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Brian Murdock

@wild_murdock

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Ranger, wildland manager, backcountry skier, boatman, lover of rivers, canyons, mountains and some people

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After 5 days of rain from our second tropical storm of the season (first Polo, now Rachel), I think every canyon on the Colorado Plateau is running right now. It also brought our first significant snow of the season to the high country, 6 inches at 10,000 feet so far. by @wild_murdock

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4 days ago

First snow in the Sierra La Sal, another day of wild weather on the mountain. by @wild_murdock

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6 days ago

Back up looking for elk in the high country just before the big storm hit. Probably not many leaves left on the aspens. I’m hearing reports of hundreds of trees down on roads and trails. I watched two come down before I bailed. Stay safe out there. by @wild_murdock

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7 days ago

Hard to describe watching the sunrise on the heart of the wild Colorado plateau from above.

I got a last minute invite on a flight to monitor the Babylon fire scar and floods, and the effects the low water and shrinking reservoir levels are having on the river and its canyons.

Looking down on the canyon we were stuck in last week by floods and so many other places I have hiked, climbed, floated and worked and really seeing how they are all connected out there in that complex landscape of canyons, mesas and high plateaus was surreal. by @wild_murdock

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8 days ago

Rio Colorado from above as it winds its way through the canyons by @wild_murdock

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9 days ago

Sunrise on the Maze, this morning. Amazing to see a place from above after spending so much time out there on the ground.

“on the west side of the junction is another labyrinth of canyons, pinnacles and fins of naked stone, known to even fewer, closer than anything else in the forty-eight United States to being genuine terra incognita—The Maze.”

Once I read that description when I was back in high school, I made it a priority to get out and explore that place. It’s easier now days but still a wild place. by @wild_murdock

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9 days ago

Good morning old boy, of course a bull walks out 50 yards in front of of me when I have an antlerless tag. by @wild_murdock

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10 days ago

The elk have been evasive but the mountains and weather have been unbelievable by @wild_murdock

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12 days ago

Last reminder, tomorrow October 6th is the last day to comment on the proposal to rescind the roadless rule.

44.7 million acres of your forests are managed under the roadless rule, about 30% of our national forests. The roadless areas we have in Southern Utah are amazingly diverse and yes these photos are all inventoried roadless areas.

- The Forest Service already has more roads than they can maintain. Estimated costs for annual maintenance 1.6 billion, the agency receives less than 20% of that per year

-The incidence of human caused fires generally increases in proximity of roads

-Roads effect biodiversity by causing habitat fragmentation and loss of connectivity. Elk prefer roadless areas and select habitat away from roads

-While fires tend to be larger in roadless areas the amount of moderate to high severity burns is only slightly higher in wilderness and roadless areas. This actually surprised me.

And of course here is where to make your comment.

https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/FS-2025-0001-223869 by @wild_murdock

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12 days ago

My old boss, friend and wilderness mentor Ken Sleight passed away at the ranch on Friday morning.

Ken hired me as a wrangler after I sent him a hand written letter from South America and he actually responded.

I met him at a cafe in Utah county a week after I got back to the States and he asked me a few questions about what I knew about horses and then he asked me when I could be at the ranch ready to work.

I showed up and he pointed me to a spot to park my trailer under an old cottonwood tree that is now gone (burned up several years ago in the Pack Creek fire along with many of Ken’s documents).

I spent two seasons working at the ranch for Ken and Jane. Taking care of horses, irrigating fields but mostly loading people onto horses and showing them the canyons and mountains that Ken loved.

Alina and I spent our first summer of marriage at the ranch, seems like a long time ago.

Ken was a one of a kind character. The environmental icon who was always in jeans and a plaid cowboy shirt. He loved to tease the guests telling them he was born in Paris (not mentioning that he meant Paris, Idaho) and he would act like he could read the petroglyph panels (maybe he could😉)

My greatest memories of Ken were of his excitement and love for the wild places and I am so grateful I got to spend time in the saddle with him out in the canyons.

Rest in Peace “Seldom Seen”, may the river always flow and the canyons never end. by @wild_murdock

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14 days ago

Twenty autumns in these mountains and it never gets old by @wild_murdock

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14 days ago

Heading into a local Roadless Area to hunt elk this weekend with the boys, like we have done every fall for years.

Four more days to comment on the Roadless Rule Recision EIS

Another highlight from the EIS “Elk avoid areas near roads and select habitat away from roads “. Less roads, more elk.

You can make your official comment here

https://www.regulations.gov/docket/FS-2025-0001 by @wild_murdock

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16 days ago