spring16roadtrip

This morning I woke up at about 6AM on the Forest Service Road about 50 miles from the Grand Canyon.  I slowly made my way to the North Rim Entrance of the Grand Canyon for the seasonal Spring/Summer park opening at 8AM.  When I arrived around 7:00 AM, there was a line of about 30-40 cars at the main entrance.  By the time they started letting people in at 7:30 AM, the line was about a quarter of a mile long.

After entering the park, I drove to the visitors center for advice on “12-15 miles of hikes that would show me the best scenery in the park.”  The ranger suggested that I start hiking down into the canyon starting from North Kaibab Trailhead until reaching Roaring Springs.  The round trip would total about 9.4 miles, classified as strenuous, and an estimated hiking time of 6-9 hours.  These 9.4 miles were on the Rim-to-Rim trail, but we would an out-and-back hike. Additionally, she suggested that after the hike I can drive through the main roads of the park to Point Imperial and Cape Royal, which would take an additional 90 minutes total.

For the past day, I had been debating whether to hike the 24 mile Rim-to-Rim trail, which descends all the way to the Colorado River and back up to the opposite rim of the canyon.  Unfortunately, this would also have required a 4 hour car shuttle back to the starting point or retracing the 24 miles back to the starting point the next day.  Because of expensive hotels at the South Rim and the inconvenient shuttle schedule, I wasn’t able to hike Rim-to-Rim, and was therefore a bit disappointed during the beginning of the hike.  However, by the end of the hike I was exhausted after just 17 miles and was glad with the day hike.

About 4.7 miles into the hike at Roaring Springs, I hesitatingly decided to continue on lower into the canyon.  The reason I hesitated was because I was low on food and the visitors center highly recommends not hiking down past Roaring Springs because of the difficulty in completing a 10+ mile round trip, high temperatures, and elevation gain needed to return to the North Rim.  After Roaring Springs, the trail became a slightly downhill slope following a flowing river.  Hiking about 4 additional miles past Roaring Springs, I arrived at Ribbon Falls which made all the additional mileage worth it.  Ribbon Falls is accessible via 1/4 mile side trail and was an unexpectedly beautiful waterfall in the desert.  I spent about 30 minutes exploring the area under, around, and behind the falls and enjoyed the beautiful view.  After Ribbon Falls, I completed the round trip back to the North Rim, enjoying the physical/mental challenge.  The total hiking time was about 7.5 hours (from 8:30 AM until 4PM).

 

After the 17 mile hike, I proceeded to drive on the main road in the park to Point Imperial, the highest point in the park.  Point Imperial has beautiful views of the Canyon and also of the flat, green mesa on the opposite side of the canyon.

Between Point Imperial and Cape Royal, I stopped at Greenland lake, a glassy, shallow, muddy lake on the side of the road.

Another viewpoint between Point Imperial and Cape Royal was the Walhalla Delta.  Native Americans previously lived on a small delta inside the canyon, constantly moving between the delta to the rim at the beginning/end of each season.

The Last stop on the drive was Cape Royal.  According to the park ranger, Cape Royal is the only point on the North Rim where the Colorado River can be viewed.  Cape Royal consists of several viewpoints/lookout areas which can be accessed through a .8 mile round trip paved trail.  There is an arch/window through a rock formation ( named “Angel’s Window”) where the Colorado River can be seen through the window.

Another viewpoint from Cape Royal looks out to geological “temples,” land islands that are created through erosion of the surrounding land inside the canyon.

 

 

After visiting the North Rim, I started driving toward  Salt Lake City.  After about an hour, I became extremely tired and couldn’t continue driving.  At that point, I stopped at a gas station/motel, showered, and slept in the RV.

 

Recent songs heard on the radio:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S0x1yBiFiUw&w=420&h=315]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E58qLXBfLrs&w=560&h=315]

This morning I woke up at 6:30 AM in the Walmart parking lot in Page, AZ. An article I read yesterday mentioned that the best time to tour Antelope Canyon was between 11am and 3pm, when the sun would be shining into the canyon.  Therefore, I had about 4 hours to spend before driving to antelope canyon.  At about 7am, I drove a couple of miles to the Horseshoe Bend trailhead and hiked the bland .75 miles to the overlook (1.5 miles roundtrip).  At Horsheshoe Bend, the Colorado River curves at a 270 degree angle.  It’s a beautiful site and very similar to the viewpoint at Dead Horse Point State Park.  The river was at almost a standstill and barely looked to be moving, which likely has to do with the Glen Canyon Dam regulating the water flow a couple miles upstream.  At 7AM, there were only a couple of cars parked at the large trailhead parking lot, but when I passed the trailhead at about 10AM, the huge parking lot was completely filled and cars were even parked outside the parking lot on the side of the highway.

After Horsheshoe Bend, I still had a few more hours before 11am and decided to hike the Hanging Garden Trail, a 1 mile roundtrip trail that ends at a shaded rock wall with a garden growing underneath it.   Considering the dry/desert environment, the Hanging Garden was a unique /unexpected sight.

A couple miles down the highway was the entryway to a Lake Powell marina, lodge, and day-use area.  I was able to enter the recreation area for free because of the Interagency Annual Pass. This is probably an amazing vacation spot for a boater or for someone that has an interest in water sports.  About 50 miles from the Marina, there’s an arch named Natural Bridge, which is the largest Natural Bridge in the Southwestern US. The Bridge is only accessible via foot (multi-day backpacking trip) or boat ($90 Half-day tour).  It would be quite an adventure to rent a boat and navigate to Natural Bridge.

At the suggestion of a Lake Powell park ranger, I drove to Scenic View Drive in Page, where there’s a discrete turnoff and viewing area of the dam. After descending a few steps, the dam (upstream view) and the Colorado River (downstream view) were both visible with unobstructed, direct views.

Finally, at 10am I decided to just head over to the antelope canyon parking lot.  I ended up signing up for the 11AM Upper Antelope Canyon tour.  The tour was $48 including parking , which seemed really high to pay but I decided to go along with it anyway because of the thousands of 5 star reviews  on Trip Advisor.  The slot canyon is located on land that is owned by the Navajo Tribe.  Additionally, the tour is operated by local Navajo tribe members.  I couldn’t help but notice that the overwhelming majority of Navajo Tribe members were overweight. After conducting a google search, the Native American population has relatively high levels of obesity and diabetes (about 1.6x the national average) which is caused by the reasons describes in the following article:

http://www.foodsafetynews.com/2012/03/nutrition-a-pressing-concern-for-american-indians/

In the 10-person group, our tour guide was Clifford. Clifford introduced himself and began the tour. The tour started (and ended) with a 15 minute drive through a wide, dry river bed which ended at the slot canyon.  Unfortunately it was a cloudy day so we didn’t have an ideal experience (with sun rays shining into the canyon through the overhead openings) but it was still a beautiful canyon to walk through.  The tour was .25 miles each way through and out of the other end of the canyon (.5 miles roundtrip).  When we arrived at the other end of the canyon, Clifford talked about how piyote (a hallucinogenic drug) has been used in Navajo culture to enhance spiritual connections and prayer. He then proceeded to sing a historical Navajo song in the native language and then he pointed out that two of the parents in our tour group (who were approximately 60 years old) were “grandparents” and “old people.”  At first, I was taken aback and thought this came across as offensive/insensitive, but later on he explained that elders are highly respected in Navajo culture so he was actually complimenting them.

What I liked about the tour:

• Beautiful scenery
• Exposure to the Navajo culture
• Considerate/helpful guides

What I didn’t like about the tour:

• The beauty/nature was too commercialized and business-oriented.  There were probably 300 people by the slot canyons and it was very rushed/hurried with the primary intention of profiting (not as much people/experience oriented as I would have liked)
• There were too many tourists with cameras.  It seemed like everyone on the tour was solely concerned with taking selfies and photos for social media.  At every turn inside the canyon, the guide pointed out how we could take the best photos (“Chrome” setting, camera direction/angle, etc.). Of the  photos below, about the first half were taken in default setting and the second half were taken in “chrome setting.” Chrome setting displays more vibrant colors, especially in darker settings.  I don’t like the use of “chrome setting” because to the naked eye the colors don’t appear as vibrant as they do in the photos (hence, photos are misleading).  I’m not sure if this was the intention, but if the tour guides are photo-oriented because they know that these photos will create additional demand for their “one and only” tourist attraction, that’s genius of them. But after a few minutes it becomes annoying to feel like one in a herd of sheep that’s being rushed through a canyon while trying to take pictures to impress other people with.  During each one of the last 10 days, I’ve seen more awe-inspiring sights and views than on this tour.

After the tour, I drove toward North Rim, planning on stopping along the way at Vermillion Cliffs.  On the way, I drove over Navajo Bridge and stopped at the associated rest stop and visitor center. The original Navajo Bridge was built in the 1920s but was too narrow/weak for subsequent wider and heavier cars.  Therefore, a newer similarly-looking bridge was later built spanning the same gorge.  Now, the 1920s bridge is used as a pedestrian bridge and tourist attraction.

Questions for thought:

• Is it racist to say that Navajo culture is more primitve, non-advanced, and less intelligent than European/American/Middle Eastern culture during that same time periods?
• How much of the blame of Native American obesity is attributable to the Navajo people? How much is attributable to structural/ government reasons?  If I was a Modern-day Navajo would I have the same unhealthy eating habits/lifestyle? How much of our success can we really take credit for?
• How is technology (digital cameras/social media) changing our experiences of reality?  Are we living with a “social media perspective” (focused on making our experiences look cool in other people’s eyes)?  What are the downsides of living like this? How can I avoid this conceited, empty,unsairsfying way of life?

Afterwards, I drove toward the North Rim of the Grand Canyon.  The North Rim opens for the season tomorrow morning at 8am.  On the way, I stopped at a gas station/travel stop/motel/restaurant about 50 miles before the Grand Canyon. After a bout of excitement and considering hiking R2R, I decided to explore/hike around the North Rim tomorrow which I’really looking forward to.  Tonight, I’m parking and sleeping on a forest road about a mile off the highway.  It’s very quiet, surrounded by trees, and there’s not a person in sight.  The solitude reminds me a lot of backpacking the Tahoe rim trail and finding a place to sleep near the trail.  Free camping on government land is a well kept secret, huge money saver, and definitely something I’ll be taking more advantage of in the future.

Here are some songs I’ve heard on the radio recently:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w2CELiObPeQ&w=560&h=315]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-3m_V1XNPxA&w=560&h=315]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8F9LCu5PJU4&w=420&h=315]

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZ3fjQa5Hls&w=420&h=315]

This morning, I woke up in the Wal-Mart parking lot in Cedar City, UT and drove about an hour and a half to the visitor center in Zion National Park.  The park has an unique and efficient transportation system in which most of the park can only be accessed through National Park-operated shuttles.  There are plenty of parking spaces concentrated near the visitor center and in the small, tourist down immediately outside the National park.  At 15 minute intervals, these shuttles transport visitors between the different shuttle stops.  The benefits of this system are that traffic is greatly reduced, there is less need for huge parking lots in the middle of the beautiful areas of the park, and one-way hikes become much more convenient.

At the suggestion of a ranger at the visitor center, I hiked the following hikes:

1. Observation Point Trail from Weeping Rock Trailhead including a side-trail to access Hidden Canyon (10 miles roundtrip)
2. West Rim Trail from The Grotto Trailhead, AKA Angel’s Landing (5.5 miles roundtrip)
3. Kayenta Trail and Emeralds Pool Trail from The Grotto Trailhead (4 miles total)

Because I started the Observation Point Trail at the late time of 9AM, and also because of the large amounts of mileage I’ve been hiking over the past week, I doubted that I would be able to hike 20 miles today.  My doubts became even stronger as the first four miles of the Observation Point Trail and the first three miles of the Angels Landing hike had a lot of elevation gain.  Fortunately, I was able to hike the entire 20 miles and still felt great afterwards without any soreness or pain.  This might have been because of the thin barefoot-like shoes I’ve been wearing (rather than cushioned running shoes or hiking shoes) or it could have been that I was enjoying the scenery so much that I didn’t have time to focus on my legs and the work/pain they were going through.

 

On the way down from observation point, I took the side trail to hidden Canyon. Hidden Canyon is a relatively easy canyon but still requires some bouldering and cautious climbing. About 15 minutes into the canyon there is small arch along the canyon walls. At this point, I turn back and met back up with the observation point trail down to the trailhead.

After finishing the first hike, I took the shuttle bus one stop over to the grotto trailhead. From there I took the west rim Trail which followed the river before steeply ascending via many switchbacks. These switchbacks were particularly difficult in the 90 degree desert weather. Earlier in the day, I made the questionable decision of wearing a long sleeve shorts sweatshirt for the day. My justification was that this would relieve me from having to wear sunscreen on my arms. I regretted this decision throughout most of the day but stubbornly continued wearing my sweatshirt. A couple of miles into the Angels Landing hike, the conventional hike ends and the portion of the hike with metal handrails and cables begins. At first I was very cautious and concerned because the trail was being simultaneously used by both those going up and coming down, which was concerning due to the narrow and steep trail. At one point I was particularly scared as I realized I was on the wrong side of the railing close to a cliff drop.  Besides that, I didn’t realize that I passed the warned-about 2 to 3 feet wide portion until I was already at the top. Unlike hiking on flat terrain, when I was hiking on Angels Landing my mind couldn’t wander to mundane matters because I was too preoccupied with the height and the beautiful 360° views of the canyon below. I haven’t had that feeling in a while but that’s probably one of the reasons people are attracted to the extreme sports or activities with a little bit of danger.

After descending from Angels Landing, I started Emerald pools trail which also began from the grotto trailhead. After a mile, the trail reached the lower pools, followed by the middle pools and finally the upper pools. The upper pools were most interesting as they were surrounded by Cliff walls thousands of feet tall. At the upper pools, there was a very weak waterfall dripping from thousands of feet overhead onto the rocks at the upper pool. I walked around the rocks around the entire upper pool and even walked under the waterfall few seconds.

The middle pool was relatively uneventful and quiet, just a small quiet pool.

The lower pool was a cliff bowl/semi arch which had a couple of waterfalls flowing down its face.  After visiting the pools, I descended to the Zion Lodge, one shuttle stop over from the grotto trail. In front of the Zion lodge, there is a large grassy area with a single, large, prominent tree that invites people to relax and picnic underneath it. After a few minutes of relaxing under the tree, I caught the shuttle bus to the visitor center.

After leaving Zion national Park late in the afternoon, I headed toward Page, Arizona. Page is a resort town in northern Arizona which serves as a gateway to Lake Powell, The Grand Canyon, and many other local and regional nature attractionss. At the same time, page seems to be a hometown and base for the Navajo tribe. The Navajo tribe is the largest Native American in the United States, owning land in California, Arizona Nevada, Utah, and more.

Driving into town,  I passed by the Glen Canyon dam and the visitors center. It’s an inspiring site to look at the dam’s 700 foot high, slightly-sloping concrete walls controlling the flows of the Colorado River. Especially back in the day, this was a major engineering achievement and tourist attraction.  I wonder if the government regrets building some of these enormous dams due to the environmental damage and possible safety/catastrophe/terrorism possibilities. Are dams still being built today?  What is the future of dams? What is the role of dams?

Continuing a few more miles south, I noticed the bank-owned Page shopping center on the left hand side.  The shop space component (including the subway) is facing the highway and has great visibility.  This 10,000 SF portion can probably be worth $100/SF separately.  However, the anchor space provides a huge challenge/risk, especially for an out-of-state investor with no tenant in mind.  Considering the $3 million asking price, there isn’t nearly enough upside potential considering the risk and current situation.  Acquisition price for the entire property would need to be around $1-$1.5 million, and even for that price it would only work for a certain type of investor.

Last night, at the recommendation of a park ranger I parked the RV on a forest road a few minutes before the main entrance to Bryce National Park.  There were a few other RVs parking along the same road, but it was private, quiet, and free.

At about 6:30AM I woke up, and by 7AM I was already hiking the “Rim Trail” portion of the Fairyland Loop, an 8 mile loop showing many of the unique geological formations in the National Park.  The hike was relatively quiet but had stunning, scenery.  It’s interesting to think about all the erosion that has occurred over millions of years in creating the current landscape.  There are endless towers of earth hundreds of feet tall sticking out of the land below which have somehow escaped the erosion of the rest of the canyon/valley.  They probably haven’t escaped erosion and will eventually be eroded to nothing, but they have been protected for longer periods of time than their surroundings. It’s also interesting to see how the visible layers of sediments in the earth towers throughout the valley match the layers of sediments in the canyon walls that are at the same elevation.  This is evidence of the principle of horizontality and also shows that at one time in history this entire area was as even, level floor where sediments were uniformly deposited.

 

 

At about 10:15 AM, I completed the 8 mile loop at Sunrise Point.  Sunrise Point had beautiful views of the inner canyon.  Conveniently, Sunrise Point was also the starting point of “Figure-8 Loop,” another 9 mile hike in the shape of an “8,” which would be the next hike of the day.

 

After hiking over 17 miles, I had to walk 1 mile along the main highway inside the park back to where the RV was parked.  While walking along the side of the road, a National Park shuttle stopped and offered me a ride which was a welcome act of kindness considering how tired I was.

After arriving at the RV, I decided to drive the entire length of the main Road of the park to its end at Rainbow Point.

 

After driving back to the main entrance of the park, I drove to a northern portion of the National Park that’s only accessible through Highway 12.  The stop on the highway is the trailhead for the Mossy Cave Trail.  The trail is about .8 miles round trip and follows a small, grayish river up until reaching a modest 15-20 foot waterfall.  There’s also a side trail which leads to Mossy Cave, a cave which leaks water from the top of the cave and is protected from the sun.  These conditions are ideal for moss growth, which is growing in some parts of the cave.  During winter, the leaking water freezes thereby creating icicles (stalactite-like formations) frozen from the ceiling.

After visiting the cave, I drove about five miles to Ruby’s Campground and RV Park in Bryce Canyon City, where I used the non-time-limited shower facilities.   Afterwards, I began heading to Zion National Park via the 15 Freeway.  Because I’ve heard some snippets about Zion being extremely busy due to a race, I decided to stop in Cedar City, UT rather than driving too close to the National Park today.  Cedar City, UT is a predominantly Mormon town, where  a McDonald’s worker/high school student explains that there isn’t anything to do except hanging out in Walmart.  However, she became very excited and enthusiastic while discussing a Mormon Temple that is planned to be built in the City.

This morning I woke up at about 7 AM in Green River, Utah. From there, I drove about an hour and a half to Capitol Reef National Park.  Once again, I drove directly to the Visitors Center and asked the ranger for suggested hikes and attractions that would provide me with a comprehensive view of the park and about 10 miles of hiking.  The ranger suggested hiking Hickman Bridge Trailhead, a two mile hike consisting of an out and back from the trailhead leading to a 1 mile loop underneath Hickman Bridge arch. The hike was beautiful and started alongside the Fremont River before ascending to the arch.

 

 

The next suggestion was hiking a 7 mile trail loop (not including a 2.6 mile road walk to complete the loop) consisting of  Cohab Canyon Trail ->Cassidy Arch Trail -> Grand Wash Trail.  The hike was quiet and very scenic.  Since I wasn’t specifically looking out for an arch, I passed by Cassidy Arch without even realizing it.  About a mile after passing the arch,  a group in front of me was discussing the arch and I realized that I’d passed it.  I’ve seen so many arches in the past few days that it didn’t really bother me, though I would end up driving to a viewpoint of Cassidy Arch later on in the day.  The Cassidy Arch Trail eventually met up with the Grand Wash Trail, a completely flat passageway between towering rock walls on both sides.  Inside the wash, there were numerous signs warning of potential flash floods and warning hikers and drivers to stay out of the area if it looks like it might rain.  After about 30-45 minutes hiking in the wash, I arrived at Highway 24 and started walking the 2.6 miles on the road back to the Hickman Bridge Parking lot.  I stuck out my thumb hoping one of the passing cars would give me a ride, and eventually lucked out when a couple from the 7-mile loop trail recognized me and offered me a ride in the flatbed of the truck.  For the few minutes riding in the flatbed of the truck, I felt like Chris McCandless from Into the Wild on his hitchhiking adventures across the country.

 

 

The ranger’s next suggestion was visiting Petroglyph point, drawings/etchings on rock walls created by settlers in the area up to 1,000 years ago.  From 1952 until today, some of the drawings/etchings have been destroyed by rock falls.  If these drawings were naturally destroyed relatively recently, it’s interesting to think about how many of these drawings/etchings there were at the time that the settlers were living here.  Are we just looking at the remaining 1% of the original petroglyphs that have been preserved and protected from the elements due to their specific location on the rock walls that hasn’t been prone to as much weathering?

The historic town of Fruita is located inside the National Park and was inhabited by Mormon settlers in the late 1800s.  The oldest building in the area is the multi-purpose school building built in 1896, which was also used as a community center, dance hall, church, and more.  The building was surprisingly small, not more than 500 square feet, and housed the entire Fruita school system consisting of one teacher and about twenty students.

The next stop was Gifford Homestead, a small home/barn/yard that was inhabited by the Gifford Family up until the Government acquired the land for the national park.  The house is very cozy and has been beautifully restored, now serving as a gift shop which sells local salsa, homemade ice cream, homemade bread, and homemade pies.  In this area, people lived very modestly which may have been caused by their desert surroundings or their religion/values.  The people in Fruita built buildings based on necessity,functionality and practicality.

Next, I continued on the 20 mile round-trip “scenic drive” through the park.  This drive showed endless examples of the geological laws of Original Horizontality and Superposition.  The road was very narrow and I had to be careful, especially when passing cars on the opposite side of the road.

 

On the way out of the park, I stopped at Panorama Point.  Panorama point offers 360 degree, unobstructed views of typical terrain throughout the park.

After leaving the National Park, I merged onto Scenic Byway 12.  The byway was a beautiful road with many state parks, various access points to Grand Escalante National Monument, and beautiful scenery throughout the entire drive.  On a quiet portion of Highway 12, there was a unique coffee shop called Kiva Koffeehouse, which probably provided an amazing atmosphere and view. Unfortunately the coffee shop closed at 4:30PM, about an hour after I passed by it.  I continued driving to Bryce Canyon National Park, stopping at the visitor center for some hike suggestions for tomorrow.  Since May 6th, I’ve been to a different national park every day and it looks like this streak will continue until at least the day after tomorrow when I visit Zion National Park.

Last night, I was woken up by police officers banging on the door of the RV at 1AM while parked in a McDonalds Parking lot in Moab, UT.  The police officers were friendly and suggested that I drive out of the city limits and just park/sleep there.  Driving north on the highway, I found a convenient location to park at the intersection of Highway 191 and Highway 211, about 25 miles away from Canyonlands National Park.

This morning I woke up at the graded dirt parking lot on the corner of Highway 191 and Highway 211.  I was able to sleep until almost 9AM without any disruptions, which is much later than I expected to but it makes sense considering how exhausted I was last night. As soon as I woke up, I drove to Canyonlands National Park and stopped at the visitors centers to refill water and ask for suggestions of attractions/hikes in the park.

The ranger at the visitor center suggested that I drive through the park, while hiking 5-6 trails ranging from .5 miles to 1.5 miles each.  The first stop was Mesa Arch.  Mesa arch was a beautiful, low/wide arch, through which there was a beautiful, distant view of the valley below.

The next hike was a short .5 mile hike to the Gramary part of the Aztec Butte Trail.  The “Gramary” was a simple brick wall that enclosed a naturally occurring cave inside a hillside.  I’m not sure what exactly this shallow enclosed area could have been used for.  The only uses I can think of are for sleeping and storage.

The next hike was the first and second overlook of the Upheaval Dome trail.  At this point, the park started becoming monotonous and boring.  After already visiting Colorado National Monument and Arches National Park, the formations/nature in this park were less exciting and unique, especially for this stop/attraction.  One of the most exciting attractions in the park is the white rim Trail, a 100 mile dirt road on the canyon floor, 1400 feet below the main roads of the park.  Because the RV couldn’t handle the terrain, I was forced to stay on the main roads like most of the other visitors.

Grand View Point, the furthest stop from the Visitors Center, was probably the most exciting/interesting attraction in the park.  From Grand View Point Overlook and the hike, there is a beautiful view of the Colorado River Canyon and Monument Basin.  The hike was beautiful and was one of the highlights of the day.  Like Arches national Park, The popular trails in canyonlands national Park were very busy with European tourists.

After hiking the Grand View Trail, it was about 3PM and I was becoming a bit bored of the scenery at Canyonlands National Park.  I stopped by the Visitors Center and asked them whether it’s worthwhile hiking one of the several trails that descend 1400 feet and reach the bottom of the canyon. The alternative was to head to Dead Horse Point State Park at 3PM rather than 6PM.  Fortunately, I decided to head over to Dead Horse Point State Park at 3PM and ended up hiking 7 miles of hiking trails inside the State Park.  At the suggestion of the park ranger, I hiked the East Rim Trail to Dead Horse Point and returned back to the starting point via the West Rim Trail.  Additionally, I hiked several “out and back” side trails including Big Horn Overlook, which was in itself a very secluded 2.5 mile round trip in which I didn’t encounter anyone.  Throughout the 7 mile hike, there were extremely strong winds and a mostly cloudy sky, which was nice and helped keep me cool and comfortable.

I’m currently in Moab and debating whether to head south to Natural Bridges Monument/Glen Canyon Recreational Area or to head west to Capitol Reef National Park.

Eventually, I decided to drive toward Capitol reef national park, and am spending the night in Green River, UT about halfway there.  Tonight, I also showered at a truck stop which was surprisingly clean and convenient.  It was nice to be able to take a non-timed, private shower especially since I haven’t showered since Ouray Hot springs.

This morning I woke up at 6AM, spent a few hours at Starbucks, and then drove straight to Arches National Park. From 10:30 AM until 7:30 PM I was constantly hiking or driving throughout the park.  The park was very busy, evidenced by a 10-15 minute line for entering the park and the crowded attractions, trails, and rest areas in the park.  If it was this busy on Monday, I can’t imagine how busy it must have been last weekend or will be next weekend. The weather was beautiful from the beginning of the day, feeling like approximately 70-80 degrees. In total, I probably hiked around 15 miles and am completely satisfied and still overwhelmed by all the beauty I experienced today.

Unlike Colorado, my timing for visiting Utah turned out to be perfect.  The weather in early May is perfect, not too cold or hot.  The ideal weather is the reason why the park was so crowded on a Monday.

The first main trail I walked led to a beautiful set of two arches named “double arch.” It was simply breathtaking to view the arches and also interesting to think about how the arches formed.  Arches form when rainwater dissolves sandstone, leaving an arch figure, which will eventually collapse over time.  The erosion must have occurred over many, many years.

After the double arch trail, I walked across the parking lot to the trail for North Window Arch, South Window Arch, and Turret Arch.

 

One of the highlights of the day was hiking the Delicate Arch Trail, a three mile round trip to one of the most famous arches in the park.  The hike is very crowded and moderately strenuous, and it was surprising to see older people in their 60s-70s hiking the trail.  The hike starts with a continuous, moderate climb up a solid rock slope for about half a mile. This is a beautiful sight and was a fun experience considering how crowded the trail was and the excitement of all the people on the trail.

After 1.5 miles, the sight of the arch is awe-inspiring.  The “Delicate Arch” stands on its own without much extra support or reinforcement on both sides, much like the St Louis Arch.  Upon viewing the arch, the first thing that came to mind was that the arch on Utah’s license plate was modeled after this arch.

The most exciting part of the day was hiking the 7.2 mile loop trail which started from the Devil’s Garden Trailhead and connected to the Primitive trail which then connected back to Devil’s Garden Trailhead.  The main portion of the hike was packed with tourists and had many side-trips off the main trail to visit numerous arches.

At Partition Arch, I met two older women.  One was a retiree from Maine who was 6 months into a cross-country road trip.  The other was a middle-aged woman from Hubmoldt County, CA who was driving her 1970’s VW Camper Bus on a 2 month-long road trip.  The two women met in the Grand Canyon a couple of weeks ago and have remained in touch, traveling together on-and-off for the past couple of weeks.  They were kind enough to suggest hikes in Canyonlands and route modification suggestions.  Primarily, they suggested visiting Capitol Reef National Park immediately after Canyonlands.  I will look into their suggestion and consider modifying the route.

After “Landscape Arch” and even more so after the “Navajo/Partition Arch” Junction, the Primitive trail began.  The Primitive Trail is very lightly traveled. During the 90 minutes I spent on the Primitive Trail, I only saw a few people or about 5% of the amount of people on the main trails.  The Primitive Trail had many more backcountry characteristics such as hiking in washes, climbing steep surfaces, and following stacked rocks to determine the direction of the trail. The Primitive Trail was one of the main highlights of the day, and by the time I completed the trail it was around 7:30 PM and the sun was setting.

I’m very excited for all the upcoming National Parks I’ll be visting in the next week or two.

 

 

 

 

 

 

This morning I woke up in Montrose at 7AM and spent a few hours working at Starbucks.  At about 10AM I drove about 15 minutes to Black Canyon of Gunnison NP with low/average expectations.

Almost immediately, I was entranced by the awe-inspiring views.  The cliff walls throughout the park are primarily black with some lighter colors.  The surfaces of the cliff walls and rock formations are extremely jagged and steep.  Thousands of feet below the top of the cliff walls is the powerful Gunnison River which is continuing the process of eroding the canyon walls at a rate of one inch per century.  It was interesting to view such a unique, detailed, complex landscape and trying to grasp all the weather patterns and geological processes that have been occurring for millions of years to create today’s landscape.

In the early 1900s, the intimidating canyon was described by surveyors as “impenetrable.” Eventually, two willful explorers risked their lives and explored the entire river at the bottom of the canyon.

Today, I hiked Oak Flat Loop and Warner Point Nature Trail, which totaled about 3.5 miles.  Additionally, I stopped off at many of the lookout points and attractions along the main road.  During the hikes, the weather alternated between light snow, rain, and sunshine.  Hiking in snow is not nearly as bad I was imagining.  The snow doesn’t make your clothes wet and the temperature isn’t much different as when it’s raining.   However, when it’s raining my clothes become wet and uncomfortable.

 

After touring the main part of the park, I drove about 15 minutes on a narrow, steep road down to the Gunnison River.  The grade was about 16% and the maximum allowable vehicle size is 22 feet.  Considering that the RV is 19 feet, I was allowed to make the trip to the river, but I was still hesitant.  It wasn’t too difficult, just had to keep the car in 1st gear and steer the car without braking.

The portion of the Gunnison River that I accessed was an upper portion with a much more moderate, calm landscape.  About a mile before this portion of the Gunnison River, there is a dam and another structure that regulate water flow.  The dam holds back water for 6 miles upstream, and probably plays a major role in calming the flow of the river.

After visiting Gunnison NP, I drove about one hour to Colorado National Monument.   Seeing the word “monument” I thought I would be seeing a structure or single landscape dedicated to Colorado, which would take a maximum of one hour to enjoy and experience.  The Colorado National Monument was actually a relatively large national park, which could easily be a full day trip.

There is a main road named “Rim Road” which stretches 23 miles from one end of the park to the other.  Rim Road travels along steep cliffs/canyons with no guard rails or protection. This is not somewhere you’d want to lose focus or be distracted while driving.  While driving through the park, it came to mind that many people must have died by accidentally driving off the road.  While conducting a google search, I read a sad/disturbing article that Colorado National Monument is a commonly chosen place for suicide.  People choose to drive off cliffs, jump off cliffs, or even shoot themselves at the lookout areas (http://www.denverpost.com/ci_7739306).  Based on the article, there are about 12 attempted suicides each year, including 3 accomplished ones.  This is sad, but there isn’t much the park rangers can do.  If they put up warning signs or safety mechanisms, they can easily be overcome and may even attract additional attention to potential suicide victims.  These people are going through a lot and would just resort to another suicide method if this one wasn’t available.

Afterwards, I made the short drive to Grand Junction, CO, and am preparing for the upcoming Utah adventure.

This morning, I woke up around 7 AM in Cortez and drove to Mesa Verde NP.  It was a cloudy morning, but as I entered the park and ascended the Mesa it began snowing heavily.  The visibility was reduced significantly, but it was still beautiful watching the snow falling. This continued for about 30 minutes.

 

 

About 20 miles into the park, I stopped at the visitor center which offered numerous ranger-guided tours of the cliff dwellings.  Because the next ranger led tour began in one hour, I opted to just hike the Petroglyph Loop Trail, a 2.25 mile loop trail offering distant views of cave dwellings and overlooks of the canyons below.  My favorite part of the trail was the view from the cliffs overlooking the green canyons.  The solitude and vastness of the landscape was interesting to experience and take in.

 

 

 

 

 

After visiting Mesa Verde NP, I drove to Telluride.  The drive was very scenic with many rural, former-mining towns along the way.

 

Upon arriving in Telluride, I drove straight up the Main commercial corridor until it ended at a parking area below a mountain.  After asking a couple of hikers that were at the parking lot, I decided to hike the 4 mile roundtrip to Bridal Veil Falls.

 

Most of the homes in Telluride are older, well-maintained Victorian Homes.  I would’ve expected to see primarily log homes, but due to the age of these homes (early 1900s) it might not have been possible at the time. The Victorian homes were all very detailed with multiple-tone paint colors and detailed woodwork.

Also, I walked the main commercial corridor in Telluride.  I stopped by an electronics store and was fortunate to find a Macbook Air Replacement charger, although it costed almost $100.  I began talking to the person (Frank Strachan) working  at the store, who also happened to be a local real estate agent at Christie’s International.

We discussed the musical instrument store (business and real estate) for sale about a block away from the electronics store.  The store was approximately 1,000 SF ground floor condominium and was asking $650,000 for the real estate and $450,000 for the business.  Frank mentioned that average retail rents in the area are approximately $50/SF/year, but the musical instrument store was located on the part of Main Street which doesn’t receive much pedestrian traffic.  Here are some other interesting facts based on my conversation with Frank:

• The least-expensive home in Telluride is over $1 million
• Small commercial properties (approximately two-story 5,000 SF on 5,000 SF of land), sell for at least $4 million as fixer uppers
• There are major barriers to entry because people opted to protect the land below Telluride from development, which leads to major supply constraints.
• Cap rates in the area are between 3-5 depending on the property
• Vacation rentals can provide a lot of income in the Telluride area
• During the summer, the weather is an average of 70 degrees, and there are festivals almost every weekend

After Telluride, at Frank’s suggestion I decided to visit Ouray, a non-ski mountain town near Montrose.  Ouray has a main commercial corridor with local banks, speciality shops, and restaurants.

After reading a sign outside a restaurant I decided to visit Maggie’s restaurant, home of the “best burgers in town.” This ended up not being an exaggeration. I ordered a homemade Veggie Burger (with Swiss Cheese) at Maggie’s Restaurant which was amazing.  By design, the interior of the restaurant is scribbled/graffitied with writings by customers, which adds to the laid back, easy-going atmosphere.

After eating the Veggie Burger, I visited the Ouray Hot Springs, partially to take a shower and partially to enjoy the hot springs.  There were three separate pools ranging in temperature from approximately 50 degrees, 76 degrees, to 105 degrees.  Considering the weather was in the 40s, it felt amazing to be in the 76 degree and 105 degree pools.  The hot springs (and the whole city of Ouray) is surrounded by towering snow-covered, jagged Mountains which adds to the beauty and experience of the hot springs.

After chatting with a few people at the Hot Springs, I used the indoor showers and drove to Durango, CO.  I tried spending 4-5 hours at Mcdonalds/Denny’s to catch up on some work, but was very ineffective.  Morning time spent at Starbucks is much more productive because of the better atmosphere and better WIFI.

 

This morning, I woke up at around 7:30 am and immediately began walking toward the sand dunes.  By that time, the sun was already up so I wasn’t able to be on top of the sand dunes for sunrise.  It was a cloudy morning though, which helped shield me from the sun and heat.

The first step was to cross the river to the other side where the sand dunes were located.  Here is some information on how the sand dunes were formed. (https://www.nps.gov/grsa/learn/nature/sanddunes.htm)   At the suggestion of another hiker, I decided to take off my shoes for the entire hike including crossing the river.  Although the river was shallow, it was extremely cold and uncomfortable.  After crossing the river, I slowly climbed and then descended the sand dunes, which took approximately an hour.  It was a beautiful landscape, especially because of the vast dune landscape , views of the rockies, and views of the river.

 

Continuing along toward Durango, I stopped by a visitor center in South Fork, CO.  The volunteer at the visitor center explained that there’s a 20-mile scenic byway that extends to Creede (40 miles total).  Hearing that it was a “scenic byway” was enough to encourage me to make the trip.

The Scenic Byway rode along the Rio Grande River.  The drive was very beautiful, but not much more beautiful than than the other roads I’d been traveling on all day.  Upon arriving in Creede, I visited the underground mining museum (https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g33376-d524135-Reviews-Creede_Underground_Mining_Museum-Creede_Colorado.html).  The museum, adjacent community center, and adjacent fire station are all built into a mined mountainside.  The facilities were never an actual mine, but were rather mined in 1992 to create a museum/fire station/community center, and to educate the public about Creede’s history.  The temperature inside the mountainside was about 20 degrees colder than the outdoor temperature.  It was an interesting experience, but I wasn’t willing to spend 45 minutes listening to details about mining methods and processes.  After about 15 minutes, I just left to continue toward Durango.   On the way back to South Fork, I stopped to take pictures of the Rio Grande River and scenic surroundings.

Near Pagosa Springs, there was a road sign for an upcoming waterfall named Treasure Falls.  I hiked about 15 minutes to the falls, overlook, and mist deck.   On the mist deck, there was a constant mist created by strong impact of the waterfalls on the rocks below.

 

After hiking Treasure Falls, I continued another 30 minutes until Chimney Rock.  Unfortunately, access was still closed for winter but I was able to take a photo from the main road.

Upon arriving in Durango, I showered at the Durango Recreation Center.  Afterwards, I walked along the Animas River, which runs through the center of Durango.  It’s a wide, strong river which is lined by a River walk on one side and homes on the other side.  There were several pedestrian bridges spanning the river.  After walking along the river, I walked to Main Street, to the center of the Historical District.  The Historical District is a character-filled street retail area with historical hotels, restaurants, sporting good stores, and other specialty stores.

 

Main St ends at the historical Durango train station.  The train station was the main transportation hub for the 45 mile train ride between Durango and Silverton.

Nowadays, the train still operates between Durango and Silverton, primarily as a tourist attraction or leisure activity. The round-trip train ride takes approximately 9 hours. (3 hours each way plus 3 hours free time to spend in Silverton)

Shown in the picture below, a real estate developer named Mr. Fassbinder, acquired hundreds of acres at the edge of the Historical Durango city limits.  At the time, nobody thought that people would ever want to live on Mr. Fassbinder’s land.  But, as Durango grew over the years, the location of Fassbinder’s land (view of land shown in the picture directly across the river) became very central and is just a few blocks away from Downtown Durango.

After spending a few hours attempting to find somewhere to use my computer, I decided to just drive to Cortez, CO and spend the night there.  Cortez is just a few minutes from Mesa Verde National Park which I’d be visiting on Saturday.