| Report Type | Full |
| Peak(s) |
Manns Peak, |
| Date Posted | 06/12/2013 |
| Modified | 06/13/2013 |
| Date Climbed | 06/07/2013 |
| Author | boudreaux |
| LaSal Mountains, Utah: When you get lemons, you make lemonade! |
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LaSal Mountains, Utah: When you get lemons, you make lemonade! Manns Peak 12,273 "Pilot Mountain" 12,220 Mt Waas 12,391 Mt Tomasaki 12,230 Friday, June 7th, 2013 TH @ Geyser Pass "5,497' of gain" "9.4 miles" Made a long uneventful drive into Moab on Thursday, arriving in town about 6:30 pm. The nervous excitement was steadily building as I turned onto LaSal Mountain Loop Rd of 191 South. A mile in , my power steering goes out, dodge a few cows in the middle of the road and find a suitable place to pull over. Quickly popped the hood to see how bad it is and I discover the pulley on the power steering is gone! "Oh man, this can't be happening to me, not here, not in Moab, 400 miles from home, Oh man! I see that the serpentine belt is barely on and I put it over the PS shaft and it just grinds the belt. W/O the belt I'm done. What can I do! I'm just staring at the engine when I notice the pulley down in the undercarriage. "Hey, what a miracle, I can work with that". I put it back on with a little effort and contemplate my future! Original plan had me dropping a load at Geyser Pass and then driving to Castleton Rd for a Traverse of the entire LaSals crossing Geyser and looping back to Geyser via Tuk's NW ridge to the Trans LaSal trail and ride bike back to car at Castleton Rd. Now that the car is on shaky footing, I better limit the driving and just do 2 out and backs from Geyser. I manage to drive up to Geyser Pass and park, just as the pulley comes off! This time I glue it back on with gasket seal, eat some Teriyaki Chix and go to sleep. I text my wife to look up some parts houses in Moab to call on Friday. Now somewhat more settled mentally, I fall asleep in the cool mountain air. At 6:45am, I straddle my bike for a 1.2 mile ride to Burro Pass TH, it was almost all downhill, but once I hit that uphill, I was walking, stashed the bike in an aspen grove and hit the trails. Nice trail to Burro Pass, but once I got to the pass, it was all me to the top. Took the west ridge to the top of Manns Peak 1st. I planned to do Mt Tom 1st, but the nice trail seduced me quickly into the come on up and see me approach! Up on Manns at 8:30am. Cool, slightly windy, but clear blue bird day. Could see as far as you want to here, Henrys, Sleeping Ute, Wilson's, San Juans, Book Cliffs. Took the narrow main ridge north skirting around a steep little point to the west, actually had a nice trail to sideslope this. Climbed over Pilot and then over to pt 12,163. A nice big cornice stretched all the way from the steep pt to 12,163, but otherwise there is no snow up here. An old com tower sits on top of 12,163 and I was poking around looking for some baling wire to help fix my car. A glorified utility pole and stainless steel corrugated container huddle together in utter loneliness. I sit next to this and study the steep talus going up to Waas. A trail finally reveals itself, 27 little switchbacks of golden stairs threads its way to the top. Ok, this is not going to be so bad after all and I grind my way up about 600' after dropping down into a saddle. Waas at 10:47am, just 2 hrs after leaving Manns. Actually had a summit BM. I make my phone call to O'Reilly's in Moab on top of Waas, they have all the parts I need. I was elated after that, the 1st one I called in a small town in Utah, had all the parts, simply incredible, another miracle! The climb back up to pt 12,163 went very well with that little gitty-up in my step. A small obstacle I dubbed the "Little Hillary Step" went fast, don't worry it's class 2! Cut the slope on Pilot, a road cuts across, quite a few roads up on this end actually. Jumped down the 10' cornice and walked merrily across, reclimbed the cornice and did the next grind back up Manns Pk. That was 3 out of 4 big grinds of the day. Saw two hikers below descending Manns and joined them on the way to Tomasaki. A couple women from Moab up from Warner Lake TH. We parted in the saddle and I made the last grind to Tom. Summit at 2:07pm. 3 hours from Waas to Tom, not bad, proving my theory a traverse can be done. A big wind shelter is on top, as are the other 2 peaks. Sit and stare at the south group of Mell, Peale, and Tuk. Went back to the saddle and straight down to the Burro Pass Trail following a gulley all the way. The signees at the register kept mentioning the "Whole Enchilada"? What are they talking about, these peaks? Well, the next sign about 10 yards away explains. A new trail system from Burro Pass linking up Porcupine Rim back down to Moab is the fine dining of trails I soon learned later at Poison Spider! Anybody salivating yet? Took me an hour down to this point! Picked up the bike and made the short dash down the road before walking the most of the 1.2 miles back to the pass. Did I mention it was pretty much a death march back to the pass. At some point I was thinking of just ditching the damn bike, cursing it's existence, as I pushed it up the road. And it was a good road capable of car travel too! 30 minutes later at the pass, I am whooped and blow off a try at Haystack Mountain or anything else for that matter. The broken car still had me worried enough to take all the impetus out of the big plan. I managed to get to O'Reilly's just as the power steering pump was a bout to give out. Got my parts $173 later, asked for a referral and was told about "Ed and Keith" in town could help! Hmmm? I don't have any cash for that! More pressing needs for rest got me over to Slickrock Campground for 2 days of comfort, flying dirt, leaves, jazz music and passing diesel pickups! I found a place in Moab! On Saturday morning I got to fixing my wagon in earnest! Quickly find I don't have the necessary tools to get'r done and drive back to O'Reilly's. They got the tools! I spend 4 of the finest hours of my life in Moab fixing my car, and I get it right too, another miracle! I always say, I can break a bowling ball faster than you can say "Your Momma" It's break it before fixing it in other words! Back to the fiery furnace at the Redneck Riviera to figure out how to salvage the rest of the vacation! I spend a good deal of time taking a $26 a night for a tent pad shower, actually had good water pressure and hot water if you wanted it! Site #53 right behind Buck's BBQ, got the benefit of hearing a fantastic Jazz Quartet on Friday night. That was very relaxing for my tired body and soul, who knew this was the place to be. Moab, I found a place in Moab! Too many choices in Moab, Skydiving, rafting trips, hopped up jeeps, mountain bike. Oppressive heat, dirt in your face! What's not to like, Moab! Up and down the mountains, crashing down the trails. Moab, I just got a place in Moab! My car broke down, I find myself in Redneck Riviera at a campground. I just got a place in Moab, So, I'll just see you around! Moab, I just got a place in Moab! Skydiving, rafting trips, hopped up jeeps, mountain bike. Oppressive heat, dirt in your face, What's not to like! Moab! O'Reilly's is the place to be, They got all the parts, you'll see. I got all settled in campsite #53, I was just a bubblin Jubilee! I woke up the next morning feeling cool, Down to O'Reilly's for some borrowed tool. It's do it or die today, Fix it yourself or pay and pay. Stay focused, you can do it, Moab's jeepers have that grit. Now I've got it too, I don't know what I would have done without you! Moab, I just got a place in Moab! I'm sitting here, wind blowing, red dirt flying. Bats out in force, eating bug, Moab is an addictive drug, There's no denying! It's a place you wanna be, Just come on out and see! Moab, I just got a place in Moab! I apologize for the lack of pictures, but in my haste to get going on Friday, I left the camera in the car! Thumbnails for uploaded photos (click to open slideshow): 
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