Tom Grundy's TMF 2010 Expedition Page (part III)

This story is continued from part I and part II
It is essentially the same as what you see here on the part III Wend Blog with a few changes.

Day 5

Daniel and Chelsey (and Jason) sleeping in the morning

hiking towards the drop off

peering over the cliffs down to Wells Creek

sneaking down the first cliff

Sam heads down the first rappel

Andy rappels down

Now that obstacle was out of the way, we went down through endless talus and boulder fields along Wells Creek. The creek was really raging with some lovely waterfalls and rapids. The going was slow, but it was pretty clear that nothing here could stop us.

Wells Creek rapids/waterfalls

Finally we got down to the valley floor where we crossed the creek and headed downstream (with a few swampy bits to remind us that we weren't out of the proverbial woods yet), but when we hit the Highline trail, we knew that our only real obstacle was the distance. We hiked down the trail past some rapids on the Green River. When we got to the bridge we stopped and took out the packrafts we had been carrying all this way. We had Alpacka Scout rafts (along with one even lighter prototype we called the ghost). These rafts are pretty light, but to save even more weight we also had hand paddles and inflatable life jackets (which double as pretty nice pillows). It took a while to get all the gear sorted and packed for the river (crampons and ice axes had to be properly covered so they wouldn't damage the rafts or anything else). We also wanted to make as much stuff as possible waterproof. When everything was packed up and the rafts were inflated and ready to go, we cast off down the Green River.

hiking across a wet meadow

raft, paddles, and pfd with flip flop and foot for scale

For the most part the rafting was quite enjoyable. We had a pretty good current, milky glacial water, a narrow river (so the banks moved by quickly), and amazing scenery. Once in a while we had to portage around log strainers, but it was nothing like 2009 on the White River. When we did stop, the mosquitos were pretty fierce, but mostly we were just on the water and they weren't a problem. We portaged around one set of nasty looking rapids (that started with a strainer), and put in above some more rapids. This was the first whitewater test of our loaded rafts with hand paddles, so we were a bit nervous, but they worked fairly well. As the afternoon wore on we passed Squaretop and then the river meandered a bit and we entered the first of the Green River Lakes. We paddled across it, which was a bit of a chore with the hand paddles (all of our shoulders were feeling it, and Jason with his small hand paddles (meant for swimming) was particularly hurting). Most of our hand paddles were made out of plastic buckets, and for the most part they worked very well. I did manage to bend mine backwards a few time in whitewater when I got scared and paddled very hard. For their cost and weight they were an excellent addition to our gear list. We lost the sun at the far end of the first lake which was unfortunate, as we were all at least a little wet and it was getting cold. We headed down the river between the lakes and took out near another bridge. There we got a fire going almost immediately to start drying and warming as well as to help keep the mosquitos at bay. I must have been pretty tired, because I kept my sunglasses on well after dark, and nobody else seemed to notice either (it did make the sunset particularly vivid and the moon a rather strange color when it came up). With the help of the fire we stayed up a lot later than normal (it was hard to leave the drying warmth). The other shelter opted to sleep out near the fire without their shelter (mainly at Chelsey's urging, as she was getting claustrophobic in the little things).

paddling down the Green River

paddling with Squaretop in the background

tired Yogaslackers by a warming fire

Day 6

We knew this would be another long day, so we got up early despite the cold (maybe better with less mosquitos?). It was painful putting on cold clothes, but the fire helped a bit. As soon as we were packed up we started hiking (we figured it would be better to hike past the larger lake rather than paddle). This also helped keep us warm. It was magical hiking across the meadow with a heavy mist. The views back at Squaretop kept me stopping to take photos. I was really wishing for my good camera, tripod, and more time.

looking back towards Squaretop

fog at the end of the Green River Lake

view across the lake to Squaretop

At the end of the lake we inflated and repacked the rafts. Luckily the sun was hitting us by now so casting off onto the river wasn't so traumatic. In fact the water was warmer than the air, so it wasn't a problem at all. The river started out shallow and clear with a pretty good current. I can see why it is such a popular fishing destination, as we saw lots of large trout. Then the current started slowing down and we had to paddle more. This was a little frustrating.

alternating paddling positions for a break

Finally we got to the end of the ridge keeping the river heading north. There we had some exciting (with scouts and hand paddles) class III rapids. After the rapids the river was heading west and starting to meander a little, but the current was still moving us along. In an effort to speed us up, Andy split us into 2 teams to race. He was with Chelsey and Sam and they hitched their rafts together to allow backwards paddling (much more powerful, but hard to steer), and to limit wind resistance. The rest of us decided to just keep paddling and because we didn't have the smallest hand paddles, we managed to stay ahead for a long time. By now the river was meandering more and going a bit slower. This was somewhat frustrating as we were traveling at least 2 or 3 times our straight line distance. I was expecting an endless day of paddling and was only moderately annoyed by this development but some of the others were more frustrated and lobbied for walking. We took out at a loop near the road and started walking. An RV stopped and we tried to figure out exactly where we were with their GPS and road map, but it wasn't very detailed. Sam also worked his magic and they gave us some food (trail mix, crackers, and vienna sausages). Normally I wouldn't eat vienna sausages, but along with the crackers they were the perfect mix of fat and salty.

mosquitos attacking our legs on the walk

hiking along the road for a while

We walked for a few miles and then put back in when we passed another bit of a ridge and the river gradient increased. This was at Kendall warm springs. Luckily we were plenty hot walking or we would have been tempted to jump in the warm water despite the closure for the endangered Kendall Dace. It seemed like our boats were leaking as we went down the rapids, but I think that the air was so warm in the tubes that it contracted a lot as it cooled off. We had a few more miles of fun class I and II rapids before the river gradient decreased and the river began to meander again. We stopped to ask directions from a man in a cabin, then continued downstream past a large and noisy sandhill crane. We passed a number of houses and cabins and then were into cattle country. Finally we took out and hiked across the fields and one final irrigation ditch to the highway. I had just wrung out my socks when a truck pulled up and we all jumped in the back. They kindly drove us all the way back to our cars at the trailhead saving us a lot of expected hiking and pain that evening.

drying socks in the back of the pickup truck

We loaded up and headed into town for pizza, but we were too late, so we settled for Subway and piling into a small motel for ice cream, showers, and to get the photos off the cameras. The next morning we had the usual gear explosion, drying, sorting, and packing before Daniel and Andy were taken to the airport in Jackson Hole. The rest of us headed towards Squaw Valley and the Wanderlust Festival at various paces, but that is another story in the Yogaslacker Saga...

scarfing sandwiches at a gas station Subway

drying gear at the park after the trip

I would like to thank the Yogaslackers and especially Andy for masterminding and making this trip possible, it might only last a few days, but it is one of the highlights of the year. I would also like to thank a number of the sponsors that help make this sort of trip possible for those of us pushing our boundaries both physically and fiscally. These include Alpacka rafts, Inov-8 shoes, Evolv climbing shoes, Aarn packs, Alpine-Aire food, Ibex wool clothing, Nuun hydration, Outdoor Research, Java Juice, and Sterling Ropes. There are probably others I have forgotten to include.

For your patience reading through all these trip reports, here is a link to a video from the trip... video from TMF 2010 trip
link to the spot track from this trip
The spot track is nice, but it sure didn't get the start and end right (by the lake to the southwest).

If you liked TMF 2010, you might also enjoy some of the previous trips...
Mount Rainier, WA, yogaslacker sufferfest (5, 2009)
Beartooth adventure, MT (7/8, 2008)
Cirque of the unclimbables and the Nahanni, NWT (2005)

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