Day 29 - Big Bend part 3

I gave myself two very different options this morning: Option 1- if my shin pain was gone and I felt good I would ascend the Chisos mountains tallest 7900 ft Emory Peak and then while up high hike to the south rim of the range-- a total journey of 16 miles with 3000 vertical feet gain/loss-- a tough day hike, but Grand Canyon rim-river-rim and Superstition's Battleship hikes had been tougher. Option 2 was a complete rest day-- no hiking, just reading and relaxing in the pleasant Chisos Basin.

I took Option 2. I needed option 2. I walked up to a park bench overlooking the "window" and read The Wise Man's Fear-- a lord of the rings-style fantasy novel for five hours. I brought snacks with me and enjoyed this peaceful shaded spot alone-- amazed with how few people came by. It was great. See the bench and the view behind me.

At 2pm, I decided I would drive back along the scenic road to Santa Elena and hike the 1 mile hike there in daylight. After six miles of driving though I noticed that my right shin, the one giving me pain, was hurting. I tried using my left leg to brake and felt the same muscle pain point. Aha. The shin splint was from driving 1000 miles a week (with hiking not helping). I pulled over, enjoyed the view for a while, and then drove back to Chisos. No more driving today either.

Then I found wifi! Yes, by the restaurant there was a reliable and fast connection, so I camped outside on the patio and checked email, sent some updates, a little news, then started creating this blog. I had wanted to create the blog as the first 25 posts were just emails to family only-- but didn't have time or wifi. This was the perfect time, so I researched blogging, settled on blogger and created some posts from my emails. Three hours later I had 15 posts up and going (only using my phone) and then the sun started setting. More people had come for dinner, slowing the wifi down to nofi, so I left and went back to my bench for the perfect view of the sunset. Pics below. Tomorrow I leave early from Big Bend and head north to Guadalupe and Carlsbad.

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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...

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 ...

Day 51 - Canyonlands Needles Pt 3

A deep connection to the nature surrounding you comes from the solitude of solo travel, but sometimes it is nice to have a companion! I ran into David, a retired telecom exec from Canada a few days ago on the Syncline Loop trail at Canyonlands Island in the Sky. Then I ran into him again halfway through my Chesler Park hike two days ago, then again later in the hike, finishing the last two miles together. David hiked his favorite trail, the Peekaboo trail yesterday, and said I could join him, but my heart was set on confluence trail, so we hiked separately. We did share a campsite though and exchanged travel stories. David was 55 and had retired at 50 from a high-level international job with Nortel and was now traveling full-time. We instantly bonded over our solo travel style. He outclassed me by leagues. He had trekked one month in Nepal, then another month in India, then some months in Asia. He had hiked and skied and adventured all over the western U.S. and Canada....

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