1157 October 8, 2024 Escalante

It was a crisp and breezy autumn morning. I drove the Jeep to Torrey and walked about the town.

I tried to go back to the grocery for bananas and blueberries but I had no luck. When I got back to the campground, Tim was ready to roll.

In the 1930’s Boulder was a small isolated community. There was no road connecting it to Torrey. Supplies and mail were delivered via mule train. Often, by the time the milk arrived, it was butter! Today we took Highway 12, a scenic byway also called the Million Dollar Highway to Boulder. This road made a huge difference to the town.

This road is open range. There were cows and calves standing along the shoulder of the road of this steep and winding road. Ranchers have had range rights here for more than one hundred years. The legislature would like to change this but there is no legal recourse. By the end of October, the ranchers and their cowboys will have driven all of the cattle from the mountains.

Campgrounds and restaurants in Torrey will also close in the next two weeks as everyone hunkers down and prepares for winter.

The temperatures here have been in the 70’s and 80’s while we have been here. This is 15 degrees higher than average temperatures for this time of year. The owner of Etta Place who owns acres and acres of apple orchards, was worried that an abrupt change in temperature and a sudden frost would destroy next year’s apple harvest. This had happened before. Apparently trees do better with a gradual change.

We noticed that the aspen trees that were golden when we took this road the other day, now stand bare, especially near the summit.

Orange snow poles were being erected along the roadside today.

We drove past Boulder and into Grand Escalante National Monument. The road followed a ridge and we could see the blobby, rounded, red and white striped sandstone formations below on either side. There were lots of pinyon trees and scruffy vegetation.

After the ridge, the way was steep, 14% grade with sharp curves and we descended into and among the rocks.

We stopped several times to admire the view.

We arrived in Escalante around noon.

This afternoon, we went to the Escalante Interagency Visitor Center. We talked with a ranger who showed us maps and made some Jeep trail recommendations.

We found the Mercantile Natural Food Store and we had fun choosing some flax seed muffins and curry butternut squash soup. We both left with smoothies.

We went to the little community grocery store and we did find bananas and blueberries!

For dinner, we packed lettuce wraps and drove to the Escalante Petrified Forest State Park. We had originally intended to hike before dinner…but we were tired! We did walk to the wood alcove. his park is estimated to have 5 1/2 million tons of exposed petrified trees.

We went to see the 50 foot petrified tree. This tree is 150 million years old.

After eating, we went down to the reservoir.

Another good day!

1156 October 7, 2024 Grand Wash Hike

Instead of walking this morning, I did chores. I knew that we were planning to take a longer hike today.

We left around 10am and our first stop was at the Torrey Visitor Center. The guy working there was very knowledgeable. He helped us to find some possibilities in Grand Escalante. We left with lots of information and several maps.

We drove to the Grand Wash Trailhead. This is a popular hike and the parking area has been full every day. We easily found a place to park the Jeep. I was a little worried that the trail would be busy but it wasn’t like that at all. The trail follows a wash in the bottom of a deep canyon. The sandstone walls rise high on both sides. At the beginning it was more wide open and then as we walked, we passed through the section called the Narrows. It was a lovely hike and I thoroughly enjoyed it. We walked almost 2.5 miles to the split in the trail and then rested in the shade for awhile.

We headed back, soaking up the scenery. People passed us and we passed people but I never felt rushed or crowded.

Some last pictures of Capitol Reef.

We stopped at the grocery on our way back to the RV. We are uncertain what supplies we might be able to get in Escalante.

We spent the afternoon resting and then planning; looking at maps and googling trails.

This evening, after dinner, we went for a drive to watch the sunset. There were a lot of clouds which can make for a great show…or not!

Tonight, we drove west, away from Torrey watching the evening sky change.

Waxing crescent moon.

I may have told this story before but it is a favorite! Years ago, Tim and I went to a Bed and Breakfast in Onancock, Virginia. One day, we were driving aimlessly and it was driving me crazy! I wanted to know where we were going. In my experience, every trip or drive had a destination. I did not know how to wander. I am still not good at being the driver and wandering but over these many years and many miles, I have come to love just being taken. Tim is really good at spotting an interesting road. I believe that this shared wanderlust is what makes this crazy life work for us. It is exciting and thrilling and fun to explore new places and see new things and to experience all of this together!

1155 October 6, 2024 Sunday Drive

Just after we had settled for the night, we could hear a coyote howling from somewhere to the west and then a short time later, another yipping and howling to the east. The sky was so black and dark. There was no moon and the stars were dazzling.

We were up and drinking our coffee and watching the pink and lavender sky; waiting for the sunrise. The sun was shining on the cliffs.

The scenery as we drove through Long Canyon was stunning.

We stopped to do a short hike into a deep vertical cleft in the rock. Sound echoed off the walls. It was a spiritual moment for me to be in this place today.

Long Canyon far below as we climbed again.

The inside of the Jeep is really dusty. There are these small starburst patterns in the dust…not sure how or why…

Pictures from the last leg of the journey.

We have not seen too many predatory birds. Tim let me get out of the car and walk back down the road to get this picture!

Old barn.

We drove through Dixie National Forest. After so many days of rocks, it was nice to see trees! The aspen trees are golden; some are already bare.

We took a turn to drive down to the reservoir. The cows were out and about today.

We had our breakfast down by the water.

We got back to Torrey at around noon. We moved our RV back to a full hookup site and unpacked and cleaned and did laundry. Tim was able to follow the Ravens game and he watched the NASCAR race. We have one more day here in Torrey before we move on again.

1154 October 5, 2024 Loop the Fold

I had a very short walk in the campground this morning.  We were packing for our overnight and we needed to move the RV to a dry camping site before we could leave.

Today we began Loop the Fold.  This route is 125 miles; some on paved roads and some on dirt and gravel.  We left the campground with the Jeep loaded and turned onto Notom-Bullfrog Road.  The initial portion, took us through some scattered ranches and houses and alfalfa fields.  The Waterpocket Fold was to our west.  The Henry Mountains were to the east.

After about 16 miles, we reached a dirt road.

We stopped at the face of the Fold and had our breakfast.

Great tilted rocks jutted out of the ground, evidence of the violent rending and tearing that happened here when this great wrinkle was formed. 

We drove to the Surprise Canyon trailhead and hiked into the deep and narrow canyon; into the center of the Fold.  Little lizards darted across the path as we walked.  Most of the trail was sandy but there were places where we had to scramble up and over boulders.  A raven flew over us, his call echoing hauntingly off the canyon walls.  We met an older couple that was descending.  We chatted for a few minutes.  They recommended that we stop and see the Strike Valley Overlook.  We came to an unusually large boulder and to continue we needed to climb around it.  We had already hiked more than a mile and so we decided to turn back.  It was a great hike!

We drove up the Burr Trail Switchbacks.

We took the road to Upper Muley Twist Canyon.  We drove 3 miles on a rough 4WD trail.  It was a pretty ride.

We parked at the trailhead for Strike Valley and hiked about 20 minutes up to the top.  The view was incredible.  The Fold stretched in both directions for as far as we could see.

A shady spot in the canyon for lunch.

We drove the roads around the Fold, we hiked into a canyon into the Fold, we drove the switchbacks up and over the Fold, and then we walked to the top for an extensive view.  I would say that we explored the Waterpocket Fold of Capitol Reef National Park in as many different ways as we could!

We took Burr Trail Road out of the park and onto BLM land.  Here it was the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument.  It was after 3 in the afternoon.  We began to look for a place to camp for the night.  We pulled off onto a red dirt road and found a place with a view.  It was nice to relax with a glass of wine.  We enjoyed the peace and solitude as we watched the cliffs in the distance.

1153 October 4, 2024 Closing The Loop

We got up once during the night. There was no moon and so it was very dark. The stars were so brilliant and we could see the Milky Way.

Tim was up before the sun. I stayed in the tent until I was sure that the fire was started and the coffee was ready. I caught the sunrise as I had my coffee by the fire.

We packed up and drove just a short couple of miles to the next trailhead. We saw two trucks from the campground and there were lots of young people with gear. Tim asked them what they were working on. They were with ACE – American Conservation Experience. This is a nonprofit organization that provides experiences for young adults to work on public lands on environmental projects. This crew was charged with the collection of seeds from the blue grama or bouteloua gracilas plants. The goal is to harvest 10,000 seeds. There was a lot of science that went into figuring out where to harvest. They looked for the plants in areas with a certain soil type and moisture level. There was an abundance of these plants on this plateau. They cannot harvest seeds from more than 20% of the existing plants. The seeds will be used to reseed an area where the plants are not thriving.

Right across from the site where the crews were gathering seeds was the Cathedrals Trail. We climbed a short hill. As we came up over the knoll, we had our first closeup glimpses of the cathedrals.

Then we hiked along the cliff edge gradually climbing as we went along. We could see the huge cathedral monoliths in the bottom.

Toward the end, there was one last small rock formation in the valley.

The last part of the trail was another steep uphill with a wonderful view from the top!

We were on the valley floor and among the giants for our breakfast!

More evidence of volcanic activity. We learned that the magma bubbled up from cracks and fissures in the earth’s surface.

Gypsum sinkhole..

The large black rock formations are hard volcanic rock that is serving as a retaining wall. The lava rock also prevents the softer sedimentary rock from eroding.

The sharp lava fins erupting from the earth in the foreground looked liked the spine of a sleeping dragon.

Similarly, the black bands in this formation are thick lava sills.

We took the spur road to see Glass Mountain. This dome is comprised of selenite or moonstone crystals. This is an unusually large deposit. Geologists are not certain how much more might be beneath the ground. This was very cool!

This is Temple of the Sun.

Temple of the Moon.

Both temples have lost their hard caps and are now eroding quickly.

As we finished the loop, we passed many other different kinds of rocks…lots of rocks!

At the end of the trail was another sign…ROAD IMPASSABLE FOR MOST VEHICLES. We saw maybe 12-15 other vehicles out here. The road was in good condition. There were no rock obstacles or areas that required intense technical driving but crossing the river and then driving through deep sand and steep gullies and washes made it necessary to have the high clearance 4WD vehicle.

We repacked and organized our stuff and took nice long soapy showers. I felt like I had been rolled in red dust and it was good to get clean! This evening, we went into Torrey and found another Mexican food truck for our dinner. It was parked right next to the ice cream shop and so we had dessert.

We had a great time and we are ready for another overnight adventure. Tomorrow morning we will leave to explore the Loop The Fold Trail. We will spend the night out and return on Sunday.

1152 October 3, 2024 Cathedral Loop Trail

I took a walk in and around the campground.  It was really windy and cold and not that much fun!  This is our view though.

We came to Capitol Reef National Park with the goal of seeing Cathedral Valley after talking to a guy when we were camped in Dinosaur National Monument. 

Capitol Reef is a 90-mile fold in the Earth’s crust.  “For 200 million years layers of sediment formed.  About 75-35 million years ago, tectonic forces uplifted them, forming the Waterpocket Fold- North America’s longest monocline.”  Since then, wind and water erosion have shaped this landscape.  This information comes form the Cathedral Loop Road Guide that we used to find our way.

First, we packed the Jeep with food and lots of water and then filled with gas and then we turned off of Route 24 onto Hartnet Road.  The first thing we saw was a sign that read:  Road is Impassable to Most Vehicles.  This is Tim’s favorite kind of sign.  It keeps a lot of people out!  Yesterday, all the trailheads and pullouts and historic sites for the National Park were stuffed with people.  This dirt and gravel 4WD road would definitely be the road less traveled!

The guidebook encourages a clockwise loop.  This means that at the beginning of the trip there is a place to ford the Fremont River.  If you cannot cross the river, you should not go.  We had no trouble crossing but we were glad to have our Jeep!

After the river, we saw a grader moving in our direction.  Yay!  We had heard that there was a lot of gravel washboard road to traverse…this guy just made the road smooth!  Thank you, Mr. Operator!

There were lots of rocks!  The thing about this park is that it is incredibly geologically diverse.  It is very scientifically interesting.  There are lots of WOW rock formations but the thing that really gets me is the how and why.  How was this formed?  How did this get here?  What forces of nature conspired to create this?

Ranchers drilled a well for their livestock.  This is still an active well.  At this stop, we met two German guys.  They were traveling through in a rented Jeep.  I got to practice my German but it was quickly clear that I need lots of practice!  Fortunately for all of us, the guys spoke excellent English.  They may have given us ideas for a future adventure!

We passed through the Bentonite Hills.  Bentonite is a clay and when it is wet, it becomes extremely sticky and slick.  It makes the roads here impassable.  The sun was shining brightly on this day!

We took a spur road and then we turned back to get back on the loop.

At the Lower South Desert Overlook, we hiked ¼ mile to the viewpoint. 

We stopped again on a knoll for our breakfast.

Juniper bushes have blue “berries” that are actually drought resistant cones!

We hiked the 1-mile trail at Lower Cathedral Vally Overlook.  Most of the hike was across the scrubby desert and through a couple of washes.  The trail was marked by stone cairns.  Toward the end, there was a steep climb on loose rock up to the ridgeline.  Tim asked if I wanted to continue?!?  Yes!  We were almost there!  Tim was very patient as I carefully picked my way over the boulders and obstacles all the way up the incline. 

Why do we climb?   For this!  We had a beautiful view of the Temple of the Sun and the Temple of the moon in the valley below. 

Distance is so distorted here.  The visibility was perfect at 25 miles or greater.  You cannot appreciate the size of things until you are close!

Balanced rock.

We have seen lots of volcanic rock and lava flows but we have seen no volcanoes.

We took a spur road to the Upper Cathedral Vally Overlook.  We could see the huge cathedral-like monoliths.

At about 42 miles, we were at the high point of the Cathedral Loop and just beyond that, was the Cathedral Valley Campground.  There are just six first come-first serve sites.  They are free.  We didn’t get the one with the best view but we could walk through the trees and to the edge of the cliffs.

Pinyon tree.

We settled for the evening, enjoying some plum cider from Etta Place.  We could hear our neighbors but it was peaceful nonetheless.  After sunset, we had our campfire and listened to some Jack Johnson.  Nice!

1151 October 2, 2024 Torrey, Utah

I drove downtown for my morning walk and then met Tim at the gas station.  We filled the RV with diesel and then hooked up the Jeep to tow.

Today we left HRT Campground.  This is a newish place with lots of tiny houses for rent.  They have this one RV site that we were lucky enough to snag for the 6 days that we were in Moab.  The owner works really hard.  We saw him out and about early in the day and late at night.  His effort shows.  This was a great place to stay.  Tim and I always admire and appreciate hard workers!

No trip is ever complete without a trip to Arches National Park…but we did not go.  When we were here 5 years ago, it was not uncommon to see 100 cars waiting to get into the park…at any time of the day.  When we went, we got there at 5am.  We still found the parking lots and hiking trails crowded.  This year, the park implemented a timed entry system.  This seems to have alleviated the long waiting lines at the gate.  We did read that it could take 1 ½ hours to get to the first parking area.  That did not sound like fun!  We didn’t go.

We went north out of Moab on 191 all the way to 70.  We went past that wacky rest area.

The ride on 70 was lots of grey and sandy desert with scarce vegetation.

We went west on 70 to 24S.  When we arrived at about the same latitude as Moab, the landscape became more varied.

We took 24W, a scenic byway.  Here the rock formations rose in interesting patterns and colors and shapes.

We stopped at the Capitol Reef National Park Visitor Center.  We talked to a ranger about the available 4WD trail options in the park.  We walked out with maps for the Cathedral Valley Trail and Loop the Fold.

We arrived at the campground in Torrey at about noon.  We knew we wanted to do two overnight RTT trips and we only had reservations for 3 nights.  The host helped us to make a plan so that we could stay an additional 3 nights. 

Later in the afternoon, Tim took a bike ride into town.  He came back with a few ideas for this evening.  We started at the Ella Place Cidery.  The owners here had just gotten in from crushing 4,000 pounds of apples.  They plant, pick, crush, and make their own ciders.  They have a small gift shop where they sell product.  They also have a tasting room with ciders and other beverages and snacks.  I enjoyed a plum cider and Tim had a Utah stout.  We ordered a bacon jam bento box with assorted cheeses and olives and crackers and of course the homemade bacon jam. 

Ella Place was an outlaw.  She hooked up with Sundance Kid.  Butch Cassidy and his gang rode through this place and even stayed for a while. 

We browsed in the Chuck Wagon Market.

We drove to El Charro Negro food truck and ordered our dinner.  We took our meal to the town park and enjoyed a picnic.  We watched a group of men and women playing volleyball. 

This evening, we will pack and prepare for our first overnight adventure to Cathedral Valley.

1150 October 1, 2024 Free Day

No rush today…no plans today. Today is a free day. We inadvertently added an extra day to our stay here in Moab. Our next reservation is tomorrow in Torrey. It is nice to have this extra day to slow down.

I drove into town and took a nice walk.

I got gas and groceries and then went back to the RV to work on the blog.

Tim went for a 13 mile bike ride. He ended up at a smoothie truck in the food court and I went to get him with the Jeep.

Today is for resting.

1149 September 30, 2024 Hardscrabble

Overnight it was so silent and we slept well.  We got up once during the night.  The stars were out and brilliant. 

We had our morning coffee on the edge of the canyon.  We watched as the sun came up.

 A cottontail rabbit hopped by.

The ravens came to check if we were making breakfast and quickly left when they saw we were not cooking.

During the night, Tim had left his water bottle on the table outside the tent.  This morning, he saw some small pieces of turquoise rubber laying on the table.  A small rodent had come to visit and apparently took a taste or two of the rubber.  He must not have cared for it because he left his little nibbles there!

We were ready to ride the rollercoaster shortly after 8am.  Our first downhill was another series of switchbacks back down to the White Rim Trail.

We had breakfast in the canyon, still in awe of our surroundings. 

This area looks rocky and tough but the ecosystem here is surprisingly fragile.  Tamarisk trees were brought here from the Middle East in the 1920’s.  Since then, this invasive species has grown at a rate of about 12 miles a year.  The trees choke off the river channel, narrowing it.  The brush is so thick and dense that animals have a difficult time getting through to drink water. 

The desert produces a protective barrier or layer called cryptobiotic soil crust.  This crunchy crust reduces erosion by wind and water.  When this crust is damaged by vehicle or foot traffic, it takes 50-250 years to heal.  For this reason, the National Park Service really does not want people to leave the marked trails.  If I make my own footprints and someone follows my path, the path becomes a gully.  In a rainstorm, water rushes in the path of least resistance and deeper gullies and ditches form, washing away soil and seeds and vegetation.

In addition, the depressions in the rock harbor tiny critters that come to life when it rains.  If people traipse through the potholes, the miniature life is destroyed.

This land has been occupied by Native Americans for about 5,000 years.  There is lots of evidence of the civilization and culture of those people.  Petroglyphs, pictographs, pottery shards, and ruins exist here in the canyon.  The trend in archaeology is to leave artifacts in situ so that people can see them as they are.  The National Park Service doesn’t publish a list of these sites because of our propensity to destroy precious relics.

My Aunt Jeanne had read and posted an article about the Black Crack.  We looked for that as we traveled but it was also unmarked and we must have passed by.  It is a 65-foot-deep chasm along a fault line.  This must be another place that the Park Service doesn’t want us to find! 

There are limited permits available each day to help to minimize the environmental impact that humans cause.

The trail meandered along the Green River.

Candlestick Tower.

It took us 1 ¾ hours in the Jeep to go 10 miles.  We were thinking of those 2 female bikers we met and we wondered how they had fared!

There were tons of small grey birds bursting out of the scruffy vegetation as we approached with the Jeep.

There was deep sand and there were wide ruts at Potato Bottom.  This area used to be called Tater Butt but some people took offense resulting in the more formal name!

There was one large cottonwood tree that provided some nice shade.  It was about 90 degrees and it felt nice there under the tree.

Seeing all of the other campgrounds, we knew that we had really been lucky to stay at Murphy A!

We knew that there was one last difficult climb.  Hardscrabble Hill was a very challenging and intense climb through more Moenkopi formations.  Tim stopped to put the lockers on so that the jeep could help to pull us up the hill!  I was sweating and I was only taking the video!

We were tired and passed by the hiking trail leading to ancestral Puebloan ruins.

I didn’t take as many pictures today, content to sit back and enjoy the ride.  I spent more time in my own head, thinking about this place, this time, and this experience here.  We met people running, hiking, biking, Jeeping and we saw people out on the river.  What an amazing place for an adventure!

We drove out of the park and we were on a more improved road.  The mineral Bottom Road, lead past 4 miles of mining claims.  We still had one last steep hill to climb back to the Lone Mesa.  Another series of steep switchbacks took us up and out.  Tim counted the remains of three cars lying on the steep downhill bank…yikes!

We met two trucks going down as we were climbing. We backed up and pulled over as far as we could to allow them to pass…what a place to meet!

I drove once we were on the gravel road…all the way back to pavement and then to Moab.  We got back around 3pm.

We spent the rest of the day cleaning gear and doing laundry.  This adventure was sometimes intense.  It was sometimes hot.  It was sometimes tiring…it was ABSOLUTELY worth it!  We are so glad that we made the effort to be here.

1148 September 29, 2024 White Rim Trail

Our goal was to leave the RV campground by 9am.  We were ready at a little after 7:30am; eager to start this adventure.  We have wanted to do this trip into the canyon since we visited here 5 years ago.  It us a bucket list trip!

We stopped at the Maverick Station to fill the car and an extra gas can with fuel.

And we were off!

As we entered Canyonlands National Park, there was a sign that read:  No food, gas, water, or lodging available.  That’s okay because we brought it all with us!

There were a few morning clouds and a few sprinkles but the forecast was for sunshine and 93 degrees.  There was NO wait to get into the park which was a very good omen.  We made one last stop at the visitor center for the bathroom!

We took the Shafer Trail, a steep and winding decent into the canyon from 5,920 feet of elevation down to 4,480 feet at the bottom.  For thousands of years, this route was used by Native Americans to get from the Lone Mesa to the Colorado River. In the 1900’s ranchers used this path to herd sheep. In the 1950’s the Shafer Trail was used to haul equipment for mining uranium. Since Canyonlands became a national park in 1964, this road is used by backcountry travelers like us!

We made our way down the series of switchbacks and we were on our way.

Today we used:  A Naturalist Guide to the White Rim Trail by David Williams.  It was useful for determining mile markers and alerting us to what was ahead on the trail. 

We stopped to hike the short distance to the Colorado River Overlook.

We stopped again to see Musselman’s Arch.  Can you see the white rim?

Around every bend was unfathomable beauty.  To be down here in the canyon and to be surrounded by all if this exquisite scenery has left us awestruck.  The rock formations are all unique and lovely.

We met a man running this trail!  We were not sure how far he had come but he was headed to the Shafer Trail.  We checked to see if he was okay or if he needed water.  This guy had come prepared and he was running…WOW!!!

A pass through Moenkopi Rock.

Tim spotted a young bighorn sheep.  We suspect that he was a buck because he was alone.  He crossed the road in front of us and climbed onto a hill.  He gave us one last backward glance.  Later, we saw hi =m again.  He was far across the canyon and he appeared to be looking for a way down to the water source. 

Lathrop Hiking Trail goes from White Rim Road for 5 miles to the Island in the Sky.  There is an elevation gain of 1,600 feet.  You would have to be a hearty soul to hike that trail both ways. 

We entered the spur road for Lathrop Canyon.  This was a very steep and rough trail that would have led down to the river.  We elected not to go down because we calculated that it would add at least 3 hours to our day!

We passed two tall towers of rock.  Consulting our guidebook, I saw that they were Monster Tower and Washer Woman Arch.  Can you see her?

At the bottom of Gooseberry Trail, we met an Australian woman who had just hiked the 3 miles form Island in the Sky.  The elevation change was 1,400 feet.  She said that the trail was so steep that it was difficult to follow.  She walked to the edge of the canyon to admire the view and then she was going to hike back up.  She had lots of energy and a great positive attitude.  Tim told her that she was his hero.

Yes. That is the road!

Monument Basin Viewpoint had more spectacular formations.  There is an arch in the canyon.

We took the spur to White Crack Campground.  We had heard that the views from there were amazing and that you could see the Maze Region of the park and the Needles District as well. 

We met lots of mountain bikers on the trail today.  What hard work it is to pedal these sandy, rocky roads, with lots of switchbacks and climbing.  There are rock shelves and obstacles as well.  These are some tough people!

The last hill, Murphy Hogback, before our campsite, was a very challenging hill with lots of loose rock and sand.  After 44 miles on the trail, we had arrived at our camping spot.  We were just talking about how we were going to set up when 2 female mountain bikers dropped their bikes and took shelter in the shade of the rock on our site.    They had also begun their day on the Shafer Trail and they had just finished that same difficult hill that we had climbed with the Jeep.  They were spent!  Their support vehicle arrived with cold drinks and snacks.  We chatted as they recovered.  Their campsite was another 10 miles down the road.  What a sense of adventure.  We have lots of admiration for these folks.

Our campsite is amazing!

We had a terrific day.  The scenery and the ride have exceeded our expectations.  We feel so fortunate to be among the few people who have the privilege to be in this place.  We know people who would love  to be here and see this and have this experience that never will for whatever reason.  We wish that we could share this with everyone we love.  Our words and pictures are the best we can offer. 

We still had dinner and sunset and stars to look forward to!

The ground squirrels and ravens both showed up as soon as I began cooking dinner. 

We watched the erratic flight of the bats, swopping and twirling in search of their evening meal.

I went looking beneath rock ledges for critters.  I found only this lizard.  We did find evidence of some small rodents. 

The sunset was glorious!  I was a pleasant and mild evening.  We were not allowed to have a campfire but we stayed up, watching the stars pop out.