The
Only 2020 Adventure???
It
is July. We had to get away from the insanity of the entire World losing
its ability to exercise common sense. On
March 11 we departed Reno for a long weekend in San Diego only to have it cut
short by the erratic decisions resulting from the Global COVID pandemic. We were patient. We were compassionate. We were understanding. But… it is ridiculous and being it obvious no-one really could demonstrate any inkling of reasonableness, we decided to hit the road.
The
planning began a couple months back in helping our very good friends, Brent and Kim Goff of Palisade Colorado, in spending a
week with Brent’s father (87), Neil, while they traveled to Alaska to see their oldest daughter (Neil was a second father to me upon the passing of my father Dale in 2000). Unfortunately, the World’s idiocy continued
at a fevered pace and Brent and his family were forced to cancel their trip.
So according to present nomenclature, Kim and I no longer had “essential” travel needs. Bull Shit!!!
Our plans were not only essential but critical to our mental well being
so we packed the Prius and drove away from Nevada where our adventure would
take us to Utah, then Colorado to visit our Goff Family, and then back again to
Utah, on to Arizona and then again to Utah and finally home. A wild road trip in the midst of wild times.
Departing
Reno on 30 June we headed to Delta Utah for a quick stay in a dilapidated Days
Inn; taking 409 disinfectant to its extreme, we cleaned the room.
Out
the door of Delta, we headed to the Moab area.
Arriving about noon, too early to check into our hotel, we hit the
Island in the Sky section of The Canyonlands National Park; Mesa Arch would be our first stop. First order of business was lunch and then
for a quick hike around the Mesa Arch area.
The Mesa Arch was not what we expected as it was very small but the views were spectacular.
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| The "Mesa Arch" looking east into the northern Canyonlands |
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| The Canyonlands as being formed by the Colorado River - looking South |
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| The Canyonlands as being formed by the Green River - looking South |
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| Looking east with the La Sal Mountains in the distance |
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| A closer view of the Colorado River doing its business |
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| Wonderful to be away from technology and realizing what is important! |
We
then dropped down to the Green River overlook and it offered more incredible
views of the Canyonlands. Interesting
note here is that the Green River headwaters emanate in Wyoming from the Mammoth, Minor, Sourdough and surrounding glaciers of the northern Wind River Mountains along the Continental Divide. Coincidentally, the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers is just a short distance south of where we took these photos, The Needles section of the Canyonlands; this is where we would adventure tomorrow.
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| The Green River |
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| Looking west from Dead Horse Point |
After
about 2 hours in Canyonlands, Island in the Sky section, we ventured back
toward Utah 191 and took a detour into Dead Horse Point State Park. Dead Horse State Park is another huge mesa
towering over the canyons below as cut by the Colorado and Green rivers.
How it got its name is that at the very end
of this “mesa” – the overlook where we took the photos below - is only about
100 meters in width and the “neck” as they call it leading up to the point is
only about 30 meters wide. History tells
that wild horses were driven right onto this point, across the neck, and then
corralled with makeshift fences of dead trees laid across the neck to block
them in. The wranglers would then select
the horses they wanted leaving the remaining horses to die as there was no
water or feed. Pretty shitty the things some
humans perpetrate and that Utah would name a state park after such horrible
human actions. But…look at what we are dealing with today; ignorance at the top has not
departed our World.
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| The "Neck" at Dead Horse Point |
Around 5 pm, we headed to our hotel in Moab to call it a day and
ready for tomorrows adventure into the Needles section of the Canyonlands for a
hike to the Druid Arch.
The
Fairfield Inn and Suites by Marriot in Moab was clean, professional and
appropriately staffed. Refreshing
considering the societal issues we presently are navigating. The only problem that I could see was again,
due to the existing loss of common sense, I would not be enjoying my "breakfast included" WAFFLES! NOW this “virus” idiocy is
really starting to piss me off!
But that aside, we woke at 0530 for the 85 mile drive out to the Druid
Arch trailhead located at the Elephant Hill parking lot (one of the mountainpeaks along this trail is called Elephant Hill) which is accessed by a really
nicely graded narrow dirt road. This is
the second time the Prius has made this run.
In
the winter of 2015 on a previous visit to Grand Junction, Kim and I stopped off
in Moab and tried the Druid Arch hike.
We got to within eyesight (Photo below) but could not get up to the arch
itself due to the fact that the temperature when we hit the trail was 22
degrees F and the ladder allowing hikers to access the Druid Arch was covered
in ice and the trail above the ladder was covered with snow and Ice so we
had to turn short of our objective; determined we knew we would come back.
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| Our view of the Druid Arch in 2015 |
Today
was different; a different extreme. 78 degrees F when we hit
the trail head – elevation of 5100 feet and 94 when we returned. No snow to stop us today. We left the trail head at 0815 and had a
great hike into the Canyonlands.
This
section of the Canyonlands, the Needles, is not the most visited. The reasons that you can surmise, it is an
85, 90-minute, drive south of Moab. You cannot
fully experience the Needles unless you get out of your vehicle and are
prepared to hike at least 3-miles along the well-established trails; which most
visitors are not.
5.5
miles and 2.5 hours later, above the ladder that turned us in 2015, we arrived
at about 5700 feet on the base of the Druid Arch. Incredible!
A treat for me personally was my immense pride in Kimble as this was her longest hike to date,
11 miles in total and 6 hours of hiking; the heat was over 90 degrees F for the
last 4 miles and 94 degrees plus for the last 2.5; she was not real happy with me at the terminus of our expedition. The heat was the reason we took over 3 hours to hike
out; stopping often where we could find shade to hydrate and cool down. We were zapped but proud of the
accomplishment and amazed at the sights we experienced.
Leaving
Moab on 3 July, we got to Palisade, Colorado around 11am to spend a few days
with our extended family, Brent and Kim Goff.
CLICK HERE to understand better
our connection
to our Palisade, Colorado family.
Our
July 4th day was an expedition up to the 10,000+ foot Grand Mesa
National Forest; the largest “mesa” in the United States at 65 miles wide and
over 100 miles long.
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| A view of Grand Junction, Colorado from 10,000 feet |
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| Hail at 10,500 and 39 degrees F! |
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| A very friendly little guy |
At the end of the day, we celebrated the 4th by having a pool party and enjoying the company of Neil, Brent and Kim Goff, along with their youngest daughter, Nicole and her husband, Caden Woods.
5
July started with a hike up to the top of Mt. Garfield overlooking Palisade and
Grand Junction. Brent and I hit the
trail at 0615 and due to the steepness spent 2 hours hiking up and 2.5 hours
hiking down; a great hike with great weather.
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| Hiking up |
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| Hiking up |
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A man overlooking his domain! Chief Appraiser for Mesa County Colorado.
He knows the land below. |
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| Cliff faces on way to summit in the background |
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| Friends for 45 years on the top |
In the afternoon, Kim and I took an ATV excursion up onto the western slope of the Grand Mesa and then returned for incredible Fish Tacos and another family meal at the Goff's!
Monday,
6 July, Kimble and I departed Palisade to begin our adventure home. Normally, we shoot right down I-70 and take
50 or I-80 back but this time, I had something a bit different planned; plans not shared with Kimble.
South of Grand Junction is Hwy-141 that takes
a south-west track and passes through Colorado’s towns of Gateway and Naturita;
then takes a due westerly route into Utah puts us out on 191 south of
Moab. Continuing south on 191, we were
headed to Blanding, Utah for the night.
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| Along the road. You did not have to travel far to see beauty. Looking back. |
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| Looking forward |
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| The Delores River with the Hanging Flume along the right side - look close you can see it. |
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| The Delores River from the road looking west |
Arriving about 1500 hours, we found a great little family owned motel; there was a Super 8 from “hell” but one look forced us to Google our options and we found the Stone Lizard Lodge. Amanda took our reservation and we found ourselves in a nice 3 bedroom, 2 bath apartment with great cleanliness, king sized beds and A/C. After a brief siesta, we found the one restaurant in town, Homestead Steakhouse, that was open, had dinner and returned to relax and prep for our continuing adventure the next day.
Tuesday
morning, 7 July, we were treated at the lodge to a great breakfast, hit the
grocery store for some supplies and then took 95 west to our first stop, the Butler
Wash Ruins, 14 miles into our journey.
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| Anasazi Cliff Dwellers once lived here over 700 years ago |
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| A close up of the main "Kiva" |
After
about an hour and a 1-mile walk, we continued west to Natural Bridges National
Monument. Here, there were three incredible
bridges and one Anasazi ruin site similar to the Butler Wash area so we entered
the Monument, saw that all fees were suspended and hit the one-way loop to hike
to all three Natural Bridges in the park
SIPAPU Bridge and hike - 1.8 miles round trip
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| On the way down - much cooler in the shade |
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| The Sipapu bridge |
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| On the way up - still in the shade...yay!!! |
OWACHOMO Bridge and stroll - 6/10 mile round trip
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| Owachomo Bridge |
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| Me on top! |
We
departed Natural Bridges about 2:30pm and headed south on 261 to visit the Moon House Ruins but it was 98 degrees F and I thought twice about venturing there for sake of self preservation. 261 took us off the
Cedar Mesa, via the Moki Dugway (yes…I suggest you click the link) and stopped for
the day about 1530 at the "Valley of the Gods" Bed and Breakfast; about the most remote BnB you could imagine that is completely off the grid. We sat on the front porch of our room,
enjoying the views of the valley toward the east, trying to pick out with our
binoculars the “highlighted” Buttes that we would see along our 17 mile
adventure along Valley of the Gods road tomorrow.
8
July we woke, and due to the idiocy of Global thinking, we made our own
breakfast at the BnB however, the owners did discount the price so that was
appreciated. We then hit the road for an air conditioned (Thanks Prius!) adventure
through the Valley of the Gods, Mexican Hat, Monument Valley and Gooseneck
State Park; leading us into Arizona for the briefest of moments but
nevertheless, it put the AZ into our adventure.
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| Our accommodations - A/C until 1900 hours - Totally off the grid! |
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| The outdoor kitchen area. |
VALLEY OF THE GODS - A 17-mile drive
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| Lady in the Bathtub |
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| Santa and Rudolph |
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| De Gaule and his Soldiers |
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| Battleship |
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| Franklin looking west |
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| Rooster |
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| Sitting Hen |
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| Seven Sailors |
9 July, we
made it to Ely at 1800 hours; departing Valley of the Gods at 0600 and
making several stops along the way. Now
the navigation went great, obviously as we made it to Ely, but we had to add a
couple extra highways; Utah 160 and the shortest highway in Nevada, 487; 11 highway navigation changes.
What
a great drive and day. Driving back up over the
Moki Dugway, we went back by Natural Bridges National Monument and realized
that the canyon structure lasted for about another 60 miles as we headed
west. Not sure if it was all the same or
connected but impressive just the same.
It was incredible and we stopped for breakfast just shy of Lake Powell
where the canyons ended, slowly dying off into Lake Powell and got a couple photos of these deep slot
canyons.
As
we continued west, the visual beauty Mother Nature so impressively created,
did not stop. We went through Capitol
Reef National Park, the Dixie National Forest (3 times), Escalante Grand
Staircase/Escalante National Monument. In Escalante we drove along “Hells Backbone” (really
intense) winding road on the ridge between two huge valleys and no guard rails. The we continued into Bryce Canyon National Park. We spent the most time in Bryce but enjoyed every
stop along the way, although brief as they may have been.
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| The Colorado coming into Lake Powell |
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| Looking West |
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| Capitol Reef State Park |
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| Escalante Grand Staircase |
BRYCE CANYON
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| "Hoo-Doos" up close |
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| More Hoo Doos |
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| A "Spire" on a growing Hoo Doo |
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| Yes...I love taking selfies and yes, my love tolerates it beautifully! |
The "eye-candy" did not stop for over 300 miles of our journey to Ely, NV. Southern Utah from the eastern border to Bryce Canyon was unbelievable and we were not able to hit everything; we will go back but when it is cooler! We highly recommend you take a road trip but exercise patience in your travels as stopping frequently along the way is vital to experiencing all there is to see here!
July
10 we awoke in Ely and made haste for Reno.
We arrived home at noon and looked at the odometer; 2547 total miles
driven and 897 from Valley of the Gods BnB to our front door. It was a mentally refreshing and mostly relaxing adventure getting
away from all the fake news and misinformation that our World is
experiencing; and believing! We hope you enjoy the
photos, as we always do, in sharing them.
The only 2020 Adventure? Not a chance. We are not stopping our life because of mass confusion and media created fear. Stay tuned, there is more ahead for Kim and myself.
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