrors that would befall students who littered in the canyons. The talent show concluded with a backcountry rendition of Macbeth, which told of tragedy and a battle between trek and traverse (trek won). 

Day 11 was canyoneering. We met up with Nicholas and relearned rappelling. Once again, Erin led the way through the ice-cold water at the bottom of the canyon. At some points, it got so deep that we were forced to fully swim through the murky water. We then donned our harnesses and descended into the heart of the canyon. The walls towered above us on either side as we meandered back to camp.