Stansbury Island- Attempted Round Trip Traverse- December 2006

After a quick taste of Stansbury Island in November (trip report) I was eager to get back and run along the snaking backbone of the island. During this November recon I apparently experienced the most docile section of the ridge and was surprised at the diversity and difficulty of certain section. I parked at the most northern tip of the island, headed uphill and followed the crest as best I could. Several sections forced me to traverse to avoid areas of difficultly (often creating even more difficultly) but overall it was an excellent experience. The mile between the two highpoints (Castle Rock? and the Dome?) was wicked indeed with sections of 5^th class climbing. I bailed east from the ridge just below the peak north of the Dome.- leaving me about 3 miles short of a full traverse. Thinking the trauma was over, I dropped east down to the lake shores and figured I could run most of the distance back to my truck. Nine + miles, herds of annoyed cows, annoyed landowners (very gracious albeit), shotguns in the distance, and commando tactics, led me back to my glowing truck. Overall, it was a rad trip- solo, cold, distance trauma, impending darkness, scared. ~18miles in about 6 hrs.

Looking backwards (south) from near halfway. The south end of the island is in the distant smog.

Summit of the “Dome”. Smiling thinking it is all downhill from here… but how do I get back to my truck…

The summit of the Dome and the eventual Valley of my Descent

Random Stansbury petroglyphs passed on my return run.

A poor map of my route.

All content © 2006-2007 Arie Leeflang Collection