Unusual Sightings

Steamboat Springs is the closest town to the state park where we are staying so we have traveled there to resupply, do laundry, play disc golf and visit the hot springs. As we have traveled on the country road between the two, this ski lift chair hangs suspended beside the road with no explanation. Aspen is over 150 miles away. There have been other pictures I’ve made, on this trip, that are unusual so I thought I’d post those as well. One of the fun things about traveling is discovering things you didn’t know existed in other places.

Outside of Benton, Illinois, beside I 57, artist John Cerney, created this temporary mural of George Harrison as a “not for profit” art piece commemorating George Harrison’s visit to the town, in the summer of 1963, to see his sister who lived there at the time. His visit was the first by a “Beatle”, before the group landed in NY, a year later on their way to unprecedented stardom. Once a year, Cerney creates a project to donate to a town free of charge.

Leaving Ridgeway

We hated to say goodbye to Ridgeway but packed and headed northeast to Rifle Falls State Park. This park is tiny (only 13 electric sites) but has a beautiful triple falls and caves that riddle the limestone cliffs behind the falls. It was the perfect place for a two night stop as we make our way to Steamboat Springs.

First Day of Fall

It’s hard to believe we began this trip on the first day of summer and today is the first day of autumn. I can’t think of a better place to welcome fall than here in southern Colorado. After two weeks in Colorado the plan was to head east but we have decided to head north and extend our time just a bit longer. Our first major hiccup of the trip has been the demise of our eleven year old air conditioner. Because a big area of our journey home isn’t experiencing fall like temps, we’ve decided to stay in the mountains,where there is no need for air conditioning, and then follow the changing leaves home in a few more weeks.

One day fishing pass pays off

Riding the RAT Trails

Alpine Lakes and Aspen

Our latest hike took us to an area outside Silverton, CO, to a trail leading to Ice Lake. You see pictures of alpine lakes and wonder, “have people added filters to make the water a more vibrant color?”; the answer is no. The same is true for the classic aspen and it’s signature yellow. In real life the leaves look like they are being back lit by electric lights. Mark and I are SO thankful to just happen to be here for “peak” aspen season without even meaning to be. We are feeling so thankful to be able to experience all this beauty!

Hike to Ice Lake

Starbaby made it!

One Last Canyon

One of the reasons we decided to stay for a couple weeks in this part of Colorado is the variety of things to do in the area. Probably the last National Park we will visit, on this trip, is the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, which is only 37 miles from our campsite. Sometimes called “Colorado’s own Grand Canyon”, it features some of the steepest cliffs and oldest rocks (2 billion years old) in the USA. Deeper than it is wide, sunlight can only reach the bottom at midday and then for only 33 minutes or so. We loved hiking along the rim and seeing the dramatic vistas. Another beautiful part of “America the Beautiful! “

Pinion-juniper along the rim

2,700 feet to the bottom 

Colorful Colorado

We are at Ridgeway State Park, in Colorado, for the next two weeks. This park sits at the base of the beautiful San Juan Mountains near the town of Ridgeway where the original “True Grit” movie was filmed in 1969. Because most of our Colorado travel, in the past, has revolved around the northern part of the state, this area is relatively new to us. Our first outing, a hike to the Blue Lakes, did not disappoint. Three pristine alpine lakes, at 12,400 feet, took our breath away.

Aspen starting to change

Dead Horse Point State Park

Dead Horse Point State Park nestles right beside Canyonlands National Park and sits 2,000 feet above Moab, Utah. Where Escalante was a hiking mecca, this area is all about mountain biking. We have loved being at a higher elevation because this time of the year can still be really warm. The extra 2,000 feet, where we are camping, is consistently about 10 degrees cooler than the valley below. The newly visited National Parks, for me, that have warranted day trips in this area, are Capitol Reef and Canyonlands. Both just beautiful but the main thing we’ve enjoyed is the biking! We are discovering that many places across the country rank their biking trails like ski resort hills; green, blue and black diamond. Moab has it all!

Best State Park?

Kodachrome Basin State Park 

When deciding on which state park to stay at, in this area, we were torn between Escalante Petrified Forest State Park and Kodachrome Basin State Park. We were happy with our decision to stay at Petrified Forest because of the adjacent reservoir for swimming and fishing and of course the chance to see a petrified forest. We did take a day trip to Kodachrome to check out the unusual spires (or pipes) that the park is known for and do some hiking. Kodachrome became a state park the year I was born and got it’s name from  Kodak’s popular film by that name mainly because of the multicolored monoliths nestled beneath bright blue skies; not the Paul Simon song.

Looking pretty on petrified wood 

Arches & Canyons Without the Crowds

Devil’s Garden

We were worried, being in this popular area, in Utah, for Labor Day weekend, that the crowds would be intense. The campground we are staying in is full, but there are only 22 campsites so the crowds we worried about are in the neighboring National Parks, not here at Grand Staircase National Monument.  Because Mark and I visited Zion, Bryce Canyon and Arches National Parks a few years ago we haven’t  felt  pressured to revisit those parks and have enjoyed some of the lesser known gems in this area. The Grand Staircase is a series of colorful cliffs that extend north from the north rim of the Grand Canyon to Bryce Canyon. It covers 1.9 million acres and has sandstone canyons, plateaus, arches and unique rock formations. What it doesn’t have are crowds!

Natural Bridge

Peek-a-boo Slot Canyon