Sunday, June 26, 2011

Ice Walk

  Some time ago I heard about a little known winter hike that involved climbing up a number of small frozen waterfalls. This past March, a couple of  friends and myself decided to check them out. On the way, we stopped to watch a herd of Bighorn sheep feed on the side of a mountain when all of a sudden they came running toward us.


   It turns out all they wanted was to use my truck as a salt lick.


  I was given the directions over the phone and had no map, but was pretty sure where the area was. After parking the truck we set out, not sure what to expect. After walking for some ways we found our first frozen waterfall. Fortunately, we knew of a secret weapon.... a ladder.





   This was the first of about 3 or 4 falls that we climbed further up the canyon.



  After ditching the ladder we hiked farther up and passed by a large frozen water fall to our left.


  Finally we arrived at our destination, another series of falls cutting through the rock. I put on a pair of crampons/chains on my winter boots and used an ice ax to cut steps in the ice. This made it much easier to reach the top. Ben and Derek found an alternate route to the top. It was like a mini skating rink up there.


  What a great afternoon, something I would definitely go do again. Just don't ask me where this is because if I tell you, I would have to..... well, you get the point.

2 comments:

  1. Wow, this is soooo cool! We have no idea of what wonders of "nature" are out there.
    Thanks for sharing,
    Babs

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  2. Hey Andrew! What a great hike you were able to go on. The photos you took really let us feel we are COLD! ha! Glad you had a great time. And I won't ask you were it is!
    Deb

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