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Boulder to Rochester

We drove directly from Boulder Colorado to Rochester, New York. After dinner Friday night on Pearl St. in Boulder, we left for home. At about 2:00am Saturday, we stopped at a Love’s Travel Center and configured the Matrix for sleeping. After 6 hours of sleep, we were on the road again.

The only unusual thing we saw on the road was a windmill blade on the back of a truck. It is surprising how large these blades are when viewed up close. (click pictures to enlarge)

Windmill blade

Windmill blade

The straight run to Rochester may best be described as a cross between a driving-fest and a marathon; 1,608 miles in 2 days. We departed Boulder, CO near midnight Friday and made it to Rochester, NY at 6:00pm Sunday night.

Boulder to Rochester route map

Epilog

The 16 days of our excursion covered 17 states and around 7,550 miles. That is an average of about 470 miles of travel per day. I hope that at some point we can find the funds and carve out another 16 days for another multi-day adventure.

Brainard Lake, then Boulder

We drove from Arches toward Boulder Colorado. As we were driving on Rt. 128 near Rt. 6 in Utah, we saw a few Prairie Dogs scampering along side the road. (click pictures to enlarge)

Prairie dog

Brainard Lake, a 7 hour drive from Arches, is in the mountains just outside of Boulder. The trail we were to hike was to Lake Isabella.

At the trail head there was a sign warning that mountain lions had been sighted in this area. As we hiked, I maintained a heightened situational awareness. I was constantly scanning our surroundings, alternately checking behind and our flanks.

Sign at trail head

Though a lion attack was very unlikely, we picked up walking sticks, or as we called them, “Mountain Lion Sticks”, in case of need.

There had been a lot of snow in the mountains this year and the spring thaw had come later than normal. The result was that the majority of the trail was still covered in snow. The round trip for the hike would be about four miles. The hike included the constant traversing of snow mounds along the route.

Emily on snow covered trail to Lake Isabella

Here is a link to the Wikipedia page (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cougar) where I grabbed the pictures below of mountain lion footprint images.

Paw print drawing (from Wikipedia)

Mountain lion snow track (from Wikipedia)

On the trail we saw these footprints in the snow. I took a picture with my boot for size comparison.

Tracks

Tracks and boot

Hmmm …. the prints look kinda similar. Heeeeeeerrrrre ….. kitty, kitty, kitty.

Here is a picture of Emily and me with our “Mountain Lion Sticks”.

Tim and Emily with, "Mountain Lion Sticks"

We headed out of the trail well before sunset.

Tree lined, snow covered trail

After the hike, the setting sun highlighted the storm clouds moving over the mountains.

Sunset cloud formation

Arches National Park

The drive from Bryce Canyon to Arches National park took 5 hours. We stopped for dinner before going to the Windows section of the park. (click pictures to enlarge)

Double Arch

The Windows Section has huge arches including Double Arch and the South Window.

South Window

From the Windows, we drove to the trail head for the hike to Delicate Arch. The 3 mile round trip hike is over sandstone formations called Slick Rock.

Delicate Arch

When we got to the Delicate Arch, we waited for the sunset. Unfortunately, on this evening, the clouds of an approaching storm blocked the sun. The sun set behind a cloud bank, keeping the arch shadowed at sunset.

Zion (Day 2) and Bryce Canyon

This morning we woke up using an alarm clock so that we could beat the high 90′s heat of a summer day in Zion. Today’s hike would be a climb to Angel’s Landing.

The 5.4 mile hike that climbs 1,488 feet in elevation, starts on a paved path with numerous switchbacks. The ascent on the paved section is not particularly steep, but it is constant, and a prelude to the real climbing that lay ahead. (click pictures to enlarge)

Angel's Landing paved switchback

At about the halfway mark, the paved path stops and the trail goes significantly more vertical.

Emily starts climb up rock face

If you suffer from vertigo or have an acute fear of heights, this would be your turn around point.

Trail path and peak of Angel's Landing

According to the Park Service, 5 deaths have occurred from falls on the Angel’s Landing trail. It is not a trail to be on in a rain storm or if there is snow and ice. The fatalities serve as a warning to those that are unprepared or unsuited for this climb.

Chain is available on cliff-edge trail

On much of the final section of the trail, steel railings and chains line the trail. The views afforded on the trail are stunning.

View from trail down valley

Care must be taken to insure stable footfalls as a stumble and fall triggered by a misstep could easily be fatal. There are many hundreds of feet from the Angel’s Landing trail to the valley below.

Trail on cliff edge

On the top of Angel’s Landing is a point that provides a view down the valleys of Zion. It is magnificent. Emily and I spent about a half hour on the peak.

Emily and Tim take in view from top of Angel's Landing

Bryce Canyon at sunset

We drove from Zion to Bryce Canyon, a distance of only about 90 miles. We arrived at Bryce just ahead of the setting sun.

Bryce Canyon at sunset

The vertical rock formations are called, “hoodoos”. The erosion of wind, ice and rain have sculpted unusual, brightly colored formations.

Hoodoos

One of the most striking places in the park is a section called Wall Street on the Navajo trail. The narrow trail through the tall pillars of hoodoos was shaded on our sunset walk.

Wall Street path

Zion (Day 1)

The temperature reached well into the 90′s. We had several bottles of water and PowerAid in my backpack. We used nearly all that we took.

The road through Zion winds down the canyon along side the Virgin River. The walls of Zion rise more than 1000 feet above the canyon floor. (click pictures to enlarge)

Road through Zion

Our fist hike was to visit the Emerald Pools, a one mile hike with an elevation change of only 200 feet. The green of the trail is offset by the red and white rocks of the canyon walls.

Emily on Emerald Pools trail

From the Emerald Pools, we hopped on the shuttle for a ride to the end of the canyon and the River Walk. The River Walk leads to the trail head for the Narrows Hike. Since it was spring time, the swollen Virgin river water was high and swift such that we decided against getting wet on a hike to the Narrows. The River Walk trail is right next to a vertical rock wall.

River walk trail

The end of the day, we drove through the Mt. Carmel tunnel to hike the Canyon Overlook trail.

Zion; canyon overlook

This is a relatively easy hike providing a splendid view of the Zion canyon.

The setting sun provided soft lighting on the rock well suited for a picture background.

Emily and Tim in Zion at sunset

Grand Canyon

A storm arrived at the Grand Canyon just ahead of us. As we looked out over the canyon we could see rain falling a few miles away. (click pictures to enlarge)

Grand Canyon storm

We had to stay in a car for about 10 minutes until the downpour stopped. As the clouds moved on, we stopped at various points on the South Rim to take in the views.

Grand Canyon

Our next stop would be Zion National park in Utah.

Sedona and Scottsdale

Today was a trip to Sedona, AZ. It is an art-centric town nestled in beautiful red rock mountains. (click pictures to enlarge)

Sedona after a brief rain

On our way out of town, a storm was rolling through. We stopped to watch the storm and got a few pictures of the landscape with highlighted colors as the sun broke  through the clouds.

Outside Sedona after a storm rolled through

Tim and Emily in Sedona

From Sedona, we drove to Scottsdale, AZ to visit Jill, Chris and Caroline. Dinner was a 5-star offering featuring Salmon and a wonderful wine. They recently added a rescue dog to their home. The golden brown lab is named Cider. Cider is wonderfully playful and friendly.

Emily, Tim, Jill, Caroline, Chris & Cider

Tomorrow we are off to the Grand Canyon.

Vegas then off to AZ

Not much to write about this day. We drove from CA to Las Vegas, NV, arriving in Vegas about 11:00pm. It was 110 degrees at 9:00pm in the desert on our drive across the Mojave desert. The low humidity certainly helps to make the air feel cooler, but even with low humidity, 110 is HOT!

We spent a couple of hours people watching and stomping about in Caesars Palace and the Bellagio.

Bellagio Casino at Las Vegas

We departed Vegas and drove through the night stopping around 3:00am when we found a rest stop with a shower; Slept for a few hours, got a shower, then drove to Sedona, AZ.

Hiking to Muir woods.

The adventure on this day was a hike from Stinson Beech, up Steep Ravine to Muir Woods. A long hike of more than 9 miles included significant change in elevation of 2,730 feet.

The path passes though several very different micro-climates.

The start is on a Pacific ocean sandy beach. It climbs though relatively arid, grassy, rolling hills as the trail leads to the Steep Ravine path. (click pictures to enlarge)

Trail in Steep Ravine (1)

Trail in Steep Ravine (2)

The steep ravine is a high moisture content, dense growth forest which supports ferns and immense redwood trees. Redwoods trees with diameters of more than 8 feet are not difficult to find.

8 ft. diameter redwood

After a short walk through the well maintained pathways of Muir Woods, we started the return trek to where the car was parked at Stinson Beach.

Pacific ocean panorama

We passed through Steep Ravine on the Dipsea trail, then climbed the grass covered hills which provided an elevated view of the Pacific ocean.

Sweet Pea in bloom

I always wanted to visit a ghost town. The drive from Yellowstone to San Francisco California provided the opportunity to visit the ghost town of Bodie. (click pictures to enlarge)

Bodie, ghost town

A booming mining town of 8,000 people in 1880′s, Bodie’s population declined in the 1900′s until it was completely abandoned in 1945. It was preserved as a California state park in 1962.

The journey from Bodie to San Francisco produced the highlight of the day as we drove through the Sanora Mountain pass.

Curvy road in pass

Sanora pass road

The pass was cleared of snow for auto traffic a couple of weeks before our passage. The snow covered, springtime mountains revealed stunning scenery around each turn of the constantly turning roadway.

Mountain flowers

Matrix on turn out