Easter Sunday Solo Tour

The week leading up to Easter Sunday has been a hard one for me personally.  Stress, irritation, frustration, and depression had worn me out.  Even the massive powder dump of April Fool's wasn't enough to shake me out of this funk.  I knew that I needed to get this issue off my mind and move on past it.  I decided that it was time for me to make my first solo backcountry tour. 

I determined that the necessity of staying safe, understanding conditions and snow factors, terrain assessment, being alone relying solely on myself, knowing that my beacon would only be good for a body recovery, and the physical demands of the area I was to ski, skin, and hike, was enough to be able to get over the past two weeks and to move on in life. 

I did choose wisely as I knew conditions were stabilized and would remain overall good for the day.  In the end, this tour proved to be what I needed in coming to terms with the external and internal issues that were affecting me: it was a definite success with lots of plan changes.  Solo touring has opened my eyes to a new realm and new understanding of myself and the snowpack. 

I definitely foresee more of this in the future.

A Beautiful Day up to an Oasis

Sunday happened to be such a beautiful day. After church, I found myself to have nothing going on and antsy to be relaxing outside. I had a thought to take a walk/hike up to Malan's Basin to go look at the waterfall. It's been a while since I have been up there, well during the non-winter months. I haven't been up there in the summer for about 3 years. I do go up there every winter to ice climb. I didn't want to fly completely solo on this, so I called Kev and Liv to see if I could take out the darling and adorable Maddie.

She's my babe. I was lucky enough to get an approval. It was nice and relaxing to get up in the canyon and be in the trees with a stream to the south of you. The rush of the water over the rocks was calming and soothing to me. I enjoyed myself and the company of Maddie. She did struggle a little when she had to work her way through larger rocks due to having a leash on. I would just give her a "come one babe," and she'd bound up the rock and pass me by.

As I got up to the waterfall, I went a little higher than the others gathered there to find a little sanctuary all for myself. As I peered up I wished for the water to be still and frozen. I just wanted to climb. But it was good to see nature at work, to see the cycle of things, and to remember the first time I had been up there.

All and all, it was a good day.

The approach view.


























The good view.


























Top Section.




















A view of Ogden from my secluded spot.