Skip to main content

Day 67 - Badlands

Badlands means very difficult and dangerous to travel through-- Badlands lived up to this name. 

I began my eight mile loop hike by climbing up a steep canyon side to the mesa wall on top. From here I travelled east towards the popular window, door and notch trails via a wet, muddy and slippery Medicine Root trail that left me covered in mud up to my knees. Of the popular trails the notch was my favorite because it involved a wooden ladder climb and then a hill scramble past crumbling rock up to a six foot "notch" step that required a almost-rock climbing move to ascend.  The views up at the top cliff were sensational. Even more fun, two girls from New York-driving to Portland and a young couple saw me up there and followed the path up-- with a bit of my help at the notch. I love helping people get a bit beyond their comfort zone. We all enjoyed the view then descended safely to find that this notch was not actually the trail but a side canyon-- haha. 




I then hiked back along the Castle trail for four miles back to the van. The sun was out and the trail was beautiful-- going by a group of Bighorn Sheep on a high plateau and also by lovely rock formations. Pure bliss afternoon. 



Driving the scenic road west, I passed multiple scenic views, more Bighorn Sheep and a Buffalo rolling in the grass, before coming to my remote and free Sage Creek campground. This campground was surrounded by grasslands and Buffalo meandering through the campground and surrounding hills like they owned the place. They are big creatures so they did own the place. 






Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Day 41 - Escalante Coyote Gulch

This one or two night Coyote Gulch hike was an easy test of my newly learned navigation skills.  Anxious to get started I awoke at 545 just as the sun was rising.  I followed an obvious landmark, a tall thin spire called Chimney Rock, northwest to Hurricane Wash (a drainage running into Coyote Gulch).  After a couple of hours of walking up over and around slick rock, I entered the famous Coyote Gulch.  The walls around me raised up, darkened and th water flow increased--like nature hinting at the scenic beauty ahead.  The normally crowded Coyote Gulch was fairly empty on this early Thursday morning, giving the canyon a very peaceful and quiet feeling-- fragile almost. Down steam, I ran into the famous Jacob Hamilton Arch and then thirty minutes further-- the Coyote Natural Birdge. Both were beautiful due to their see through the wall character, but both would be overshadowed in my memory by the Stevens Arch tomorrow. Pics.  By 1pm, I had hiked for six hours...
Post a Comment
Read more

Day 62 - Colorado National Monument

Established as a national monument early in 1911, Colorado NM is known for its high canyon "rim road" and sandstone spires of Monument Canyon.  The canyons of west Colorado are pretty--as they have more green trees and shrubs than the more famous Utah canyons. This gives them a more alive feeling, although the sandstone spires were formed many thousands of years ago by erosion.  Rim Rock road curves up the the top of the canyon cliff, goes through several round tunnels and is lined with scenic viewpoints. The best views were in he Monument Canyon section, and included in sequence, the Coke Ovens, The Kissing Couple (behind my head), and the most famous of all: Independence Monument, the tall spire in pic 3 and viewed from the side in pic 4.  The original promoter and caretaker of the park, John Otto, was the first person to climb Independence Monument and now it's a climbing right of passage. Every July 4 climbers ascend and mount an American flag at the summit. Fun! ...
2 comments
Read more

Day 57 - Rocky Mountain National Park

Ever since I decided to go west for my big trip, I had dreamed of high mountain lakes with snowy peaks arching in every direction, with chilly air making every moment crisp, and with clear skies bringing all into perfect focus-- pure bliss.  Today was the first of many great mountain lake days to come.  Hiking here was far easier here than in the San Juans because the snow was packed down on the trail, but I brought my mini crampons for the downhill. I made it safely past a narrow ridge with narly black peaks across the gorge (pic 1), then up to Mills Lake (pic 2) then Jewel Lake then the Loch (pic 3) then down before the afternoon rain started falling.  I hiked around some lower, more accessible lakes but the sky was now overcast and pictures no good.  I drove up the open portion of the Ridge road amid a very light dusting of snow before heading back to camp for dinner and bedtime. I did manage to capture some fine Elk grazing in a meadows on the return trip and a g...
3 comments
Read more