I just got back from a three week road trip to see old friends. I drove 3723 miles in those three weeks.
First stop: Farewell Bend, OR where I camped overnight.
I drove by Craters of the Moon National Monument which I’ve been eyeing on the map as a destination for a while. Driving through the prairie/desert/fields along the southend of the Sawtooth Mountains, all of a sudden I saw black ahead. It almost looked as if there’d been a grasslands fire. Then up close I realized it’s the black of the lava fields which are Craters of the Moon.
I also drove by the Idaho National Laboratory which is a mysterious place out in the middle of the desert/prairie. I’m guessing something super-secret and related to nuclear energy happens there. The primary thing I noticed about this place was all the signs saying that I was under surveillance and to NOT go anywhere aside from driving on the road. I stopped to take a photo of one of the three buttes, also off limits.
Next stop: Yellowstone National Park. I camped outside the park and spent most of the day in the park. The night there was very cold, but the day was warm and beautiful after the fog burned off.
Next stop: The Grand Tetons. I camped at Gros Venture campground, the biggest campground I’ve ever been in. It was quite beautiful, with campsites under the cottonwoods that line the river.
The Tetons are stunning. Driving to the Tetons from Yellowstone there was that moment when I saw the Tetons from the same viewpoint where Ansel Adams took his iconic photograph. I stopped to photo the mountains, although the light wasn’t great, and there was smoke in the air from a wild fire:
I got up early the next morning to photo the Tetons at sunrise.
Next stop: I was planning to camp at Dinosaur National Monument but it was hot, dry, and there were no trees, so I kept going into eastern Colorado and camped at Yampa State Park which was lovely (no pics). Along the way, I drove through Flaming Gorge in Wyoming and Utah, which is quite amazing.
Coming down from Flaming Gorge (which is mostly at around 8,000 feet in elevation) there is a giant pit mine. I’m not sure what is being mined there. I wished I could have stopped to take a photo but I was on a very winding steep road with a camper van behind me so I opted not to stop.
Next stop: Estes Park, CO and the Rocky Mountain National Park. I stayed here a week with my friend Liz, and we hiked almost every day in Rocky Mountain National Park. The park is stunning, but very crowded, so Liz and I left early for our hikes so we could be on the trails first thing. On the way through the park, which took me up to 13,000 feet on the Trail Ridge Road, I stopped by the Colorado River Trail to see the Colorado River near its headwaters. The Colorado River is thousands of miles long, and its water is used by millions of people, used so much in fact, that by the time the Colorado River reaches the ocean, there is rarely any water left in it. So I had to see where the river begins (or, nearby anyway).
Our first hike was at Chasm Lake which is just below Long’s Peak. This hike was challenging for me because it began at 9500′ and went up to almost 12,000′. I rarely hike up to more than 6000′ at home so I was breathing hard! Note the size of people in the photographs to get a sense of the scale of the mountains here.
Our next hike was to Cub Lake. We’d been planning a different hike, but cancelled it because of rain and hail. Cub Lake turned out to be a beautiful hike and a nice respite after the previous day’s strenuous hike to Chasm Lake:
Next, we hiked up to another lake whose name is escaping me at the moment, and after reaching the lake, we decided to scramble up the boulders behind the lake to see if there is a tarn up at the next level… there wasn’t. But we had fun on the scramble.
And the next day we scrambled again, up to Shelf Lake and Lake Solitude. It was quite chilly that morning with a bit of ice on the trail and very cold up at the top by the lakes:
The Shelf Lake hike really wiped me out so the next day we did a much easier hike to a beautiful waterfall.
Next stop: Alamosa, Colorado, to visit my old friend Vinaya and her partner Jim. Their ranch is in the middle of a wide valley that is mostly ranching and agriculture. The day after I arrived, Jim and I drove to the mountains, to a beautiful valley, Conejos Canyon (Rabbit Canyon), so Jim could paint and I could hike. The aspen were absolutely stunning, putting on the best autumn color show I think I’ve ever seen so I took a lot of photos.
I left the next day to head for Utah, and stopped by the Great Sand Dunes National Park on the way. I’ve always wanted to go to this park, and especially so since the Trump administration has announced they will be drilling right next to the park soon, which will of course spoil the view (and the environment).
Next stop: Heber City, Utah and the Wasatch Range to visit my friend Lisa. The first hike we did was up to Blanca Lake, a beautiful but very steep hike (about 1000′ feet elevation gain per mile). It was worth it!
The next day we went to Sundance to hike up to Stewart Falls and check out the Sundance resort. I bought two new glasses made out of recycled glass.
And my last day, it rained. It was nice to just hang out with Lisa and we did a short walk along the Provo River.
Then a 15 hour marathon drive home; I made the last ferry home and was very glad to sleep in my own bed for the first time in three weeks.
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