Saturday we snowshoed out to the Arestua Hut with a bunch of people from our WTS class. Fun time -- we spent the night with a bunch of hooligans. (Apparently they saw on the reservation calendar that we (6 of us) were staying over that night and decided that it would be a good night for them to stay over too, despite the fact that they knew there's not really enough room for 11 people. WTF.)
But we had a good time anyway and got to catch up with folks more at lunch the next day in Nederland.
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Friday, August 13, 2010
Perseid meteor shower
Last night Laurel and I drove up to the Fourth of July trailhead and car-camped. The objective was to wake up in the middle of the night to check out the meteor shower, away from any light pollution. We picked up a pizza on the way.
Once camp was set up and we had each eaten half a slice of pizza, it occurred to us that it was still light out. We put the pizza back in the car and at 8pm went for a 2 mile trail run. We finished dinner in the dark and went to sleep.
It was cold at 12:15 when we got up! Laurel watched meteors with me for 5-10 minutes then went back to sleep. I stayed up shivering for another hour.
The Milky Way was very bright, splayed across the sky like a cloud. Some of the meteors went along its path, which was pretty cool. There were some huge ones, maybe 10-20 degrees of sky with tails that lingered (either in the sky or my retina, not sure).
I probably saw dozens in the hour I was out there -- awesome and beautiful -- definitely worth a cold night of little sleep. We got up again at 5am, packed up the tent in the dark, and head back to town (and then to work).
In the words of Dr. Higley,
Once camp was set up and we had each eaten half a slice of pizza, it occurred to us that it was still light out. We put the pizza back in the car and at 8pm went for a 2 mile trail run. We finished dinner in the dark and went to sleep.
It was cold at 12:15 when we got up! Laurel watched meteors with me for 5-10 minutes then went back to sleep. I stayed up shivering for another hour.
The Milky Way was very bright, splayed across the sky like a cloud. Some of the meteors went along its path, which was pretty cool. There were some huge ones, maybe 10-20 degrees of sky with tails that lingered (either in the sky or my retina, not sure).
I probably saw dozens in the hour I was out there -- awesome and beautiful -- definitely worth a cold night of little sleep. We got up again at 5am, packed up the tent in the dark, and head back to town (and then to work).
In the words of Dr. Higley,
How often at night, when the heavens were bright,
With the light of the twinkling stars
Have I stood here amazed, and asked as I gazed,
If their glory exceed that of ours.
Monday, July 26, 2010
Weekend with Rob
Rob flew out Friday to spend an adventure-filled Colorado weekend with us. Friday afternoon we hopped on the bikes and took a tour of the Boulder Creek Path up into the canyon. It was a beautiful, warm day so it was nice to put our feet in the water for a while. We went to Mountain Sun for dinner and the boys enjoyed the locally brewed beer.
On Saturday, we headed to the Amphitheater to climb. We hoped to set up topropes on the West Bench, but someone already beat us to it. Dan led two climbs on the Third Pinnacle and Rob followed. That kept them busy for a few hours. I helped Rob with belaying a leader and seconding, but I couldn't climb because of my damn shoulder. So, when they were set, I ran up Flagstaff and then Green and met them back at the rock two hours later.
Once we cleaned up from climbing, we were back out again. This time we were headed up to Allenspark for some good old-fashioned camping. We drove up the Ski Road to Rock Creek Road in Roosevelt National Forest. There are no official campgrounds or sites here, but it is a 4-wheel drive road along a creek that many locals pull off and create makeshift campsites. We found an awesome one that had a tree trunk bridge across the creek, a fire pit made of stones, and a flat spot for the tent. It was a cool night, but we had a lot of fun hanging out around the fire.
The next morning we made pancakes (yum!) and headed to RoMo. We took Rob on our regular tour loop -- up Old Fall River Road to Milner Pass, hiking to Marmot City, and back on Trail Ridge Road. It was a gorgeous day and we got to see marmots, elk, and bighorn sheep. We were all beat when we got back to Boulder, so we had dinner at home and watched stupid TV.
This morning Rob took us out to breakfast at Lucile's (double yum!) and then we drove up Flagstaff and the boys did some scrambling up around Crown Rock. Before we knew it, it was time to bring Rob back to the bus station to get a ride to the airport. We had a really fun weekend and hopefully we didn't tire Rob out too much so he'll come back to visit soon!
On Saturday, we headed to the Amphitheater to climb. We hoped to set up topropes on the West Bench, but someone already beat us to it. Dan led two climbs on the Third Pinnacle and Rob followed. That kept them busy for a few hours. I helped Rob with belaying a leader and seconding, but I couldn't climb because of my damn shoulder. So, when they were set, I ran up Flagstaff and then Green and met them back at the rock two hours later.
Once we cleaned up from climbing, we were back out again. This time we were headed up to Allenspark for some good old-fashioned camping. We drove up the Ski Road to Rock Creek Road in Roosevelt National Forest. There are no official campgrounds or sites here, but it is a 4-wheel drive road along a creek that many locals pull off and create makeshift campsites. We found an awesome one that had a tree trunk bridge across the creek, a fire pit made of stones, and a flat spot for the tent. It was a cool night, but we had a lot of fun hanging out around the fire.
The next morning we made pancakes (yum!) and headed to RoMo. We took Rob on our regular tour loop -- up Old Fall River Road to Milner Pass, hiking to Marmot City, and back on Trail Ridge Road. It was a gorgeous day and we got to see marmots, elk, and bighorn sheep. We were all beat when we got back to Boulder, so we had dinner at home and watched stupid TV.
This morning Rob took us out to breakfast at Lucile's (double yum!) and then we drove up Flagstaff and the boys did some scrambling up around Crown Rock. Before we knew it, it was time to bring Rob back to the bus station to get a ride to the airport. We had a really fun weekend and hopefully we didn't tire Rob out too much so he'll come back to visit soon!
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Are you authorized to be here?
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This week has been warm (90-100 F) so Friday we decided to go camping in the mountains. Easier said than done! The campgrounds were full (all of them) but one of the campground hosts said we might try hiking up a 4x4 road near the entrance gate to Pawnee Campground until we found a flat spot to set up a tent. Luckily (but I'm sure not coincidentally) there was an old campsite just a few hundred feet up the road. Although there was neither a "No parking" sign where we parked nor a "No camping" sign where we camped, it didn't seem like we were supposed to be there. We weren't sure if our propane stove was legal either.
Around 7pm we started making dinner (recipe: 1 can tomatoes & jalapenos, undrained; 1 can black beans, undrained; 1 can chicken, undrained; bring to boil and add 1/2 cup couscous). By the time we finished eating and cleaned up it was getting dark so we went to bed early. There were some funny noises, in particular a loud clap or snapping sound that I assume was a bear stepping on and breaking a branch. Later in the night some small critter brushed up against the side of our tent, right by our heads. I can't imagine what it's like to camp in that kind of environment with a simple tarp-n-stick kind of tent!
So we didn't sleep all that well, and it got chilly (40s). It was a relief to see the sun in the morning -- we didn't get eaten by a bear and didn't get kicked out of our campsite by a ranger.
Around 8am we drove up to the trailhead and started our hike up Mt. Audubon. Beautiful mountain with great views from the trail.
After the hike we decided to take a short walk (1 mile) to a nearby lake. It started to rain (and lightning and thunder) so we checked out the lake and turned back. We were prepared to camp two nights but rain makes that less fun so we went home.
This morning we climbed at Nip in Boulder Canyon. First a fun 5.9 finger crack that we top roped, then we moved the rope over to the arete climb. It took us a few tries but we both sent the crack climb. The face climb in between (5.10?) was tough, I didn't get more than a few feet off the ground.
As we're climbing a few guys walk by, heading up the gully to set up a climb. One of them asks "Are you authorized to be here?" I assume he's being a jackass so I reply assuredly, "Yeah, I think we are." He says, "'cause your shirt says 'Authorized personnel only'." Doh! Now who's a jackass...
Fun anniversary weekend... tomorrow it's back to the grind.
This week has been warm (90-100 F) so Friday we decided to go camping in the mountains. Easier said than done! The campgrounds were full (all of them) but one of the campground hosts said we might try hiking up a 4x4 road near the entrance gate to Pawnee Campground until we found a flat spot to set up a tent. Luckily (but I'm sure not coincidentally) there was an old campsite just a few hundred feet up the road. Although there was neither a "No parking" sign where we parked nor a "No camping" sign where we camped, it didn't seem like we were supposed to be there. We weren't sure if our propane stove was legal either.
Around 7pm we started making dinner (recipe: 1 can tomatoes & jalapenos, undrained; 1 can black beans, undrained; 1 can chicken, undrained; bring to boil and add 1/2 cup couscous). By the time we finished eating and cleaned up it was getting dark so we went to bed early. There were some funny noises, in particular a loud clap or snapping sound that I assume was a bear stepping on and breaking a branch. Later in the night some small critter brushed up against the side of our tent, right by our heads. I can't imagine what it's like to camp in that kind of environment with a simple tarp-n-stick kind of tent!
So we didn't sleep all that well, and it got chilly (40s). It was a relief to see the sun in the morning -- we didn't get eaten by a bear and didn't get kicked out of our campsite by a ranger.
Around 8am we drove up to the trailhead and started our hike up Mt. Audubon. Beautiful mountain with great views from the trail.
After the hike we decided to take a short walk (1 mile) to a nearby lake. It started to rain (and lightning and thunder) so we checked out the lake and turned back. We were prepared to camp two nights but rain makes that less fun so we went home.
This morning we climbed at Nip in Boulder Canyon. First a fun 5.9 finger crack that we top roped, then we moved the rope over to the arete climb. It took us a few tries but we both sent the crack climb. The face climb in between (5.10?) was tough, I didn't get more than a few feet off the ground.
As we're climbing a few guys walk by, heading up the gully to set up a climb. One of them asks "Are you authorized to be here?" I assume he's being a jackass so I reply assuredly, "Yeah, I think we are." He says, "'cause your shirt says 'Authorized personnel only'." Doh! Now who's a jackass...
Fun anniversary weekend... tomorrow it's back to the grind.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Day 39, Indiana and Ohio
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Started the day with a trail run. Two miles through Illinois woods. Still hot and humid. Hit the road for Indianapolis after nice showers and breakfast at the local IGA.
First stop was the Indianapolis Speedway. We drove under the racetrack to the parking lot of the speedway museum. Neither Laurel nor Dan had any interest in learning about racing or taking the raceway bus tour (funny how that works, we'll pay $40 for Elvis but not $6 for Nascar), we took some pictures and headed to the Lambda Chi Alpha Headquarters. A nice kid gave us a tour of the building. Dan also got to see some secret stuff.
We decided to head downtown to see the Capitol and government buildings. They were air conditioned. The Capitol had a huge ear of corn advertising the upcoming state fair. Very tacky. We walked a couple of blocks to the market place. It must be more of a breakfast/lunch place because by 3:00 just about everything was shut down. We did get some Amish peanut butter, though. It's very sweet.
Started driving east again. Next stop was John Bryan State Park in Ohio, a park with rocks! Yes, climbable, legal rocks. We toproped a couple of climbs which were hard and dirty. The rounded limestone covered with a nice layer of dirt didn't make for the best climbing.
Now we're camping west of Columbus in Buck Creek State Park; tomorrow we will journey into Columbus for a bit, then on to DC to visit with Renee and Liam.
Started the day with a trail run. Two miles through Illinois woods. Still hot and humid. Hit the road for Indianapolis after nice showers and breakfast at the local IGA.
First stop was the Indianapolis Speedway. We drove under the racetrack to the parking lot of the speedway museum. Neither Laurel nor Dan had any interest in learning about racing or taking the raceway bus tour (funny how that works, we'll pay $40 for Elvis but not $6 for Nascar), we took some pictures and headed to the Lambda Chi Alpha Headquarters. A nice kid gave us a tour of the building. Dan also got to see some secret stuff.
We decided to head downtown to see the Capitol and government buildings. They were air conditioned. The Capitol had a huge ear of corn advertising the upcoming state fair. Very tacky. We walked a couple of blocks to the market place. It must be more of a breakfast/lunch place because by 3:00 just about everything was shut down. We did get some Amish peanut butter, though. It's very sweet.
Started driving east again. Next stop was John Bryan State Park in Ohio, a park with rocks! Yes, climbable, legal rocks. We toproped a couple of climbs which were hard and dirty. The rounded limestone covered with a nice layer of dirt didn't make for the best climbing.
Now we're camping west of Columbus in Buck Creek State Park; tomorrow we will journey into Columbus for a bit, then on to DC to visit with Renee and Liam.
Monday, August 6, 2007
Day 38, St Louis
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Ran again this morning. Very hot and humid, showers were nice after the ups and downs of the hilly bike trail. Hit the road for St. Loius.
Walking along the Mississippi offered a bit of a breeze. We started the morning with a riverboat cruise on a steamboat style old fashioned riverboat. We learned about the commerce of the river and some St. Loius history. There were some neat operations on the Missouri side where barges were being loaded or unloaded. Dirt, grain, salt, who knows what.
We walked to the arch and went to the top. Despite what someone told us, it was very cool.
The "elevator" is a train of 8 tiny space capsules, each with barely enough room for 5 people to sit.
One capsule took us to the top -- 630 feet up (a week or two ago they lost power and some unlucky tourists were stuck in their time capsules for 2 hours. Yikes.). This is what we looked like after 3 minutes in one!
The observation deck was cool. It was arch shaped (floor and ceiling) and you could rap your knuckles on the outer shell of stainless steel on the top. I think you can see the curvature of the earth from that height (or is it a camera trick?).
We walked 16 blocks to Union Station, an old railroad hub renovated into a mall/hotel. Got some frozen custard and popcorn and headed back.
On the road towards Indianapolis, we stopped in Collinsville, IL. This is a 3 star city -- one star each for the excellent BBQ place (Bandana's), the Waffle House, and the frozen custard place (Culver's). We stopped at each for an early dinner(s). Then back on the road.
Tonight we're staying in Illinois's Lincoln Trail State Park, 15 miles from Indiana. Laurel is having aggressive feelings towards IN, home of the Colts. Watch out Peyton!
We went rollerblading along the 5 mile loop around the lake. Lots of huge hills. It's so humid, you drip sweat just standing still. It must be like 4000% humidity and there's no breeze.
Ran again this morning. Very hot and humid, showers were nice after the ups and downs of the hilly bike trail. Hit the road for St. Loius.
Walking along the Mississippi offered a bit of a breeze. We started the morning with a riverboat cruise on a steamboat style old fashioned riverboat. We learned about the commerce of the river and some St. Loius history. There were some neat operations on the Missouri side where barges were being loaded or unloaded. Dirt, grain, salt, who knows what.
We walked to the arch and went to the top. Despite what someone told us, it was very cool.
The "elevator" is a train of 8 tiny space capsules, each with barely enough room for 5 people to sit.
One capsule took us to the top -- 630 feet up (a week or two ago they lost power and some unlucky tourists were stuck in their time capsules for 2 hours. Yikes.). This is what we looked like after 3 minutes in one!
The observation deck was cool. It was arch shaped (floor and ceiling) and you could rap your knuckles on the outer shell of stainless steel on the top. I think you can see the curvature of the earth from that height (or is it a camera trick?).
We walked 16 blocks to Union Station, an old railroad hub renovated into a mall/hotel. Got some frozen custard and popcorn and headed back.
On the road towards Indianapolis, we stopped in Collinsville, IL. This is a 3 star city -- one star each for the excellent BBQ place (Bandana's), the Waffle House, and the frozen custard place (Culver's). We stopped at each for an early dinner(s). Then back on the road.
Tonight we're staying in Illinois's Lincoln Trail State Park, 15 miles from Indiana. Laurel is having aggressive feelings towards IN, home of the Colts. Watch out Peyton!
We went rollerblading along the 5 mile loop around the lake. Lots of huge hills. It's so humid, you drip sweat just standing still. It must be like 4000% humidity and there's no breeze.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Day 37, Missouri has nice state parks
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Woke up early and went for a 2.5 mile run. Packed up, cleaned up, and went to Graceland. There are a lot of people who are crazy about Elvis. We are not, but it was still interesting. I never knew he was drafted into the army or was such a philanthropist or that his parents lived in Graceland too.
The house was left as last decorated in fabulous 70's style -- lots of mirrors; shag carpet on the floor, walls, ceiling; velvet; gaudy figurines. There was lots of memorabilia and gold/platinum records on display. Elvis had a racquetball court built behind his Graceland mansion, now it's full of records.
Left Tennessee, drove into Mississippi for a few minutes, then back into Arkansas so we could get to Missouri. Our first stop was Trail of Tears State Park situated alongside the Mississippi River. The park commemorated the Cherokee march through the area.
We hiked the Sheppard Point Trail which was strenuous for about 2 miles. There were bluffs overlooking the river -- much wider here than in Minneapolis.
Back on the road and headed to Pevely to scope out some potential sport climbing. There were not any "No Trespassing" signs explicitly posted on the trail we took... the limestone quarry we found looked like something out of an Indiana Jones movie (Limestone Quarry of DOOM!), or perhaps the Mines of Moria. Just a little scary! There were bolts leading up one of the columns, so we were in the right place. This cave was huge -- the ceiling was 30-50 feet up, supported by 20' square columns that hadn't been blasted away. This went back for 400 feet. The Rock and Road atlas suggested you could drag race 18-wheelers in there -- quite accurate! (That little blip in the photo below the middle "garage door bay" is Laurel.)
The access seemed questionable so we took off for Babler State Park to set up camp. So far we have a great impression of MO state parks. Tomorrow we'll check out St. Loius.
Woke up early and went for a 2.5 mile run. Packed up, cleaned up, and went to Graceland. There are a lot of people who are crazy about Elvis. We are not, but it was still interesting. I never knew he was drafted into the army or was such a philanthropist or that his parents lived in Graceland too.
The house was left as last decorated in fabulous 70's style -- lots of mirrors; shag carpet on the floor, walls, ceiling; velvet; gaudy figurines. There was lots of memorabilia and gold/platinum records on display. Elvis had a racquetball court built behind his Graceland mansion, now it's full of records.
Left Tennessee, drove into Mississippi for a few minutes, then back into Arkansas so we could get to Missouri. Our first stop was Trail of Tears State Park situated alongside the Mississippi River. The park commemorated the Cherokee march through the area.
We hiked the Sheppard Point Trail which was strenuous for about 2 miles. There were bluffs overlooking the river -- much wider here than in Minneapolis.
Back on the road and headed to Pevely to scope out some potential sport climbing. There were not any "No Trespassing" signs explicitly posted on the trail we took... the limestone quarry we found looked like something out of an Indiana Jones movie (Limestone Quarry of DOOM!), or perhaps the Mines of Moria. Just a little scary! There were bolts leading up one of the columns, so we were in the right place. This cave was huge -- the ceiling was 30-50 feet up, supported by 20' square columns that hadn't been blasted away. This went back for 400 feet. The Rock and Road atlas suggested you could drag race 18-wheelers in there -- quite accurate! (That little blip in the photo below the middle "garage door bay" is Laurel.)
The access seemed questionable so we took off for Babler State Park to set up camp. So far we have a great impression of MO state parks. Tomorrow we'll check out St. Loius.
Saturday, August 4, 2007
Day 36, can't climb in Arkansas
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Packed up camp, hit the road east, trying to get out of OK as fast as possible. The drive was so boring, we played "church poker". Similar to Tom's game of "cow poker", you get a point for passing a church on your side of the road, double your points for passing an LDS church, and lose all your points for passing an adult bookstore.
Dan got some funny looks at a gas station in Oklahoma, probably looked out of place not wearing any camouflage.
We're in Waffle House country. That's one good thing about this area. It's obvious we're in the South after talking with a few locals.
Into Arkansas. The roads are hilly and treeful, which is a change from sunflowers, corn, wheat, and cows.
Heading to Petit Jean State Park for some hiking and hopefully climbing too.
OK, no luck on the climbing. The people at the visitor center seemed like they had never heard the words "rock climbing". There were signs at the trailheads though that said no climbing or rappelling allowed.
It's hot and humid. We hiked some short trails and saw cliffs, caves, a waterfall, and turtle rocks. Did I mention it's humid? The dry heat of the west was much more tolerable. Now we're driving through backwoods Arkansas to get a different view on the way back to the highway.
Tried another place to climb but we were discouraged by the park staff who said it would be too hot, warned us that our dog would die, and needed us to fill out a form explicitly stating which trails/routes we would be hiking/climbing. Said "screw this" and went to Bill Clinton's library / gift palace in Little Rock. It was an interesting place and an excuse to see some of the capital city.
Once again hit the road, this time for Memphis. Checked into an RV park, set up camp, and headed out to Beale St. to B.B. King's Blues Cafe. Very touristy but it was fun. Listened to some good music, had some good BBQ. Saw W.C. Handy's historic house nearby (father of the blues).
Tomorrow we go see Elvis, who lives right next door. That's right, we're camping 100 feet from Graceland. Does it get much better?
(8/5: holy crap, it'll cost us $50 just to get into Graceland! maybe we'll skip it.)
Packed up camp, hit the road east, trying to get out of OK as fast as possible. The drive was so boring, we played "church poker". Similar to Tom's game of "cow poker", you get a point for passing a church on your side of the road, double your points for passing an LDS church, and lose all your points for passing an adult bookstore.
Dan got some funny looks at a gas station in Oklahoma, probably looked out of place not wearing any camouflage.
We're in Waffle House country. That's one good thing about this area. It's obvious we're in the South after talking with a few locals.
Into Arkansas. The roads are hilly and treeful, which is a change from sunflowers, corn, wheat, and cows.
Heading to Petit Jean State Park for some hiking and hopefully climbing too.
OK, no luck on the climbing. The people at the visitor center seemed like they had never heard the words "rock climbing". There were signs at the trailheads though that said no climbing or rappelling allowed.
It's hot and humid. We hiked some short trails and saw cliffs, caves, a waterfall, and turtle rocks. Did I mention it's humid? The dry heat of the west was much more tolerable. Now we're driving through backwoods Arkansas to get a different view on the way back to the highway.
Tried another place to climb but we were discouraged by the park staff who said it would be too hot, warned us that our dog would die, and needed us to fill out a form explicitly stating which trails/routes we would be hiking/climbing. Said "screw this" and went to Bill Clinton's library / gift palace in Little Rock. It was an interesting place and an excuse to see some of the capital city.
Once again hit the road, this time for Memphis. Checked into an RV park, set up camp, and headed out to Beale St. to B.B. King's Blues Cafe. Very touristy but it was fun. Listened to some good music, had some good BBQ. Saw W.C. Handy's historic house nearby (father of the blues).
Tomorrow we go see Elvis, who lives right next door. That's right, we're camping 100 feet from Graceland. Does it get much better?
(8/5: holy crap, it'll cost us $50 just to get into Graceland! maybe we'll skip it.)
Friday, August 3, 2007
Day 35, Dinosaurs!
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We woke up in Hays Kansas, home of the Sternberg Natural History Museum. Saw their collection of Cretaceous fossils including the famous fish-in-a-fish fossil. The top floor of the domed building housed a diorama which included a life-sized T-Rex and other dinosaurs. A sign warned us not to feed them -- unfortunately, they were not animated as the AAA book indicated, just sound effects. It was still a very interesting and worthwhile museum.
The museum also had Native American artifacts, historical items, and a wide collection of taxidermied animals.
From Hays we hit the long flat road to Wichita. It was disappointing. We walked around an area that was supposed to have 100 shops located in converted warehouses. There were lots of restaurants and a movie theater but not much for us to see or do.
So we headed to Oklahoma. Oklahoma is barely OK. The most interesting sights were an oil rig in the middle of a grocery store parking lot and a dead armadillo on the side of the road. I guess I should say something nice about Oklahoma here... they have cheap gas -- $2.61 for a gallon of 87 at one place.
The people we ran into at a Ski shop, a B&N, and in a parking lot were very nice and helpful. Unfortunately, the 3 outdoor stores and the B&N we checked didn't have the "Oklahoma's Climbers' Guidebook" that we were looking for, and we didn't feel like driving a few hours out of our way to Lawton looking for 100' cliffs without knowing what to expect when we got there.
So we drove through Oklahoma City (OKC), passing by the capitol building and the outskirts of the OU campus. We set up camp at Lake Thunderbird State Park near Norman. The site was very picturesque on the water, so things were looking up. However, the other campers, fishermen (late night and early morning of course), and boaters were obnoxiously loud all night and left an even worse impression of the state.
We woke up in Hays Kansas, home of the Sternberg Natural History Museum. Saw their collection of Cretaceous fossils including the famous fish-in-a-fish fossil. The top floor of the domed building housed a diorama which included a life-sized T-Rex and other dinosaurs. A sign warned us not to feed them -- unfortunately, they were not animated as the AAA book indicated, just sound effects. It was still a very interesting and worthwhile museum.
The museum also had Native American artifacts, historical items, and a wide collection of taxidermied animals.
From Hays we hit the long flat road to Wichita. It was disappointing. We walked around an area that was supposed to have 100 shops located in converted warehouses. There were lots of restaurants and a movie theater but not much for us to see or do.
So we headed to Oklahoma. Oklahoma is barely OK. The most interesting sights were an oil rig in the middle of a grocery store parking lot and a dead armadillo on the side of the road. I guess I should say something nice about Oklahoma here... they have cheap gas -- $2.61 for a gallon of 87 at one place.
The people we ran into at a Ski shop, a B&N, and in a parking lot were very nice and helpful. Unfortunately, the 3 outdoor stores and the B&N we checked didn't have the "Oklahoma's Climbers' Guidebook" that we were looking for, and we didn't feel like driving a few hours out of our way to Lawton looking for 100' cliffs without knowing what to expect when we got there.
So we drove through Oklahoma City (OKC), passing by the capitol building and the outskirts of the OU campus. We set up camp at Lake Thunderbird State Park near Norman. The site was very picturesque on the water, so things were looking up. However, the other campers, fishermen (late night and early morning of course), and boaters were obnoxiously loud all night and left an even worse impression of the state.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
Day 33, Oh My.
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Teeth chattering, fingers numb, I can see my breath. It's 5:30 AM. We camped at 10,000 feet last night. It can't be more than 40 degrees this morning, if that. Off to hike a mountain...
We planned on making oatmeal to warm us up, but decided against it so we could get an earlier start on Elbert. (In the photo above, Elbert is above the outhouse.)
We arrived at the Mt. Elbert trailhead and were surprised to see 12 cars already there. At 6:30 we headed up the mountain at a steady pace. With the elevation and steepness of the hike we were going fairly slow, but we did pass a few parties on the way.
At around 13 or 14 thousand feet elevation we really started to notice the lack of O2. There were a few false summits and finally we made it to the top where a bunch of people were hanging out. The view was great and we felt a strong sense of accomplishment having made it. Our training paid off!
The entire ascent took 3h40, we spent half an hour at the top. For most of the hike the sky was 100% blue, but once up top we saw that nasty clouds were beginning to form. Time to go. The way down seemed to take forever. We made it below the treeline before the rain (and mini-hail) began. The whole way down took 2h20. Round trip was 8.5 miles, elevation gain of 4373 feet.
Our next stop was Colo Springs. There seemed to be no good way to get there -- the roads went at least 50 miles out of the way in either direction. Except there was this one road that went right through -- looked promising! Our AAA map marked it as an 'unpaved' road (with no route number) and it looked about 7 miles long. Shortcut!
At a gas station they didn't know what the unnumbered road was, but told us how to get to a road that goes to Mosquito Pass. We figured it must be the same road, how many roads could there be going between two 14,000 foot mountains?
The road started out decent but that didn't last long. Laurel handed the wheel over to Dan for some rough driving. We were already two miles in and didn't anticipate this road turning into the "worst road in Colorado", or the "highest off-roading road in the country" as it was described to us by a few people we passed.
It was rough alright. Rutty, rocky, narrow, exposed, downright scary. Big rocks too. Laurel's knuckles were white gripping the "Oh My" handle. With a few lucky guesses about which way to turn, we made it to the top, which was marked Mosquito Pass, elevation 13,185 feet. And it said we were going the right way, towards Fairplay!
Downhill was interesting. 1st gear wasn't slow enough, had to use the brakes almost the whole way down. At one point the road turned into a stream. We passed a few decrepit abandoned mines. On the whole 13 mile road we only saw one mile marker (#3). It had blue and yellow ribbon tied on. Earlier we noticed a crummy weed tied with the same ribbon, and later we saw a bush tied with ribbon, so I guess those were mile markers too.
Towards the very end a stream crossed the road. It was about 2' deep and 10' across -- no problem for the Escape!
Easy highway driving the rest of the way to Manitou Springs where we're staying at a nice campground with showers, wifi, and laundry.
Teeth chattering, fingers numb, I can see my breath. It's 5:30 AM. We camped at 10,000 feet last night. It can't be more than 40 degrees this morning, if that. Off to hike a mountain...
We planned on making oatmeal to warm us up, but decided against it so we could get an earlier start on Elbert. (In the photo above, Elbert is above the outhouse.)
We arrived at the Mt. Elbert trailhead and were surprised to see 12 cars already there. At 6:30 we headed up the mountain at a steady pace. With the elevation and steepness of the hike we were going fairly slow, but we did pass a few parties on the way.
At around 13 or 14 thousand feet elevation we really started to notice the lack of O2. There were a few false summits and finally we made it to the top where a bunch of people were hanging out. The view was great and we felt a strong sense of accomplishment having made it. Our training paid off!
The entire ascent took 3h40, we spent half an hour at the top. For most of the hike the sky was 100% blue, but once up top we saw that nasty clouds were beginning to form. Time to go. The way down seemed to take forever. We made it below the treeline before the rain (and mini-hail) began. The whole way down took 2h20. Round trip was 8.5 miles, elevation gain of 4373 feet.
Our next stop was Colo Springs. There seemed to be no good way to get there -- the roads went at least 50 miles out of the way in either direction. Except there was this one road that went right through -- looked promising! Our AAA map marked it as an 'unpaved' road (with no route number) and it looked about 7 miles long. Shortcut!
At a gas station they didn't know what the unnumbered road was, but told us how to get to a road that goes to Mosquito Pass. We figured it must be the same road, how many roads could there be going between two 14,000 foot mountains?
The road started out decent but that didn't last long. Laurel handed the wheel over to Dan for some rough driving. We were already two miles in and didn't anticipate this road turning into the "worst road in Colorado", or the "highest off-roading road in the country" as it was described to us by a few people we passed.
It was rough alright. Rutty, rocky, narrow, exposed, downright scary. Big rocks too. Laurel's knuckles were white gripping the "Oh My" handle. With a few lucky guesses about which way to turn, we made it to the top, which was marked Mosquito Pass, elevation 13,185 feet. And it said we were going the right way, towards Fairplay!
Downhill was interesting. 1st gear wasn't slow enough, had to use the brakes almost the whole way down. At one point the road turned into a stream. We passed a few decrepit abandoned mines. On the whole 13 mile road we only saw one mile marker (#3). It had blue and yellow ribbon tied on. Earlier we noticed a crummy weed tied with the same ribbon, and later we saw a bush tied with ribbon, so I guess those were mile markers too.
Towards the very end a stream crossed the road. It was about 2' deep and 10' across -- no problem for the Escape!
Easy highway driving the rest of the way to Manitou Springs where we're staying at a nice campground with showers, wifi, and laundry.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Day 32, Black Canyon of the Gunnison
Gallery
(yeah, still paying by the minute for internet access...)
We packed up camp and headed to the visitor center of the park. There we got a hiking permit to get down to the bottom of the canyon. The ranger had a whole binder of things to go over with us before letting us take the hike. He had to show us how steep the trail was, how to side step at tricky parts, how to identify route-finding landmarks (boulders, sticks and the like), and how to identify poison ivy (oh, joy!).
We started the hike at about 9:00. The one-mile long, 1,800 foot elevation drop scramble took us almost two hours. The river was green and the 2,000 foot cliffs that surrounded us were gorgeous. We walked around along the river (movie) for a little while and then started the long ascent. Surprisingly, it was faster to go up than down! The hike back only took an hour and a half.
Before leaving the park we drove the South Rim Road and took in all the beautiful vistas (yes, there was a Devil's Overlook). At around 3:00 we hit the road bound for Leadville and Mount Elbert, Colorado's highest peak at 14,443 feet.
(yeah, still paying by the minute for internet access...)
We packed up camp and headed to the visitor center of the park. There we got a hiking permit to get down to the bottom of the canyon. The ranger had a whole binder of things to go over with us before letting us take the hike. He had to show us how steep the trail was, how to side step at tricky parts, how to identify route-finding landmarks (boulders, sticks and the like), and how to identify poison ivy (oh, joy!).
We started the hike at about 9:00. The one-mile long, 1,800 foot elevation drop scramble took us almost two hours. The river was green and the 2,000 foot cliffs that surrounded us were gorgeous. We walked around along the river (movie) for a little while and then started the long ascent. Surprisingly, it was faster to go up than down! The hike back only took an hour and a half.
Before leaving the park we drove the South Rim Road and took in all the beautiful vistas (yes, there was a Devil's Overlook). At around 3:00 we hit the road bound for Leadville and Mount Elbert, Colorado's highest peak at 14,443 feet.
Monday, July 30, 2007
Day 31, Devilish things
Gallery
First, a little commentary.
This country is full of things that belong to the Devil. We've been to Devil's Hole State Park in NY, Devil's Lake State Park in WI, Devils Tower in WY. Not to mention Purgatory Chasm in MA and I'm sure numerous other places.
Well, we discovered Devil's Radiant Heat last night. It was cool in the park, in the 60's, but the ground was still very hot (even in the morning) and so we had a very warm night in our tent.
After we got up and repacked the car we headed to the Devil's Garden area of Arches and headed out to see some arches. This 7 mile hike was spectacular -- really put the rest of the park to shame. Took lots of pictures of arches and other scenery. One stop on the trip was "Dark Angel", I wonder what that could be referring to?
Around 2pm we left the park. First stop was to see more arches:
Dan tried the Devil's Milkshake. It was Shrek flavored or something. It tasted OK but gave him one helluva bellyache.
We drove to Colorado National Monument. It's a smaller one but has some breathtaking views -- one to revisit someday. Took more pictures.
Then drove to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We set up camp and started cooking dinner. Dan discovered the Devil's Anthill just below the picnic table. A whole metropolis of biting ants living in 3 anthills that were each the size of a cereal bowl. How do we know they were biting ants? Well, when you have ants in your pants you just know.
First, a little commentary.
This country is full of things that belong to the Devil. We've been to Devil's Hole State Park in NY, Devil's Lake State Park in WI, Devils Tower in WY. Not to mention Purgatory Chasm in MA and I'm sure numerous other places.
Well, we discovered Devil's Radiant Heat last night. It was cool in the park, in the 60's, but the ground was still very hot (even in the morning) and so we had a very warm night in our tent.
After we got up and repacked the car we headed to the Devil's Garden area of Arches and headed out to see some arches. This 7 mile hike was spectacular -- really put the rest of the park to shame. Took lots of pictures of arches and other scenery. One stop on the trip was "Dark Angel", I wonder what that could be referring to?
Around 2pm we left the park. First stop was to see more arches:
Dan tried the Devil's Milkshake. It was Shrek flavored or something. It tasted OK but gave him one helluva bellyache.
We drove to Colorado National Monument. It's a smaller one but has some breathtaking views -- one to revisit someday. Took more pictures.
Then drove to Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park. We set up camp and started cooking dinner. Dan discovered the Devil's Anthill just below the picnic table. A whole metropolis of biting ants living in 3 anthills that were each the size of a cereal bowl. How do we know they were biting ants? Well, when you have ants in your pants you just know.
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