2012 - April 2nd - East Fork Pollock Canyon, McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area/Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness

About a month prior to this day, I had visited the West Fork of Pollock Canyon.  On that trip, I though I might have time to explore the east fork as well, but it didn't work out.  So, it remained on my list of desired destinations.

On this particular April morning, a Monday if I'm not mistaken, I enlisted the company of my co-worker Shannon for an adventure into the east fork... promising the possibility of a waterfall.  If you'll recall (as detailed in my post for the west fork), faulting in the area has exposed the hard, Precambrian era stone.  While the water that only occasionally flows through these canyons has an exceptional ability to erode the attendant sandstones and shales, it seems to have a difficulty with the Precambrian stone.  It is that reason, in combination with the vertical depth of the faulting that causes natural drops in the canyons where they cross the fault. There are exposures of the Precambrian stone in many area canyons and these are the locations that I have found waterfalls; several, in fact. 

So, we hit the trail by late morning on this particular "Adventure Monday"... that's what we call it when we head out for an expedition on a Monday since we share(d) Mondays off.  On a previous adventure on the Pollock Bench (detailed here), I had explained to her about the fun of climbing in and out of Pollock Canyon.  This would be the day to show her in person! 

We made good time, though I was slightly annoyed with the cloudcover.  It's always cloudy in Pollock Canyon, apparently.  Route-finding into the canyon was easy and fun and soon we were on the canyon bottom and headed for the east fork. 

To my disappointment, there wasn't any water in the wash.  Once in the east fork, however, we did find a couple of muddy pools... but that was it.

On a great bend in the canyon, we discovered an alcove high up on the canyon wall and speculated that we might be able to climb into it.  The sandstone seemed manageable, so we began to ascend.  It was a little more steep than we had initially thought, however, and soon we found ourselves at a level where we could no longer proceed. 

Shannon sat down for a while and I decided to hike along at the same elevation on the slickrock wall to see if there was another way up.  I snapped the following picture after I realized I wouldn't be able to safely get any higher.  I think it's a good example of how steep the stone was!

Shannon or Spider Man?

We gave up trying to climb and hit headed back down into the wash, our destination still upstream.  Soon, we caught sight of a Precambrian stone wall up-canyon.

I noticed soon that there was a small amount of water trickling along in the wash as well, which was promising... but not near enough to have any sort of waterfall.  As we approached, it became obvious that there was a little notch in the wall that the water had carved or at least used as the path of least resistance.  It was like a short slot canyon which opened up to a little hollow.  Water trickled down the far side of the hollow at what would be the waterfall if the flow was higher.

Into the hollow.

Looking up the "trickles"

A little wider shot.

We decided to take a bit of a rest here and have a snack.  I enjoyed some tropical trail mix and ad libbed a little tune about it.  Then, I tried to take some creative photos with relatively mixed results.

We also took each other's picture at the pool.  Not sure where mine went, but here's Shannon for scale...

No scale!  What's the scale?  Nobody knows!

After hanging out there for a while, we headed back.  Walking along the wash, Shannon was suddenly startled by something to our left.  It turned out to be an abandoned shepherd's cabin!  I'm not sure how we missed it the first time by... I had actually noticed an old fenceline nearby which was on the edge of a relatively clear park above the wash. 

We decided to explore the little cabin and its contents.

Old trash heap.

Old stove.

Some sort of animal trap.

Shelf contents.

This was my favorite image from the day.  

 

The area had been historically utilized for sheep farming, though it is no longer and is now a conservation area.  There is a similar cabin in Devils Canyon ... which I talk about in this post from 2011.

A muddy obstacle course on the way out of the East Fork

Shannon vs. the mud trap

Flowers back up on the Pollock Bench.

The rest of the hike was uneventful.  We made our way out of the canyon, back up on to the bench and to the car.  There may have been a stop for lunch at Wendy's on the way out in Fruita... but that's not too exciting and I'm beginning to wonder why I even included it can't stop typingggg.  Alright, I'm done. 

Here's a useful map:

At 8.8 miles round-trip, the hike was a little on the long side, but the terrain wasn't *too* difficult.  It would have been nice to have some sunshine to work with, but it did a pretty good job of staying behind the clouds.  I would love to be in the area during a strong runoff or during a flash flood to see what the falls are really capable of.

Dann.

2011 Storm Chase 17 - July 17th - Dinner Break Desert Chase

Note: This storm chase log is from 2011 but has not been posted yet.

A Sunday evening during the monsoon usually keeps me pretty busy at work, but on my dinner break, I elected to head out to the edge of the desert... just a few minutes from the studio to get some video for the 10PM show.  I also brought along my camera to try and snag some lightning shots.

Big H5 high over the center of the country, nice fetch of moisture through the Rockies.

So, I sat out in the desert, hiding from the rain when I could... it seemed to want to sprinkle a lot.

The only bolt I captured... you have to look real closely to the right of the frame. (click to enlarge)

Nothing too exciting, just some pretty desert vistas.

STATS
Mileage: 18
2011YTD Mileage: 1777
States: Colorado
SPC Risk: Categorical
Max Hail: None
Tornadoes: None
Other Phenomena:  None
Applicable Mesoscale Discussions: None
Applicable Weather Watches: None
Storm Reports for July 17th

Dann.

2011 Storm Chase 15 - July 8th - Desert Disappointment

Catching up on a few 2011 entries since I'm still backlogged on 2012 imagery...

This entry details a storm chase from July 8th, 2011.

I was at reporting at work on this particular Friday afternoon.  We had been in a Monsoon pattern for a while and that was keeping thunderstorm opportunities more frequent.  

 I was downtown shooting a story (or attempting to) with my co-worker PJ.  My phone was blowing up with text from Eddie and Drew about storms in the area, which I could see to the west.  I was trying to ignore them to the best of my ability as I couldn't exactly do anything about it.  Winds were whipping through the downtown area as outflow from the storms passed.  The strongest cell was north of town, heading into the desert. 

 
I talked with my boss and he told me I could make a pursuit, so I headed off to the north side of town, cursing traffic in the mean time.  Drew, who was also out chasing, met up with us and jumped in the car.  The storm was on its way out of the valley at this point, but I wanted to see what it had put down since it was carrying a decent amount of reflectivity.

We drove north into the desert, which was fine until we left the gravel road and got into the clay.  PJ and Drew seemed horrified at how the vehicle reacted to the road, but I was used to it and was drifting adeptly in all-wheel drive.  I don't think they've experienced the "cake batter" before.  Long story short, we didn't find any hail, though we did find a golf ball.  It fooled us at first.  Then, it was back to the station empty handed.  

Detail Map:

STATS
Mileage: 24
2011YTD Mileage: 1686
States: Colorado
SPC Risk: Probabilistic (Wind)
Max Hail: None
Tornadoes: None
Other Phenomena:  None
Applicable Mesoscale Discussions: None
Applicable Weather Watches: None
Storm Reports for July 8th

Dann.

2011 Storm Chase 14 - July 7th - Lightning Strikes Twice In The Desert

Catching up on a few 2011 entries since I'm still backlogged on 2012 imagery...

This entry details a storm chase from July 7th, 2011.

With the Monsoon in full swing on the Western Slope, I actually started to have a little hope that I'd get the opportunity to see a decent storm or two.  On the previous evening, I scored my first "bolt in frame" shot on the Western Slope, as unmemorable as it was.  This evening yielded yet another possibility for lightning.

A fast-moving shortwave which you can see in the image below was on its way in and by 2Z, convection began to erupt in eastern Utah.  I headed out into the desert to set up and await my chance. 

I found a nice spot to park, turned on some jams and awaited the storms.  Luckily, as the shortwave passed, we actually got surface-based convection in the valley!  (That's a rarity).  This time around, I was much more successful at capturing some good images.  Here are a few:

Finally, I was starting to feel a little better about the weather out here. 

Detail Map:

STATS
Mileage: 16
2011YTD Mileage: 1662
States: Colorado
SPC Risk: Categorical
Max Hail: None
Tornadoes: None
Other Phenomena:  None
Applicable Mesoscale Discussions: None
Applicable Weather Watches: None
Storm Reports for July 7th

Dann.

2012 - March 6th - West Fork Pollock Canyon, McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area / Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness

I probably spend more time than I'd care to admit using Google Earth.  I remember the first time that I had found out that Google Earth was coming into existence.  I about lost my mind.  I spend a considerable amount of time perusing maps; I have since I was a child.  Believe it or not, my desire to look upon a map is what initially got me into weather.  But that's another story.

I have often explained to people that the waterfalls on the Uncompahgre Plateau usually exist along the exposures of Precambrian rock.  For whatever reason, I had neglected to use Google Earth to find the Precambrian exposures.  Imagine my excitement when I realized that many of the canyons that I had not explored yet had Precambrian exposures.  Looking closely into the forks of Pollock Canyon, I saw what I thought might be plunge pools or areas of water likely carved by a waterfall or cascade.

 Possible Plunge Pool

 
I searched online for images of possible waterfalls in Pollock Canyon but came up empty.  I knew that I would have to see for myself.  So, on my next available day off, I decided to head out. 

It was happenstance that I'd be hiking on the day prior to a storm once again.  Somehow that was becoming a common thread in 2012.  Winds were expected to pick up in the afternoon which would carry in dust from the rest of the Southwest.  Clouds would also be on the increase, so I was hoping for at least a little good light early.

I hit the trail a little later than planned, but was up on the Pollock Bench by 1PM.  The winds were strong, especially along the exposed sandstone ledges overlooking the Flume Creek drainage.  Wave clouds were already setting up in the lee of Grand Mesa.  

Waves over Grand Mesa

I made good time across the bench and descended onto the lower bench in the Pollock Canyon drainage.  The terrain seemed remarkably more forgiving than my previous trip through that area, the last time being on my return trip from the fourteen and a half mile Rattlesnake Arches adventure where I ran out of water. 

I had plenty of water and Gatorade with me this time and a much shorter route, rounding out around eight miles.  On my previous trip, I had neglected to take any pictures of the homes carved into the sandstone north of the wilderness boundary in Pollock Canyon, so I paused and did just that.

I also noticed a small arch in a sandstone fin across the canyon! (Look under the "a" in Dann)

I was blessed with a decent amount of sunshine before the big deck of clouds drifted in.  This gave me the opportunity for a few good sun-on-sandstone-and-blue-sky pictures. 

As I rounded the corner and began to head south, upstream on the canyon's middle bench, the clouds moved in and stuck around for the rest of the day.

Mossy Detail

As I reached the rim of the canyon, I encountered another solo hiker and exchanged brief tales about the long route to Rattlesnake. He seemed to be out without a specific destination.  I had a definite goal in mind.  

I paused to marvel at the canyon and remembered my first thoughts upon reaching it last spring.  "How the hell am I going to get down?"  

Which was immediately followed by: "And how the hell do I climb out of the other side??"

Luckily, that trail had already been blazed, so I found it much easier.  Soon, I was creekside at the bottom of the canyon.  Much to my delight, there was water in the wash.  It was milky, but flowing none the less.  Running water allows for the possibility of waterfalls, for those not following along.

I made haste up-canyon and headed right at the big canyon junction.  The canyon bottom wasn't anything unique compared to other canyons in the area.  The was was sandy and gravelly with plenty of exposed sandstone on the walls, which occasionally narrowed.  I knew once I entered the West Fork, I would be only a half mile from the Precambrian exposure.  Before I even got there, I found a nice drop in the sandstone. 

Not too much longer after that, I reached the pool that I had observed on Google Earth.  While there wasn't a towering waterfall, a nice little chute of about teen feet was a satisfying outcome. 

I paused here for a while, ate some trail mix and had a little Gatorade.  Then, I wandered around the vicinity, taking photos. 

Then, against my better judgement, I attempted to climb the rock next to the falls.  My first attempt ended in failure.  I just couldn't find good enough footholds to carry me up the face.  I ended up finding a much taller route, but that one was a little easier to manage.  Up above the pool now, I continued upstream, where several more cascades, chutes and drops could be found.  I eventually made it to a drop that I couldn't climb.  Water was falling down in curtains, but wasn't too concentrated in any one area.  I'd imagine during higher flow, this waterfall would be much more impressive.

I wedged myself into the little alcove and attempted to take a few hand-held long(er) exposures.  I was reasonably successful.  (The blurry ones are not shown!)

These boots are made for gettin' dirty.

Detail shot of the upper falls.

A nice little slide.

Looking back up.

A hidden cascade.

And finally, down the lower chute.

One of the biggest things I've learned while hiking is that just because you climb down something, doesn't mean you can get back up.  One of the other biggest things I've learned while hiking is that just because you climb up something doesn't mean you can climb down.  File this next step under the latter.  If you'll recall, there were two routes that I attempted while climbing the lower drop.  The first, I had to abandon.  Ultimately, the way I climbed up did not look suitable for climbing down.  So, I tried the first route and slowly worked my way down.  I came to a point where I could no longer get a good foothold and realized that I would have to jump.  So, here's how it worked: I slid down on my butt until the last foothold and then used it to launch myself forward, my arms adding a burst.  Luckily, I made it over the drink and landed feet-first in the soft mud. 

A final view of the pool.

With my goal achieved, I decided to head back home.  The skies had clouded up completely and the wind was occasionally mixing down to the canyon bottoms. 

Small arch on the canyon wall.

Once back up on the bench between the lower canyon and the higher area known as Pollock Bench, I found some hail from the previous storms that had rolled through.  See: 2012 Storm Chase 2 Report.

By the time I got up into the higher reaches of the canyon, I could really see the dust in the air.  What a change from earlier in the day!

Okay, not dust, but broccoli-mossy.

Here's the dust again, looking off the Pollock Bench.

Now looking east, over the valley.

 

Dusty, but notice the wave clouds still present. 

You can barely see the Book Cliffs in the background. (Colorado River middle ground)

After reaching my car, checked some satellite imagery and noticed that it was relatively clear to the west.  It occurred to me that the clearing may allow some sunshine in under the cloud deck at sunset, so I drove north of Fruita and found a nice position to watch the sunset.  Just as I suspected, with the dust in the air, it was spectacular.

Its funny that after a day, deep in the canyon, the best photos would come from sunset.  You always have to be ready, I guess! 

I didn't have the time or motivation to explore the East Fork of Pollock Canyon, but I plan to head back.  There is evidence on satellite of a few more pools in the Precambrian exposures.  Another time!  This hike ended up being about 8 miles round-trip with 400ft of max elevation change (though there was a lot of up and down).

Here's a useful map:

Dann.