Can't beat it.....just love the desert in the winter and since I don't celebrate LBJ Day, I wanted to get out of town ASAP.
Met up with Mot in Monument Valley, UT on Friday night and stayed there at Gouldings. Great to see my Japanese friend, though Gouldings itself was nothing to write home about and I think I got food poisoned there.
Next day headed up Rt. 191 to Mexican Hat and then dropped into Butler Wash and did some ruin hiking that Ali showed us a couple of years back.
Made it out and then hoofed it over Rt. 95 towards Natural Bridges. I was going to go up to Bear's Ears, but the snow got too thick as I head up. Stomach feeling progressively worse. Decided on heading in to Red Canyon. Beautiful country. Set up camp, ate, and went to bed. Awoke around 3am with awful stomach pains, alternately threw up and expelled projectiles downward till 7am.
Feeling too ill to do anything else, I tried my best to get organized and get out before I keeled over from pain. Still throwing up/projectiling. Terrible being in the back country and needing to get out but realizing that weather is approaching, I have possibly 50 canyon-floor stream crossings if it starts to rain, along with possible mud, extraction, etc. Not good.
Finally got out and got myself to Monticello. Holed up in a hotel for almost a day and half while I got better.
Got home today, happy that I didn't suffer some traumatic ulcer in the backcountry. I would have been, as Abbey said, vulture food (or dog food for Raj).
Anyway, a few pics.
Met up with Mot in Monument Valley, UT on Friday night and stayed there at Gouldings. Great to see my Japanese friend, though Gouldings itself was nothing to write home about and I think I got food poisoned there.
Next day headed up Rt. 191 to Mexican Hat and then dropped into Butler Wash and did some ruin hiking that Ali showed us a couple of years back.
Made it out and then hoofed it over Rt. 95 towards Natural Bridges. I was going to go up to Bear's Ears, but the snow got too thick as I head up. Stomach feeling progressively worse. Decided on heading in to Red Canyon. Beautiful country. Set up camp, ate, and went to bed. Awoke around 3am with awful stomach pains, alternately threw up and expelled projectiles downward till 7am.
Feeling too ill to do anything else, I tried my best to get organized and get out before I keeled over from pain. Still throwing up/projectiling. Terrible being in the back country and needing to get out but realizing that weather is approaching, I have possibly 50 canyon-floor stream crossings if it starts to rain, along with possible mud, extraction, etc. Not good.
Finally got out and got myself to Monticello. Holed up in a hotel for almost a day and half while I got better.
Got home today, happy that I didn't suffer some traumatic ulcer in the backcountry. I would have been, as Abbey said, vulture food (or dog food for Raj).
Anyway, a few pics.
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