Author: Lisa

Not a lot to write about tonight!  This morning, I left the very unappealing Green River State Park (the first state park that I haven’t thought was fabulous), went to an RV park around the corner to do “water out” (the state park’s dump is “under construction” – not mentioned on their website), met Nanine at the Elgin Cemetery, and drove to the Provo Elks.

This Elks lodge is lovely – big, modern, and friendly.  During the afternoon, we walked to the mall next door and saw Oppenheimer.  Wow!!!  Powerful movie – well-made, great acting, very depressing.  Good thing the Elks bartender Marianne knows how to make a good Manhattan!  (Ha!  We’re drinking Manhattans at the Elks lodges we’re visiting…and Oppenheimer headed the Manhattan Project.  Coincidence??!!)

Elgin Cemetery

 

Provo Elks

 

 

Addie and Her Buddy

When planning this road trip, I knew I wanted to see Arches National Park. On my previous trip to Utah in May 2021, I explored the southern part of the state and saw Bryce, Zion, Kodachrome, Natural Bridges, Grand Staircase Escalante, and Capitol Reef.  This time, along with Four Corners, I decided to also go to Arches.  Nanine, having been to Arches a few times in the past, decided to head straight to our campsite for the night, Green River State Park.

The drive from our mountain top home of three nights, Grand Mesa National Forest, to Arches was lovely.  The change from the forest to the desert revealed multiple layers of geological wonders.  I took the long way to Arches, traveling along the Colorado River.  Beautiful!

Arches itself was… Okay, I admit it.  I was a bit underwhelmed.  I thought I’d see, you know, more ARCHES.  The red rocks, buttes, and hoodoos are terrific.  But they aren’t ARCHES.  Maybe if I ventured out for longer hikes, I would have seen more of them.  Given the 105 degree temperatures, though, I pulled off at scenic overlooks and walked around several of them. (Hey, I still got nearly 15,000 steps in!)

Regardless, I’m very happy I went to Arches.  The photos below capture some of the beauty.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With about 3,000 miles of trails and over 300 lakes in Grand Mesa National Forest, we decided to stay here for three days.

I’m loving the scenic hikes, gorgeous wildflowers, and abundant trees.

Here are my favorite photos from yesterday’s and today’s hikes.

If you’ve never visited Grand Mesa, I highly recommend it!  What a surprising treat!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We drove up…and up…and up to Grand Mesa National Forest, altitude 10,740 feet.

After checking with the Visitors Center and picking up printed maps, we tried first come, first served camping at Island Lake Campground. Given it’s Saturday of a summer weekend, we weren’t too surprised that only one spot was available. From there, we went a couple of miles up the road to the snow park. We’re boondocking here – at least for tonight if not for three nights. It’s a big level parking lot with another RV all set up – awning and chairs out, etc.

Having settled our rigs for the day, we hiked about seven miles around lakes, through tall trees, and surrounded by wildflowers! With late snow that only recently melted, blooming flowers decorated our trail.

 

 

 

 

 

Day trip today!

Nanine, Bossa, and I hopped into Addie to go to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park, which has been a national monument since 1933 and a national park since 1999.  Deep, steep, and narrow, Black Canyon provides amazing views without the crowds. 

The short trails off of the many scenic overlooks are dog-friendly, so we stopped at each overlook to enjoy the views.  After seeing the canyon from the top, we took the very steep road down to the river.  Addie, in first gear, did great on the steep drive – both up and down!

Photos from the top

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Gunnison River

 

Nanine took this time-lapse video while I drove on the STEEP road (click on the photo to see the video)

Today’s highlight?  Box Cañon Falls in Ouray! 

“Box Cañon Falls, Ouray’s own wonder of the world, is the culmination of Canyon Creek narrowing and spilling thousands of gallons a minute of water over the falls. At this most spectacular geological formation, the 285-foot waterfall plummets into a narrow quartzite canyon. The narrow rock walls tower over the falls by nearly 100 feet!” (https://www.visitouray.com/box-canyon-falls)

Today’s lowlight? The drive from Ouray to Montrose Elks – lots of construction traffic, and Montrose is nowhere near as beautiful as Ouray.  (However, they do have a terrific scoop ice cream shop!)

Box Cañon Falls Video (click the picture for a wild five second video)

Box Cañon Falls

 

 

 

Via Ferrata

 

Addie and Her Bigger Buddy

What a wonderful day in this fabulous town!

We started by hiking part of the perimeter trail to a waterfall.  Yes, I was in my happy place!  A forest trail to a waterfall: perfect!

Later, we wandered around town.  Of course, I found an ice cream shop – and indulged later in the day.  🙂

We also enjoyed soaking in the hot springs.  The city has five pools of varying temperatures.  It was a lovely way to spend an afternoon!

In the evening, we played BINGO at the Ouray Elks!  There were over 100 people playing!  So much fun, even if I didn’t win any of the ten games we played.

Emmett loves sloths!  This one was at the trailhead.

 

Along the trail…

 

 

WATERFALL!

 

The town of Ouray

 

 

 

Afternoon thunderstorm approaching

 

Hot Springs

 

Bingo at the Elks

Red rocks are a feast for my eyes. Mountains fill my soul.

Today, I loved the drive from Cortez to Ouray. Mountains, trees, streams. Perfect!

In Telluride, we wandered around the historic district before taking the free – and dog-friendly! – gondola up and over the mountain to the Mountain Village. There, we got off the gondola, looked around a bit, and returned to the historic area. The scenery from the gondola was AMAZING!

First view of Telluride while walking into town after parking our rigs on the outskirts of the historic district

 

The San Miguel River flowing through Telluride

 

Lots of water flowing down the mountain!

 

Nanine and Bossa enjoying the gondola ride.  To encourage Bossa to get into the gondola, I went in first, showed him a treat, and rewarded him with it when he was inside the gondola.

 

Approaching the first station – where we did not get off

 

Surprise!  I was focusing on the mountain and another gondola passed just when I clicked the shutter!

 

Approaching the Mountain Village, where we got off and on again

 

Another view of the Mountain Village

 

Can you find Addie and Nanine’s rig?

After yesterday’s long drive, today we decided to head to Durango for a day trip.  What a lovely day!  River walk, lunch, ice cream… Perfect!

My first view of the Animas River

 

At the skate park along the river, I captured this cyclist catching air

 

Nanine’s sweet pup Bossa appreciated cooling off in the river

 

Refreshing river view

 

Several rafts and kayaks moved downstream

 

This tree trunk “chose” to rest on a big rock

Today was a driving day – with one BIG STOP at Four Corners Monument.

When I visited the area two years ago, Four Corners was closed due to the pandemic.  Now with it being open, I absolutely wanted to see it.  I knew it was mainly a medallion and the idea is to touch all four states at the same time for the photo op.  What I wasn’t counting on: the heat!!!  It was 102 degrees when I touched the metal of the monument.  Ouch!!!

The METAL Medallion

 

Ouch!

 

Easier to touch with feet rather than hands!

 

Forewarned

Now that I’m retired, I am not a fan of getting my day going before 9:00 am. This way, I have plenty of time for my morning routine: Wordle, DuoLingo, Quordle, Quordle Daily Sequence, Connections, and Spelling Bee – preferably all before coffee and breakfast!

Today, though, I agreed to hike with Nanine and Bossa at 6:30 am. Why? Two big reasons. With temperatures forecasted to be in the 90s, it would allow us to hike in cooler weather. AND, I could photograph these amazing red rocks during golden hour, the hour after sunrise and the hour before sunset.

Our hike today didn’t disappoint! As you can tell from the photos, golden hour lighting provides its own magic.

Furthermore, the well-maintained and well-groomed trail made the five mile moderate hike enjoyable.

With gorgeous scenery, a comfortable campground, and a location close to Bryce Canyon National Park, I highly recommend Red Canyon Campground.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning, after doing “water in/water out” with Addie, I joined Nanine so we could check Red Canyon Campground in the Dixie National Forest. What a gem! It’s surrounded by red rocks, situated near green trees, and located next to the Red Canyon Bicycle Trail and multiple hiking trails. The only two “downsides”: limited cell service and no electricity. With temperatures in the 90s, it would be nice to plug in so I can use the air conditioner without running my very loud generator.

While Nanine picked up her sweet pooch, Bossa, I hopped on my bike, talked to the ranger at the Visitors Center, and rode the bike trail to Chevron for today’s ice cream treat. During the afternoon, I sat outside and read my book – until it was too hot even in the shade. Time to run my genny and turn on my a/c.

As it cooled off, Nanine popped out of her RV (she too was running her [much quieter] generator to use her a/c) and suggested a golden hour walk to snap photos. Taking a shortcut into the campground, we tried to avoid walking through a couple’s campground. Seeing us, though, Nectar and Pete invited us to sit with them, gave us VERY COLD and REFRESHING water, and shared their potato chips with us. Turns out, they are from New Zealand, quit their jobs (she is a nurse, he works in the film industry staging scenes), bought a camper van, and are exploring the US. Very fun chatting and sharing stories!

Here are a few of my favorite photographs from today. No, I am NOT getting bored of taking red rock pictures! 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was a normal hike!  Yes, there were areas exposed to the sun.  Yes, there were people on the trail (about a dozen other hikers – yesterday we saw NO ONE). And, yes, the uphill climb out of the canyon seemed relentless.  All in all: normal!

Speaking with the ranger yesterday after our Under the Rim hike, we decided – wisely! – to pivot and not do the second half of the Under the Rim Trail.  Instead, we picked the Fairyland Loop Trail, which meanders in the less-traveled (although well-maintained) second Bryce Amphitheater.  Something I learned: Bryce is not really a “canyon.”  From the National Park Service website, “This area is referred to as an ‘amphitheater’ as it is a bowl-shaped area shaped by the drainage of seasonal rains and melting snow (not truly a canyon, as those are shaped by flowing rivers).”

With amazing scenery, a clear trail, and some challenging elevation changes, this was a MUCH BETTER day than yesterday’s HIKE FROM HELL!

 

 

 

 

 

 

This was the HIKE FROM HELL. 

First a bit of background.  I’ve hiked with Nanine for many years, and I completely trust her, her judgment, and her knowledge of my capabilities.  So several months ago when she said, “Hey, Lisa, want to do the Under the Rim Trail at Bryce Canyon NP,” Without hesitation, I said, “Yes.” Her thought – which I agree with – is it would be a good training hike for our upcoming Grand Canyon Rim-to-Rim hike in October.  Similar length, similar elevation changes…

As time moved forward, we researched the trail.  It seems not many people hike the Under the Rim Trail, other than those who do it as a three-day backpacking trip. Hmmm…

We decided to break it into two days, about 12 miles the first day and 13 miles the second day.  BEST DECISION EVER! After shuttling RVs into place (Nanine has a 30 foot Class A, and I have Addie), we left Rainbow Point for what we thought would be a great 12 mile hike to Whiteman Connecting Trail.

WRONG!!!  The hike was GRUELING!  Although the scenery was Bryce Canyon magnificent, the trail was HORRIBLE!  It was washed out at points, not well-maintained, and nearly impossible to follow.  We butt-scooted into gullies, climbed up granite rocks, and traversed loose scree.  That was the worst. 

At Mile 8, there had been a landslide leaving scree uphill, scree downhill, and a very narrow scree-covered trail.  SCARY!  I hate scree!  Anyone who has ever hiked with me knows my fear of falling, especially when there’s scree.  Most of the time, Nanine is a ROCK – strong, confident, capable.  This time, though, she was even more scared than I.  With no alternative to moving forward, I had to be the strong one.  Using my hiking pole, I widened – by only a couple of inches – the trail and pushed some of the loose scree downhill.  Somehow, I figured out how to maneuver to the other side of the washed out section, about five feet away.  Then I talked Nanine through the process.  Soon afterward, we had another gnarly section without a strong foothold even while scooching on our butts.  Somehow, I managed to get through that and again guided Nanine to safety. 

With another nearly five miles to go, including a big uphill climb out of the canyon, we continued on the trail.  Adrenaline turned to endorphins…turning into our next BEST DECISION: We are NOT going to do the second half of this absolutely horrible trail!

The day started with a beautiful sunrise…

 

Photos of the canyon – when we were not avoiding hazards, scooching, climbing…

 

 

 

 

One shallow gully…other gullies were much deeper!

 

Nanine toward the start of the adventure

 

Nanine was quicker taking pics of me as I traversed the trail

 

 

 

Magnificent!  The hoodoos, red rocks, and cliffs of Bryce Canyon are absolutely magnificent!

Waking up a bit early, I wandered around red rocks on my way to one of the most gorgeous places I’ve ever been:  Bryce Canyon National Park!

Upon arriving at my campsite, I hopped on my bike so I could catch my first glimpse of the canyon during this trip (I was here in May 2021).  I know many more photos will come, but these are my favorites from today.

Engineering marvel on the highway to Bryce!

 

Bryce Canyon National Park