Everett Ruess Lives

                photograph by Dorothea Lange

Who is Everett Ruess?

Everett was born on March 28, 1914 to Christopher and Stella Knight Ruess in Oakland California. He had an older brother named Waldo. At an early age (thanks mostly to his Mother) Everett showed potential for being a good artist, writer and poet. He learned to cut linoleum prints of landscapes and make woodcuts for printing his work. He associated with folks such as Ansel Adams and Dorothea Lange. Here is Everett's Wiki link. Follow Everett on twitter and circle him on G+

 

Everett had an extremely adventurous soul and enjoyed the Mountains and the Desert much more than the rigors of life in the city. He was last seen alive in November 1934 near Escalante, Utah.

I've been looking for Everett for a lot of years now. All it took was my first Bud Rusho book to get me hooked. Then it was on. When you frequent Lake Powell as I do, you can only stand so much water sports before you have to get out and do some exploration. Since the early to mid 1960's when my Father purchased his first boat it's been a given that I can't stay away from one of the most Beautiful places in the Desert Southwest. I'll probably date myself here but my first several trips to Bullfrog Basin, the road out of Hanksville off the Highway was 60 miles of wash-board dirt. The boat ramp was corrugated steel runners, no fancy concrete to get your craft in and out of the water. Also, you packed a lot of gas cans since fuel was not readily available on the lake.

Onward to Davis Gulch

It is here that speculation has it Everett Ruess met his demise. I wonder about that, being that I've been to Davis Gulch more than a couple of times and from what I know of Everett he could handle a lot more technical stuff than Davis. Let's talk about this place for just a moment. From the top side, coming in from the Hole in the Rock road it's pretty rugged and you need some good route finding skills. there are several publications that, if you follow their directions it's not that hard. On the other hand, from the Lake side it's really quite easy. At the end of Davis off of the lake there is usually a great spot (although small) to camp with a couple of boats. It's very popular so at peak times there's quite a bit of luck involved in securing the spot. Davis Gulch is in the Escalante River arm of Lake Powell, which is one of the more beautiful spots on the lake in my opinion. As you hike up the gulch the creek bed becomes a green haven for all kinds of wildlife including Mule Deer. (I've seen an awesome four-point buck in Davis) It gets a little rugged in spots with some pretty good bushwhacking through some thick brush, so you need a pair of tennis shoes or hiking boots. I'd stay away from the flip-flops if you plan on going the distance to the end. Towards the end of the canyon is the spot where the trail enters the gulch, (it's not all the way to the end of the canyon) there is still a portion of the make-shift corral where Everett's mules were supposedly found, but all of his gear was missing.

Everett Ruess has been found

Then, in 2009 we thought the mystery was solved. Here is a video produced by UtahNow and KUED television talking about the finding of the lost artist, poet and adventurer. It's about 25 minutes long, but very interesting and well worth the time.

 to be continued................