Day 65 - Dinosaur to Flaming Gorge

At first I thought it was a dream-- bumping sounds by the van--then there was another bump. I looked up and saw a herd of cows surrounding the van, cows again! I yelled at them to no effect then I started the motor and backed out of the side road-- startling the cows and allowing me make my getaway. Rains had fallen all week making the gravel-based 15-mile dirt road to the Utah section of Dinosaur a bit slippery but passable-- luckily I only had to go downhill. Holding my speed through the muddy sections as to not get stuck, I made it down.

I wanted to climb Split Mountain, a mountain carved in two by the Green River, but it was rainy and the rocks were wet. I did hike up a trail by the river and then off road to a high hill overlooking the mountain and river. Incredible views, no one else around.

I then drove to the famous "fossil wall", a ancient riverbed layer filled with thousands of dinosaur bones, tilted sideways by rising mountains and now available for the public to experience. The wall is huge and only a quarter of its original size. The bones of 100 dinosaurs were mangled, tangled and embedded in the rock.

After Dinosaur, I drove north towards Flaming Gorge, a reservoir formed by a large dam fifty years ago. I joined a tour of the dam (wider walls than Hoover) and then drove around the lake towards Wyoming. The weather was overcast and rainy so photos didn't exactly capture the flaming nature of the Gorge. But it was pretty.

Given the rainy weather and the fact that I was arriving in Wyoming a week early, I decided to make a detour-- to South Dakota. This 1000 mile detour would allow me to see Devils Tower, the Black Hills, Custer State Park, Wind Cave, Jewel Cave, Mount Rushmore and the Badlands. I drove on another two hours to a Walmart parking lot in Rawlins, Wyoming in order to cut the distance for tomorrow's drive.

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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 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....

Day 40 Escalante Hole-in-the-Rock Road

I woke up late following a lovely slumber in a REAL bed-- such a luxury. I stayed in bed reading my maps and guidebooks, trying to put a plan together for the next months travels. I decided I would spend two more weeks in Utah and add on two weeks in western Colorado instead of spending all four weeks in Utah-- I was starting to tire of the desert and Colorado seemed like a good mix of backcountry beauty and civilization proper. The last must do in Escalante was Coyote Gulch, so I read and reread the route description in my guidebook and went to the visitor center to get my permit. I was going to do a loop down Hurricane Wash to Coyote Gulch to the Escalante River and then up Crack-in-the-Wall overland back to my car. Permit in hand, I lingered by the Outfitters wifi emailing and blogging and then drove out Hole-in-the-rock road forty miles to my trailhead. The road was dirt but well graded in most parts. A high-clearance vehicle was recommended for the last five miles but my Dodg...

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