A few days in Grand Staircase/Escalante

This was a spot that we were not even sure we were going to stop at on our way to Bryce Canyon. We are so glad we did!

It is an incredible drive along Hwy 12 in Utah, and as we were driving through, we see a campground down in We decide to stay for the night. Turned in to two. There ended up being a 6 mile round trip hike up the canyon following a creek, that lead to a 120 foot waterfall.

We took the dogs with us and headed out in the morning.

Unbelievable waterfall. Emerald green pool at the base, that seemed to be crystal clear. (see really cool pics). :)

Saw more petroglyphs (sp?) and ruins too.

Great stop, that was not in the plans, and well worth it!

Goodbye Colorado!

We have been loving Colorado!!!

Where do I start? Colorado has been phenomenal. The fall colors were gorgeous (even though everyone here has told us that this is the "end of the season"...., the trails were great, people we met were friendly, great camping, etc, etc, etc.......

We mostly hung out in Durango, Colorado, but made a trip to Ouray, Co and Silverton, Co. (craziest, winding highway with steep drop offs on the side, that I have ever been on!--crossed 2 passes: one at 10,000 ft and one at 11,000)..... I can't even imagine what it would be like in the winter.

Our trip to Silverton included getting to have dinner with a good family friend and his girlfriend. They both mountain guide out of Silverton, Co in the winter.

Took a few pictures, but was having so much fun, that I kept forgetting to take out the camera.

Tomorrow is our last day in Colorado. We've been doing some fun mtn bike rides in Cortez, Co again. We will then be off to check out Capital Reef, Bryce Canyon, and Zion in southern Utah. We can't wait!

The trip so far, has been "over the top" fantastic. One month in, and we are already trying to figure out how to do it all again next year!! Ha!

SW Colorado.....

Been staying in-between Cortez, CO and Durango, CO. Made it in to see Mesa Verde today. Very impressive. We're not much for tours, but in order to see on of the largest cliff dwellings, you had to go on one. It was worth it. Checked out a few ruins, enjoyed the incredible fall colors, and met a new friend on the drive out. (see pic below).

We then headed out with the dogs on a very fun mountain bike ride. This area is supposed to be the mountain bike "mecca" of the US, and today we found one of those rides. It is 7 miles from where we are staying, and we plan on going back tomorrow for a longer ride without the dogs.

...........Actually, Ally is pretty much done as far as biking goes. She ditched us after about a half mile, (forcing us to have to make our "short" ride with the dogs even shorter). She just up and turned around and went back to the truck. We got back to the truck a little later, and these people (that saw us leave with both dogs), tell us that when Ally came back, they ended up calling the number on her tag and leaving a message. (that number was to Steve's phone that was in the truck). ANYWAY, she is done. I told her this, and she seemed to be okay with it. :)

That's it for now. More riding this week. Can't even begin to describe the fall colors here. The yellows and reds are unbelievable.

Kris

Last days in Moab, Utah!

We are headed out tomorrow.

I have absolutely loved this part of our trip. Incredible campsite, great rides, met up with old friends for a few days, and had great weather the entire time! The last few days have found us doing more bike riding, and a drive up into the La Sal mountains. We rode trails north of town, and a great 9 mile loop out of Deadhorse State Park.

The drive into the mountains included snow, which Jada loved. (not sure she had see snow before) The colors of the trees were gorgeous.

We are exhausted. Headed to Mesa Verde tomorrow for a few days, then trying out some mountain biking in Durango, Colorado.

My dream ride: Porcupine Rim!

Okay, this is a ride that I have wanted to do for years, but have been too scared to attempt. First, it's a 25 mile ride. Second, it's hard, technical singletrack, skirting the canyon rim. It is gorgeous however! Due to the cancellation on Saturday because of rain, our friends Chris and Gayle rescheduled for a shuttle at 10:30 am Monday morning. We got to the Poison Spider bike shop to load up. Seventeen people fit into the van with bikes on top! Before we left, our driver says "the mud has gotten better so if people want to, I can take you to the upper drop off point which will add 4 more miles of single track onto the trail. You'll ride upper porcupine, lower porcupine, porcupine, then the very technical single track out of Negro Bill Canyon." This announcement was met with cheers from the van group. I said nothing. The ride up was a "motion sick" nightmare. Very winding and bumpy on a rocky road. We got the back seat. Ugh. Poor Steve was extremely queasy when we finally made it to the top. Not a good start to a 25 mile technical ride with a 1.5mile climb at 7600 feet right from the get go!

This ride turned out to be truly amazing. The best views I have ever seen on a ride, great people, challenging riding, lots of miles, and the fact we made it down in one piece! We are amazed that not only our bodies made it, but our bikes survived the punishing pounding. It was very bumpy and jarring with lots of drops onto rock. :)

This might have been my best/favorite ride ever! (and at least so far).......

Today we are recovering and doing laundry and shopping. Major rest day. ;)

Poison Spider Trail

Saturday Oct. 8th is our anniversary! We had planned to do the infamous Porcupine Rim trail with friends. We woke up to rain, and we had a scheduled shuttle to the trailhead at 10:30am. The shop called and cancelled due to mud on the trail.

They did however, suggest that a good ride today would be Poison Spider. It has a lot of sections of sand, that would be better once wet. It's an 8 mile continuous climb with a "death on the left" hike a bike trail down to the river which completes this ride as a 14 mile loop. Huh. We got to the trail head and began riding at 11:30am, and got back to the car at 4:00ish. Ugh. The sun came out at about the middle of the ride! Gorgeous views during the "hiking" portion, but crazy exposure. (like 1,000 foot sheer drop off to the Colorado River). Took lots of pics! (Also took Sunday off to recover and watch the Seahawks game) :)

Great anniversary day!

Moab, Utah!

We made it to Moab on the 6th of October around dinner time. Great campground just south of town. Camped with our friends Chris and Gayle, and plan to do some bike rides with them before they leave town on Tuesday. These are pictures of camp, and a hike we went on right out of our camp spot. It's been sunny every day so far!

Wallowa Mountains.................Oregon

We are on our way to Utah, actually just outside of Twin Falls, Idaho. Too tired to drive any further, so staying at good ol' Walmart. We've spent the last three days in the Wallowa mountains in the northeast corner of Oregon. Gorgeous! We hiked and mountain biked, and had one of the best berry milkshakes maybe ever. :) The moutain bike ride was interesting, considering we lost our dog Ally for more than an hour. We had stopped for a break, and she was literally 30 ft away from me looking for a chipmunk that had ran across a log. I turned away, and when I looked back, she was gone. No big deal, I'll just start whistling and calling. After what seemed like an eternity, nothing. No Ally. Steve ended up riding back the way we came, leaving me standing in the woods alone thinking about bears and who knows what. He finally came back................with no Ally. All I kept thinking was "oh, great. This is going to be weird trying to explain to everyone that we lost our dog in the woods on day 3 of our road trip, and that we just gave up looking because we assumed she was eaten by a bear??" We continued on the ride, (it was a loop, and it headed back to the truck) thinking of what we were going to do if we she was NOT at the truck when we got there. The plan was that Steve was going to try and hitch a ride back to town (20 miles away), and get the motorhome to bring back up to the pass we were at so we could look for her the rest of the day/night. I was going to stay with the truck and Jada (our other dog). It was a quiet ride back to the truck, with me periodically whistling into a steady 20mph wind and driving rain... (guess I didn't mention the deteriorating weather conditions at 6,000 ft.) As we were nearing the parking lot where we left the truck, I kept hoping to see a black dog lying under the truck. Within around 10 ft of the truck, there she was casually standing in the rain drinking from a mud puddle. She looked up at us with a look that said, "Where have you guys been? It's raining, and I would like to lay down in the truck."

Good grief. Let's just say that Ally staying in the truck while I, Steve, and Jada, when on a second shorter, "less stressful" ride. :)

Because of the rain yesterday, we decided to head out towards Idaho through the Hells Canyon NRP. (more gorgeous views....and super cool campsite on a river).

Having a great time so far!! Kris

Finally on the Road!

Left today around 10am. Heading to Joseph, Oregon in the Wallowa mountains. (Steve has always wanted to go there). On our way to Moab, Utah this week.......