Lake Powell/North Rim Grand Canyon

Horseshoe with no rain Sunset over Lake Powell

North Rim
North Rim
Aspen trees around North Rim

Lake Powell: Weather showed a lot of rain and cold. This actually gives some of the most dramatic skies but the clouds did prevent any regular sun for most the time I was there to do Antelope canyon after the wave. So instead of spending all day in the slot canyons waiting for sun to poke thru with 50 other people with cameras I decided to return another time when the sun was more cooperative. I spent more time at the Horseshoe, the surrounding Colorado River area and then left for the North Rim.

North Rim: I've heard it said that the North Rim was not as majestic as the South Rim. After being there I can only say that it is like comparing looking at the Eiffel Tower, Halle Berry, Brad Pitt (you get the idea) in different ways. Something spectacular is gorgeous from any view. I arrived a day earlier than the reservation but there were sites available so no problem. I spent two days along the rim trails and forest with the white bark Aspens. The last day was quite sunny and made for an enjoyable last day out before I headed for home. After two months I was ready to get home and sift thru the mound of photos I've accumulated over the past two months. But knowing I'd just scratched the surface of what is out there and that a return trip will be soon coming.

Home now, I need to develop film; process the digital pictures; take care of cars, trucks, and house projects before I head off to Michigan sometime in June. I can see this first year of retirement will be busy. But not knowing what the future brings I feel like I need to accomplish as much as I can while time is on my side.

That's all for now until the next trip. Looking back the time went fast and if the rest of the year goes this fast I'll be looking at my 62nd birthday in no time. But by that time the senoir discount will be 65 because nowhere did I see a 55 senior sign for a discount. One last comment though. So many of the people I met out on the trip were from Europe who were taking advantage of the exchange rate in their favor. Good for business certainly but I did long to see more people from here taking a break from working so hard and enjoying the sights like I was. Perhaps that will happen during the summer vacation spree should gas prices ease. Ballance in life is what it is about for me and I am glad to be trying to achieve it from the fun side of things instead of the work side of things for a change. Only time will tell......

Later

THE WAVE

Me finally making it to The Wave Typical sand trail heading out toward the saddle on the left. This was unusual because the sand trail was not uphill.
Typical trail looking back.
One view of the wave.

An area around the wave Area in the wave

Stranded


The Wave: I think the wave deserves its own entry. You can find pictures of the wave in many fine art photographic studios but you’ll not find one with me standing in the front.

I had some concerns after going thru Canyonlands with Nesthus and the rough riders. Would my neck be up to a long hike, would the weight of the pack be to much for my shoulders?......Ha!, not a problem, but my poor feet!! After hiking in all that sand and over the edges of all those rocks, not to mention running for cover to get to the marginal shelter while it rains and hails (more on that later).

The day had everything, overcast, blue skies, wind, calm, hot, cold, hail and rain, thunder, lightning. Of course you gotta take the pictures that day sometime so it was a matter of timing for the sun. The sun did appear, but not a lot so I felt lucky to get the ones I did. I did use both digital and film and confident I came back with something I can hang in the bathroom.

I got an early start at 7:00 am from camp here at Lke Powell because the trailhead is about ½ hour down the highway then ½ hour down a dirt road. So I was on the trail about 8:00am. The sun was out and it was a bit warm even then so I was glad I took the 2 liters + to drink. All the way points were programmed into the GPS and it gave excellent results. I had maps from the BLM sent with the permit. They had pictures of the trail but the GPS loaded with 6 points from the maps the BLM gave in the maps really gave me confidence I was holding to the trail.

Finally to the wave it is something to see. How it got the way it is and the colors and contrasts it has is difficult to imagine until the blowing sand hits you with such force you find yourself instinctively covering all your exposed areas of skin. It hurt due to the size of grains the wind could whip up and throw at you. But the whole area is something to see. Given better weather there is a lot to explore in the region so going back is something I would not mind doing. It was difficult to believe I was actually standing there looking at this place I've seen only in photos. I must say, it is better in real life.

After a few hours exploring the area there and dodging blowing sand and rain and waiting for sun (which did show), I decided to head back and take pictures along the way of the many things passed up to get to the wave. The weather had other ideas.

I’ll remember the wave from the pictures certainly but it’s hard to explain how exposed I was on the way back to mother nature. Walking over the rock with the rain starting to come down I could not see any shelter in the form of rock overhangs and the trees are minimal help. In addition the constant thunder and a few bolts of lightning in the distance made the situation seem like out of survivor where you don’t want to get under a tree anyway. But just as it was about to open up I saw this little overhang to crawl under. So I stuffed everything under it and watched as the hail and rain came down.

Trick is knowing when to keep moving I guess. So when things let up I bolted for some other shelter (never did find another) the rain had let up but the thunder kept on. Walking across open rock with the aluminum lightning rod (hiking stick) Peter and family gave me I figured this was it………

So I got a little wet the rest of the hike out but I’m sitting here in the camper (it’s raining) and I am none the worse for getting a bit wet and I got pictures of the wave like I wanted. I do have a lot more pictures but what is posted is just a few.

That’s it for my first hike to the Wave. One hour and 45 or so minutes each way. I think this would be a good winter hike. I would not want to do it in the summer for the same reason I don't want to hike the dunes of Death Valley in the summer. This would be a good Llama hike perhaps with photo gear, llamas carry the photo gear of course.

Mesa Verde/Utah

Mesa Verde.....cold

Totems
Arch Monkey Off My Back Dan's New Hat
House On Fire in B&W. We also have the color versions of this. For a house on fire it sure was hard to find!!

Goblin Valley

Switchbacks to Shafer Canyon Just Don't hurt the Cheese !!!

Classy Moves by two wild and crazy guys. The RV chicks dug our duds and and vastly superior IQ. Good thing they were all in walkers so we could get away. Ryan's Graduation, Christopher taking the picture.


Mesa Verde/Utah: After a few days in Farmington I was ready to move up to Cortez and meet Dan. It was good to have a travel partner that brought drinks!! Cortez for two nights was cold but Mesa Verde was so worth it. Crawling around the ruins bumping heads on rocks, climbing ladders was good adventure. These same type dwellings are all thru the southwest and I can’t help wonder how did the know-how spread from one corner of the region to the other without blueprints or written language? Word of mouth was the ranger’s viewpoint. Looks like it must have been a hard life.

Monument Valley: Such a classic. I got back to the Totem Poles like I wanted and Dan got to the Valley like he wanted. We were on a very red dirt road in the Avalanche that seemed to absorb the red sand into every seal and hinge. A week later I still don’t have it all washed out. But the valley is beautiful as the many photos taken will show.

Misc up to Arches: So the great thing is that the trip can be adjusted for things like weather. It started to rain when we were camped at Bluff Utah. But we managed to see some great places anyway. House on Fire ruin, Natural Bridges Nat’l Monument, and the coolest drop-off going down into Mexican Hat and the “Little Monument Valley”. Natural Bridges is a certain “do over” because it is just to cool not to hike. So after all that, the next morning it was raining more. We decided to go to Goblin Valley where it might not be raining and take the Hwy 95 up there. That was an incredible day due to the scenery along the way. That road gets a “do-again” because there is just to much going on to take in with just one trip. Goblin Valley camp was full after that drive so after our nighttime rock painting we decided to look at the BLM land opportunities around the area. Sure enough, found a perfect spot with others around too, camping for free is so good!!!

Arches: Off road to Tower arch was a great little 4x4 adventure. So was the hike to the Delicate Arch overlook……”do-over”. We didn’t have the time to spend on walking to the arch so that is a must for next time. So between the off road and hiking to the various arches it was another quick to sleep evening.

Canyonlands: How can you spend just one day in Canyonlands and say you’ve seen enough? Take the switchbacks down into Shafer Canyon out to the Potash Ponds and back into Moab. Ouch, uffff, bump, bang…….etc. It was bumpy the whole way, 3 hours or so of it. We did the best we could to minimize damage to the jeep and ourselves but I did get sore from the ride…..Motrin is my friend. But it is so cool down there I would label that as a “do-again” with a smoother ride. Pictures abound around every corner, just a great drive……..but watch out for the bumps. Glad we took time to do the overlooks first, the sun and clouds made for very picture perfect overlooks at Dead Horse Point, the Grand Overview and points between.

So the camp at Moab was excellent but we didn’t get to spend enough time there. There were giant gaming sets that could have taken up all evening. But we did try to get our best on and impress the other campers with brilliant moves and classy dress.

Last but not least: Dan and I drove down to Fullerton so he could drop me off and see my son Ryan graduate Magna Cum Laude from Fullerton State, one of only a few President Scholars to get such honors. The proceedings were hot and some 4 hours long, but worth every second to see this milestone in his life. I have no basis to compare the incredible string of academic achievements he has put together since…….grade school thru middle school thru high school and now thru college………wow! Some company will be lucky to land him and that process is still in works.

Today (Sunday 18th): is a fix camper day, laundry and sit by the pool…it is so hot. The next event is the Wave on the 21st. I will enter the wave, antelope canyon and North Rim in the blog before I get home. This has been an excellent kick-off to a retirement.

Cochiti/Santa Fe/Farmington

Cochiti Camp

Jamez Waterfall
Bandelier
Tent Rocks
Cool Train

Bisti Badlands Best Of Friends

Tent Rocks /Bandelier/Jemez Falls/Santa Fe:
Cochiti Dam is the base camp for Santa Fe and these sights. The dam is weird because it is an earth dam and confusing as you drive up to it because I can’t tell if I am looking at an expanse of water or what. I have never seen an earth dam wall this big. The camp sight is nice and so near the Tent Rocks I can see why I chose this sight. I will end up going to the tent rocks twice to get sun into the slot canyon there. There are two trails, one to a cave and the other thru the slot and up to the top of the tent rocks plateau. The climb is very much like Cowles Mountain in San Diego if the first half was almost flat. Then in the last ¾ mile you use stairs and foot holds cut into the rock to get to the top…. excellent hike. First time thru was good for the tent rocks and summit but the slot was mostly shaded. Tomorrow (Wednesday) I’ll time it for sun in the slot.



Bandelier: They say the average lifespan of the Anasazi, woops “Ancestral Pueblo people” that lived in these collectives was 35 years. So by that count I have worked 20 years longer than most of them before I retired. None of them I assume had medical coverage either. At least not as good as we have now even going to the free clinic. But not many people I know would want to live in a mud and stone house with no running water, shower or bathroom. But I’m sure the Llama trekkers wouldn’t mind. We can live like that for weeks at a time, of course I assume even the Ancestral Pueblo people had some form of alcohol. After all, they were not uncivilized.



Jemez Falls: Lots of hiking and carrying the photo gear has gotten me tired looking at these places. When I saw that Jemez falls was a mere ¼ mile from the trailhead I thought at last an easy day. Bur wait, when I got to the turn off from HWY 4 to the Jemez Falls Campground the gate was closed!!! The trailhead is at the end of the campground, so I had to hike the 1.5 miles or so just to get to the trailhead. Light gear this trip, just the digital camera. The falls were nice but having seen Yosemite I would not list this as a gotta go back and see. But definitely not something to pass by if here, with the road OPEN!!



Santa Fe: One day spent in Santa Fe swimming and chores and sightseeing. The cool thing was the train outside the pool I went to. The Santa Fe 5011 class steam engines were the coolest looking ever I think. We use to have one in the model railroad set from Lionel probably like many others. I have never seen one before; the posted information says only 4 exist of this series.
After all the wind, Deb flies into Albuquerque and we have three nights of calmness in Santa Fe for camping. That was good timing. Mike and Caroline met us and the 4 of us had a blissful uneventful few days together. Fun yes; it’s just that the 4 of us don’t always have a good track record when it comes to vacations like this without disaster hitting. Let me tell you about a misadventure involving a guy named Wade and a transmission in Las Vegas……….no… not enough time, besides, those days are past us now and nothing but good times ahead. So it was a few days of water coloring, hiking, photo’ing, DVD’ing, and in general just hangin out with good friends. Two websites to note: (http://www.lisakristine.com/images/index.html) which is one of the galleries we stopped at and of course one place to find Mike (http://www.spacedinoart.com/) .



Farmington: This was base for Bisti, Aztec ruins and Shiprock. But the lazys got me and I am passing on the Aztec Ruins. Hit Bisti twice and I could, if energy permitted, go there again tonight, but just not feeling up to it. So tomorrow it is Shiprock, 4 corners and seeing what brings as I head up to Cortez to set up camp and welcome Dan Nesthus & co. on a week’s leg of the adventure thru Mesa Verde, and Moab. P.S great aquatic center in Farmington with lots of lanes open.
The film is getting spent so many pictures to process when I get home both in the darkroom and on the computer. I know the next few weeks will use a lot film heading into Utah, can't wait.

That's it for now. Keep the adventure alive (after a good nights sleep).