Driving day! Who knew we were really so close to home? From Moab to Lake Tahoe.

We had slept inside Canyonlands National Park so that we could have easy access to hike out to Mesa Arch for the sunrise. When we woke up we found out that we weren’t the only ones with that idea. The arch was full of photographers waiting for the infamous shot. We got our shot too and it was definitely worth it! We made pancakes in the parking lot and left toward Salt Lake City with the whole day still ahead of us. We’re getting pretty good at this sunrise wake up thing. We drove through Salt Lake pretty quickly and started west in search of some hot springs. Once we started driving I think we got comfortable, because we didn’t actually stop at any hot springs until we got to Battle Mountain, NV... over halfway across the state. The hot springs weren’t all they were cracked up to be. We had a difficult time finding the source, but we spent some time at a pond near some railroad tracks while the sun set. We played on the railroad tracks for a little while and ran across a rattlesnake who encouraged us to get back on the road pretty quickly. We also snuck in a shower along the dirt road here, which was quite nice. We kept driving and ended up in Carson City for the night. It was much later than we usually set up camp and much farther than we’ve been driving most days, but we made some serious headway!

MOAB and ARCHES – The Grand Finale

I’ve been excited about Arches National Park this whole trip…

We made our way into Utah after waking up in Rocky Mountain National Park.  Slowly, but surely we were getting closer to the legendary arches of the Southwest.  And to a offroader’s haven : MOAB

WOO HOO!  I kicked Kate out of the driver’s seat as I couldn’t contain my anticipation and she wasn’t driving fast enough… Ha. Just kidding, she drives like Danica PatrickJ.

We made our turn off towards Moab via Hwy 128 because it parallels the Colorado River and makes for a much more scenic drive.  So glad we did!  Along the way we passed the legendary Fisher towers.  This is a must do on every climbers list!  However it requires knowledge of trad climbing.  Something I have yet to do so… better to hold off until I have some experience under my belt.  (Trad climbing is short for traditional climbing, where there are no bolts on the rock so you must set your own anchors and protection)

Check out these pics of the Fisher towers!

Ok, so a little pit stop never hurt anyone  

We kept on keeping on and continued through to the town of Moab in search of some wifi.  It was about 6-7 when we rolled in, so we found ourselves a great little campsite on the side of the Colorado river and got to cooking up some dinner. 

The next morning we packed up and headed towards Arches National Park after breakfast.  Arches is only about 10 minutes out of Moab.  We spent the majority of the day hiking around the desert like conditions chasing photo after photo of the amazing rock formations.  It was everything I had hoped for.

We headed out of Arches via a little 4x4 trail and found our potential campsite for the night, but the day was still early so we headed out in search of some waterfalls and lakes to cool off in.

The next morning we woke up early and headed back into arches to beat the heat.  We found our target, Landscape Arch and snapped some great shots.  Next we headed out in search of Hell’s Revenge.   One of the most popular trails in the moab region was perfect on this 4^th of July day! We met a couple guys from Colorado which helped guide through the Tipover challenge obstacle.  They were great. Check out the pictures!

Afterwards we set out in search of another swimming hole before finding a spot to enjoy the fireworks!

Moab sits in a large canyon, so the fireworks echo and reverberate back and between the canyon walls several times as they go off. It was unique experience.

After the fireworks we headed towards Canyonlands National Park in search of some great sunrise pictures the next day.

Where in the World?!

We made it all the way to Colorado June 30- July 2

Partway through our trip we considered cutting Colorado out because it was out of our way but boy am I glad we didn’t! Turns out it is quite the place. We started in Sand Dunes Nat’l Park, which was a bit too desert to spend much time in during the peak of summer, but we drove out on Medano pass to leave the area, which was a really neat trail. We crossed a river a handful of times and were surrounded by more aspen groves.

Then we headed north where we spent the rest of the day exploring. We went through Garden of the Gods, more incredible rock formations (I know, you’re surprised-more rock formations) right in the heart of Colorado Springs. We swam in paradise cove, a not-so-hidden swimming hole outside Florissant, where we also stopped to see fossilized redwood tree remains-huge ones! We set up camp right next to a Dinosaur Museum that we went to bright and early the next morning with enthusiasm and bed head. Apparently southern Colorado is a paleontologist’s dream- they had tons of remains on display and a crew working on assembly behind a glass wall.  

After we had our early morning dino fix we drove to Aurora where we stopped to scope out the school for Kate. Then through Denver to Nate’s friend Lucas’ house, where we’d stay for the night. Lucas and his roommates showed us around town that evening, which was a blast! (Thanks to Lucas for the good time, the shower and the warm bed.)

The next morning we rose with the sun ready to hike our first 14er. We went to the top of Grays Peak, which sits at 14,278 feet above sea level. The hike wasn’t too long or too steep, but it was taxing because of the altitude. Water from melting snow ran alongside the trail and filled pools of the clearest water I’ve ever seen surrounded by green grass and colorful wildflowers, making this one of the most beautiful places I’ve ever been. The peak was rewarding and allowed a view of the Rockies all around us. The neighboring peak was also over 14k and less than a mile away. Nate bagged this one too while I started down the trail. Two 14ers in one day! On our way up we saw tons of marmots that were extremely friendly and a pack of mountain goats that were a bit less than friendly. They were enormous so we took the hint when they warned us that we were getting close enough.

After a nap at the trailhead we traveled back toward Rocky Mountain Nat’l Park. It wasn’t on our agenda for Colorado but we heard that there are moose there so we had to check it out. And we saw one! The morning view in the park was to die for, with huge bull elk resting everywhere. We left the park and drove the Boulder and Golden and headed back toward Utah in search of some Arches!!