Colorado Road Trip Wrap-Up

A wet Badwater, driving through Death Valley

From our second home in Southern Death Valley it was back to familiar territory. We took the opportunity to explore a 4WD road and canyon that we had always wanted to check out (Lemoigne Canyon), and spent our last night in Tuttle Creek Campground outside of Lone Pine where some friends were able to join us. Our final Saturday was spent along the Eastern Sierra where we visited some of our favorite restaurants and and shops and spent some time bouldering in the Buttermilks. After our final night of camp at Glass Creek we made it home safe and sound and on schedule on October 9th.

I’ve never done a road trip this long before. I thought I’d share some of the random things I learned.

What worked well:

Having a goal for the road trip was good. We knew we had to be in Denver at a certain time for GABF. That forced us into a schedule that kept us moving but gave us time to explore what was important to us. Since so much of this trip was in unfamiliar territory I enjoyed getting the basic look at some places I’ve always wanted to visit.
Now that I’m more familiar with some of these places I feel I can go back and fully immerse myself into exploration. For example, I’d love to go back and spend a full two weeks just in Grand Staircase Escalante or Canyonlands.
Before this trip we struggled with what to do with the back of our truck. A simple lid or a full shell? Basically, we wanted something to secure our stuff and something to keep us dry when raining (we sleep in the back). When looking at the basics we decided a lid was sufficient. The bed of the truck is pretty deep so it’s not very suffocating. Having rode out some heavy rain I’m pretty happy with the decision. All the problems we had (like the pasty mud getting all over the tailgate from shoes) would have happened with the shell too.
Speaking of the truck – I kind of thought MrC wert a bit overboard with the Tundra Rock Warrior when we got it but holy cow I love that thing. It gets us everywhere and it is super comfortable for long road trips. Not the greatest gas mileage, but you have to make compromises somewhere…
The Metolius Colossus makes for an awesome two-person mattress, couch, AND crash pad. I don’t know what we’d do without that beast.
Having cash of all denominations is good when you pull into a campsite in the middle of nowhere with something like a $7 fee. When all you have is a $20 you’re out of luck.
Occasional peeks into civilization for a meal and a hotel is not a bad thing. While I prefer the backcountry, sometimes a hot shower and cold draft beer make all the difference in the world.

The Metolius Colossus: Rainy-night Couch Formation

What needed improvement:

The weather, maybe? Okay, I know I can’t control that but I feel like it really cut into my enjoyment of the area I was most excited about visiting. But, hey, guess we’ll have to go back. Darn.
Sometimes I just need to go with the flow. I am a detailed planner and when things don’t go according to plan I’m usually pretty laid back, but sometimes even my backup plans failed (due to the weather). From Page, AZ on everything fell apart from my original plan (2-3 days in Paria, then home via the ET Highway). I sometimes get so preoccupied with staying on plan I forget to be flexible and enjoy the stuff around me at the time.
Being organized is everything. When I head off for a weekend it’s easy to just throw everything in the truck and figure it out later, especially with a newer vehicle where I haven’t quite optimized the space. But when spending two weeks on the road I need to make sure everything is where I want and expect it to be. By the end of the trip I had the system pretty much figured out and it made packing for our nine day thanksgiving trip a breeze.

I’m sure I’ll think of a million other things, but that’s why God invented edit buttons I guess.

Thanks for bearing with me and reading along during this long string of trip reports. I know it’s a bit late but I just needed some down time to catch up. Next up: Thanksgiving Trip! Nine days of exploring Death Valley including six summits. My favorite trip of the year!

Paria Canyon/Grand Staircase Escalante

When we left Page, AZ the next morning the skies looked clearer but we knew there were isolated thunderstorms in the forecast. Still, we soldiered on with our plans to spend the next couple of days in the Grand Staircase Escalante/Paria Canyon area. There is no lack of things to do and see in this area, but our primary goal was to score a permit for The Wave, a famous formation in the Coyote Buttes Area. The area is restricted to 20 permitted visitors a day and we wanted to try for one of the ten walk-up spots. This experience deserves its own post – check for it next.

Unfortunately we didn’t get a permit. But, like I said, the area is packed full of great stuff – we could spend a month there and not get to see all the awesome canyons, formations, rock art, and other things the area has to offer. However, during our time at the permit station we learned that the area did not avoid the storms that had made our previous couple of days adventurous. There were washouts, flooding, and blocked roads. It looked like most of our backup plans weren’t even accessible.

Walking to the Nautilus in a freshly washed, uh, wash

After getting skunked on the permit we headed to a nearby formation that was still accessible. It’s called the Nautilus and it is easy to see why when you see it from the correct angle. It’s a swirly pattern carved in a sandstone bluff and offers photographic opportunities as beautiful as the elusive Wave. It was the wrong time of day and stormclouds kept blocking the light, but nevertheless it was a fun short hike where we were able to scout and take some point-and-shoot photos. I plan on returning here someday with full camera gear at the right time of day!

Across the main road we found another parking area and the Toadstool Hoodoo trailhead. It let to some cool rock and mud formations that practically glowed in the sun when framed against the incoming storm clouds.

After wandering these for a while we decided to visit the Grand Staircase Escalante visitor’s center down the road and get some updated road info before continuing on to explore the area. It’s a good thing we did – it seems that everything except the main paved highway through the area was washed out. The friendly volunteers told us where we could go to see some of the washouts and they were right at the beginning of some of the roads I had planned on spending two or three days exploring. We drove down one of the roads only to find it washed out by a 250 ft wide river. No thank you.

Originally, we were going to spend the day exploring the area, camp there that night, and then try for another Wave permit the next morning. But by noon we had seen all the things that were accessible without a permit. More storms were rolling in. So we had a choice to make and we chose to move on to more familiar (and dry) territory – Death Valley. On the way out of the area we stopped by some nice pictographs that the Grand Staircase volunteer had told us about – the Ooga Booga man was pretty darn awesome.

We drove west through Las Vegas, going through a couple of big storms along the way, and continued on to our favorite spot in southern Death Valley. By shortly after sunset we were set up in “The Cabin”, dry and cozy in our desert vacation home.

Next: Lemoigne Canyon in Death Valley

Links:

All photos from The Nautilus, Toadstool Hoodoos, and Pictographs

Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley, and Navajo National Monument

Having survived the rainy night we awoke to grey but dry skies and packed up the truck in between photos of the stunning terrain that surrounded us. Valley of the Gods is BLM land and a great place to experience the beauty of Southern Utah without all the restrictions and regulations of National Park Land. Driving out, we wound our way through the red rock buttes before hitting pavement, having to cross a small stream that hadn’t been there the evening before when we drove in.

As we headed south towards Monument Valley we made a couple of side trips. Only a few miles off the road is Goosenecks State Park, essentially a bluff-top parking area with a famous view of the goosenecks in the San Juan River. There was a whole tour bus that had camped there the previous night so suddenly the paste-like mud we had dealt with in Valley of the Gods didn’t seem so bad (Goosenecks was my backup spot).

A few photos later and we were back on the road, passing through the small town of Mexican Hat, UT (named for the nearby upside-down sombrero shaped rock) and shortly crossing into Navajo Territory. Along the way a familiar view came into sight – you may remember this from Forrest Gump and any number of other movies/car commercials.

After a breakfast stop at Gouldings (a hotel/giftshop/RV park and the *only* thing in the area) we drove into Monument Valley. $5 is the entry fee and National Park Passes are not accepted (it is a Navajo Tribal Park). The skies were a bit dull for photography so we decided to do the short hike (the Wildcat Trail) around the famous western Mitten Butte. It’s the only hiking trail in the park and the only place you are allowed to hike without a guide. We enjoyed our tour through the desert including our interactions with wild horses and reservation dogs.

Following the hike we drove a few miles in on the dirt park road to check the views from some different angles. Sprinkled among the turnouts are wild horses, more wandering reservation dogs, vendors selling jewelry, navajo tacos, and services like getting your photo taken on top of a horse. I enjoyed our visit to the park – seeing that classic view in person was great. I just wish the light was better for photography.

Reservation Dogs begging tourists for treats

After the morning at Monument Valley we continued west and took a short side trip into Navajo National Monument. It was icy cold but we did the short hike to the viewpoint of the ruins in the canyon below. I would love to come back and do one of the guided tour hikes into the actual ruins – they looked incredible. There were tools and baskets, and from a distance it looked like they were abandoned yesterday. After a short visit we continued west towards our destination for the night – Paria Canyon/Grand Staircase Escalante.

Betatakin Ruins, Navajo National Monument

The weather still was not cooperating. Once we got back into cell phone signal range I pulled up the radar. Big splotches of storms covered the area over our intended campsite for the night with no end in sight. I was still soaked and muddy from the previous night. We had planned on stopping for a shower in Page, AZ anyways, so that turned into “let’s just get a cheap hotel and dry out”. An hour later we were snug and dry in the Rodeway Inn, in the second to last available room in town (overheard the clerk on the phone with another hotel: “Just filled our last room, I think Motel 6 has one or two rooms left.”) We listened to some big storms roll through and were glad we weren’t out there. Normally I’ll just suck it up but we hadn’t had a shower since Denver – it was time to stop, dry out, warm up, and regroup. And also to have some BBQ and beer for dinner. Mmm.

Next Stop: Grand Staircase Escalante, Paria Canyon, and THE WAVE!

Links:

Photos from Navajo Territory

Monument Valley Wildcat Trail

Canyonlands and Natural Bridges

Our weather luck was wearing out. We had hiked through a brief but annoying thunderstorm on our visit to Landscape Arch and the skies were not looking any better as we drove towards the Needles District of Canyonlands National Park. Canyonlands has several ‘Districts’ and the Needles one was the most convenient for us, therefore we decided to head in and do a bit of sightseeing.

Along the way we made the short stop at Newspaper Rock, a large panel that holds over 2000 years worth of rock art. As native groups passed through the area they added to the panel and it’s interesting to see the evolving sophistication of the figures. We spent a while studying the panel – I think my favorite pieces were the elk hunter and the buffalo.

Slickrock Trail, Canyonlands National Park

Despite the threatening skies we wanted to get out on some kind of hike or drive. The 4WD roads were not tempting at all due to reports of much quicksand, and we wanted to avoid anything canyon-ey due to the rain, so we picked the Slickrock Trail, a ~3 mile interpretive loop with big views.

At the trailhead we were greeted by a local, then we took off with our rain gear and cameras in tow. We managed to avoid any rainfall on us, but we got to watch an impressive storm move through the buttes in the distance. It made for a great hike and we really enjoyed our visit into this tiny corner of Canyonlands. I’d love to come back and spend more time exploring this and the other districts.

Slickrock Trail Views, Canyonlands National Park

Distant Storms, Canyonlands National Park

Natural Bridges, Moki Dugway, and Valley of the Gods

After our Canyonlands visit we continued south and visited Natural Bridges National Monument. This is a really small park that features some rock formations and ancestral Pueblo ruins. As we approached the park the skies got darker and storms loomed overhead. We made the quick touristy drive with stops to catch the view points, then would retreat to the warm dry safety of the truck. In the midst of the drive we were treated to a gorgeous rainbow, a nice way to break up the storms!

From here we headed south on 261 through one of the scariest storms I’ve experienced. It wasn’t much bigger than mid-west thunderstorms I’ve been through but I felt like our truck was way too exposed compared to the flat mesa-top we were driving on. There was no where to go except FAST down 261 in the opposite direction of the storm’s movement. After a few scary storm moments we reached the edge of the mesa and began to drop to the valley below via Moki Dugway.

Rearview Mirror view of what we just drove through

Moki Dugway is a steep, unpaved set of switchbacks that steeply go from the top of the mesa to the valley below, dropping 1100 feet in 3 miles. I was looking forward to this fun and scenic road when planning the trip, but approaching it in a pounding storm with flooding was not as exciting. Once on the descent I realized it wasn’t so bad compared to so many roads I’ve driven in the mountains and deserts of California, but the torrential rain introduced an element of excitement. Though wide and graded for passenger cars, running washouts kept us on our toes.

At the bottom of the Dugway we turned into Valley of the Gods, a beautiful piece of BLM land sometimes called the mini Monument Valley. We planned on camping somewhere in this area overnight but less than a mile down the dirt road we were stopped by washout. A really big running washout. So we went back to pavement and connected to 163 and the east entrance to Valley of the Gods. From here we were able to drive in and find a lovely campsite for the night.

Dead End! Rapidly running washout in Valley of the Gods

The rain held just long enough for us to get settled in, get a fire going, and cook some dinner. Unfortunately the relentless rain started again and we curled up in the back of our truck under the lid to stay warm and dry. And I discovered something awful about this part of the country. The beautiful fine red dirt and rock turns to paste when it gets wet. It caked my shoes, the back of the truck, and anything else it could get on. It’s two months later and I’m still finding it everywhere.

Next up: Monument Valley and Navajo National Monument

All photos from Canyonlands, Natural Bridges

Slickrock Trail, Canyonlands National Park

Arches National Park Part 1: Park Blvd, Dinosaur Tracks, and The Windows Section

We only had 24 hours to spend in Arches National Park and I wanted to make the best of it. The first half of the day was spend exploring the southern half of the park, where we strolled Park Boulevard, 4×4′d to some dinosaur tracks, and wandered some enormous arches in the Windows Section.

Park Boulevard

After a brief stop at the Visitor Center to pick up our pre-reserved Fiery Furnace tickets for an afternoon tour, we headed to the Park Boulevard area for a short and scenic stroll among the towering red rock formations. The clouds were rolling in (forecasted rain later in the day) making for some nice contrast in the blue sky against the red rock.

The scenery wasn’t just in macro format. The patterns and erosion in the rock beneath our feet were just as fascinating.

Park Boulevard, Arches National Park Map

Dinosaur Tracks

Just outside the park boundary are some dinosaur tracks. The Willow Flats road is rough dirt and rock but the Tundra had no problems. It’s neat to see the footprints as the critter ran across the land 165 million years ago. This side trip was definitely worth it, even though it was mostly just hopping out of the car to take some pictures. A nice place to get away from the typical national park crowds.

My Big Feet next to the dinosaur's slightly larger feet

The Windows Section: Double Arch, Window Arches, Turret Arch

Back in the main part of the park we joined the crowds again in the Windows Section. This is an area with trails winding through clusters of rock formations and arches. We wandered and scrambled through them snapping photos and enjoying the beautiful day. As we hiked around the backside of Window Arches I noticed some neat smooth rock in the distance. Later, a close inspection of the photo I took revealed a distant Delicate Arch, our sunset destination that night. Cool!

Double/Window Arch Loop, Arches National Park Map

Garden of the Gods and Maroon Bells: Photos

After Rocky Mountain National Park we spent a few days in Boulder and Denver for the Great American Beer Festival. We spent a morning climbing at Flagstaff Mountain outside of Boulder, then headed to our hotel in Denver. The GABF festivities were in the afternoon and evening so Friday morning we decided to drive down to Colorado Springs to check out Garden of the Gods. While we didn’t have time to hike or climb we did enjoy the photographic opportunities.

Pikes Peak through Garden of the Gods formation

More Garden of the Gods Photos

After GABF we started our way back west via 70 with a detour over Independence Pass into Aspen. We were really fortunate to be there during peak fall colors so we decided to spend the time to take a shuttle bus into Maroon Bells to check out the scenery. I’m really glad we did. Although it was a cloudy and stormy day we really enjoyed photographing the beautiful colors with striking peaks in the background.

More Maroon Bells photos

From Maroon Bells and Aspen we headed back to 70 and continued west. Right around sunset we stopped at a BLM campground right along the Colorado River, just east of Moab. Tomorrow’s desintation: Arches National Park!

Rocky Mountain National Park: Green Meadow, Cub Lake, Flattop Mountain

Rocky Mountain National Park - Longs Peak

Now that I’m back from my Thanksgiving Trip it’s time to get back to blogging about the previous trip! I need to catch up…

We had set aside a couple of days to spend in Rocky Mountain National Park. The closest I’ve ever been to the Rockies is in an airplane so I was looking forward to spending some time in my favorite terrain: above 10k ft.

After spending the night in the lovely Grand Lake, CO we headed into the park via the West entrance and stopped briefly at the visitor’s center. It was quiet and empty and a ranger took his time to talk us through some ways we could spend the two days we had in the park. My original plans were focused around climbing Longs Peak on Day 2 but recent storms had left the upper part of the peak ice covered and dangerous. Instead, we decided to check out some different places in the park and look for wildlife and fall colors.

Our first stop was the Green Mountain trail. It was a lower elevation relatively easy hike that would take us by some meadows where we might see a moose or two. The ranger had recommended it as our best chance of a sighting for that time of day so we took off from the car with cameras in tow. Alas, the moose hid from us and all we got to see was some nice mountain terrain. Darn. (yes that was sarcastic).

High-Elevation (12k) elk along Trail Ridge Road

Since it was out first visit, we continued along Trail Ridge Road and did all the touristy stops and viewpoints. We saw tons of elk, pikas, and fall colors. It was beautiful and desolate and very different than my Sierra. I’m used to sharp granite terrain and high alpine meadows at 12k, not rolling gentle tundra. I was kind of surprised – my expectations of the Rockies being as dramatic as the Eastern Sierra were not met. However, it was quite beautiful in its own different way.

Tundra Trail, a 'tourist' trail at 11,000+ feet.

We made our way down to the Moraine Campground on the east side of the park by mid-afternoon. Many of the park’s campgrounds had closed the prior weekend for the winter season but we were able to book a decent site. It’s usually not our style to stay in busy campgrounds but it’s convenient to have a place reserved in a park where we’re not familiar with off-the-beaten-track alternates.

After settling in at our campsite we decided to spend the last few hours of daylight hiking the Cub Lake/Fern Canyon loop out of the campground. It was a beautiful loop with all kinds of bright fall colors. The surface of Cub Lake was blanketed in lily pads and ducks. On the return loop through Fern Canyon we walked by a really interesting looking cluster of boulders dusted with chalk – clearly a popular climbing place and I wish I’d brought my shoes.

As we were walking the final mile or so back to camp we heard the weirdest sounds – a whistling grunting noise. It took a few listens to determine that it was the elk herds in Moraine Meadows, rutting and making all kinds of commotion. Though it was quite entertaining they went all night and I had to put in my ear plugs to sleep through it.

The next morning we got up and drove to Bear Lake, a popular destination for fall colors. During much of the year they recommend a shuttle due to the overflowing parking, but we were there early enough that we got parking and headed off down the trail. Bear Lake was beautiful with its bright yellow aspens, but I really enjoyed the area once we got about 1/2 mile up the trail to Flattop Mountain. We left the tourons behind and had the trail mostly to ourselves all the way to the summit.

Pika on the Flattop Trail (click for larger)

The summit of Flattop is, well, flat. And kind of boring. But the hike offers great views of the surrounding peaks (including Longs), fall colors (amazing aspen groves throughout the first mile) and lots of wildlife (I saw more pikas than I could count). We wanted something that would occupy our morning and it was a perfect morning hike.

By afternoon we were on the road to Boulder to begin the middle segment of the roadtrip – the Great American Beer Festival (with some interesting non-beer daytrips – the next post)!

Calipidder

[kal-uh-pid-er] - noun: Free Range Backpacker, Climber, Runner, Gear Nerd

Colorado Road Trip Wrap-Up

Paria Canyon/Grand Staircase Escalante

Valley of the Gods, Monument Valley, and Navajo National Monument

Monument Valley Wildcat Trail

Canyonlands and Natural Bridges

Slickrock Trail, Canyonlands National Park

Natural Bridges, Moki Dugway, and Valley of the Gods

Links

All photos from Canyonlands, Natural Bridges

Slickrock Trail, Canyonlands National Park

Arches National Park Part 1: Park Blvd, Dinosaur Tracks, and The Windows Section

Park Boulevard

Park Boulevard, Arches National Park Map

Dinosaur Tracks

The Windows Section: Double Arch, Window Arches, Turret Arch

Links

Double/Window Arch Loop, Arches National Park Map

Garden of the Gods and Maroon Bells: Photos

More Garden of the Gods Photos

More Maroon Bells photos

Rocky Mountain National Park: Green Meadow, Cub Lake, Flattop Mountain

Links:

Green Mountain Trail, RMNP

Cub Lake Loop, RMNP

Flattop Peak, RMNP