A Little to the South

Today started with a 6:30am wakeup at Monarch Spur Campground in Poncha Springs CO. We ate breakfast and made a new friend while updating the blog at the campground picnic area.

We drove on route 50 for a few hours until reaching Black Canyon of the Gunnison

. The elevation dropped slightly and the temperature rose a bit during the trip. It was a beautiful day all around.

After visiting the visitor's center we made a quick lunch (daily PB&J of course) and decided to hike a 2 mile loop to some overlooks of the Black Canyon.

Byron thought I should add in the visual of what it looks like when I view a scenic overlook: linebacker stance with one foot posted against a ledge and a death grip on the fence while viewing some of the really steep ones.

I was hanging on to a post, stone wall or Byron for many of the views until I just couldn't look at any more. Something creepy about leaning over a 2000 foot drop with nothing but a 3-post fence to support you.

At least, I think so. Byron doesn't.

We then drove a 7-mile scenic route around the park and ended the visit with a trip down a steep, 5-mile switchback road to access the Gunnison River. The drive was mostly a 16% grade so it had to be driven in low gear to save the brakes. We got to feel the ice cold water of the river, snap a few pictures and head back up.

We ran into a slight delay on the way back out of the park.

Then we headed west for 5 more hours to Moab, Utah, mostly along route 50 and I-70W. This drive felt realllly long because I was going on 8 hours of driving for the day. Also, there are many exits into the desert which makes me wonder who really lives at these ghosttown places? But most exits said "no services" so we had to make sure we had enough fuel and snacks to last another 80-some odd miles.

Oh, and by the way I got sunburned on the left side of my body only from driving westward all day. But Byron didn't get any sun in the passenger seat. =]

We had an excellent dinner in celebration of Byron's birthday at the Moab Brewery within walking distance of our campsite. It was wonderful food and great atmosphere. (I got the blackened tilapia sandwich with onion rings and Byron picked the Southwest Chipotle Chicken Wrap with fries. We also had couple of Moab Brewery's finest microbrews- for me the Rocket Bike Wit and for Byron the Derailleur Ale). This was some of the best eating we've done in a while, but sorry I forgot to bring the camera.

We will be up early in the morning to visit Arches National Park and tour the nearby Canyonlands. Afterward it's the beginning of the looooong drive to Salt Lake City.

Time for bed, talk to you all tomorrow when we find some more WiFi.

Ciao, Sarah

More from the Rockies

We only spent a total of a day in Rocky Mnt. Nat. Park but we took over 400 pictures. we got tired of saying "Wow look at that" around every turn because every turn opened up a new view of some spectacular mountains.There are so many mountain streams with waterfalls we just couldn't take enough pictures. This stream ran right by our campground at Aspenglen.

We got up early Monday morning and took

a drive on a one-way road which is closed at least 7 months out of the year. It was a winding dirt road that hugged the side of the mountains.

We stopped about 7

miles into the drive to take a short hike on Chapin Pass. Right as we reached the end of the trail storm clouds moved in with rain and high winds.

We hurried back to the car and finished the drive up to the Alpine Visitors Center. Its the highest elevation visitors center in the whole national park system at over 12000ft. We got some info on a few last minute hikes before we left the park.

The last hike was a short one to see Adams Falls.

We did some exploring of the creek above Adams Falls where Sarah got a little too friendly with the creek.

And We're Off....

This will be a relatively short post until we can find a place with faster internet access. We promise to post more pics later-(We are currently using WiFi from an overcrowed Safeway in Breckenridge, CO ).

So we finally got on the road for our trip around

12:30PM on Saturday Aug 28th. Sarah picked up our ride on Friday. Day one started with a long

drive where we stopped at a Cabela's in Kansas

City to stretch our legs and admire the expansive gun library. After that short break we were back on the road until reaching an unnamed rest stop

in Kansas, where we slept for a few hours in the car.

We reached Estes Park, CO at noon on Sunday the 29th. From there, we headed straight to Rocky Mountain National Park. By that time, we had driven a total of 1200 miles!

We spent the first day doing a few short hikes, driving on some scenic roads for some great pics

and securing a campsite at Aspenglen campground in the north side of the park.

We made turkey burgers and baked beans on the grill for dinner, making sure we cleaned up

well afterward to keep animals away.

We have seen tons of beautiful wildlife so far.

After waking up at 6:30 on Monday morning and packing up the car, we hiked a few more short trails with weather ranging from cool and sunny in the morning to cold, windy and rainy by noon. Amazing what you experience at 12,000 feet elevation!

We are in the process of heading southeast to Gunnison, CO. More Rocky Mountain pics to come when we find reliable internet.

I'm Gonna Go Grab My Gear!!!

You may be asking yourself, "HOW CAN WE GET BACK ON THE RIGHT TRACK !?!?!?"

(As someone very new to the blogging world, I have decided to make a few posts before we leave to avoid any technical frustration during the trip. For a little inspiration, I have relied heavily upon renown motivational speaker Matt Foley. So far, so good! )

We are still tweaking a few plans for our upcoming roadtrip. Yesterday I mentioned wanting to visit Yosemite "along the way", which Byron reminded me really isn't along the way after all (because it's an extra 16 hr. drive to-and-from our original route). You see, the Cincinnati Bearcats are playing Fresno State on September 4th, and it would be the coolest, awesomest, bestest thing to see them play in California. Just not enough time. I'm sure we will raid a bar or hotel lobby showing ESPN that night, to show our loyal support for the Cats, whose games we rarely miss. But we will have a few extra days to spare should some other "shorter" last minute detours come up.

The focus for these next few days is making sure we are fully prepared and have all the supplies needed for backcountry camping, sightseeing and hiking throughout the national parks. Good news is we already have many of the items from previous trips, minus a few. We are still in need of:

~updated quality camera with greater than 8-photo capacity and 5 minutes battery life

~air mattress with less than 3 leaks, preferrably

~emergency crank radio that quadruples as a flashlight, toaster, harmonica, and rotating tie rack (see below).

Another recent concern is our need for bear spray. When Jack Hannah made the news recently for successfully fending off a bear attack I was rather alarmed. Even though he was in Glacier, Montana there are still many bear sightings in Yellowstone on a regular basis.

Such cuddly-looking creatures grazing around all day, but turn on a dime to charge you!

But despite all the fuss about bears, I am really MOST concerned about accidentally startling Sasquatch.

Forget the bear bells and pepper spray- we will be keeping some Jack Link's at arm's length at all times to fend off this dude ASAP!

In all reality, we will be plenty prepared for the trip. This is the best time to take a few weeks vacation before things get hectic again this year. And who knows the next time we will be able to spare 3 weeks and some extra greenbacks for a vacation such as this!

We have just over 2 weeks to get last-minute supplies in order. In fact, we may even over-pack a bit. It's worth jamming the car extra full just to rest assured that the pudgy pie iron is within reach and the smores kit is safely stowed, ready for immediate use. Because after all, we don't wanna be caught empty-handed messin' with Sasquatch!

Road Trip 2007- Grand Canyon and Beyond

In August 2007 six of us departed from Cincinnati for a 2 week journey across the Southwest. The highlight of the trip: a 3 day rim to rim hike from the South Rim to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.

From left: Doug, Brian, Fran, Sarah, Charlotte, Tom