OutinDeWoods

Lake Powell - AZ, UT

2011-04-28T19:41:00.143-04:00

Camping at Lone Rock Beach on Lake Powell

How would you like to wake up to this view every morning?

This is the view from the camper on Lone Rock Beach in the Glen Canyon National Recreation area of Utah and Arizona. We decided it was time for a change of scenery, and perhaps a bit of kayaking. Lake Powell is the the lake that formed when the Glen Canyon Dam, completed in 1963, flooded Glen Canyon. To this day there is still much controversy about the Glen Canyon Dam. Many people feel that it took away one of the most beautiful canyons in the world to put golf courses in the desert. I can't speak knowledgeably to that question, but I can say that Lake Powell is a supremely beautiful place and I can believe that Glen Canyon must have been awesome.

Lone Rock Cave

We set up right on the beach with a beautiful view of Lone Rock on the Wahweap Bay arm of Lake Powell in Utah.

The beach is huge and, at this time of the year, pretty much empty.

We haven't done much beach camping and it was a real thrill for us to be here.

We set off the first day to explore Lone Rock and the far shore of the bay.

With no trees or familiar landmarks to provide an anchor for perception, the distances on Lake Powell are very deceiving. Lone Rock looked to be about ½ mile away. It took us 45 minutes to paddle to the rock, probably about 1½ to 2 miles.

On the far shore, invisible from our campsite, we found a small bay that led into a delightful slot canyon that we could kayak into. At times we could put our hands on both sides of the canyon and push our kayaks through.

On our second day we kayaked to Castle Rock, an island near the center of Wahweap Bay, about a 6 mile trip one way, but well worth the effort. The beautifully clear water, next to those towering white and red rock cliffs is just spectacular to see.

As you can see I am taking life seriously here in the west and working hard to have a good time. ⇒

⇐ Another cave. This one appeared to be about 12 feet deep to the cave floor, but with the water level where it was I could just barely fit into it.

Back at the campsite, just before the big wind that was due to show up, we shared a campfire with a wonderful family from Switzerland. They are on sabbatical, 10 months into a 12 month tour of the US, Mexico and Canada. They have seen more of the US in 10 months than most Americans will see in a lifetime. It must have been a terribly difficult decision to come to a foreign country, buy a truck and fifth wheel camper, and set off on their own, touring Cities, National Parks and Forests, and meeting lots of new friends along the way. Cheryl and I are very proud to know them .


Eddy, Jenny, Cindy, Aline Bon Voyage

We have been so blessed in our travels to meet some of the world's nicest people.

Well, shortly after the campfire the promised big wind showed up and blew us all the way north to Bryce Canyon National Park...More to come.

Toroweap Overlook - Grand Canyon National Park, AZ

2011-04-25T23:53:00.001-04:00

2011 Western Trip

Toroweap – Grand Canyon National Park

Scratch one off the Bucket List

I can remember as a kid seeing pictures of Toroweap in National Geographic Magazines and other books on the American West. I was instantly fascinated and always hoped to see this remote, but spectacular, part of the Grand Canyon. Lately, with all our traveling about I have often looked at the information regarding Toroweap that I have been saving, knowing it was unlikely we would ever get there. Last year, while visiting Pipe Spring National Monument in Arizona we drove by the road to Toroweap, but it is a difficult place to get to and we had other places to go.

This year we found ourselves once again at the road to Toroweap. We stopped for lunch on the way to Kanab at the pull off for Antelope Valley road...the road to Toroweap. The road, unimproved of course, is 61 miles long, the last 20 miles is rough, the last 6 miles is over slickrock, narrow and difficult, and the last 3 miles requires a high clearance 4 wheel drive vehicle. I stopped a couple of people coming out of the road for information and they all said the road was in great shape, but they had not been all the way out to the campground, 61 miles away. Awww. What the hell. We've done bad roads before.

We did 28 miles of gravel road to get into City of Rocks National Monument. We did 56 miles of gravel road to visit Ruby Marsh National Wildlife Refuge. I know a guy who did over 600 miles of gravel road to visit James Bay.

In truth, the road was in very good shape for 40 miles, and really pretty good still for another 15 miles. Miles 56 through 58 were rough, but we did much worse going out to visit some of the Ancient Puebloan Ruins we visited 2 years ago. Now miles 59-61 were tough. They were narrow twisty slickrock miles with tight gaps (9 feet ! - 8 foot truck), but we shifted down into 4 wheel drive low range, took it real slow, me driving and Cheryl moving an occasional badly positioned rock, and very carefully made it to the campground to claim the last available site. It took us 45 minutes to do the last 3 miles, about 3 hours total. Was it worth it. Take a look. ⇓

Canyon View from Toroweap

Toroweap Outlook is almost straight above the Colorado River in a geologically active area. This is the area where an ancient lava flow dammed up the river until the river finally cut through it and created Lava Falls, one of the toughest sections of the river for rafters and kayakers, reputedly a 36 foot drop. From most of the public areas of the Grand Canyon it is very difficult to see the river that created the canyon. Mile long drops, and canyon walls that descend to the river in wide steps, hide the river from the rim for most of it's journey. By contrast, the near vertical canyon walls of Toroweap make it much easier to see the river..if you don't mind leaning out a bit over the edge.

Colorado River, Grand Canyon, from Toroweap Overlook.

Most photographers know that the early morning hours and the magic hours before sunset are the time for spectacular pictures. Cheryl is no exception.

Mount Sinyella at Sunrise.

Mount Sinyella at Sunset

We've been to both the North Rim and South Rim sections of the Grand Canyon. The South Rim is big, with huge vistas looking down miles of canyon. The North Rim is a much more intimate area, less developed, forested, and very beautiful. Toroweap, some 50 or so miles west of the North Rim, and probably 80 or 90 miles downriver, is a bit of both. We are lower here, only 3000 feet above the river, but we are also in the Canyon rather than on the rim looking down into it. You feel the canyon more here. Many of the viewpoints are truly vertical above the river unlike the stepped drops to the river farther up canyon. If the expression “Willie Knees” means anything to you, be prepared for a lot of that feeling at Toroweap.

Hangover

⇒

Show Off.

We camped for 6 days at Toroweap (mostly because I was not looking forward to the drive back out - Just Kidding) and hiked every day. The campground, operated by the National Park Service, is free to anyone willing to make the trip. Pack it in – Pack it out, of course. That's just perfect for a truck camper.

Settled in at Toroweap Campground.

All of the venues of the Grand Canyon (Lee's Ferry, Cathedral Wash, North Rim, South Rim, Toroweap) are magnificent and whenever you get the chance to visit any of them you will be amazed, but in my humble opinion, Toroweap is by far the best.

6 Days was enough to make us want to come back.

⇐ YIKES !

Dispersed Camping - BLM, National Forests

2011-04-15T10:17:00.077-04:00

View from dispersed campsite - BLM -Virgin River Recreation Area

The BLM (Bureau of Land Management), the agency that oversees much of the Public Land in the west and the National Forest Service provide many developed camping areas in the western US. Unlike the National Park Service they also allow what is known as dispersed camping. That is camping along gravel roads and in primitive campsites throughout the public lands. Dispersed camping areas do not have facilities... no picnic tables, no bathrooms, no rec centers, no hookups. You are on your own and you must be either self-contained like we are (we have a bathroom and holding tanks for our waste water and plenty of fresh water) or use proper back-country disposal methods (or in some cases pack it in - pack it out). Along with all those don't haves, these areas do have, unspoiled beauty, solitude, quiet, dark skies and the chance to see wildlife in it's natural setting.

Just us and the Joshua Trees.

We are currently camped in Northwestern Arizona amidst Joshua Trees and lots of cactus and lizards.

The beauty of dispersed camping (besides the fact that it is free) is that you can camp in amazing places, usually without the sound of traffic, and always without the sounds of generators and radios.

Looking North toward Utah

This site is one of the best we've ever found, with 10 mile views of the sandstone cliffs of Utah and a myriad of blooming Desert plants.

We are fortunate that the BLM and Forest Service allow this kind of camping and we always take care to leave the site cleaner than we found it. It is our hope that all will do so and we can all continue to take advantage of this marvelous recreational resource.

Looking Down on Our Campsite from the Cliffs to the West.

⇑

Last year we were fortunate to find a couple of excellent dispersed site. Here we are camped at the BLM Paria River area on the southern border of Utah near Lake Powell.


Leavitt Creek, California

Above we are camped on the banks of Leavitt Creek in the Stanislaw National Forest, in the Sierras of California.

Dispersed camping is one of the joys of the west, and while we will continue to explore our National Parks and Forests, we will always look for the out of the way places where we can spend a few days alone in the wilderness.

Zion National Park, Utah

2011-04-12T07:23:00.032-04:00

Hiking to Observation Point

We visited Zion National Park 14 years ago, when automobiles were still allowed on the park road. It was busy, cars were jammed up trying to get into parking lots, and the smell of exhaust was everywhere. In 2000, the Park Service made the decision to restrict auto travel and set up a shuttle service to transport visitors into and out of Zion Canyon. Today only bicyclists and shuttle buses use the 7 mile road from Canyon Junction to the Temple of Sinawava at the top of the Canyon

The waterfall at Temple of Sinawava

As we would only be here for two days we wanted to do something really special. We had climbed the Park's premier hike "Angel's Landing" in 1997. On the afternoon we arrived we unpacked the bikes and rode up the canyon to check possible hikes. With no cars, the ride was marvelous, definitely a first rate way to see Zion Canyon. We found the hike... Observation Point. The hike is 8 miles round trip, with an elevation gain of 2,100 feet, up about 4 million switchbacks stuck like goat paths along the canyon walls.

The Hike to Observation Point.

After the first set of switchbacks (seen above) the trail enters Echo Canyon. We had to remove our shoes and wade through this part of the canyon.
⇐

The trail follows above the true slot canyon that is Echo Canyon. Skilled Canyoneers navigate the slot with rappelling ropes and wetsuits, but we were satisfied to walk along above it in the warm sunshine.

Echo Canyon


Looking Back Through Echo Canyon

After Echo Canyon the trial widens for a while, then continues up switchback after switchback to a plateau above Zion Canyon


Zion Canyon from Observation Point Trail


Zion Canyon from Observation Point - Angel's Landing in the Foreground.

Angel's Landing is the point at the far left of the narrow fin seen in the foreground. The hike up that knife edge is one that any hiker will remember for life. If you ever get to Zion NP, and have the time, take the hike to Angel's landing. If you have the time, and a lot of stamina, take the hike to Observation Point.

⇐ Waterfall over the Weeping Wall.

We were very lucky to see this fall at such full flow. This waterfall is the outflow of the creek through Echo Canyon.

Zion National Park, one of our first National Parks, was established as a National Monument in 1909 and as a National Park in 1919. The 7 mile long canyon, walled by huge sandstone towers, is unique in the world, and a must see in the southwest US.

Lunenburg, Nova Scotia

2010-09-17T18:24:00.001-04:00

The town of Lunenburg is about halfway up the east coast of mainland Nova Scotia and we convoyed up for the trip along the coast. We stopped at several beaches and points of interest along the way.
Wherever we went in Nova Scotia we found absolutely marvelous places to stop, walk about. and take photos.

We visited the Fort Point museum before taking the ferry into Lunenburg. Notice the solar panels on many of the campers. Solar panels, upgraded batteries, efficient LED lighting and sophisticated electronics have enabled many of us to travel to areas without typical RV hookups. Our next campground was not one of those, but soon we would be traveling to areas of Cape Breton that were much more primitive.

Lunenburg is a postcard picture town if ever there was one. Lunenburg is a UN World Heritage Site and because of that

there are many regulations concerning the architecture. Seems though that they forgot to put in any concerning color, and the folks of Lunenburg show their creativity with paint.

Note the “Lunenburg Bump”, an architectural feature on many of the houses in Lunenburg. We never did get a good answer as to the “Bump”s function, but it's an interesting architectural feature that seems to be quite common in Lunenburg.

Lunch at the Knot happened more than once, for many of us.

Heading East

2010-09-14T12:21:00.014-04:00

2010 Canadian Maritimes - Heading east across Nova Scotia
After touring Brier & Long Islands we stayed the night at Whale Cove Campground, one of the most unusual and delightful campgrounds we have visited. The next day we caravanned across Nova Scotia to start the East Coast segment of the tour. Along the way we stopped at several coves and beaches and late in the day arrived at Risser's Beach Provincial Park for some beach camping.

Here's the link to the full post → Heading East

Long & Brier Islands

2010-09-13T07:04:00.007-04:00

2010 Canadian Maritimes - Long and Brier Islands, NS
Our first real travel day took us to a pair of beautiful little islands on the southwest coast of Nova Scotia. We spent all day exploring, including several ferry rides.

Link → Islands

Port Royal

2010-09-12T16:39:00.002-04:00

2010 Canadian Maritimes - Port Royal
Port Royal is one of the coolest places we have visited. The National Historic Site is a reproduction of the "Habitation", essentially a very small fortified village, established by Samuel de Champlain early in the seventeenth century.

Here's the link - Port Royal

The Tour Begins

2010-09-11T16:24:00.004-04:00

2010 Canadian Maritimes - The Tour Begins
Annapolis Royal, one of North America's oldest towns, was the starting point for our 14 day tour of Nova Scotia. On the tour we would explore the southwestern part of Nova Scotia, then cross the province to explore the northeastern area and Cape Breton National Park. 12 other couples with truck campers accompanied us.

Link → The Tour Begins

Into Nova Scotia

2010-09-06T16:02:00.000-04:00

2010 Canadian Maritimes - Parlee Beach, NB and Bear River, NS
We stayed on night at Parlee Beach Provincial Park, the last night of the season, then drove into Nova Scotia to meet our hosts and do a little pre-tour exploring on our own.

Link → Parlee Beach - Bear River

Kouchibouguac NP

2010-09-05T08:10:00.023-04:00

2010 Canadian Maritimes, Kouchibouguac National Park, NB

Kouchibouguac, in the northern reaches of New Brunswick, is culturally much different from the rest of the province with a decidedly French flavor. Away from the tidal rages of the Bay of Fundy it has warm coastal waters, barrier islands, and for us...Hurricane Earl.

Fortunately the hurricane veered east and we caught only the fringes with rain and wind, and a spectacular sunrise the day after. Kouchibouguac NP

Fundy National Park

2010-09-01T08:01:00.003-04:00

2010 Canadian Maritimes, Fundy National Park, NB
Fundy National Park, located on the eastern shore of New Brunswick is famous for it's 40 foot tide range. The park also has gorgeous beaches, very nice campgrounds, and miles of hiking trails.

John Muir (click on the image to enlarge).

Full post → Fundy NP

Kingsbrae Gardens

2010-08-31T07:52:00.001-04:00

2010 Canadian Maritmes Kingsbrae Gardens, St. Andrews, NB
We took a short side trip to these wonderful formal gardens. They were a nice introduction to the beauty of New Brunswick. We arrived in late summer and have decided that we would definitely like to see these gardens in other seasons.

Here's the link for the full post. Kingsbrae Gardens

2010 Campobello Island

2010-08-30T09:32:00.000-04:00

Campobello Island was the summer home on Franklin Roosevelt. Campobello Island International Park is jointly managed by the Canadian and US national Park Services.

While on Campobello Island we also visited Herring Cove Provincial Park and Quoddy Head Light. Click on the link below to read or download the full post in PDF format.

Campobello Island

The Coast of Maine

2010-08-24T16:03:00.011-04:00

Part 1 - The Maine Coast
It seems like we had barely made it back to New Hampshire and we were off again. Two years ago some friends from Canada invited us and several other couples with truck campers to a 14 day tour of Nova Scotia. We decided "What the Heck", why not include New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, and a bit of the coast of Maine and make it a 30 day tour.

The Coast of Maine
The above link will take you to a site where you can download the entire file
"The Coast of Maine" in PDF format.

NEXT: Campobello Island, New Brunswick, Canada.

The Ancient Bristlecone Pines, White Mountains, California

2010-05-25T13:02:00.166-04:00

Let's see, what was going on 4,500 years ago today. That would have been 2490 BC. That's way before the Romans and Greeks. I guess the trees we are looking at started growing around the time of early Chinese civilization.

Of course some are just young pups, a couple of thousand years or so old. These trees have developed unique methods of adapting in order to survive for so many years. First they grow in areas of dolomite soil. Dolomite is metamorphosed limestone (Limestone, changed by heat into hard dense rock). Suffice it to say that the soil is toxic to almost all other forms of plant life, thus, no competition for sunlight and water. Second, they allow parts of the tree to die off in dry times while keeping essential parts alive. The trees look mostly dead with little or no bark and only occasional branches of greenery here and there to show that they are living. The wood seems to be impervious to the ravages of insects and weather. Solid wood, as much as 10,000 years old, lies all over the ground.

This old fellow is one of the Patriarchs of the
grove.

The trees in this grove are "Great Basin Bristlecone Pines". The grove lies on the western slope of the White Mountains, just east of the Sierras, at 10,000 feet.

It's hard to believe that some of these trees are still living, but they are alive and well. Scientists use a technique known as dendrochronology (roughly – tree ring dating) to determine the age of the trees. By counting the growth rings of a core sample they can accurately date the tree. Dead wood that falls to the ground in the White Mountains can survive intact for many thousands of years due to the very cold and dry climate. These growth rings vary in width depending on growing conditions. By comparing the width of the rings of fallen wood with those of still living wood they can accurately date older wood, back to 10,000 years. They have used these techniques to correct inaccuracies in Carbon 14 dating that were suspected in the 1960s and later confirmed by dendrochronology. Many archeological sites in America and Europe have now been found to be much older than originally believed.

The Bristlecone Pine grove itself is a hostile, yet beautiful, place. The steep slopes, steep enough that they are almost impossible to climb, combined with the inhospitable soil and climate have turned out to be a perfect place for these ancient trees.

One of things that struck me about the trees was the hardness of the wood. Rapping on a branch, for all the world looking dead and dried, would produce a sound like a tuned drum and resonate through the branch. I'm sure a trained musician, with a set of mallets, could play music on the branches of these trees.

You can pick up a piece of dead wood from the ground that may be 4,000, 6,000, maybe 10,000 years old and it is still as sound and solid as a piece of hardwood you might purchase at a lumber mill.

Here's a couple of youngsters surrounding one of the older trees. Occasionally we found core tags that indicated when and where a core sample had been taken, but unfortunately there was nothing to indicate the age of individual trees. We had to guess at their age.

The magnificence of the aged wood is striking. Grain colors range from the palest of tans, through rich browns and reds with occasional grey to black. The stark beauty of the rugged environment, combined with the lovely colors gives the place an almost cathedral like ambiance. I think I will need to go back some day and visit the grove during a full moon. It will be spookily beautiful I'm sure.

We arrived at the grove to hike around late morning and there were a few people hiking on some on the shorter trails on the edge of the grove. We had decided to do the longer 4 mile hike through the grove and to the area of the oldest trees.

We were fortunate to have the hike to ourselves; just us and a few thousand of our oldest boreal friends.

As you all know we tend to seek outdoor adventures wherever we go, but we also have a spiritual side and we often hike to places that are much more than just a workout and a nice view. This was just such a place.

The cold clear air, the absolute quiet, and the unusual beauty of these old trees touched our souls. I can't imagine not visiting this wonderful place anytime we travel this way again.

These Great Basin Bristlecone pines grow, almost always above 10,000 feet, in the mountains of Utah, in Great Basin National Park in Nevada, and here in the White Mountains of California. A closely related tree, the Rocky Mountain Bristlecone Pine, grows in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado and New Mexico and in a small isolated grove near Flagstaff Arizona.

The name "Bristlecone" comes from the fact that the egg sized cone has a tiny spike at the end of each scale.

If you ever have the chance to see one of these groves, even though it might be a bit of work to get there, I strongly suggest you do. It is quite a feeling to put your hand on a 4,500 year old living tree.

This was not an easy hike, there was a lot of snow on the sometimes quite steep slopes, it was cold and windy, and we were at 10,000 feet, but we were well prepared with warm clothing and our crampons. Sometimes you just have to suck it up and go see the wonders of the world no matter where they are. This one was definitely worth it.

Hug a Tree Today!

Pinus Longaeva

The oldest living entity on Planet Earth

Gallery - Bristlecone Pines

(Opens in new window)

Bishop California - More Sierra Hiking

2010-05-22T21:48:00.049-04:00

Ahh! Nothing like clear, crisp, mountain air and a spectacular sunrise to get the blood moving in the morning. This felt like a good day to hit the coffee shops in Bishop then do some exploring

The town of Bishop is a delight and we spent some time perusing the local stores and coffee shops.

Like so many western mountain towns we found murals.

East of our campground, toward Bishop, we found the "Buttermilks", an area of pale rocky outcroppings of weird and unusual shapes. The lower altitude (around 6,000 feet) means there is little or no snow here.

Always on the lookout for local fauna we spotted a rattlesnake crossing the road.

The noisy end of a Western Diamondback Rattlesnake. The rattles are made of a hard material similar to fingernails but much thicker and more brittle. The snake adds a rattle each time it sheds it's skin, once or twice a year.

We spent an hour or two touring the area in the truck, but it was really the high peaks that called to us. We heard in town that South Lake Road my have just opened for the season so we took off back up to the National Forest to check it out. The road was fully open to within a mile or so of the lake and a single lane with occasional pullouts was plowed through the last mile to the lake.

The view of Bishop Pass from the road in to South Lake.

South lake was still well and truly frozen.

For some reason the upstream side of South Lake Dam is covered with wood planking. The only reason I can think of is to prevent scoring of the dam face by ice. We're thinking it would be nice to come back here in the summer sometime when the lakes are free. Note that the lake level here is also drawn down in anticipation of the spring snow melt which is expected to be quite high this year.

The oldest living trees on the planet reside in a small area of the White Mountains just east of us. The Ancient Bristlecone Pines are our destination tomorrow.

Sierra Hiking

2010-05-21T10:27:00.107-04:00

After a day or so of sitting around the campground sucking up the natural beauty of the Sierras from afar we decided it was time to get up close and personal.

Our first adveture was to Sabrina Lake (pronounced - sa brine′ ah) for a hike along the lake shore. Sabrina Lake is at about 10,000 feet and was just starting to open up. The lake level was very low in anticipation of the spring snow melt.

Having used up all that energy we refreshed ourselves with some of the Sabrina Cafe's coffee and their famous Chocolate Brownie Pie.

Red Headed Woodpecker on Aspen

The next morning we were up with the birds for a trip to another 10,000 foot lake, but this time we would have to hike to it. The hike to Grassy Lake would be difficult because the snow pack was still significant above around 8,500 feet but we were well prepared and decided to give it a shot.

Mountain Bluebird

The lower section of the trail was more or less flat and clear of snow. The aspens were on the verge of budding and a general feel of spring was in the air.

Looking into the John Muir Wilderness area

As expected we hit snow as soon as we started to ascend, but along with the snow came spectacular views of the Eastern Sierras and The John Muir Wilderness. John Muir is a federally protected wilderness area, free of roads, verhicles, and construction of any type.

We donned our gaiters, crampons, and trekking poles and pushed on, finally making it to the lake after about 3½ hours.

It was well worth it.

Hiking the Fins, Utah

2010-05-16T11:06:00.084-04:00

Fins, in the world of stone, are tall narrow ridges of stone, usually red sandstone. The arches in Arches National Park are fins that have eroded through in the lower section to form the arch. The Hoodoos, or

towers, of Bryce Canyon National Park are fins that have eroded away leaving sections of the fin standing alone. From our campsite in Paria Canyon we could see a series of fins high above us to the west. We wanted to explore them up close. This kind of hiking, known as bushwacking, is difficult and you need to keep track of where you are because once you are out there the desert all looks alike. Fortunately for us on this hike we were at the edge of a large valley and keeping track of where we were would be pretty easy from any high point. We also had our maps, compass and GPS with us.

Of course we had our "flower picture taking camera" that goes everywhere with us.

Here's a picture of the fins from our campsite. The fins are in the upper left corner and some of the weirder formations we saw are in the upper right corner. The hike didn't look like much when we started and it was only several hundred feet up to the fins.

However, we often found ourselves confronted with walls like this. Oops!

Turn around and find another way.

Route finding in this kind of terrain is always difficult because everything is always much bigger, or farther away, than you thought it was going to be. It took us about an hour to get up into the red rocks.

Once there it was pretty easy to find our destination.

These fins are made of sandstone, probably Navajo or Entrada type. Sandstone is essentially sand that has been compressed by tons of pressure, over millions of years, until it is rock. These particular

rocks are made of red sandstone. The red color comes from iron that was mixed in with the original sand and oxidized over time, much like rust. The texture of sandstone can vary from hard and smooth, like this, to the very crumbly, rough, and light colored stone like we saw in Cathedral Wash.

Just as we got up near the fins area, we found this bed of fossil clams. We immediately went looking for some fossil butter and fossil cocktail sauce.

Here's what the inside of a fossilized clam looks like. Notice that it is still trapped in the rock and either it was just the bottom or at some point the top got broken away.

Here's one we found free of the base rock, and whole.

This was an inland sea many eons ago.

Sage Lizard.

Exploring the fins was great fun, we saw lots of interesting formations, and got some great views.

Tomorrow we leave for Lake Powell for a couple of days before heading to California.

Hiking the Nautilus, Utah

2010-05-14T16:09:00.022-04:00

Later that afternoon, still being in the adventuresome mood, we followed up on a tip to find a feature called the "Nautilus". This one was out ona wash near the "White House Road". We were told to look for the giant oyster shell. I'm not convinced it looked like an oyster, but it was close enough to get us there.

As we walked along the wash beside the "Oyster Shell" there it was. An eroded cut in the sandstone about 6 feet wide and reaching all the way to the top of the Dune. A petrified, fossilized Dune is, after all, whatthe "Oyster Shell" actually is.

It was quite a interesting little slot canyon that spiraled through the dune, and you could scramble up the rough sandstone surface quite easily.

I wanted to name it the "Toilet Bowl"

Once again the Utah desert serves up a fascinating little treat.

NEXT:We hike to the "Fins" behind our campsite. That will be our last hike in Utah before we beat feet west to the Sierra Nevada Mountains of California.

The Old Spanish Trail, Utah

2010-05-14T14:07:00.017-04:00

While we were camped in the Paria River area we were intrigued by what looked like an old road leading out of the wash behind the campsite. Whazoo had noticed it and asked that we check it out after they left. NOTE: In some of these pictures it is hard to see the roadbed. If you zoom in to enlarge the pictures it may be easier.

You can see it as a faint line running slightly upwards from right to left, in the upper section of the picture. It actually shows as a line of greenery and it runs behind the butte immediately above the 2
campers. We got up one morning and decided this was a good day to check out the road. It was indeed an old road...very old. Whazoo had surmised that it might be part of the old Morman "Honeymoon" road to St. George, Utah. Actually it is part of the "Old Spanish Trail, built for mule trains around 1829. The Spanish Trail connected Spanish settlements at Santa Fe and Los Angeles. The trail was 2,700 miles long. The section we were on was actually a secondary route used mainly for travel between Utah and Santa Fe, and followed a trail used by Spanish Padres Dominguez and Escalante some 50 years earlier.

Here we are standing on the road bed which curves away from us to the right and is cut by a wash, then continues off the picture at center right behind the dark green bush. We followed the road up the escarpment and over the top, along the ridge until it crested the ridge and dropped down to meet the existing route 89 for a short distance before wandering off again roughly paralleling the highway. In a few hundred yards it again crosses the highway and follows along north of it.

You can see the road bed heading up and through the cut in the ridge

Here you can see that the old road has come around the butte and is meeting the course of the new Highway. We were pretty amazed to see so much of the road bed in relatively good shape after almost 200 years. It is hard to see in the pictures, but it was actually quite easy to follow along and the engineering of the road bed was impressive.

The Wave, Arizona

2010-05-13T18:11:00.088-04:00

After 4 days I figured we needed a change of tactics so I asked Cheryl to go in and do the lottery at the BLM office. Whad'ya know...We won. Today is errands, and tomorrow we get to go see one of the world's unique geological wonders.

Standing in the Wave

At the BLM office they gave us our permit, took our $14, and handed us a two page “How To Get To The Wave” instruction. We could go in anytime after midnight tonight, and stay until midnight tomorrow night. We were on the trail at 7:30 the next morning. The Wave is located in an area of Arizona, technically part of the BLM's Grand Staircase / Escalante recreation area I guess, known as North Coyote Buttes. The handout gave us 6 points along the route starting from the Wire Pass trailhead that we had used to get into Buckskin Gulch. For each point they gave us GPS coordinates, directions from the last point, and a picture of what we should see at each point. Sounds overly complicated, but you would never find the wave without it as there is no marked trail and it is invisible until you walk into it. 100 feet away and you still would never see it if you didn't know it was there. It's very well hidden. The trail is about 2.5 miles long and takes about an hour and a half of moderate hiking to find it. The wave is an area of sedimentary sandstone that is laid down in the most astonishing forms in a rainbow of colors. It is like a land of taffy turned into rock.

The Wave looks different from every angle you view it and the colors change with the sun as the day passes.

We spent an hour or so wandering around Wave and it's immediate vicinity.

The Feature known as "The Wave" is quite small. Many people hike all the way in, take a few pictures, then hike back out. They never see what else is there. It covers maybe an acre or two.

As we started to wander around the edges we saw that North Coyote Buttes holds many surprises if you look for them.

A scant 1⁄4 mile through the wave area and we found what is known as Wave 2. Wave 2 is a much more heavily striated area of sandstone. As you can see Cheryl is actually walking along a ridge of sandstone made up of many layers, but raised above the intermediary sections, also made up of many many thin layers of stone. This much coarser wave covered an area a bit larger than the Wave.

Wherever we went we found fascinating features in red, yellow, orange, purple, maroon, and brown. Great swirls of rock led down into tiny little canyons then out into another world of color. we huked for a couple of hours, stopped, ate lunch, hiked for a couple more hours, stopped for a snack, hiked some more, and still kept finding strange and bizarre formations.

We think these are fossils of some sort. They were all over one section.

Colors and textures varied wildly from one section to another.

The Wave is certainly a place we will never forget, and believe me we have enough pictures to help us remember. We feel privileged once again to have the opportunity to see some of the wonders we have seen here in Southern Utah and Northern Arizona. Along with the Grand Canyon, Yosemite, and Yellowstone, the public lands of America have much to offer if you get off the beaten path.

You could take this picture every hour and it would be different every time.

As we hiked back out the three miles to the trailhead we marveled at wondrous things we have been privileged to see in our travels. "The Wave" is certainly one of the best.

We've got a couple of days to go on our dispersed camping permit so next we'll step out our door and follow a bit of "The Old Spanish Trail", then visit the "Nautilus"

A Day in the Life, Utah

2010-05-11T23:19:00.002-04:00

Well now, Whazoo and Lynn have gone home. What shall we do. We are camped in the dispersed camping area of Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument.

That's the view to the east in the afternoon from our campsite. Dispersed camping means it is an area, worthy of camping (usually), that has no campgrounds so you can camp wherever you please. There are some restrictions. You can't be within . mile of an actual campground, and they prefer it if you use an established campsite (there are plenty) rather than make a new one, do not camp at trailheads. Oh yeah! Pack it in and Pack it out. That means you deal with your own trash, also there are no toilets so it is mostly self contained rigs like ours who use these areas. Many, like the one we are at now in the Paria River area, are near Wilderness so campfires are generally prohibited.

All that being said, dispersed camping areas are some of the prettiest spots you would ever want to camp. We have sufficient water capacity, as well as waste water storage to camp for a week or more if we are careful. Even longer if we can occasionally supplement our fresh water when we are out and about with the truck. Our solar panels provide more than enough power, even in limited sun, to power all our camper facilities (we do not have the power hogging microwave oven and air conditioner) plus keep our laptops and camera batteries charged up. We can also run our cuisinart, crock pot, coffee grinder, or electric clippers for haircuts. We usually start our day with a double espresso, then either Oatmeal, yogurt and fruit, or some of Cheryl's egg specialties. This morning we had Huevos Rancheros with sourdough toast and jam with some fresh pineapple. Lunch, since we are often on the trail, is usually an apple, an orange, and a peanut butter sandwich plus some nuts or trail mix. Dinner (or is that supper, Tina?) can be Pizza if we are trail weary, chicken or beef, cooked over the campfire when we can, with potatoes baked in the coals, or maybe a casserole or crock pot dish. Usually we will have a salad of fresh greens, tomatoes, avocado, onions, carrots, etc, etc. Depends on how long since we visited a produce department. My point here is that we are not living on freeze dried backpacking meals and gorp. We eat very well. Today we started the day's adventures with our daily trip to the BLM office for the “Wave” lottery and to fill our water jugs. Damn! 4 straight ☹☹☹☹. Pretty soon we are going to run out of reasons to stick around here. We tried to get into the Glen Canyon Dam Tour with Whazoo and Lynn on their way south, but got as far as the top of the dam and got cancelled due to 40 MPH winds. Maybe later in the week.

On the way back from the Dam we took a short hike to view the “Toadstools”. The Toadstools are eroded sandstone that, due to a harder capstone, form these delightful creatures. They range in size from this big guy, probably 10 feet tall, to little bitty ones only a couple of inches tall. the whole place reminded me of an old Disney Classic “Fantasia” that had a piece with dancing toadstools.

One area was almost all red Toadstools, and another completely different area, about a quarter mile way, and slightly higher in altitude, was mostly white Toadstools.

But, as is so typical of the weirdness of southern Utah, there were some white in with the red, and some red in with the white. And of course some were white with red caps.

Off in the distance we saw this guy who had to be over 40 feet tall.

Back at the campsite we ran into another friend. These little guys are running all over the place here in the desert. They are 4 to 6 inches long, and so quick that they are really hard to catch with the camera.

Here's a friend we didn't run into and are just as glad. Probably a coyote.

Since we didn't win the lottery today, we'll use tomorrow for errands, having the oil in the truck changed, grocery shopping, and maybe a short walk out in the wash that runs behind our campsite.

So, which way is the wind blowing here?

Here's some flora pictures from around the campsite. Yucca Alien Life Form Lunch in the Gulch on the group W Bench (Whazoo - White)

Any photographer will tell you that late in the day, when the sun is low, is the best time for landscape photography. Throw in some intensely colorful geological formations like this and a threatening sky and you get a picture like this.

Cathedral Wash to the Colorado River, Arizona

2010-05-10T17:35:00.046-04:00

From Glen Canyon Dam the Colorado River cuts its swath through the Vermillion Cliffs. Several miles upriver from the head of Marble Canyon and 14 miles downstream from the Dam is Lee's Ferry. In 1872 John D. Lee established a ferry at the confluence of the Colorado and Paria rivers, the only safe crossing of the Colorado River in 700 miles. Several miles southwest of Lee's Ferry is Cathedral Wash. A wash is a watercourse that only flows during rain. This one runs from the plateau on the north side of the Colorado river down to the river. The hike is only about a mile and a quarter to the river, but it's a dry sandy was with frequent scrambles on the sandstone to get around pour offs (drop offs where the waterflows over a waterfall – difficult to hike). The infrequent flow through the wash has still managed, after who knows how many million years to wear it's way deep into the sandstone forming a canyon with high sides that twists and turns it's way down to the river. We're going down the wash, into the Grand Canyon to the Colorado River. Behind us are the Vermilion Cliffs.

We will be traveling back in geological time through the Kaibab Limestone and Toroweap Formations that are seen in the Grand Canyon. Any time you hike in this area you are looking at a snapshot in time because these creeks and rivers have gouged their way down through layers of rock that were deposited millions of years ago. We met a geologist on the bus at the south rim last year and he was like a little kid with a new toy explaining the sandstone / limestone layers to us. This is considered a moderately difficult hike, not due to the length or elevation gain, but due to the ruggedness of the terrain.
Oh! By the way we dropped by the BLM office for the lottery. No Go again today. Third try. ☹☹☹

Like most canyon hikes this one started with a walk in the open down a sandy wash. This is where we look for wildlife and this time we were lucky.

We spotted a horned lizard, the first one we had seen.

They are tiny little things, and that's good. I would hate to face one if they were 4 feet long. Like so many things in the desert, they look very defensive.

Lots of Taffoni in the rock here. I'm not sure what has caused it, comments anyone? I'll try to look it up and post later.

Speaking of looking things up, Julie Ligon sent me some information about Rabbits and Hares from an earlier post. I'll add it at the end of this letter. *

This is the Kaibab Limestone. It's brittle, fragile, and riddled with fossils. I'd love to tell you that we found some fossilized dinosaur bones, but most is unrecognizable except to an expert. You do see an occasional shell though. You have to be careful walking on this stuff because it fractures so easily that it is easy to turn an ankle on it.

A short while down the trail the canyon begins to narrow as the walls get higher. Unlike Buckskin Gulch this canyon never gets too narrow and is generally a couple of hundred feet or more wide.

As we go deeper into the layers, the trail gets tougher.

At this point we also started running into impassable pour-offs and had to climb the walls for a while to get around them.

The last half mile or so got very rough and narrow, but then started to open up as we got closer to the river. At this point we could hear the river in the distance.

Another canyon visitor heading for the river.

The Colorado River: Looking up canyon.

The mighty Colorado River Here at the beginning of it's journey through the Grand Canyon the river is clear and has not yet picked up it's distinctive red color. I guess it has left most of it's silt behind the dam. Seems as though I remember that they have had to take ameliorative action over the last few years, increasing the outflow from the dam, because of silting problems in the Canyon due to low flow; probably going to have them behind the dam sometime too.

Oh! That water is very cold.

Good lunch spot. We got here by the only way you can, walking...sure keeps the crowds away.

The Colorado River is one of those special places that we are privileged to have in our world and it was exciting to see it here. It may be tamed somewhat by dams, but it's still a wild and scenic river and a joy to see. Time to head back up Canyon. Why do these canyon hikes always have to end going uphill. I'm going back to the mountains where the hikes are right side up.

Tired hiker on the home stretch. Notice how heavy the traffic is. We seem to have a knack for going places that are out of the way, and/or off-season and that suits us fine. We often find ourselves the only people at a campground and seldom meet more than a few, if any, people on the trail. Whazoo and Lynn need to get back home tomorrow so Cheryl and I will continue exploring the Paria River area on our own and I'll tell you a little bit about our lifestyle on the road. We'll try for “The Wave” again too. If third time isn't a charm, what's fourth time?

* What is the difference between a hare and a rabbit? This is a very good question because most people often confuse rabbits and hares, but they are very different in several ways. Hares are generally larger, and have longer hind legs and longer ears than rabbits. When hares are born, they have a full coat of fur and their eyes are open. Their mothers either drop them on the bare ground at birth or into a slight depression in the ground. A young hare is called a leveret. Rabbits, on the other hand, are more compact. Their young, called bunnies, are born hairless and blind. The mother rabbit lines a nest with grass, bark and soft stems. Over this, she places a layer of hair that she plucks from her own body. When she leaves the nest, she covers the bunnies with more hair and dead plants to keep them warm and hidden from enemies. Rabbits and hares both molt and then grow new hair. This happens in both the spring and in the fall. Rabbits' brown summer fur is replaced with fur that is grayer. Hares, especially those living in cold, snowy regions, turn white in the winter. Rabbits and hares are more active during the dark hours from dawn to dusk. Rabbits hide in either burrows or depressions in the ground during daylight hours. They try to keep hidden. Hares hide among plants and usually try to escape enemies by running. Rabbits are often found together. Male rabbits even fight within a group to become the dominant male. The dominant male rabbit then mates with most of the females in the area. Hares live most of the time by themselves. They come together in pairs for mating only. There is little or no fighting among hares. They just pair off. The link below provided the information on rabbits and hares. Thanks to Julie Ligon for the info.
Next: A little free time in southern Utah.

Buckskin Gulch, UT

2010-05-09T08:13:00.019-04:00

First let me tell you about “The Wave”. The Wave is world famous and people come from all over the world to hike it. The Wave is so fragile that the BLM only allows 20 people a day to hike into Coyote Buttes (the general area) and the Wave (a specific feature in the area). 10 people are drawn from an internet lottery held 4 months in advance of the permit date, and 10 people are drawn the day before the permit date from the 80+ that show up at the BLM Paria office. This is our second day applying. The odds are not good, but we applied with hope in our hearts... Not today. ☹☹ The BLM is so strict that if 9 have been drawn and a permit for two is drawn next, only one can go. 10 people – absolute limit. We're going to stick around for a couple of days to try and win the lottery.

Second, a “Gulch” is a canyon, and it generally tends to refer to the more steep sided river carved canyons. Hackberry was a canyon, but almost a gulch. Who knows. Buckskin Gulch is the longest, tightest, and deepest slot canyon in the world. It runs from the head of the canyon on House Rocks road to the Paria River. A slot canyon is one so narrow and so deep that you sometimes have to remove your pack and turn sideways to slip through. Water roars through these canyons during times of rain and can turn them into an instant death trap. Often storms many miles away will send a wall of water rushing through the canyon.

This is a slot canyon.

It is hard to describe what it is like to be in one of these canyons. They are amazingly beautiful, fun to hike, and just a little scary. Fortunately for us, no recent rain, and none predicted, so the fear of flash floods was pretty much non-existent. The fun and beauty...Lots of it. I'm not going to tell you how many pictures we took, but we're into the many hundreds (just on this hike). I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.
The entry into Buckskin Gulch is from the Wire Pass trailhead. It starts with a wander down a typical canyon wash. We are fortunate to be here at this time of year when the temperatures are still cool and the desert flowers are blooming.

The canyons were alive with Indian Paintbrush, dotting the sage hillsides with bright red splashes.

About a mile down the Wire Pass Trail the walls start to close in on the canyon, then suddenly around a corner the canyon drops into a narrrow opening and disappears. For the next 12 miles, until you get all the way to the Paria River, there is no escape from this narrow canyon but to turn around and hike back the way you came in. The walls are sheer rock 3 to 15 feet apart and, after the first quarter mile, 200 to 400 feet high. It's a very spooky, yet exhilarating place.

The Wire Pass Trail actually connects with the 15 mile Buckskin Gulch at it's 4 mile point, and as I said, from this point on you are in it. This junction is one of the few places where the canyon widens enough to get a clear view of the sky.

The canyon walls vary in color from a deep maroon to red, orange, and at times yellow, constantly changing with the sun. We had a beautiful blue sky day and the sunlight played on the walls throughout the middle of the day. We wondered what it would be like to hike the canyon in a full moon. Creepy I'm sure.

From this point, until we turned back about 4 miles down canyon we never saw more than a few feet of the sky high above our heads.

Our intrepid and fun loving guides Whazoo (Dave) and Lynn. Whazoo and Lynn travel around the southwest searching out extreme and unusual adventures...They know all the good places and we are very fortunate that they have chosen to share some of them with us.

Dave regularly posts pictures and text about his adventures on an internet forum. Go to WWW.RV.NET, select the truck camper section and do a search for “Whazoo”. You will be amazed. His trip reports are informative and funny.

You can see in these shots that a little sunlight is filtering down, but the walls are very close here.
They are usually very smooth and sculptured in sinuous curves.
Millions of years of sand laden water can do a lot of work. The floor of the canyon is relatively flat which makes me wonder just how deep the sand under our feet is.

This debris pile, the bottom of which is lodged 30 feet above our heads, will give you some idea of what a flash flood in a slot canyon might be like.

We kept playing Peek-A-Boo with each other, and bouncing echos around the corners. Somehow we timed it very well and only ran into about 8 or 10 other hikers in the 4 or so hours we were in the gulch.

Sunlight on Stone

The picture at left is in the Wire Pass Trail just after entering the slot. As you can see the walls are somewhat lower here prior to the junction with Buckskin Gulch.

Want to guess how that stick got up there?

Our heartfelt thanks to Dave and Lynn. This is the second year they have seen fit to shephard us around the southwest in search of amazing adventures. They're the best.

Special thanks to Cheryl whose photographic skills are what makes these reports so good. Cameras: Canon S3-IS & Canon Rebel XSI

Next: Dave takes us to the Colorado River...The hard way: Cathedral Wash.

Paria River Area, Utah

2010-05-06T08:55:00.166-04:00

The Arizona Strip is that area of Arizona that lies north of the Grand Canyon and south of the Utah border. Most of the area, including parts of southern Utah are under the aegis of the BLM (Bureau of Land Managment). This area is a wonderland of geological oddities and a joy to explore. We know of a small dispersed campsite in Utah, a mile or so north of the strip. That is our destination. From Honeycomb Rocks, after a stop in Cedar City, UT for supplies we roamed south through northern Arizona then up the Cane Bed road to the BLM section of Coral Pink Sand Dunes. There is also a Coral Pink Sand Dunes State Park, but it is an offroad haven and we were looking for a bit of quiet.

We found a neat BLM campground with access to the dunes. Coral Pink just doesn't do it for me, I think they are just coral colored, a sort of orange, but it is quite a sight to see sand dunes in the middle of a ponderosa forest.

It appears that the near constant wind is eroding the red rock that is prevalent in the area into coral colored sand dunes which are gradually taking over the forest.

We stayed one night, hiked into the sand dunes the next morning (tough hiking). We drove into Kanab for the day to get some information from the BLM office about Paria Canyon (didn't get much), dump our tanks and fill up with water. North of Kanab we found a nice dispersed camping area in the Ponderosa forest, had a pizza, and went to bed.

Next morning we were up bright and early and drove east into the Paria River area just west of Lake Powell. I'm using the term Paria River area loosely here. The Paria River drains a vast area of the Escalante - Grand Staircase National Monument and flows southerly, midway between Lake Powell and Kanab, into the Colorado River at Lee's Crossing. It does indeed have a canyon, but we are essentially referring to this vast area between Lake Powell and Kanab as the Paria River area. As you shall see, this is an area of astounding beauty with many unique features. Paria is pronounced par ee' ah. We were planning on meeting our friends Whazoo and Lynn at the Lone Rock Campground on Lake Powell in 2 days. We stopped at the BLM contact office for Paria Canyon and met Emily, a lovely volunteer who gave us two great campsites in the dispersed camping area.

So we drove down House Rocks Road ( 4 miles of washboard gravel) to a site at the foot of Kaibab Gulch. Kaibab Gulch is a primarily white sandstone canyon that feeds into the red sandstone Buckskin Gulch. The gulch is referred to by Emily's husband Bill as “Naked Canyon”, because you will never see anyone else there (we can attest to this). I'll leave the “Naked” part to your imagination...Bill is in his 70s. We hiked the gulch for about 3 miles and found it to be interesting, not really a slot canyon, but pretty and full of fossils.

Looking up Kaibab Canyon from the back door of the camper.

The campsite was as quiet and dark as you could ever want and the nighttime sky was awesome.

The next day we drove back up to the BLM office to get information on local hikes and moved the camper to the other recommended spot, a little closer to highway 89 for easier access.
We called our friends and re-arranged the meeting spot to the dispersed camping area.
Emily recommended we apply the next morning for a permit to “The Wave” and gave us a list of hikes we might like.

We selected Hackberry Canyon in the Grand Staircase - Escalante National Monument...our first slot canyon.

Hackberry Canyon.

Hackberry Canyon is 14 miles up Cottonwood Road. When in NH we live on a dirt road. Utah gravel roads are different. 14 miles of twisty, rocky, rough, washboard, road that took over 50 minutes to drive.

Cottonwood Canyon Road.

According to the status sheet it had recently been graded. I gave it a C-. The canyon, however, was worth it.

Hackberry Canyon, carved over many many years by Hackberry Creek, is what you might call a wet hike.

Water flows in the creek bed, which is also the trail, for most of the year, but it is shallow and warm at this time of year so it wasn't a problem.

The hike is about 2 miles long in the canyon and is one of the prettiest hikes we had ever done.

The southwest is a geological wonderland. Millions of years of sedimentation, compression, and uplift, have created colors and textures of rock, that defy the imagination. I know I have said before, but I must repeat myself, that Cheryl's pictures, marvelous though they are, cannot begin to capture the true beauty of this area. You should find a way to visit the Colorado Plateau and find some of these places. Take your own pictures and see for yourself what we so inadequately describe.

Canyon Walls at Sunset.

The color of the sandstone in the afternoon sun is incredible. Finally, the sun was getting low and it was time to leave the canyon. 50 minutes and 14 miles later, we hit route 89 and headed for home. Whazoo and Lynn arrived the next day and we had a joyous reunion, then made plans to apply for a permit for "The Wave" and to hike into Buckskin Gulch the following day.

Hook 'Em

Our Daily Song.

Our neighbors.

⇑ The view from our campsite. Not too shabby, eh? ⇒

More on Buckskin Gulch, the Colorado River, and “The Wave” to come.

Honeycomb Rocks - Dixie National Forest, Utah

2010-05-05T15:48:00.022-04:00

Our plan was to camp for a night or two at Honeycomb Rocks, but like all plans, this one went awry, but in a very pleasant way. The campground was closed. Like many National

Forest areas there is dispersed camping allowed throughout the forest away from the campgrounds. The forest service road continued on by the campground, and so did we. About a quarter mile away the road climbed up a ridge to overlook the Upper Enterprise Reservoir.

It was Saturday and there was a full complement of rigs along the ridge getting ready to party so we continued along the road until it forded the inlet to the reservoir (we're so glad at times like this that we have a 4 wheel drive truck camper) and crossed to the other side of the lake and set up camp. It was early afternoon and shortly the shootin', hollerin' and rap music started up across the lake...and you know how well sound can carry across a lake. We did a little exploring and found that the lake was horseshoe shaped and the prettiest part of the lake lay behind another ridge that only a vehicle like ours could access.

Pack up the TC, raise the jacks, lock in the 4 wheel drive, up and over the ridge to the nicest little, serene, quiet, spot, right on the lake shore.

We set up camp and were met by the local greeters. We think these are dowitchers.

We had escaped the Saturday night yahoos on the other side of the lake, but had no shortage of visitors for the rest of our stay here.

A small group of 7 mule deer visited us most evenings and every morning.

There had been a very recent hatching of some kind of insect, (non-biting) that had the local cliff swallows in a feeding frenzy. The picture above illustrates how hard it is to capture a cliff swallow in full dive, but you get the picture.

Cheryl also caught (with her camera of course) an American Avocet fishing in the lake.

The first night we took a walk to find out what these honeycomb rocks were all about. It turns out that the rocks in the area are volcanic tuff, which is a light porous rock created by compression of volcanic ash over millions of years. They are scattered about the area in bits and pieces and also make up the canyons, ledges and plateaus that surround the lake.

Here's a picture of the namesake honeycomb.

It was beautiful on the lake, but we were exposed to the wind out there and the prediction was for more and greater winds over the next few days.

We elected to move a few hundred feet to a more sheltered spot. The new spot provided us with a good place to do a load of laundry.

Traveling as we do for months at a time, laundry becomes an issue. We can, and do, go to laundromats, but it is often easier to just do a small wash in a 5 gallon bucket and hang it out to dry. We have our “Emergency Essentials” Bucket Washer (I'll post a picture sometime), our patented 4 hands wringer, and here in the west, between the dry air and the almost constant wind, the clothes are ready in a very short time.

It was still a peaceful scene, near the small inlet on the edge of the lake, and we were much less bothered by the wind, and we still had our visitors every morning.

We had the usual visits from Vultures. Cheryl calls it the beautiful flight of the ugly bird.

The desert is starting to come alive with flowers and we hope to be seeing many more in the coming weeks as we head east, through Kanab, and into the Paria river area, just west of Lake Powell and the Glen Canyon Dam.

Cathedral Gorge State Park, Nevada

2010-05-02T17:24:00.002-04:00

Cathedral Gorge State Park is located about 200 miles north of Las Vegas near Pioche, NV. This small park is noted for it's fantastically shaped rocks and caves. The rocks, similar in look to the badlands of South Dakota, do remind one of cathedrals.

The texture of the rock varies from smooth to very roughly eroded and weathered. Some of the rock was as hard as, well, rock, and some was soft and crumbly, almost the consistency of dried mud. As you can see here, and in the following picture, the erosion, caused by water in this case, sometimes comes from within the rock creating hollows, caves, and narrow canyons.

The only wildlife we saw was Jack Rabbits, which are actually Hares.

I have no idea what the difference is between a rabbit and a hare, If anyone knows, post me a comment and I'll share it with everyone in the next letter.

We only stayed here one night, but were impressed by the place and spent about 5 or 6 hours hiking and exploring the various features of the park.

We took a hike starting at this old water tower built in the 1930s by the CCC (Civilian Conservation Corp). The CCC was a program to put young men to work during the depression while improving the facilities at national, regional, and state parks. The CCC parks are all around the country and you can usually tell when you are in a CCC built park by the quality of the workmanship and the well thought out layout of the campgrounds and trails.

Note the debris paths below these spires. In this picture the debris is chips and pieces of rock probably due to freeze cycle weathering. In others you will see sand or mud trails from wind or water erosion. Nature never seems to want to stop tearing down what it has built up.

The caves were sometimes 100 to 150 feet deep, 80 to 100 feet high, and barely wide enough to squeeze through. They were like miniature slot canyons. We often had to leave our packs on the trail outside the cave in order to fit.

Some caves were open to the sky at the top, some like this one were closed off by a thin cap of more erosion resistant rock.

You can see a band of more erosion resistant (harder) rock running through this group below and you can see caprocks of the same material on top of some of the spires. The caps are formed when the softer rock underneath erodes away. Eventually the caps will fall.

Next we will head SouthEast to the Paria River Area.

The Eastern Sierra Nevada Mountains - California

2010-05-01T07:33:00.000-04:00

Our approach to the Sierras was from the East. We crossed the White Mountains at Mongomery Pass and descended into the Owens Valley north of Bishop California.

Mural in downtown Bishop.

After a quick stop by the "Produce Police" in Benton, forcing us to eat or discard our citrus before proceeding, we made our way south to Bishop. Bishop California is a great little mountain town reminiscent of places like Whitefish Montana, North Conway New Hampshire, and Jackson Hole Wyoming before the great migration. Sure, it's busy and it has a "strip" , but it also has that feel that the people who live and visit here come for the mountains. Main Street has lots of coffee shops, a few bars, and plenty of outfitters.

The Inyo National Forest, in the Eastern Sierra mountain range, lies immediately to the west of Bishop. Many of the Forest Service campgrounds were still closed but Bishop Park, at 8,000 feet, and right up there in the high peaks, was open. You have to love a campsite with mountain sunrises and sunsets, deer wandering through the campground, easy access to hiking and a 15 minute drive from Bishop.

For sheer rugged beauty it's hard to beat the Sierras. Weather at this time of year varies from 80℉ daytime temperatures to 20℉ at night, bright sun to snow. that's just about perfect weather for us.

Red Cedar at Rock Creek

Convict Lake, one of the few that were free of ice at this time of year.

The Murals of Ely, Nevada

2010-04-30T15:29:00.017-04:00

It's funny how when you're traveling around you sometimes find things you're not looking for. We left Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge badly in need of laundry. Checking with Lois, our trusty (mostly) GPS, we found a laundromat, right on Main Street, in Ely Nevada. Who knew? Ely is famous for it's murals. Herewith are a few.

The Ward Charcoal Ovens. The ovens, built in the 1870s manufactured high grade charcoal for the silver smelters at Ward, just south of Ely.

Celebrating the Pony Express.

When we left the laundromat we drove south a few miles to a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) elk viewing site. It was nice, free, camping was allowed, and secure, as it was the hiding spot for the local police speed enforcement zone. We woke to an inch of blowing snow and rather than face the pass to our south, we drove back north to Ely to let the day warm and catch some more of the murals. By the way we did view elk, as well as pronghorns, and a badger.

Barrooms and casinos seem to be the major industry of Ely, so this seems appropriate.

Seriously, Ely seems a bit depressed like much of the nation we have seen, but it looks like it could be a fun town to visit. The town is a typical Main Street western town, surrounded by gorgeous mountains, still snow capped here in early May.

Looking at this picture later in the day, after braving the pass, we couldn't tell if the fence was in front of the mural or part of the mural. We'll have to check next time through.

I decided to sneak a peak at the headlines while we were in town. Unfortunately, they were for 1934. Mostly about politics and the bad economy...stuff like that.

Click on the picture for a larger view.

This mural seems to celebrate the various modes of transportation that passed through Ely in the old days, showing the wagon trains, the horse drawn stages, the cattle drives and finally the arrival of the locomotive which certainly did much to change the west (the mural was so big we had to take it in two pictures).

We will head south now with a stop at Cathedral Gorge State Park.

Ruby Marsh National Wildlife Refuge, Nevada

2010-04-21T15:21:00.001-04:00

This one picture says it all about Ruby Marsh, a place of big mountains, big valleys, and big sky. This wildlife refuge, located in Northern Nevada at the meeting of the Great Basin and the northern mountains, reminds one of what America must have been like a million years ago. After another 28 mile gravel road (this one a little dryer than the road to City of Rocks) we arrived at the Ruby Marsh National Forest Campground.

If you look real closely, right below the opening into the canyon, you will see our camper all alone in the campground. The campground is technically open this time or year, but facilities are limited with no water or bathrooms. Fortunately not a problem for us. The weather as is typical for spring is changeable by the hour and we received the usual gamut.

Remember that canyon from the picture on page 2? Well we decided that we wanted to hike up to those snowfields. We had no topographic maps of the area, there is no trail, but it was so tempting...so off we went.

The higher we got, the rougher the trail got, but the better the views got. How high should we go? Finally we let exhaustion determine the limit.

We didn't make it to the snow fields. We reckon we hiked 5 miles what with dead ends and side trips. Every turn in the canyon gave us a better view of the Refuge, and another corner or two ahead.

The park brochure mentioned supplies being available at “Shantytown” 2 miles down the road so we took the truck down to take a look. Unfortunately “Shanytown” seems to be closed for the season. Good thing we were well stocked. Note that there is still plenty of snow at the higher elevations, The Ruby Mountains are one of the premier Heli-Skiing operations in the west.

On our last day at Ruby Marsh we took a hike out into the marsh. The marsh contains vast areas of birds, sagebrush, marshy wetlands, and tallgrass prairie.

There's lots of wildlife in the refuge. We saw mule deer, rabbits, ground squirrels, but didn't see coyotes or bobcats, both of which are present. The birdlife is amazing, but they are very skittish and hard to photograph.

Besides these two we saw Kestrels, Redtail Hawks, Northern Harriers, Trumpeter Swans, many types of geese and ducks, and the ubiquitous Vultures.

Next we head to Ely, NV which is famous for, among other things, murals. Leaving Ruby Marsh via a (you guessed it!) 28 mile gravel road. Must be a numerology thing.

Teton Canyon & City of Rocks National Monument, Idaho

2010-03-30T13:30:00.091-04:00

For our trip this year we added an element of leisure that we didn't have last year. Rather than race across the country we took our time, stopping at state parks in Ohio, and Nebraska, as well as with friends and relatives in Vermont, New York and Illinois.

However, when we left Nebraska, the pull of grandchildren took over and we then flew across Wyoming and into Idaho. We spent 2 weeks with Kristin, Scott, Jack and Autumn, skiing, hiking, and playing in the sun or snow as the Idaho weather saw fit. It was a fun time and we love being with them while still having our own little house to get away in when we need to.

Each grandchild camped out with us one night in the TC (Truck Camper). The skiing at Grand Targhee was, well... Grand.

We had a wonderful two weeks with the family and it has truly been one of the best things about retirement that we can now see our grandkids more often. They are a joy to us.

The Teton Valley of Idaho is a beautiful place and we are lucky to visit it often. Leaving the Teton Valley, (or as it is known locally-Pierre's Hole), we went south to the Curlew National Grasslands, near the Utah border.

We had hopes of catching the mating dances of the Sage Grouse but it was not to be. But we did find this guy strutting his stuff.

The grasslands were wonderful and you haven't lived until you've experienced a full on prairie thunderstorm at night. Scary and amazing. Wind, hail, rain, and lightning all around. And, as you can see, we were one of the tallest things there.

From the grasslands a quick trip west along the border (on 28 miles of gravel road...make that mud after a night of thunderstorms) and we were in City of Rocks National Reserve.

The "City of Rocks" National Reserve in southern Idaho is our first major destination of 2010.

The reserve is located on the southern border of Idaho, just a little bit northeast of the junction of Utah, Nevada, and Idaho. The reserve, historically a stop on the old California Trail westward, was set aside as a national land by congress in 1988. One rock, called "Register Rock" bears the names of many pioneers from the 1800s etched in axle grease and still visible today. City of Rocks gets its name from the fantastic granite spires, massifs, and towers that fill the small basin known as Circle Creek Basin.

We knew as soon as we arrived that we had discovered a real gem in the National Park system, and booked ourselves for 5 nights in the best campsite in the place. It helped that we were almost the only ones there.

One of the great things about this compact little park is the hiking trails. The park is world renown by rock climbers and the trails wind their way through the rock features to reach the various climbs, with names like "Incisor", "Lady J", "Box top", "Terminator", and "Striped Rock". Most of the trails are less than a mile, with a few being 2 or 3, but you can spend several hours in the maze of granite canyons and hike for as far as you are able.

We would often hike deep into the canyons and still be able to see the camper perched on it's granite foundation a mile or so away. Many of the features can be climbed by mere mortals like us and we visited all sorts of fantastic granite peculiarities on our wanderings.

This looks just like our cat Digit. I guess he's put on a little weight.

There are windows and arches all over the place in City of Rocks. Some right in the campground, some miles out in the valley.

For weather we had Wind, Sun, Rain, Wind, Snow, Wind, and did I mention Wind. We are hardy travelers and while a sunny day is certainly very nice, we don't mind hiking in some of the more inclement conditions that Mother Nature throws at us so we make the best of every day.

We also found time to raise a special glass of fine wine to the memory of our dear friend Bob Ligon. We will miss you.

City of Rocks National Monument is jointly managed by the National Park Service and Idaho State Parks. Castle Rock State Park is also nearby and has a larger campground than City of Rocks.

After 5 days of wonders we are now headed for the Ruby Mountains of Nevada to camp at Ruby Marsh in the Ruby Lake National Wildlife Refuge.

Craters of the Moon National Monument - Idaho

2009-06-11T07:02:00.022-04:00

Craters of the Moon National Monument is located in central Idaho. We picked up our grandchildren and headed there for a grand adventure. Craters of the Moon is a vast lava field made up of lava flows, some from as long ago as 15,000 years. Craters of the Moon is part of the "Great Rift" is a system consisting of a series of fractures in the earth's crust which extend over 50 miles. This still active volcanic rift is the cause of the periodic lava flows of Craters of the Moon. Lava last flowed at Craters of the Moon about 2,000 years ago. Here is an animation showing the flows as they have happened since 15,000 years ago. Lava Flow Animation

The campground at Craters is nestled into the lava flows and I guarantee it is one of the most unusual campgrounds you will ever stay at.

Lava Flow Campground

Among the many features at Craters of the Moon are Lava Flows, Cinder Cones, Caves and Tunnels. One of the favorite hikes at Craters is the hike up Inferno Cone. Inferno Cone is a large cinder cone produced during a recent lava flow so there is little vegetation established on the cone. We took our young adventurers up the cinder cone shortly after we arrived. They have both been hiking since they were babies and had no difficulty with the climb.

We love hiking with our grandkids and doing it in a special place like this is even better.We ran into a couple of very special characters on the trip.

Volcano Man

Intrepid Hiker Woman

On our second day at the park we decided to explore the lava flows. There are a number of trails of varying length through the lava fields and out to some of the unusual features. The trails are paved or lined with cinders and easy to walk on. The grandkids were working on their Junior Ranger badges so we had to identify the various types of lava as we hiked.

Rafted Blocks.

Rafted Blocks are large chunks of solidified lava that have broken off and floated along on the lave flow until it sets leaving them high and dry.

AA.

AA is jagged chunks of lava that formed when the surface cooled and cracked.

Pahoehoe. (Pronounced Pa-Hoy-Hoy)

Pahoehoe is formed when the flow gradually cools and sets. Sometimes bubbles and tunnels form under the Pahoehoe as the still molten lave inside runs away under the surface. This is how caves and tunnels are formed.

Vegetation has started to reclaim some of the older flows, but as you can see it is an inhospitable environment and plants struggle to survive.

We saved the caves for last. There are 3 or 4 well established caves on the park trails and we visited them all. There are actually many caves in the 715,000 acre Park , but most require backcountry hiking and camping to reach them. The caves are easy to reach, but are very rugged and sometimes dark once you get inside. We were well prepared with headlamps, extra flashlights, and warm clothing.This is the entrance to one of the caves. You can see how rugged the terrain gets after leaving the trail. Note the snow covered peaks in the background...This is in June.The caves are rugged, with poor footing, and very dark as you get deeper. We each had headlamps and the adults had flashlights. Deep in one of the caves we turned all the lights off and experienced just how dark true dark really is. Spooky.

Craters of the moon has a small, but very informative, visitor center with displays of the local wildlife and a movie about the formation of the park. Ranger tours are available and recommended on a variety of subjects. You will learn more about lava than you would have thought possible.

NEXT: We drop off the Grandkids and head for Glacier National Park.

Dinosaur National Monument,Utah

2009-06-03T14:42:00.002-04:00

One of the prime paleontological sites in the World is in North East Utah. Many fossil dinosaurs have been found in this area. If you remember your Jurassic Park, Utah was where Drs. Grant and Sattler were working when Mr. Attenborough recruited them to come to his Island. Dinosaur National Monument is in Utah at the site of an active dig.Oh! Here's one now. OK, not a dinosaur, but certainly a distant relative. The park is located on the Green River in Vernal Utah.The park has a small, but delightful campground right on the river. We had little time to spend here and had to pass up the University of Utah Paleontology field house (next time, for sure) but we did have time for a short hike.On the way we passed several areas of petroglyphs. Petroglyphs are ancient pictures that were chipped or scratched into the rock as opposed to pictographs which were painted on the rock.Here' a close up where you can see the relief of the image (Click on it!)We drove to Josie's cabin, which was the home of Josie Bassett Morris, who lived alone in this remote location for nearly 60 years, ranching and farming. The box canyon shown above was her corral and it's a beautiful little hike up a steep sided canyon with a small stream flowing through it.

NEXT: We pick up the Grandkids (Jack and Autumn) and go to the Craters of the Moon...Really!

Dolores and Telluride, Colorado

2009-06-01T13:12:00.001-04:00

Since viewing the ski movie "The Blizzard of Ahhhs" many years ago Cheryl has had an overwhelming desire to see Telluride, Colorado. So, we left Bandelier NM,passed through the Jemez Springs area and headed north. Our first stop was a campground in the San Juan National Forest, right on the Dolores River. We like the National Forest Campgrounds for several reasons. They're inexpensive, they're generally quiet, many campers avoid them due to the limited resources (not a problem for a solar powered, self-contained, truck camper like ours) and most of all, they are in some of the most beautiful forest and mountain terrain in America.As a case in point, this is the view from our camper at the Mavreeso Campground. Not too shabby, eh? Several deer crossed the river a few feet from our camper as we were eating our evening meal. Very cool.The next morning we left early and enjoyed the ride through a long valleyand across Ophir Pass on the way to Telluride.Telluride is at the head of a box canyon and while there is some development outside the canyon (due of course to the rather large ski area in the canyon) the town itself is much as it has been for many years. There's not much room to expand surrounded as it is on three sides by steep canyon walls.It's a great town of funky shops and restaurants interspersed with the expected bike and outdoor shops and the usual real estate offices. It's a fun town and we're thinking it would be a fun place to spend a winter. Could happen!I made an essential stop and we spend most of a morning strolling through town chatting with the locals and viewing the sights.At the head of the canyon is Bridal Veil Falls. Click on this picture to get a larger version so you can really appreciate this natural wonder. The people and places of Telluride are wonderful. I imagine the skiing is too.We drove out of Telluride and headed up along the Colorado / Utah border for Dinosaur National Monument.

Bandelier National Monument, New Mexico

2009-05-29T13:44:00.010-04:00

Bandelier National MonumentBandelier National Monument is located in North Central New Mexico, between Los Alamos and Santa Fe in a rugged high desert at 6,500 feet. This altitude gives Bandelier a pleasant climate with warm spring days and cold nights. Bandelier, similar to Chaco Culture NHP, is a site of ancient great houses, but unlike Chaco there are cliff dwellings and cave dwellings as well. Bandelier is also a marvelous park for hiking.Our first day at Bandelier, on our way to an 8 mile hike to the Rio Grande River we stopped at the visitor center to observe a Native American Dance celebrating the presence of the Deer in their lives. The Dance and Drumming was very interesting, and the workmanship of the clothing worn by the dancers was exquisite.The hike took us past a group of "Tent Rocks" which are volcanic tuff capped by harder rocks. As the volcanic rock wears away the harder caps protect the tuff underneath forming various spires,needles, and hoodoos.The hike took us past many wildflowers as we wound our way down several thousand feet to the floodplain of the Rio Grande.One of the high points of this trip has been the opportunity to see many of the great rivers of our country. I can remember many years ago, in grade school, reading about these rivers that were so much a part of our history and development as a nation. I was always fascinated by them.Living in New England I often visited the Concord, the Merrimack, and the Connecticut rivers, but I have only recently begun to explore the great rivers of the west. I never pass up a chance to swim, or at least wade, in these rivers.We were fortunate on this part of the trip to have our friend Linda Regnier, Author of Best Easy Day Hikes, Santa Fe with us as guide. We did three of her hikes during our stay and if you are going to Santa Fe I can heartily recommend this book. Linda dropped by the bookstore to sign a few copies.We vistited some of the cave dwellings with Linda and her husband Jim after our Rio Grande hike.The day after Jim and Linda left for another commitment Cheryl and I headed out for a hike up Frijoles Canyon which is the main canyon containing much of the National Monument.The unrestored Great House is in Frijoles Canyon as well as the Long House.The Long House is essentially a long narrow Great House built on the ground against a high cliff with many excavated cave rooms adjoining it. We also went to the Ceremonial Cave.We accessed the Ceremonial Cave by a series of 4 very long, very steep, wooden ladders.There is a reproduction Kiva in the cave and it was cool, after seeing so many ancient Kivas, to be able to enter the Kiva.On another day we drove up to the rim of the Valle Caldera National Preserve and hiked down through the ponderosa forest lining the inside of the rim to the Caldera floor.The floor of the caldera is a huge meadow sitting in a bowl ringed by low mountains. The mountains are the eroded rim of what was once a vast volcanic cone. Can you imagine it?

Blue Bellied Lizard.

After the hike to the caldera we found a little used trail head to the boundary area between Valle Caldera and Bandelier National Monument.We found the usual wildflowers (isn't it wonderful that such things are "Usual" on this trip). These are Western Blue Flags, a small wild iris. They are often referred to by their state's name so I guess these would be New Mexico Blue Flags. The trail passed through a series of lovely meadows that once again led up to the Caldera Rim. As so often happens the naked beauty of this remote area drew us into a much longer hike than we had anticipated. Two hikes in one day and we barely had time to make it back for supper with our friends Ian and Jenny from Vermont who came to Bandelier as a stop on the maiden voyage of their new camper which they had just picked up in Chilliwack, British Columbia.On our final day at Bandelier we took a trip into Santa Fe to see the sights.It was interesting to compare the architecture of present day Santa Fe with the ancient buildings we had been viewing in Bandelier.Santa Fe is a marvelous city. Like many such places in the county, development and traffic are taking a toll on these historic and beautiful places, but if you can find the "Old Town" you will be richly rewarded.
NEXT: We head north to visit Telluride, Colorado and Dinosaur National Monument.

Chaco Canyon National Historic Park, New Mexico

2009-05-25T12:45:00.012-04:00

Chaco Canyon is located in the middle of nowhere at the end of a 13 mile bad road. Maybe that's why few people go there. But, if you are interested in the Ancient Puebloan culture of North America, you should go there. We spent considerable time earlier in our trip exploring cliff dwellings in Arizona and Utah, now we were in the region of the ancient great houses.Chaco Canyon is believed to have been more a cultural center than a residential center and it is widely disputed as to how many people lived there. As our Pueblo Bonito guide told us, "What we know is that people lived here, and they built big buildings". The rest is conjecture. Chaco canyon is a flat canyon bottom between low mountains. It is very dry and sparse. The campground is a short distance from the great houses, under the canyon wall.We were fortunate to meet our friends Linda & Jim and Sue & Roger from Montana who had been to Chaco before and knew the things we had to see. First on the list was a tour of Pueblo Bonito, the best restored of the great houses.Note the many round Kivas within the walls. Here's a closer look at the floor of one of the Kivas in Pueblo Bonito.Pueblo Bonito was constructed in stages between 850 and 1150 AD and was abandoned around 1200 ADThe tours took us through the ruins and into many of the several hundred rooms of the great house.Having friends along gave us a chance to socialize again since leaving Whazoo and Lynn in Arizona and it was wonderful to spend some time with good friends.The next day we took a hike along the mesa top for views into the canyon from above which gives one a much better idea of the scope of these great houses.Not to mention a chance to stretch our legs and brush up on our canyoneering skills.
As has been the norm on this trip, there was lots of wildlife and we were again fortunate to see many desert blooms.On day three we biked out a canyon road to a less rehabilitated great house called "Wijiji. Once again the amazing workmanship of these buildings was obvious. You have to be aware when you look at this that it was built over a thousand years ago and is still standing 800 years after it was abandoned.We could even see where different styles (perhaps different workmen or varied loads of rock) were seamlessly integrated into the walls.On our last day we hiked farther up the canyon to see some petroglyphs and pictographs on the canyon wall.Here's a link to the National Park Service website if you would like more information on Chaco Canyon Petroglyphs. Our final hike was a short one to see Casa Rincanada, the largest Kiva in the canyon. This Kiva stands alone on a hillside a short distance from Pueblo Bonito and (who knows why) has it's two entrances perfectly aligned East to West.
NEXT: Bandolier National Monument & Santa Fe, New Mexico

Navajo Lake - Sims Mesa Campground, New Mexico

2009-05-20T12:08:00.003-04:00

When we arrived at Navajo Lake in northwest New Mexico we went to the west side of the lake and found a busy state park with lot's of power boats and many houseboats.It looked a little bit too busy for us so we continued on to the east side to the Sims Mesa Campground and arrived at sunset in an impending lightning storm and found a wonderful campsite.Our campsite was nestled in some juniper trees right on the shore of the lake in a quiet bay.Navajo lake was a sandstone canyon that was damned sometime in the late 1950s to create the lake. The lakeshore is virtually all public land and there is little development on the lake. The water is clear and deep (396 feet at it's depest point) and perfect for kayaking. Our first day we kayaked south to a narrow canyon on the east side of the lake.There were many side canyons to explore and with the storm clouds past we kayaked about 15 miles. We found these cliff swallow squatters up one of the side canyons.After a spectacular sunset we slept like babies to the sounds of the lake and forest. Pretty good accomodations for $10 a night.The next morning we hit the water again for a look at the west side of the lake. The west side is more open than the narrow canyons of the east and has beaches here and there for picnicing or swimming.We got to explore only a small portion of the 15,000 acre lake and will revisit on another trip some day.
NEXT: Chaco Canyon National Historic Park, New Mexico

The Grand Canyon, North Rim, Arizona

2009-05-18T11:57:00.014-04:00

While the North Rim is only about 10 miles from the South Rim it's a long drive because there are no bridges and you must drive all the way around the canyon. The drive East, then North to Page, AZ for a couple of errands, then west to Jacob lake to the 40 mile access road took us about 8 hours. Entering the North Rim is completely different than the South. The land is rolling hills, ponderosa forest and huge open meadows. Unlike the south rim, there are no views of the Canyon until one reaches the rim. It would be possible to drive all the way into the North Rim, park your car, walk into the North Rim Lodge and across the lobby to the windows that look over the canyon before you got a view. And what a view it is. At the North Rim, the views are not as broad, but are much more intimate. You are much closer to the Canyon features here than at South. The Campground is perched on the rim along the Transcept Canyon looking directly at Oza Butte.

For our first adventure we chose the Widforss Trail which took us back along the Trancept to the head of the canyon. The hike starts about a mile from the campground. We biked to the trail head via the bridle paths. After losing a few hundred feet of altitude to reach the trailhead the trial climbs back up to the rim through ponderosa forest. Once on the rim we hiked along the edge with occasional dips and rises for about 3 miles to reach the head of the Transcept Canyon. We could have gone another few miles to reach Widforss Point but since it was mostly in forest we elected to go back and save our energy for tomorrows hike below the rim.
The North Kaibab trail runs from the rim, down through Bright Angel Canyon to the Colorado River at Phantom Ranch. We knew Phantom Ranch would be too far for a day trip so decided to head down as far as we felt comfortable making it back up to the rim. If you click on the above photo and look carefully right in the middle of the picture you will see a bridge crossing the canyon some 2,500 feet below the rim. That's our destination!
As we descended into the canyon we were amazed by the myriad colors of the canyon walls, especially vibrant in the early morning at the beginning of our hike. The trail winds incessantly down through more switchbacks than we cared to count. As at the South Rim we always had to be aware that the trip down is less than half the trip and we had to save sufficient energy reserves for the trip back up. Several times we met the mule trains hauling people or supplies up or down the canyon. If you wish to visit below the rim but don't feel up for the hike this is a great option.
The North Rim, with it's many moods of color and light is indeed a much more intimate picture of the Grand Canyon than the South Rim. Not better, maybe a little prettier, a lot less hectic, but very different. I can't decide which I liked better and would have to recommend both to anyone planning on visiting the Grand Canyon. If you have only enough time to do one...I wish you good luck with your choice, either will be wonderful.

NEXT: We leave Arizona for New Mexico - Navajo Lake and more spectacular Ancient Ruins.

The Grand Canyon, Arizona...South Rim

2009-05-16T20:32:00.014-04:00

Few natural features on earth compare with the Grand Canyon. The sediment layed down, layer by layer, one mile deep, by ancient oceans required 1.8 Billion years to accumulate. In a mere 4.5 Million years the Colorado River carved a mile down to the Vishnu Schist Basement Rocks that form the Canyon floor, leaving a vast collection of Mesas, Buttes, Towers, Plateaus and other features spread over 1.2 million acres, 277 miles long and as much as 15 miles wide. It makes one feel a little bit insignificant. It is so immense that it is impossible to describe it. Let me just say that you owe it to yourself to go there some day and I'll give you a few pictures here to whet your appetite but I promise you, they won't do it justice. We stayed at Mather Campground, at the South Rim for 5 days The South Rim Village is a bustle of activity containing the campgrounds, the hotels, Visitor center, stores, studios, restaurants and various services of the National Park Service needed to take care of the Canyon and it's 4.5 million visitors each year (44% of which are non-Americans. It's called a National Park, but it is a World Park). Cars, buses, The Canyon's free shuttle bus service (Marvelous), bikes, mules, and trains ply the canyon on a daily basis. It's busy, but it really works. and we had a great time. Our first adventure was a hike down the South Kaibab Trail to "Skeleton Point, over 2,000 feet below the rim, but still 3,000 feet above the Colorado River, the Architect of the Canyon. (Note the California Condor soaring majestically above the river) That was enough of a hike for us when you consider that at the end of the day we had to hike back up 2,000 feet to the rim at over 7,000 feet. Hot, dry, dusty, but wonderful. Getting down into the canyon is a lot of work, and the deeper you go, the hotter it gets, but it gives you the best views of the Canyon's many features. One of the finest facilities at the South Rim is the Greenway trail. Paved bicycle/pedestrian paths crisscross the venues of the Rim. We stayed 5 days and between the bikes and the Free shuttle buses never had to move the truck. Our second adventure was a bike trip to the "Hermit's Rest" at the far western side of the South Rim Village area. It's about a 10 mile trip out from the campground. Hermit's Rest can only be reached on foot, by bike, or by shuttle bus so the biking is traffic free when on the roads, and even bus free when on the Greenway which is not yet complete out to the end. The Greenway gives many views of the Canyon that are only available on foot or by bike. Kudos to the National Park Service for developing so many trails for foot and bike traffic. Much of the trip t0 Hermits Rest is down hill, so we elected to take advantage of the bike racks on the shuttles and rode home in style. We saw three Califonia Condors on the Hermit's Rest trip. They're hard to photograph. If you have time take the Ranger Talk on the California Condor given each evening at Kolb Studio. If you're real lucky you may get a visit from one of the stars of the show. Many days, or evenings, would find us on the rim trail visiting the various overlooks and view points of the Canyon Rim. We watched sunrise from Yavapai Point,and Sunset from the rim trail. We had lunch in some unbelievable places, and we will never forget this place..and we will come back.Spring is a marvelous time to visit the GrandCanyon as many of the plants are in bloom. The sun, being lower in the sky in the Spring provides exceptional light for photography and cooler temperatures for hiking. If you are at all able to hike then by all means hike at least part of the Canyon. When you hike down into the Canyon you experience far more the overwhelming size of it.

Just a reminder, most of the pictures in the Blog are shown in low resolution but a higher resolution version is available if you click on the picture.

Next: The North Rim, 10 miles and 8 hours away.

Great Basin national Park, Nevada

2009-05-16T20:01:00.015-04:00

Great Basin National Park is a long way from everywhere.We left Utah to travel the loneliest road in the United States, Route 50 across Western Utah to Nevada.Great Basin National Park is one of the least visited parks in the system but in our opinion it's one of the best. After all, how many national parks have an natural Arch, a Glacier, and a Limestone Cave. Exactly one. The park also has 13060 foot Wheeler Peak. We camped in the Upper Lehman Creek Campground with Lehman Creek burbling by a few feet away. We would have gone further up to 9,800 foot Wheeler Peak Campground but it was still closed due to snow and was not due to open for another 4 weeks or more. The first day's adventure was Lehman Cave, a Limestone cavern to rival many of the more popular caverns around the country. We took a 90 minute Ranger Guided Tour of some 6 to 8 "rooms" and saw some amazing limestone formations including Stalactites and Stalagmites (of course) but also Shields, Soda Straws, Pillars and many more. We took the cave tour in the morning and decided to do a short 3 mile hike up "Pole Canyon" in the afternoon. Pole Canyon is without doubt one of the most beautiful canyons we have hiked. We continued up the canyon for 3 miles until we hit snow left from the winter at around 8600 feet. On the way back down the canyon we ran into this fellow, a Skink. We rested for a day and went to town in Baker (Pop. 205) for some coffee, bread, and beer (the essentials). The next day we hiked from the Lehman Spring Campground to 10,000 feet to see the Wheeler Peak Campground. The Wheeler Peak Campground, now under 4-6 feet of snow, is beautiful. The sites are nestled in a meadow on the edge of Ponderosa Pine and Aspen forest with a truly spectacular view of Wheeler Peak. We plan to revisit Great Basin in the summer some time when we can stay at this campground, and maybe climb Wheeler Peak. As you can see we hit a bit of snow, but being the intrepid hikers that we are, we were well prepared and had few problems getting up there. After another rest day we drove 25 miles to the trailhead for Lexington Arch, one of the few limestone arches in the country. Most arches, like those found in the Moab, Utah area at Arches and Canyonlands National Parks are sandstone. Lexington Arch is very different in its structure and in the topography of the the area. The terrain is very rugged with steep trails and difficult footing. The arch itself is 6 stories high and is at over 8200 feet. We've seen many arches in our western visits, but this one is truly unique. We have managed to catch many of our National Parks and Monuments in bloom this year, and Great Basin was no exception. As we prepared to leave after 5 days at Great Basin we put it on our list for a return. It is one of the best of our park excursions so far on this trip.

Next: The Grand Canyon, North and South Rims, and Ted's first view of the most famous of all National Parks.

Sedona, AZ and Cedar Mesa and Moab, Utah

2009-05-16T19:48:00.043-04:00

Cheryl had been to Sedona about 25 years ago and wanted to see it again. Sedona, at 4400 feet, is situated in Red Rock Country of the Colorado Plateau. The transition from the desert to the mountains is abrupt and the roads up to Prescott, and then to Sedona twist and turn gaining altitude in huge steps. We would often find ourselves looking out the window into deep canyons many hundreds of feet below. I don't find that kind of driving scary, but one does have to keep ones eyes on the road. Alternate Route 89A into Sedona has a 40 foot length limit on trucks yet there seems to be no limit on those big class A campers that you always meet on a corner. Whew! We twisted our way through Jerome, a small town hugging the mountain and we were in Sedona. Sedona is beautiful, but like so many beautiful places today it is a victim of it's own success. There has been much development since Cheryl's earlier visit, with McMansions covering many of the bluffs and cliffsides. You have to look a bit to find "Old" Sedona, but find it we did and had a delicious Mexican dinner at Oaxuaca (pr. Wa-Ha-Ca). We camped at the Cave Creek Campground in the Coconino National Forest, which is located about 12 miles outside of town in Oak Creek Canyon. With only two days here we wanted to do a long hike on our full day and did the West Fork of Oak Creek trail into the Red Rock Wilderness. The trial wound through the Canyon, below magnificent red rock walls, for 3 miles to end (well, not actually end, just stop us) when the river and the canyon become the same width. We did take our hiking boots off and wade up the river (Cold...like the coast of Maine) for a couple of hundred yards before it became too cold and too deep to go on. We saw an endangered "Triangle Head Garter Snake" swimming up the creek. We seem to be on a roll with rare animals. Like North Conway, in our home state of NH, Sedona has had way too much growth in way too short a time, but like North Conway has, it will someday find it's roots again and, I'm sure, be an awesome place. We chatted with the owner of a fine bike shop in town and he said the political and social climate is changing from the old and established to the young and restless and this is a good thing. I guess we will give it a couple of years, then come back for a longer stay, Our days were sunny with blue skies and mid 80s, not too shabby.We then headed North through Flagstaff and passed through but did not stop at Monument Valley. We met Whazoo and Lynn on the road just as we were getting ready to enter Utah south of the Cedar Mesa Area north of Mexican Hat. We passed the "Goosenecks of the San Juan River" and headed up to Cedar Mesa. Getting on Cedar Mesa entails a large increase in altitude. In this area that is done on the famed Moki Dugway. The Moki Dugway is a gravel road with innumerable switchbacks rising 1100 feet in 3 miles. Utah recommends vehicles no longer than 28 feet...Good thing we're only 24 feet, eh?. After a quick stop at Muley point to ascertain that it was much too windy for camping we drove down a BLM road to find a campsite and prepare for our first hike to "The Citadel". The Citadel sits under a huge rock (We're talking basketball court sized rock here) at the end of a land bridge. We accessed the ruin from the opposite side of the canyon so we could see it, and where we needed to go, before hiking down into the canyon and out to the ruin. Ruin is a misnomer. While the Citadel is not a spectacular site overall, it is almost perfectly preserved and an excellent example of the workmanship of these ancient people. The builders of the Citadel are referred to as the Basket Maker people and are the antecedents of the current day Hopi in Arizona and Zuni in New Mexico. The land bridge scared the dickens out of me from afar, but turned out to be quite a bit wider than I thought. We moved to new campsite that evening where I taught my friend Whazoo how to make a proper S'More. The next day we hiked to a different ruin. The Moon House Ruin is much more extensive than the Citadel and encompasses 3 separate sites and over 40 rooms. Several styles of construction spanning several centuries are in evidence at the ruins. When you go places with our friend Whazoo, you really go places and our last trip was up onto Comb Ridge via a really nice road that Whazoo had found along the ridge.We visited the Tower House Ruins on Comb ridge. Comb Ridge is a long escarpment running North South and pierced by East West canyons it's entire length. Many of these canyons contain ruins.As usual the Camera Crew (Whazoo and Cheryl) took several million pictures.

2 days of scrambling along cliff edges and climbing in and out of steep canyons left us ready for an early dinner and no campfire.We parted ways with Whazoo and Lynn the next morning and headed for Moab,Utah, farther north in the red rock country.Moab is a fun town, but busy and when we got there pretty much all the BLM campsites on the Colorado River were taken so we headed out Onion Creek road and found a site. We spent one day getting laundry done and the truck serviced then spent a day hiking at Dead Horse state park. This Utah State Park is located on a high mesa overlooking the Colorado River. The access to the mesa known as Dead Horse Point is only about 150 feet wide and cowboys used to drive mustangs out on the mesa to round them up. Reportedly some forgetful bunch left a few fenced in out on the mesa without water, thus the name. Sad name for a spectacular place.
The following day we took a hike out "Negro Bill Canyon" to see Morning Glory Bridge. Negro Bill was William Granstaff a cowboy cattleman and one of the first non natives in the Moab area. Granstaff had a ranch around 1870 in this canyon. The Natural bridge, reputed to be the sixth largest in the US is about 3 miles up the canyon and well worth the hike. This is a beautiful canyon and lots of flowers were in bloomOn our last day in Moab we hiked to Fisher Towers, a local red rock landmark. The towers are a series of isolated monoliths that are spectacular in both size and color.
We left Moab to head to Ogden, Utah for the weekend to watch our grandson Jack compete in a Judo meet.
We are such proud grandparents.

Next we drive the loneliest road in the country (route 50 through western Utah and Nevada) to visit Great Basin National Park.

Joshua Tree National Park, California

2009-05-03T20:43:00.011-04:00

I had been to Joshua Tree National Park many years ago and was anxious to visit it again. On my last visit I had entered through the park's western entrance, in the Mojave Desert section of the park. This time we entered at the southern entrance in the Colorado Desert section, a decided difference. The Colorado Desert is drier and at lower altitude, too low for Joshua Trees ,and disappointment was our initial response.
One short hike changed that. I guess the desert is not for everyone, but Cheryl and I are fascinated with it, it's plants, it's birds, and it's Reptiles. Our first hike was to Cottonwood Spring, a small oasis not far from the campground. Many cacti and yuccas, Palo Verde and Mesquite trees, and marvelous Fan Palms thrive in the spring area. We also found Barrel Cactus and lots of small wildflowers blooming in the wash (A dry river bed, very common in the desert) leading out of the spring area. We saw ancient bedrock morters (grinding holes in the granite) that were used by the Cahuilla Indians for grinding Mesquite Beans. The Mesquite plant was also used for medicinal purposes.Rather than hike the next day we took a drive over to the Mojave Desert section of the park. Joshua Tree is a large park, nearly 800,000 acres and I would estimate about 65 miles across. Once you pass through the transition zone, with it's abundant Cholla (pr. Choya) and Ocatillos (both in bloom for our visit) and get above 3000 feet you are in the cooler, wetter, Mojave Desert, and here the famed Joshua Trees flourish. Also in the Mojave are the small granite mountains which draw rock climbers from all over the world.

Day three found us committed to a 9.5 mile hike (round trip) to the Lost Palm Oasis back in the Colorado Desert. This was our wildlife day, finding a rare Desert Tortoise, several Chuckwallas, and what we believe is a Desert Iguana, though we haven't been able to confirm this. Colorado Desert Oases form when water is forced to or near the surface through a fault in the Earth's crust. This water nourishes the huge Fan Palms as well as Agaves and Yuccas in the Oasis. We actually found standing water at Lost Palms, the only water we saw at Joshua Tree that didn't come out of a faucet.

As I said many of the desert plants were in bloom for our visit. Temperatures were in the 80s during the day, and the low 50s at night for our stay, but as we left and headed back through Western Arizona the gauge in the truck read 99.

Next: We head to Sedona Arizona and then on to Southern Utah to meet up with Whazoo again for more exploration.