Zion National Park - Day 1

Day: 13
Miles Travelled: 3,168
Miles Hiked: 41.1
Current Location: Virgin, UT

After snow in Canon City, hail at Black Canyon and rain in the desert our bad weather luck has finally broken. Today is mid-80s and very sunny. We did not think we were headed that way during the drive from Arches to Zion National Park. Kansas is still the most boring drive but this one was the most desolate. When I asked someone at the tourism office for directions to Zion National Park they said "Make sure your gas tank is full when you leave, there is a 100  + mile stretch on I-70 with absolutely nothing". They were not exaggerating. We drove 100 miles and I would estimate that we saw less than 20 cars during that time and zero buildings.

When we got near the park we found that every hotel / motel was full.  We eventually had to drive to the next town over to get a room. At that point we were not feeling good about finding an open campsite the next day but we found an absolute goldmine at a place called Zion River Resort in Virgin, Utah. This campground is nicer than some of the hotels we have stayed at. We set up the tent and headed to the park.

Zion is like Arches in terms of the geological features but it also has a lot of trees and other foliage as you can see in this landscape shot which has some green in it.

We did a relatively easy 4 mile hike to something called the Emerald Pools. The hike takes you to three pools, lower, middle and upper.  The middle pool was pretty boring but the upper pool was great as it featured this high waterfall.

From there we took a trail down to the lower pool. Here we are at one of the over-hangs on our way down the trail.

The best part of the lower pool was that you could walk behind the small waterfall falling from the middle pool above.

We ended the night with hog dogs and canned corn cooked over the campfire. We have become very proficient with our set up and breakdown of camp and also with our campfire cooking. We have been through some trying times on this trip but nothing has fazed us so far. Of course it is easy to keep a happy face on when you are having dinner in perfect weather with views like this on from our picnic table.

Click here for the full Zion Day 1 photo album

3,000 Mile Mark

At 12:39 AM EST on May 16th we hit the 3,000 mile mark for the trip.

Arches National Park - Day 2

Day: 12
Miles Travelled: 3,101
Miles Hiked: 37.3
Current Location: St. George, UT

After Corona Arch we went back to Arches. Our first goal was to go to Tower Arch which is off of a 7 mile "unimproved" road. Some of the park brochures indicated this was simply a dirt road so we figured we would give it a try.  After about 3 miles we decided to turn back because the road was so rough we felt like the truck was going to shake apart. In other circumstances we would have pushed on but with thousands of miles left to drive we thought it was best to take it easy on the truck.

After the failed drive we hiked several different trails totaling 10 miles which put us over 16 miles in two days. The most difficult of the trails led to Delicate Arch which is the most famous of the arches and is featured on Utah's license plate. The arch was incredible but it was swarming with people which made getting a good picture somewhat difficult. Here is LD and I under the arch.

There are not a lot of large animals in the park but there are some interesting birds, insects and lizards like this one.

Many of the trails go directly through the arches themselves which provide a chance for some simple to moderate rock climbing...

... or a chance to relax and have a snack and soak in all the scenery.

On of the most amazing features of the park is that you are in the desert surrounded by rock and sand and yet there are snow covered mountains all around you. The contrast makes for some breath-taking views.

Despite the fact that we had a camping reservation inside the park itself for Sunday we decided it was better to get on the road and try to use our extra day (from the cancelled rafting trip) to see Zion National Park. We left the park at dusk and headed west through Utah. Like the drive through Colorado, the views were great. We stopped at a place called Ghost Rock Canyon to watch the sunset before heading to St. George, Utah near Zion to find a motel.

Click here for the full Arches Day 2 photo album

Corona Arch

Day: 12
Miles Travelled: 2,699
Current Location: Moab, UT

We started today with a trip a little bit off the beaten path to see Corona arch which is not in the National Park. Our waitress told us about it at dinner last night. Supposedly someone flew a small plane through Corona one time but I have not been able to verify that.

The best part about Corona is that it is lesser know and there was almost no one there. Over the two hours we were there we only saw five or six people. The hike to the arch is nice with a lot of great wildlife, especially different kinds of desert flowers.

Here is the actual arch.

And to give you some idea of the scale here is a picture of LD and I sitting in front of the arch.

Click here for the full Corona Arch photo album

Arches National Park - Day 1

Day: 11
Miles Travelled: 2,682
Current Location: Moab, UT

You can't make this up. Today we drove to Moab, Utah to visit Arches National Park. Moab is in the desert yet it has rained the entire time we have been here. We had to go to several campgrounds before we found one with a vacancy. Around 4:30 PM we got our tent set up and headed to the park.

Arches is a series of geological formations formed over time by wind, water, erosion, etc. You might not know the park by name but you have definitely seen pictures at on time or another. This is one of the more famous arches called Landmark Arch, which at 290 feet is the longest stone arch in the world.

We drove into the deepest part of the park and did a 6.3 mile hike of an area known as Devil's Playground. We visited several different arches on this hike but the quality of the pictures was limited by the rain and overcast skies. Here is one of LD at Partition Arch.

We rushed through the last part of the trail because it was getting dark and as we got back to the car it started really pouring. Obviously the weather was a downer but it did yield some spectacular views of the sunset.

We walked to dinner in the pouring rain and had buffalo meat loaf and ribs. The rain finally stopped by the time we went to bed. Our waitress told us about a cool place called Corona Arch which is not in the park so that is where we are going to start our day tomorrow.

Click here for the full Arches Day 1 photo album

Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Day: 10
Miles Travelled: Too tired to go back to the car to look
Current Location: Montrose, CO

When we woke up this morning is was snowing again, not sticking but it was miserable enough to put the final dagger in the rafting plans. We hate to miss the rafting opportunity but on the positive side the guy gave us a full refund so the trip coffers are replenished a bit.

I am not sure what the best word or words are to describe the terrible drive we made through Kansas but whatever they are, I would use the opposite words to describe driving through Colorado. We put in a couple of hours this morning with one view after another like this one.

The bad luck from Canon City was quickly erased when we got back on the road. A few hours into the trip we stopped for gas at this country store.

The store was run by an older couple that had fishing and mountain climbing pictures all over the store. One photo at the counter was particularly impressive and the lady saw me admiring it. She told me that the picture was of her son climbing Painted Wall in Black Canyon. Her son and three others spent 8 days on the wall. On the last day the ran out of food and water but still made it to the top (the picture was also supported by a newspaper article). I was blown away and asked where Black Canyon was and she told us it was a National Park right down the road.  We decided to check it out. Here is a picture of Painted Wall which is more than 2,000 feet high.

Just seeing that would have made the trip worth it but there were 11 different observation posts with all kinds of different views. Here is one of the river that runs through the canyon.

We also did some great hiking along the finished trails and also through some unfinished ones that required some moderate rock climbing. We took the most adventurous route at each fork which led to some fantastic photos.

We saw a lot of animals, especially various types of birds, and we came across our best wildlife encounter yet which LD captured masterfully with this picture.

There was also a lot of interesting and unique (at least to anyone from the east) plant life.

And yes that is snow in the deer and flower pictures. By far the most amazing part of Black Canyon is the speed at which the weather changes. When we arrived it was 35 degrees and windy. A half hour into our first hike it was in the 50's and we were sweating like crazy. Shortly after that it started raining but then got sunny again. As we drove to the next observation post Laura pointed out a huge mass of clouds and said "I am pretty sure that is headed right towards us." It was and when we were at the next post we were caught in a terrible hail storm with driving winds. We pushed on to High Point (elevation 8,841 feet) and either the weather passed or we got above it because when we got to the peak it was sunny and warm and we had a beautiful view of the valley below. Of course, no weather collection would be complete without snow so on our way out of the park we stopped to take this picture.

An inch or two of snow accumulated in about 20 minutes. At the park we did about 6 or 7 miles of hiking so we were beat.  We left the park and got a hotel in the nearest town and ordered some takeout food. We have a few open days so we are not sure where we are headed before Arches National Park.

Click here for the full Black Canyon photo album

Royal Gorge

Day: 9
Miles Travelled: 2,233
Current Location: Canon City, CO

The temperatures last night dropped into the 20's which made for a long night in the tent. On top of that, the wind was howling which pretty much rendered the heater useless. So our first stop today was Wal-mart to pick up some new sleeping bags. We got one called the mummy for LD.  It is rated to 0 degrees and it is pretty much a double sleeping bag cocoon. If that does not work we are in trouble.

After shopping we went to Royal Gorge Park where the world's highest single span suspension bridge is located. The most exciting part about the bridge was when cars drove by as you were walking on it because the base is made of boards that practically come undone when a car goes by.

We also rode a tram across the gorge and walked around the park for a while. Then we went to ride something called the Sky Coaster.  It is basically a giant swing that shoots you out over the edge of the gorge. This is the ride itself:

It was one of the most exhilarating rides we have ever ridden. Unfortunately, we could not take any pictures of our own so here is another couple on the ride.

While the Sky Coaster was a hit, the rest of the park overall was kind of a bust. On our way back to the campground we drove along Skyline Drive. It is a one way, seven mile drive along roads like the one pictured below.

When we got back to the campground it was so windy that we were forced to hangout in the gameroom for a while to escape the weather. Once the wind died down we went back to our site to cook dinner and it soon started snowing. We ate dinner in the tent and went to bed hoping for a better day tomorrow. Despite today's difficulties, we are still having a blast and we even enjoyed the hardships a bit.

Click here for the full Royal Gorge photo album

Bad Luck

Day: 8
Miles Travelled: 2,171
Current Location: Canon City, CO

When we arrived in Canon City, CO we were hit with the first bad news of the trip. Due to unseasonally cold weather it looks like our whitewater rafting trip is going to be cancelled. LD's eyes were has big as saucers when the guide mentioned potential hypothermia as a reason for cancelling.  We are still hoping to get in a half day trip before we leave town but for now we are just going to make the most out of the campsite we booked here. We set up shop at the Royal View Campground and heated up the leftovers from last night's dinner.  Probably our best meal yet. After dinner we went for a late night walk around the campgrounds which was eerie because like in PA we are the only tenters here.

Click here for the full Royal View photo album

Pikes Peak, CO

Day: 8
Miles Travelled: 2,106
Current Location: Top of Pike's Peak
Current Elevation: 13,882 feet

After we checked out of the hotel we decided to drive to the top of Pike's Peak just north of Colorado Springs. Pikes Peak is one of a large group of mountains in Colorado with an elevation of greater than 14,000 feet. The drive to the top is 19 miles long. We were able to travel up 18.2 miles due to large snow drifts at the top of the peak. Laura and I agreed that this was the coolest thing we have seen on the trip so far. Here is the road as you head to the top.

The drive up is pretty intense as there are a lot of sharp turns and switch backs. Before you know it you are way above the cloud line with views like these:

The weather change is pretty dramatic on the drive up. When we left the hotel it was 44 degrees. By the time we reached the top it was 21 and extremely windy. This shot will give you an idea of what the winds were like at the top.

Another indicator of how cold the temps were was LD's reluctance to stray from the truck. This picture, with the window 3/4 down was as far as she made it on some of the tops. In all fairness she was a great sport and really toughed it out when she needed to. After all, it was FREEZING.

One last picture from Pike's Peak. The first image above shows how clear the road was on the way up the mountain.  To illustrate how quickly the weather can change, this one shows the same point in the road about an hour later.

It was hard too choose from all the great pictures we took at Pike's Peak so if you are interested in seeing more click here to see the full Pike's Peak photo album

First Audible

Day: 7
Miles Travelled: 2,056
Current Location: Colorado Springs, CO

Today we made our first deviation from the itinerary. We left Topeka, Kansas in the morning and began the one of the most boring drives I have ever taken. I-70 through Kansas is a straight line with no buildings,  rivers, streams, trees, turns or hills. Every few miles there are some cows and some windmills, that's it. To make matters worse it was pouring for the first three hours. For the second three hours a heavy fog rolled in and there was a tornado warning in effect. Basically 350 miles of this:

Maybe it was the weather breaking but things got a lot better when we hit Colorado. The speed limit went up to 75 mph and we began a gradual incline towards the mountains.  I'm not sure of the statistics but Colorado has to be one of the least densely populated states in the country. At times I am sure that there was not another human being within a 20 mile radius of us. Eventually the mountains came into view.

By this time it was late afternoon and we decided not to push on to our original destination of Canon City.  Instead, we called the GoogleMaster (Darrin) to help find a hotel in Colorado Springs. He used Priceline to find us a room at the Cheyenne Mountain Resort. LD took care of the booking over the phone and it turned out to be a jackpot. Below is the view from the balcony off the back of our room.

We spent an hour cleaning the truck and getting organized and then headed out for dinner. We ate at a great Mexican restaurant called Amanada's Fonda. The food was out of this world but the highlight was talking to the hostess after dinner. When we were leaving LD asked her what her name was and she replied "Tina, but everyone around here knows me as Big Hair Tina from up the road." We couldn't resist snapping a picture with her after that.

Click here for the full Day 7 photo album