Where we go; what we see.
May 11-12 2018 – We drove into Arizona on desolate Highway 61 and saw another one of these observatories (VORs – Thanks Bob & Cathy!) (that’s three so far this year if we count the one by our house, too)
Then we headed into the Mogollon Rim area or Arizona. It was VERY windy the first couple of days, so we spent a lot of time at the campground.
11 May 2018. Left our campsite and headed to El Morro National Monument. This is a beautiful site, and really the only place for 150 miles that the native Americans and early settlers had to get water. The little Oasis pool here is no longer really natural, its been expanded and lined with cement, but is still full of water. There are a few petroglyphs here, and lots of early settlers left historical graffiti – their names carved into the rock walls.
Here are some photos of the some of the inscriptions on the wall:
May 10 2018. We continued our exploration of Volcanic badlands today – but this time on foot. Hiked the El Calderon area of El Malpais National Monument, saw lava tubes, caves, lava flows, sinks, close up cinder cone, and cinder bombs; cool stuff!
Then we traveled nearby to the commercial “ICE CAVE and BANDERA VOLCANO” site. This was actually much better than we had hoped, and we would recommend it. The hike to the volcano was relatively short, the cinder cone was magnificent. The Ice Cave was very educational (and also nice and cool after the hike to the volcano). The inside of the ice cave stays at no more than 31 degrees F.
May 9 – After our wonderful weekend in Texas, we drove to New Mexico (picking up 18 counties along the way). We spent two nights in Santa Fe, “restocking”, the headed to El Malpais (means the badlands) National Monument and Conservation area. This area encompasses over two dozen Cinder Cones, Lava Flows, Lava Tubes and caves. The last eruption was probably 3000 years ago (the “new area”), but most of El Malpais lava is 10,000 years old. There is also a ridge of Cinder Cones (30 of them) that erupted probably 200,000 years ago.
We stopped at the Sandstone Bluffs Overlook for lunch and then headed to the La Ventana Natural Arch (the largest arch in New Mexico.
We then spent quite a few hours driving across the “Chain of Craters Backcountry Byway” (4×4, high clearance recommended). Saw lots of Cinder Cones. Road is probably a geologist’s dream. Too bad we are not geologists.
May 4 2018 – Spent the weekend with our friends, Jim and Tracy, in the Dallas/ Fort Worth area of Texas. You know they are our friends, because they let us stay on their driveway!
Here are Jim and Tracy taking us out to dinner – quite a feast!
We had a great time at the convention – used the train to get to Dallas, made the traffic a breeze
May 2, 2018. We started our last practice trip before we attempt the trek to Alaska. This one starts by visiting Jim and Tracy near Ft Worth, TX and ends up three weeks later at Overland Expo West near Flagstaff, AZ. We are looking forward to practicing “restocking days”- groceries, laundry, etc and other aspects of long term traveling.
Our first overnight was at a cute New Mexico State Park near the borders of Oklahoma and Texas: Clayton Lake. Famous for its lake trout and the Dinosaur tracks that were discovered while the dam here was being built.
25 April 2018. We flew to California to attend Uncle Norbert’s funeral. Here are a few shots of some of the family:
23 April 2018. All that rock crawling around southern Utah made us feel young again, so we picked up a Jeep to play with. We found out that Breann had not yet had her Jeep in 4-wheel-low, so we invited her and Haiden to join us on an adventure up Mt Herman Road.
Had a great time – and yes, Breann has now used her 4-low gears!
Day 12, 14 April 2018. On the way back home, we swung through Capitol Reef State Park and drove the Scenic Drive to Pioneer Register
then stopped at the “divide” for Lunch
Then we headed for a quick stop in Moab, and the drive we always enjoy, up Highway 128.
And home to Colorado 🙂
Days 10 and 11, April 12& 13, 2018 were spent at the BLM site, Calf Creek. We enjoyed a six mile hike to the Lower Calf Creek Falls.
Day 9, 11 April 2018. We made it to Kodachrome State Park (in Utah). A little windy, but, yes, many photo opportunities!
Day 8, April 10, 2018.
We were headed up Smoky Mountain Road again, (heading to see the smoke), but then we got to “Kelley Grade” and our fear of heights got the better of us.
So, we turned around and headed back to Cottonwood Canyon Road, took a hike by Pariah River and settled in for the night.
Day 7, April 9, 2018. We took a quick trip into Page, AZ to buy some groceries and get our tire fixed (at least swapped for the spare). Ate fish and chips at a nice little shop and headed back to the “back country”.
We stopped at a BLM campground on Lake Powell, Lone Rock Campground. It was pretty neat, not too crowded. People camp right on the beach! But we decided to move on.
We headed out to Alstrom point. What a beautiful spot! But very desolate going there and coming back.
Then we made it to Alstrom Point – WOW!
Day 6, April 8 2018. There was a bit of rain last night, so we took the “gentler” Cottonwood Canyon Road. (If it hasn’t rained, two wheel drive is ok). The rain had mostly dried, we only had one water crossing and a few mud holes. At the Northern end of this road is Kodachrome State Park. The views around there were spectacular and we made reservations to camp there Wednesday night. Here is a foreshadowing:
We stopped at the Gorgeous Grosvenor Arch:
and on to a short hike in the Cottonwood Narrows:
View of trailhead at Cottonwood Canyon Narrows (north)
Day 5 – April 7 2018. Still on Hole-in-the-rock Road. Had 10 miles of 4 wheel road and then 50 miles of washboard road to drive on out. Slow going, and we had to baby one of our tires…
Spent the night back in Escalante.
Day 4 – 6 April 2018.
Made it to the end of the Hole In The Rock Road – Got a little rocky towards the end – the Vanagon probably wouldn’t have made it.
The hole in the rock is a break in the sand mountains to get to Lake Powell. Sometime in the 1880s, settlers used this passage to move 250 people, 85 full sized wagons and 100 livestock through this drop. It was too rugged for us to walk down (because we were still too sore from yesterday!). I can’t imagine full-sized wagons going down this!
The we found a nice spot to camp for the night, a bit windy, but no one around
Day 3 – 5 April 2018.
Today we started on Hole in the Rock Road. Very wash-boardy, and it happens to be Spring Break Week for way too many families – but we are having a great time.
First stop was Devil’s Garden. Lots of Hoodoos here:
Then we went on to two Slot Canyons, Peek-A-Boo and Spooky. (Up one, back the other) .Total hike was a little more than five miles, but there was also rock scrambling and rope work involved. We are getting a little old for this kind of adventure – because our muscles are sure tired afterwards.!
Then we drove on to our camping spot for the night — out in the middle of nowhere!
April 4, Capitol Reef and Escalante.
Followed Highway 24 south through Capitol Reef – brought back memories of breaking my arm there not so many years ago. Scenery is still spectacular.
We then turned on Highway 12 and traveled through the Grand Staircase – if we have time, we’ll explore off-road here in a few days. We camped for the night in Escalante at the Petrified Forest State Park.
We ended the day at Escalante Petrified Forest State Park – love the colors in the Petrified trees!
Day 1 – 4/3/18. Snowmobiles are put away for the winter, we are heading for a couple of weeks of adventure in Utah. Drove out on Interstate 70 – I love this road when there isn’t traffic!
Spent the night on BLM land near Goblin Valley State Park in Utah (the campground at the park was full, but plenty of BLM around there!)
Chuck went to Cooke City to “ride with the boys” (friends from Westride) – He had a lot of fun!!
Here is his synopsis:
My trip summarized in a few short videos…..
What it’s like riding behind Dan:
What the snow was like if you climbed high at the end of Sheep Basin:
We climbed all the way to the top of Sheep Basin, and looked out on the valley on the other side. We had played in that valley the day before. Later, we dropped down on that side of the ridge… View from the top:
This is a video of a climb up a side chute in Sheep Basin. It starts out just looking like I’m following Dan on flat ground. When I turn out you get a feel for the slope, and then when the camera points back down the hill, you can see how far we’ve climbed up……
Chuck
First day out – Big Sky Montana riding area. Snowy day, but lots of fun. We were determined to find the cabin this year (previous years had convinced us that it might not exist…)
Windy roads for our annual trek to West Yellowstone. This year with our friends Jamie, Cheri, Trevor and Todd.
A bit of color on the way out:
and then snowy roads:
Snowmobiling
Mike got to join us for a few days of snowmobiling at Rabbit Ears. We had absolutely perfect snow – light, fluffy, and deep!
here are some links to movies Chuck took (I’m the one with yellow sled and pink jacket)
Here is a quick video Chuck took while following Brad up the hill
It’s been a light snow year so far. This is our first foray snowmobiling this season.
Our first park camping with the XP was in Nevada (near the eastern edge of Nevada). Got to travel through lots of desert to get there. Place was very neat – almost like a mini Bryce Canyon. We hiked the whole inner loop; saw lots of jack rabbits.
This is the second time this year we have camped at Lake Ogallala. It is such a nice campground! Right alongside the Dam at McConaughy Lake State Recreational Area. And it’s about halfway between us and our son, Mike – so we’ll be staying there again! This time I tried to capture the fall colors:
Wow – what a cool park! We got there after the season was over, so it was nice and quiet. But, it appeared like a scene form the ‘Dirty Dancing’ Movie — stages, boats, picnic areas, beaches. Very Cool. Probably crazy in mid summer. But we enjoyed the peaceful quietness of the place in October.
We were joined on our adventure by Scott and Miranda (and their dog Wade). Got some great hiking in – saw a bit of wildlife (snakes, bear, that sort of thing). Had a wonderful time!
What a cool place to stay at! (They even had showers!)
A giant rock is the centerpiece of this park – but it also had many trails and waterfalls and some historical homesteading exhibits.
After the Overland Expo East in North Carolina, we had a chance to meander up some of the Blue Ridge Parkway. We had run most of this on our motorcycles a few years back – but this time we were camping in our Vanagon and taking it slow.
We spent the night at Crabtree Falls campground. The leaves were just starting to change, and you had to be careful because of all the falling acorns! Very few people camp here in October!
The next day we drove to Linville Falls and did the hikes there:
Our longest adventure to date (four weeks away from the house) was to the east coast and back. The new camper was not quite ready, so we embarked on this 4000+ mile trip with our 1983 Vanagon.
The only firm date we had to meet was to be at Overland Expo East in Asheville, North Carolina starting 29 September. We had several neat touristy stops in mind on our way east, but we were running late and had to boogie across the country. (We do intend to go back a little slower and hit those spots we whizzed through someday…). Our first relaxing stop was at the Tennessee/North Carolina border: Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We camped along side the Little River at a beautiful, relaxing site at Elkmont campgrounds.
We also had a chance to hike the Laurel Falls Trail. I’d rate it as realistically easy, although a bit rocky. The falls were nice, but not spectacular.
