Day 22 - Apache Trail and Lake

Three weeks into my trip I've already crossed the 3,000 mile mark. I will likely do more than 20,000 miles in this Dodge Grand Caravan before the trip ends in October! Driving 1,000 miles a week is better than it would seem though because the roads I travel are mostly backroads and tend to be surrounded by mountain vistas all the time.

After waking up late after a tough trail yesterday, I did some chores: practiced setting up my tarp (trickier than a tent to setup but very light), fixed the air pressure in my tires (I bought an electrical air pump that plugs into cig lighter) and cleaned up the van inside. I then drove to Flagstaff to do some laundry! Highlight of trip.. not, but the first laundry in three weeks because I rinse each day's clothing every night.

Needing to be at the Aravaipa Canyon on Sunday night and having one more hike at the Superstitions left on my list, I decided to drive back down to the Tonto National Forest, near the Superstitions, east of Phoenix. I took the scenic route by Roosevelt Lake formed by a pretty dam and south to Apache Lake, a scenic lake on my "maybe" list. This required driving a dozen miles on a historic well-graded dirt road called the Apache Trail (you can see the road in the 2nd pic). After arriving to Apache Lake I decided to camp for the night there instead of driving at dark on the windy dirt road. Some pics from the day.

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Day 96 - Banff Cirque Peak

OMG Canada. Today was my favorite day. The climb to Cirque Peak started with a lovely hike to Helen Lake, climbing quickly at the start but then gently roaming on the backside of the valley, above tree line and with views south to infinity. I made it quickly to the lake then continued on the trail to Dolomite Pass, scrambling on top of the ridge beyond Helen Lake. My destination : Once on top of the ridge (above my head), I hiked around another lake and up the sandy right side of Cirque Peak, following the route picture from the scramble guide. I eventually made it to a snowbank at the crest of the upper ridge. I figured walking below the snowbank to the nose would be safer for me with little snow experience, but I saw old steps cut up the near-vertical snowbank and I decided to go for it. Kicking steps with my right then left foot then propelling my hiking poles right then left deep in the snow above, I inched my way up a snow wall, keeping three solid contact p...

Day 62 - Colorado National Monument

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Day 48 - Dead Horse Point

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