This Isn't Iceland: Why Go Home?

Today marked the last day of our vacation.  We woke to heavy frost, zoomed into town for chai and breakfast and hoped the rising sun would dry off our awning.  Thankfully it did.  But sadly, that meant we were starting our journey back south.  

It's always bittersweet to end a vacation.  We desperately needed this vacation.  Not only were our bucket list international plans dashed, but we worked our tails off to finish two Ford F100 projects this year, on top of our day jobs.  

Not wanting it to end, we stopped for the night back along the river in Mexican Hat.  This time we were early enough to enjoy a soak in the river in the full sun.  And were greeted by a mountain goat dining along the shore.  

We stayed up late into the evening, enjoying the solitude and watching the moon set and stars rise.  

One last sunrise along the river - then home.

Obligatory Monument Valley shot:

This Isn't Iceland: Rainy Red Mountain

We woke to frost, again.  And gloomy skies all around us.  Not looking to put ourselves in a complicated situation, we stayed low and close to town and played around Red Mountain again.

On our way back down 550, we stopped off and climbed 821.  The waterfall is much more impressive in the summer, but for some reason, this is the first time we've ever decided to run this trail.  We started up the switchbacks past the waterfall, but the rain started coming harder and the trail was really steep.  Back down and into Silverton.

By the time we made it through town, the sun was emerging.  We meandered down Cunningham Gulch and scouted campsites for future visits with our Revcon.  (We will hopefully get back into that project shortly). 

Tonight, pizza was on the agenda.  So a stop to the Gold Blok Brewery for pizza and a growler was on order.    

This Isn't Iceland: "Lazy Day"

 We both we're feeling the ill effects of high altitude.  We're desert basin dwellers, and sometimes, the altitude just gets to us.  We did a short jaunt to a mining camp before heading up 550 to Ouray.  Walked a bit through Ouray, before we just headed back to camp to relax.  

Sometimes its just about taking a breather and enjoying the fall colors along easy routes.

This Isn't Iceland: Hurricane and California Passes

Since our first trip in 2012, we've slowly been crossing off the passes.  Today was Hurricane and California.  After thawing over coffee at camp, we headed up the mountains.  

Since the grasses are dying, this entire day felt like we were scaling mountains on another planet.  We hit both passes with rentals and all marveled at the beauty. 

Hurricane

California

After a lunch break, where Mike shared his map with several passersby, we made our way towards Placer Gulch.  

Placer featured the Sound Democrat Mill.  Mike is forever fascinated by mills, mines and machines so we relaxed here quite a while, soaking up the cool breeze and bright sun.

We left the mill long after everyone else and slowly made our way back to camp.  The sun was still high, so we walked down the creek we were camped next to and were not disappointed.  

This Isn't Iceland: Landing in Silverton

After a few hours on the road, we made our way into Silverton.  The closer we got, the prettier 550 got.  We've only been through Colorado during the summer wild flower bloom.  To see the aspens in full fall glory was incredible.  The air crisped up and we made our way to a secluded camp spot just outside of Silverton.  

We had to cross a creek, which ensured that this spot would remain ours the entire trip.  In fact, we only had 3 other campers near our site the whole week. Perfection.  

Bad weather was on the forecast, so the teardrop setup was fully deployed.  We were ready for the week ahead.  We explored around camp before the sun set, made dinner and tucked in for the night.  

This Isn't Iceland: Utah

 Just like everyone else, 2020 royally ruined loads of plans for us.  One of those was to spend our 10 year anniversary in Iceland.  We had tickets purchased, a 4x4 camper truck rented and were ready to go when the pandemic hit hardest in early May.  With everything refunded, we held out hope that maybe the world would "normalize" later in the year.  With that not happening, and in desperate need of a vacation, we opted to go camping.

We left mid-morning on a Friday to miss the weekend-escape-the-heat traffic and landed in Mexican Hat, Utah just before dinner.  We scored a sweet camp spot along the banks of the San Juan River, just behind the famous Hat.  With rafting campers flanking us, we all settled in to listen to the river and watch the bats hunt after the sun set.  

The next morning, we sipped coffee while the sun crept into the gorge.  Packed up, waved at the rafters on the opposite bank and slogged our way towards Valley of the Gods.  We do not miss an opportunity to drive through the Valley if we're up here.  It is my favorite place on the planet.  Since we purchased a DJI Mavic drone specifically for Iceland, we got it up and going to hone our piloting and post-editing skills.  

After a leisurely drive through the Valley, we hit slab and pushed north.  While the desert temperatures are icy compared to southern Arizona this time of year, we had better plans: cool fall temps of Colorado.