Canyonlands National Park - Easter Weekend

It being Easter weekend, all the campsites were full at Canyonlands NP. Lucked out with the only private campground by the entrance. Good news is they have a shower ($3 p/p).  On Good Friday & Earth Day, we did a 14-mile jeep drive then hiked a bit to some cool canyons with the muddy Colorado River view. We then started a 3.5 hike to our overnight campsite for the next 2 nights. 

Even with a good purchased map and gps, we managed to make a wrong turn adding another mile. Lesson #9, don’t trust people even when they seem super confident. Poor Lisa and Greg had 47 lbs. bags and I only 25. We had to bring a ton of water in, as there’s not much out there. This is my only second back country hike and my longest.  Good practice for me and with pros but not sure how often I will be doing this in the future.  Our campsite was spacious and beautiful. The hike in was not too terrible.  We had to store all of our food and toiletries in dry bags and up a tree to keep from scavengers.

Our next day, we did a 4 mile one way hike to Druid Arch, which is different than the other arches we have seen.  But it was a scramble getting up to see it. On the way there’s a water spring we can filter, but Greg’s filter pump was not working. He had tables as a backup, which takes 4 hours to work and taste like chlorine. We then headed to do a 5-mile Central Park loop, which was neat. It was also rainy making it fun to climb up, down, over, and through the canyons with some tight squeezes while the rock cliffs tower over us. Got to camp by 3pm and I rested in the tent.

It was getting cold and raining off and on, so we retired to tent around 8pm. We awoke at 7am on Easter Sunday and packed up our wet gear in between the showers. I hardly hike in the rain and my backpack did not come with a rain cover. I realized how unprepared I was as I hike with wet sticky cold pants. You know it ain’t good when you are keeping your hands warm in a cold, wet soft pair of gloves.   

We managed well through the slick rocks and narrow muddy rivers forming on the trails. I can’t recall the last time I smiled when I saw a parking lot or as Lisa calls it car park. She’s been slowly reminding me the Aussie lingo, which has been nice after all these years. And off to wwoofing; farm work we go (more on that soon! Click here for more pix.

Arches National Park & Dead Horse State Park Utah

On Tues afternoon the campground in Arches NP was full with 52 sites. Luckily there were primitive campground spots ($10) close by on BLM area. Many of the closer in ones were full, but we found a huge, nice spot by the muddy river.  We did not plan to be here during Jeep week, but that’s what happened.

The first night we did a 3-mile hike to see the sunset at Delicate Arch. We brought some dinner and wine. The next day we did a 7.2-mile loop at Devil Garden to view 8 Arches up close. Sun is strong and hot, can’t imagine doing this in the summer. Then headed to the Windows section for more arches with small hikes

Back at camp, we had a nice soup veggie and chicken dinner and lite a fire as it was not windy. The stars came out quickly and it was cloud free. Looking at the sky, I though to meself, as one world goes to sleep, another awakens. I said aloud, this is like a real planetarium (yeah I am a city girl). Who needs TV when you got the real thing in front of you?

Wearing socks, shoes, bras, pants, and a hat most of the day and night, you really start appreciating wearing less clothes when possible. Fresh air and less constriction against the skin feels so great. Gradually wearing fewer clothes as it is warming up. 40 deg at night and 60 during the day is super warm for us. Now we are getting 75 during the day and I got tons of winter gear.

Another lesson learned, let’s just say when they predict 30% chance of rain and calling for 40 mph wind the next day, don’t leave anything out at camp. The wind woke us up around 1:30 am; by 2:15 we decided to pack up our sandy bags with Lisa as she was in the all weather tent. We quickly packed up the summer tent we were in before it broke. There’ was sand everywhere inside the tent, our bags, mouths, etc. Going to the jeep from the tent was painful on the eyes and so hard to see as the wind was picking up all the dust/dirt from the road. What a crazy, unpleasant night. I don’t think I ever had to do that before.

It calmed down by 4ish am I think. We dusted off and packed up then headed to Dead Horse State Park. Which is out of the way but a pretty spot and hoping for a chance to shower before going to Canyonlands NP. Unfortunately not all state parks have shows, lesson learned #??? Click here for more pix. 

Yuba State Park & Salt Lake City

The next day in Capitol Reef, we did a quick 3.5 loop hike called Chimney then north we headed. We stayed at Yuba State Park as an in between to Salt Lake City (SLC) and we lucked out with a campsite by the lake, surrounded by snow-capped mts. Very pretty place; even the bathrooms were amazing with a shower and warmish running water. Oh another thing I just remembered that I miss is cooking proper meals in a real kitchen and washing dishes in a sink vs. a plastic bucket. The bucket does the job for the most part; sometimes things are still soapy and a little grimy. But sux to have cold wet hands at night, which Greg has been enduring mostly.

                   

SLC was never a stop we had in mind, but we made some plan changes for two reasons. 1. Greg has to be back in Denver for a follow up surgery doc visit 6 weeks from surgery. it’s been 2 weeks now. 2. Greg’s friend Lisa got a plane ticket to SLC and will join us for a week camping at Canyon Lands NP & Arches NP. Then we will head out to an organic farm and vineyard for 2 weeks of wwoofing, which I am so stoked about, doing for my first time.  I will be writing a story about it for TIES, the ecotourism association that I am volunteering for while on the road. Man, can one stay busy while not working. So more on this later on.

I never thought I’d be in SLC. It is a fairly sized city, not as many high buildings as Denver. But it is so pretty with so many mts surrounding it. This is what I envisioned Boulder, CO would look like the way it was described to me so many yrs ago. I just had no clue there were so many ski mts in Utah! And the main library is a modern masterpiece.

We beat the rain on Sunday and got to do some touristy landmark walks in downtown (finally a day off from hiking). Wes and 3 of his roomies (recent college grads from the east coast) hosted us for two nights. They have a stable foosball table; was great to play so many well-paired games. I have not played so many games in one night in so long. Also went to see the movie Paul, which was good silly fun.

Tuesday morning, off to Arches NP then Canyon Lands NP till the 24th; no shower till Sunday and easter in the woods! Click here for more pix.

Capitol Reef NP, UT

One thing we have been noticing is the large RVS surrounding our small tent. I don’t blame people for wanting some small luxuries on a road trip, but these things are massive and often 600 sq ft just for two lazy peeps. They are so darn popular, there are hardly tents these days (I guess we are old school. They drag their SUVs or even at times hummers behind these RVs (no joke). Man, people must have money to literally burn on the gas. And then use more gas to run the generators to light their mobile homes up.

We did a 125-mile loop around the park and 6-miles off road 4 wheel driving (my first I believe). From hiking and driving over sandy rocks to driving up 3,000 feet to a cold snow mt top; man what a climate and landscape difference from CO to UT.

During our hikes here and at Natural Bridges NM, we hiked through streambeds, which is pretty cool to see canyons stand so high above us. At Capitol Reef we were the only hikers; it made the world seem to vast and quiet. Actually a handful of our hikes have been just us; it’s gonna be strange being around people in the busy summer season.

I also started missing and appreciating warm running water. My hands froze while trying to wash me face, but I am happy to still have good water accessible.  At camp, I noticed an older couple with the largest telescope I have ever seen. I went over there at night to take a look-see. I saw Saturn; it was pretty small but so amazing to see. I could not believe my eyes. Then we saw the moon, which was almost full and at 30x larger view. Gosh it was huge; even saw some of the craters on its edges. Also took a pix through the scope which came out pretty darn good. It was very tricky to shoot. Click here for pix.

Goblin Valley State Park, UT

On the drive to Goblin Valley State Park, one has to look out on the road for roaming cattle, which one did cross ahead of us. We stopped at Hanksville for gas and I noticed just across the road all these white formations like skeletons. It was Mike’s Auto Clinic Dinosaurs, very similar to Swetsville near Ft. Collins, CO.

 

We got rejected on a Wed night with 24 campsites at the state park. Luckily we were near Bureau Land Management (BLM,) so we camped for free, saving $16. Found a scenic site off the road actually. We found a kinda flat rock to set up the stove. At some point during the night, the wind was insanely howling while we were in our all weather-seasoned tent.

People often see our license plates, which consists of South Carolina at the back and a Canadian flag at the front. They ask us where we are headed, how long we’ve been on the road, etc.  At the trail head parking lot, after one of those brief encounters, a lady handed Greg a small piece of paper claiming that Mormon’s have all the answers we’ve been looking for. Finally, Jebus has saved me!

I forgot NPs don’t have showers, but Goblin Valley is a State Park, which was one reason we wanted to camp here. After the cool short hike into the valley, we snuck into the camp area for a quick and needed shower. We’ve been camping for 2 nights and my skin is slightly covered with sand and dust. We also knew we would not get a shower for the next two nights at Capitol Reef NP. Click here for more pix.

4 Corners, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, & Natural Bridges National Monument

Greg made us stop to take a cheesy photo at 4 corners, where CO, AZ, NM, and UT meet. Recently surveyors discovered that the 4 corner spot is 2,000 feet off! I guess they decided it is not worth relocating this set up.

Next stop, Monument Valley Navajo Tribal Park, on Indian Territory. We did the 17-mile drive loop to see different butte formations. We got an awesome tent view primitive site. It was a bit windy but warmer temps; even saw the sunrise the next day. We got a great sunny day to do a 3-mile loop hike around mitten rock. Saw the sunset around 7:45pm and stayed up past 10pm to see the stars come out. 

One thing I like about traveling, which you notice after camping constantly, is appreciating the little things in life. I always appreciated flush toilets, running water, and even hand soap, but now I appreciate non-windy days. Cooking and eating in the wind, is just no fun.

Natural Bridges National Monument was out next destination. The drive there was beautiful, leaving the buttes in AZ and entering more in UT.  We drove up a crazy windy road at 5 miles an hour and over this huge rocky valley. Did the 8.6-mile hike loop to see the three natural bridges. It was odd hiking in so much on sand vs. snow (from CO), Makes me slower going but at least we aint falling through the ground.

We ended at 4:30 pm so decided not to camp here and head 1.5 hrs. North to Goblin Valley State Park. Click here for pix.

More Hippy Towns and Amazing Dwellings in Mesa Verde NP

After leaving Orvis Hot Springs, we heard Ouray was a must-see town. Very picturesque with the mts so close by and trying to hold on to some of the Western roots. We then visited Telluride a hippy ski resort area. Ski season is over leaving these areas as a ghost town, but still worth a quick visit and grab a beer ad nachos at the Smugglers.

We headed SW to Cortez for a 2 night couch surf as it is very close to Mesa Verde NP. Camping is still closed there, but luckily they started the Cliff Dwellings tour a day before we got there. Finally had a sunny great day at a park. The dwellings were discovered in 1888 and it became a park in 1906. The dwellings dated back from AD 550-1300.

It was nice to be at a park before it gets crowded in the summer. Got to stop at all the overlooks and had the popular Petroglyph Point Trail 2.4 miles, round-trip with awesome views of the canyons. Click here for pix.