From Lands End to Silverton

It was a lazy morning.  At sunrise I got up to visit nature and noticed how colorful the sky was.  I kinda woke Mike up to get the camera and snap a few shots before heading back to bed. 

Mike woke later on and put Elly to bed with me.  He let Rommel out of the Jeep but left a door open.  Rommel climbed back in the Jeep and slept in until 9:30AM.  Everyone, dogs included, were starting to feel road weary.

It was overcast during our drive out of Grand Mesa NF. Apparently the opposing side of the mountain from our climb is littered with lakes.  We made a mental note to revisit this mountain for more play time.

We detoured towards Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  It was much hotter than we were expecting at that altitude.  The entire visit was hot, hazy, humid. 

As national parks go, it was small and expected.  Pull offs with short walks to overlooks.  It would probably be more enjoyable in cooler weather and better lighting.  Midday just wasn't fun.  All three dogs were pushed to their maximum heat limits and we cut our visit short.  But not before seeing another DGF deer.  This one I could've reached out to touch. 

Onward to Silverton.  Highway 550 (Million Dollar Highway) is a super scenic paved road that is always a pleasure to drive down.

We hit San Juan County and turned off towards Black Bear Pass.  The road was narrow and sketchy pulling trailers.  We made a left towards Porphyry Gulch.  We stopped off at a meeting place of two waterfalls that crossed the road. The guys pulled out the pumps and topped off our water supply.  The waterfalls both pushed through large snow embankments, making it icy cold.  Rommel didn't care and proceeded to get soaking wet.  The sun was setting behind the falls, so most of the shots I took ended up with sun spots.

We cruised a short way up towards Porphyry Gulch and found ourselves a small knoll to camp on (11,300 feet).  It provided amazing views of the adjacent mountains, the waterfalls behind us and the road up to Black Bear.  By the time camp was erected (we set up the dog tent today) and dinner was ingested, the sun had long set and rain clouds were moving in.  It rained and hailed sporadically overnight and we appreciated the lower temperatures. 

Moab to Lands End

After breakfast, we packed up and cruised into Moab for errands.

Mandy and I did laundry during lunch at the Moab Brewery.  The food did not disappoint again.  Mike even bought himself a cask of a local brew to take home.  Some grocery shopping happened, then we headed east bound parallel with the Colorado River.

Our love for Moab has not waned, and during this picturesque cruise, we decided that for our five year anniversary, we'd return on the bike to enjoy it more.

The gorgeous red cliffs gave way to smaller white formations until finally dissolving into nothingness.

We could see storms far off into the horizon, but did not encounter any during our cruise towards Grand Junction, Colorado. We turned south from there in hopes of climbing into higher elevations for a good camp spot.

In Whitewater, CO, we turned east and drove straight up a mountain on Lands End Road in Grand Mesa National Forest.  The lesser hills to this mountain were a bizzare moonscape type in color and shape.  I was waiting to see the Mars Rover practicing on these hills.

Tight switchbacks ensued. 

 At the top of the range, we found a turn off and camped at 10,000 feet.  I wandered off towards the edge with the dogs.  We enjoyed a small hike and amazing views.  Also, the wildflowers were so vibrant in all of the Colorado ranges.

I went back to camp to prep dinner.  I gave Mike the camera when the sun began to set.  I could tell instantly that tonight would yield an amazing sunset.

Not knowing where he went, I ran off with my iPhone to snap some shots. We connected at the ridge again and were able to watch the color show together.  The breeze was beginning to chill, but it was worth the time alone together.

After dinner, I looked over and saw that the moon was rising behind some light clouds.  I had to snap its progress.

We lit the campfire and played dominoes before the wind cooled enough to chase us to bed.

Another day well spent on the road.

Manti-LaSal's Part II

Around dawn-o'clock, we were rudely awakened by some idiot in a diesel pulling a fifth wheel.  We intentionally choose bumpy, rocky roads to avoid fifth wheeled morons.  This one decided to drag his rig just up to our camp before panicking and turning around.  So commence with an Austin Powers' inspired turn around, a bed full of barking hounds, and a pissed off Rommel who barked back for being woken up.

We were all awake.  Dick.  So breakfast and pack up. Too early after so little sleep.

We headed out and made our way to Newspaper Rock. A quick stop off at an overlook gave us an impressive view of part of Canyonlands National Park.  Canyonlands has a special part in my heart since Mike and I honeymooned there (click here for the blog).

Newspaper Rock was worth the quick detour.

After that, we slabbed it towards Moab.  We turned off miles before town to head to another mountain range in the Manti-LaSal National Forest.  Storm clouds were brewing and we were rained on a few times.

Several miles in we noticed a new problem.  The trailer brake system wasn't working.  Another issue from our battery problem discovered yesterday.  Joy.  The boys popped the hood at a loop while Mandy, the dogs and I meandered around.

After a sorta-kinda fix, we continued on.  These mountains were blah.  I preferred the previous set.  Just on the other side, with a sweet view of Moab, we found a crappy road to go camp on.  We love crappy roads. It weeds out other conventional campers.

Tucked snuggly into the aspen grove, we proceeded to relax.

Mike wandered off with all three dogs, and Mandy and I hiked a short way on a trail behind our camp site.  We found a small waterfall crossing the trail.  I practiced with long exposures on the water.

The sun began to set around dinner time.  Mike, the kids and I wandered off towards the overlook hoping for a beautiful sunset over the valley.  We were sorely disappointed with the show.  It was however, a peaceful and romantic way to cap off the day.

It just doesn't get better than this folks.

Manti-LaSal to Monticello

The storm clouds rolled out over night and gave way to beautiful blue skies in the morning. I let Mike sleep in, he didn't sleep well.  It would be a constant theme throughout this trip, only one of us would sleep well each night.  I looked out my window to see all three of them waiting for me to play with them.  So I reluctantly got up.

Beauty shots:

After play and breakfast, we packed up and made our way through what seemed like an entire mountain chain.  It was a magnificent drive.  

We stopped off in some shade for lunch and discovered a battery issue with our trailer.  One of the batteries was dead.  Our duel battery system was failing, triggering breaker issues and not supplying our trailer with enough power. The boys made a work around to keep our fridge running while the dogs rested.

We continued on and enjoyed the views.

We were curious about the weird tiers this mountain had. 

On our descent into Monticello, we had what would be the first of many deer sightings.  Or what we would call "don't-give-a-fuck-deer" sightings.  We crept up on this guy.  He was just kicking it in the road until Pete's noisy FJ spooked it.

We popped into Monticello for gas and parts at AutoZone.  Afterwards we crept back towards the mountain for a camp spot.  Unbeknownst to us, we camped in the middle of a cattle trail.  Elly would have several close encounters of the bovine kind.

We grilled chicken, enjoyed a mediocre sunset then watched the full moon in all of its glory.

It was so bright and illuminated the sky.

A few night shots then off to bed to try and make up for lost sleep.

Tomorrow is another day.