Quagmire

The swell and greater Moab area is a quagmire. Leave the pavement at your own risk. Someone do us a favor and let us know when the drifting snow and mud dry up please.

No wonder Sam is going so political...

IC was very doable this weekend. I'm sure it'll be a while before the Swell melts off however.

Its true... this weather is killing me. I moved to the desert for droughts, California be damned. I didn't come here so Lake Powell could be filled in a single season.
Its been cold enough that places with glancing sun are keeping their snow... In other words, the summits of towers often have snow on their north and west sides. Potholes are not evaporating... and there is even ice climbing in a couple of the slots.
Its all part of the damn global warming... I mean climate change... I mean, whatever its called now.

crap, I thought I was gonna read some good Family Guy snippets.
All Right!

What the deuce!

This is the most depressing thread I've read in years!

This is my only weekend to get to Moab. :(

Brad, the road to the Fishers is fine. Just don't plan on getting too far off the beaten track, plan accordingly.

QUAGMIRE UPDATE!
The quag has gotten more mired. I woke this morning with three inches of new in the yard and, at 8:20, I cannot see the Rim out my window (its coming down hard). Anyone planning on spending the weekend here should well, replan... its fucked. Sorry Brad.

9:06am and still snowing.

also, be very afraid of basically any dirt road north of Moab off the 191 (sunshine wall, klondike bluffs, etc). don't take any chances, even if it looks good (unless you got some big ol' mudders). even in 4wd and new tires it is dicey. it may be fine in the morning but after it warms up the muck-factor goes to eleven. klondike bluffs might not be that bad but the road to the dinosaur tracks by copper ridge was a bonafide Quagmire rally of death.

Giggidy-giggidy-goo.

I guess I can still jump off a wet cliff...

F%#K!!!!!!!!!

Good point Joe. That is exactly how people end up stranded and stuck. You are cruising a long okay, the road isn't too bad you say to yourself. You come around a corner, try to take on that small looking drift, or puddle, and the next thing you know you are trying to back up, and then you are screwed. Don't get complacent, the ground is surprisingly soft out there. At the very least, pack up your truck with extra supplies.

Brad, come skiing with Amanda and I. It will be fun and maybe make the miss happy? You don't even have to bring something for the potluck on friday night. We can take turns at the base area with the little guy.

Think about it.
Ben

You dont wanna come here. IT rained today, but the stuff din't all melt... And we are supposed to get more tomorrow... and again on Sunday.

John J. Glime wrote:Good point Joe. That is exactly how people end up stranded and stuck. You are cruising a long okay, the road isn't too bad you say to yourself. You come around a corner, try to take on that small looking drift, or puddle, and the next thing you know you are trying to back up, and then you are screwed. Don't get complacent, the ground is surprisingly soft out there. At the very least, pack up your truck with extra supplies.

Two things: When I was in college I had to buy a car and my dad thought it would be a great idea for me to have an SUV. So I bought a junker and drove it back from Georgia after christmas break. Drove down into Kane Creek a few miles back to where its open and wide and came to a huge icy spot where the road crosses the creek. There was this huge bull on the other side and I didn't want to hit him so I drove kinda slow... and broke through the ice - barely made it outta that icymudhole and scared the crap out of my self.

This past Saturday daughter wanted to go down to hike in the desert for her birthday so we drug the whole lot of our children down to the Swell. So, we're thinking about warmth and sunshine as we drive out across the desert by Buckhorn with icy, windblown roads with 2 feet of snow on most everything else.

And my wife is pissed.

fortunately, that pictograph panel in buckhorn was sunny and 57 degrees.

oh, and the Dylan wall was bone dry and they'd had 4-6 inches of snow a couple of days before. You can DO it.

Zion is qood, and from colorado it's really only an hour or two further than IC. From SLC, it's probably closer.

F'n A, dude, the more I think about it, you guys are freaking whiners. Zion is KICK ASS, and it's good right now. Just because there isn't a 300 page color guidebook doesn't mean there isn't a shit load of good cragging routes to be climbed there. Why not drag yourself out of your comfort zone for one pidly weekend and check it out?

zion is choss

Mike Anderson wrote:Why not drag yourself out of your comfort zone for one pidly weekend and check it out?

Maybe this is why...

This Afternoon: Rain and snow likely. Cloudy, with a high near 53. West southwest wind around 10 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Tonight: Rain and snow likely, mainly before 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 33. West northwest wind at 10 mph becoming east southeast. Chance of precipitation is 60%. Little or no snow accumulation expected.

Saturday: Partly sunny, with a high near 56. Calm wind becoming south southwest around 6 mph.

Saturday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 37. South southwest wind 5 to 10 mph becoming east.

Sunday: A 40 percent chance of rain, mainly after 11am. Mostly cloudy, with a high near 60. Southeast wind 5 to 8 mph becoming south between 18 and 21 mph.

Sunday Night: A chance of rain, mixing with snow after 11pm. Mostly cloudy, with a low around 35. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

DO NOT HAUL YOURSELF OUT OF YOUR COMFORT ZONE FOR THIS SWAMP!
The issue currently is not what is going to fall on us tonight, which is no doubt significant, but what has already fallen on us. We are saturated. You could hike up to an I.C. wall and the rock itself might be fine, but the base and the summit are not.

I know that's why I'm not there this weekend Brian.

I looked everywhere from Grand Junction to Vegas and there was no safe bet.

Besides, like Mike said, I would be way too afraid leave my comfort zone and go to Zion. That place looks scary. I only climb on solid rock. :)

Brad Brandewie wrote:Besides, like Mike said, I would be way too afraid leave my comfort zone and go to Zion. That place looks scary. I only climb on solid rock.

That, and there's only hard free climbs there now anyhow. Frankly, most of us just aren't good enough to climb there anymore.

Yeah, my comfort zone is currently ice routes in Maple, so, yeah, I hear ya.

I thought there was no such thing as a rock prodigy?

So after you do Iron Messiah, what's the 5.10 and under list for Zion free climbing?