Day 69 - The Black Hills

A lightning strike last night had disabled the elevator at Wind Cave. Safety regulations require the elevator to be working during tours, so I went to plan B: climb Mount Harney, the tallest peak east of the Rocky Mountains.

An hour drive took me back to Sylvan Lake where despite 100% chance forecasts of rain, I put on my hiking gear and breezed up the 3-mile long, 1000 ft+ climb. The CCC built a castle-like stone watchtower on top of the mountain in 1933, making the final climb very memorable. A white mountain goat at the top of the peak appeared regal and resolute but the dark clouds around ominous. I took some pics and headed back down, hoping to get down before the rain set in. The descent route took me to the backside of the cathedral spires I saw yesterday.

After climbing Harney, I drove an hour north to Rapid City to Meineke to get my front brakes replaced and complete my second oil change. 10,000 miles! $427 later the van was back in good shape and I drove south along the scenic, winding Iron Mountain Highway and then Wildlife Highway to my secluded boondocking campsite in the Black Hills National Forest near Wind Cave. 1.3 million motorcycles descend on the Balck Hills every June for the Sturgis motorcycle rally! After driving hundreds of miles around here, I can understand why. Ohh, and baby Buffalo calves are the cutest animals ever!

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Day 43 - Capitol Reef

Capitol Reef, a national park centered around a 90 mile ancient seabed reef was next on my list. A sensationally scenic three hour drive from Bryce, back through Escalante, and then through a national forest led me to the park. A stop by the visitor center to get the lay of the land and insider info on local free BLM campsites complete, I set out on Chimney Rock trail up the the top of the first reef to get a view. Yes sir!! The weather was ideal for hiking and the views completely blissful, but I was frankly tired today. I set out along the scenic road down the west side of the reef and remember wanting to take a nap-- but still having a sense of urgency to complete the desert portion of my trip-- I pushed on and set out to hike down the Capitol Gorge and Grand Wash canyons. The Capitol Gorge had a "Pioneer Wall" with inscriptions from the early 1900s and the Grand Wash had a nice narrow section with towering canyon cliffs all around. I took a photo of the surrounding reef...

Day 35 - Escalante River

Our group of eight intrepid but novice backpackers and two incredibly experienced guides gathered for breakfast at 8am to meet, greet and bulk up for 5 days in the Escalante River area. We laid out all our gear to ensure we had the needed hiking, camping and survival supplies and drove to our trailhead for departure. We hiked along a trail following the course of the Escalante River for a mile or so before getting to our first of many river crossings. Wet feet were not something we could avoid so we simply hiked across and sometimes down the river. When the river ran close to the canyon walls we knew we would have to find a shallow entry to the river, then cross the river to the bench on the other side. Guides Andrew Skurka and Alan Dixon offered instruction along the way on map reading and route finding and information on local vegetation and geology and how the knowledge of both helped make your off trail travel more efficient. For example in geology their were two main ro...

Day 54 - Great Sand Dunes

I awoke to clear skies, a dry mattress and pillows, a second hot shower and a waffle-filled motel breakfast. I decided to head east to Great Sand Dunes National Park in order to climb 700 foot sand dunes surrounded by snow-covered alpine mountains--a rare site. Just about every road in Colorado goes over a pretty high mountain pass eventually, and this three and a half hour journey didn't disappoint. And Great Sand Dunes didn't disappoint either. After securing a dune-side campsite and waiting out a rainstorm, I set out to climb the dunes for a sunset view. Great Sand Dunes is also famous for its Medano Creek wave-like flow and ankle-deep water, making it popular with young kids. I hiked through it and started climbing the dunes, first to a high dune on the east side and over to the next highest dune and then the next highest et until I got to the highest one-/ properly called High Dune. I sat down, setup my phone to capture a time-lapse of the beautiful sunset my eyes were ...

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