April 28 day 2 at Canyonlands Needles District. Got here
around 11am yesterday and the campground was already full so we had to
backtrack 5 miles to go to a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) developed campsite
a mile up a dirt road. Developed is a vault toilet, no water a fire ring and a
picnic table. It has 8 sites and we were fortunate to get one. In fact this is
the kind of campsite that if you drove by you would comment on how great a campsite
those campers had. We are very happy the National Park was full, this is a bit
of heaven. Check out our view. This is perfect for our setup and we could
survive here for many days.
It is forecast to be in the upper 30’s/low 40’s for our stay
and it hasn’t been much above 70 during the day. This is peak season for this
Park and it shows. This area is considered World Class for mountain bikers and
we’ve seen quite a few and heard many languages in 2 days. We did a 2.4 mile
trail today over slick rock and there were numerous awesome overlooks. It’s the
kind of place where you’re wowed every minute. We plan to do some shorter hikes
tomorrow. When I wake up tomorrow it will be my Birthday and I will have reached
a figure that seems significant, 60. Doesn’t seem to be.
The night sky is great but the Moon is about ½ and doesn’t
set until 2 or 3am so it’s interfering with stargazing here. There is zero
source of light pollution here, the nearest town is almost 50 miles away. The
moon was so bright last night there were crisp shadows and the time exposure I
took shows lots of detail on the ground along with stars.
April 29
Another great weather day. We did a hike to an old cowboy
line camp. Some of the overhang in these canyons make nice camps. Canyonlands
is a big park and much of it is
Accessible only by 4-wheel drive , horseback or by foot.
It’s divided up into 3 sections; Needles, The Maze and Island
in the Sky. The Green and Colorado
rivers meet in the Park and are what divide it. I ended my birthday with a
hamburger and baked potato on the grill then a campfire. What a wondrous place
to spend your birthday. This place is spiritually close to creation.
We did have another gotcha from the bike rack. When we
reached the National Park we noticed that the trailer bumper, on which the
spare tire and bike rack mount, had begun to tear away from the frame. It is
lightweight metal and should only hold the holding tanks drain hose, that got trapped in the bumper when the
tearing began. By the time we saw it the bikes were leaning about 45 degrees
and would have eventually met the pavement with the spare tire right behind.
I’ve freed the drain hose and all the items and their mountings have been
removed from the sh*t bumper. Said bumper has been chained and tied to the
frame as punishment for attempting to defect from the expedition. It will
remain that way indefinitely. End of story….?????????? But for sure another bullet dodged.
April 30
Arrived at Dead Horse Point State Park near Moab,
Utah. This
park is just a few miles from Canyonlands-
Island in the Sky and about 30 minutes
from Arches National Park.
Dead Horse Point overlooks the Colorado
River and its 2000 feet below you. The Colorado is just beginning its journey into
canyon country. You can drive on along it as it flows from Colorado
into eastern Utah which I did in the mid 90’s
but just after the river flows by Moab,
Utah the land
rises and the river cuts deeper. The views get even better when you enter
Canyonlands-Island in the Sky, the scenery is breathtaking.
May 1
We began our exploration of Arches with a hike to numerous
arches, Landscape being the main one. We saw more amazing rock formations. Utah
Rocks!
Day 3 May 3rd
Happy Birthday to my wife of 34 years. We hiked to Delicate
Arch, a 3 mile roundtrip with a portion going up a slab of rock that boggles
the mind and it’s frickin steep as well. The reward at the end is worth it and
more. Delicate Arch is a wonder and I imagine if the list of Wonders of the
World was ever expanded it would be considered. Linda said it was a Bday she
would never forget.
Today marks one month on the road. It hasn’t been like a
typical vacation there’s a lot more effort to it like setting up and packing up
the camper, cooking, cleaning, maintenance on things, etc and you find yourself
going to see more than you might think so your relax time like I’d do at home
is actually quite short. I’m hoping to find ways to make it easier and may
modify the trip to make sure I take the time to enjoy it as it was meant to be.
Tomorrow we head for Natural
Bridges National
Monument in southern Utah.
I hope we manage to get a campsite there. I hope to post this tonight when we
go into Moab
to celebrate Lindas Birthday.
I apologize for the lack of captions on the photos. I hope
to get enough online time to start adding some. To view the latest photos goto
https://picasaweb.google.com/103943218564105837637
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