1500 miles around Canyon De Chelly area

Yikes!  Sometimes road trips become a lot more road than you realize once you get done with it all.  Recently, a group of my friends headed on a grand loop adventure which encompassed locations such as Monument Valley, Mesa Verde, Canyon De Chelly and Zion National Park.  While it was a lot of driving we saw some spectacular scenery.  Below are some of the highlights:

Goblin Valley, Moki Dugway, Natural Bridges, Gooseneck State Park and Mexican Hat (ya, that was all one day!)
Goblin Valley is so aptly named with the hoodoo type formations making it look very alien  like (aka Galaxy Quest)

The Moki Dugway is an 11% grade which has an amazing vista out to the Valley of the Gods.

Natural Bridges has 3 different bridges which can be seen from a short loop drive or you can hike to each of them (or all of them).  The shortest hike is to Owachomo. 

Gooseneck State Park puts Deadhorse State Park to shame in my opinion.  It has lots more switchbacks and a 1000ft drop!

 

There are 3 of these in a row!  Where's the helicopter when you need one to get the full view?

Monument Valley, 4 Corners and Hovenweep
Monument Valley is just amazing. Sadly, it was rainy almost the whole time we were there so you couldn't really grasp the entire grandeur.  But, it was still stunning to see (the lightening show was incredible the first night).  And, the Navajo Taco's were pretty decent too.

 It was really pretty prior to the rain!

 How nice of this Navajo Indian to pose for me... or the tour group he was talking too.

 Here comes the rain again.

Yes, it was still raining in the morning. 

 

4 Corners was, should we say...REALLY wet.  A torrential downpour hit.   The good news is that there wasn't a line to get to the marker.  The bad news...we sorta got wet!

No chance of doing a "lets lay on the ground spread eagle" picture. 

Hovenweep is a small, little known national park with 3 different main sites of ancient rock structures from about AD1200.  I was really impressed with it.  The walk around the Square Tower Group is definitely worth it (but go clockwise!).  There aren't a lot of people that visit these sites and its one of the few national parks with no fee!

Mesa Verde, Shiprock and Canyon de Chelly
At Mesa Verde we hit the Spruce Tree House and toured the Cliff Palace prior to rain starting again.  We just couldn't escape it!  We then drove around Shiprock and down to the northeastern corner of Canyon de Chelly. 

Spruce Tree requires no tickets to go and wander around

The view down inside a Kiva

The Cliff Palace

Here's where it really got fun (or not?!).  After our second look out we noticed some black clouds rolling in seriously fast.  Yes, seriously fast!  Before we knew it there was marble size hail and blinding rain.  After that subsided all we could do was be in awe at the flashfloods.  We headed out to a lookout and saw an amazing display of waterfalls falling down the Canyon de Chelly walls of 1000ft! 

Storms a brewing

Its getting closer! (Do you see the theme of this trip?)

Storm has arrived

Canyon de Chelly is truly a cool place to visit with ancient Indian history, cliff dwellings and natural beauty.  Sadly, with the flash floods our tour in the bottom of the canyon was cancelled.  Maybe next time?  We were able to hike to the White House Ruins (the only self guided hike allowed)

Spider Rock, a cool pinnacle rock on the south rim

The White House

Panoramic view.  The White House ruins are to the left against the back wall.

The washed out river bottom near Canyon de Chelly canyon entrance.

Zion's
Since we were driving right by it and one of my friends hadn't been to Zion's we figured we might as well swing by for a visit. We did a quick sight seeing loop and also hit Kolob Canyon before heading home.

The Patriarchs

Kolob Canyon

The Gang

Phew!  The sights were incredible and although the weather wasn't great (I didn't even get into the frog migration or trying to dry out after being stuck in the storm - a few times) it was fun. 

You can find these pictures and more from my trip posted in the NEW gallery until my next post.  After that, you can find them under their respective "location" or "type" gallery. 

Wyoming is pretty...Really? Really!

This past week I got back from a lengthy trip around the greater Yellowstone area and was reminded that Wyoming actually has some virtue.  Yep, you heard me right.  I know...typically when I think of Wyoming I think of the times I've been stuck on I-80 in a snow storm that looks like this (thanks to weather.com for the picture):


or, the fact that it doesn't matter if I'm driving north, south, east or west but there is always a serious headwind blowing.  I'm just glad I'm not a biker in that state!

That being said, Wyoming really does have some amazingly beautiful scenery and outdoor activities to take advantage of.   Here's a few reminders from my latest trip.

Mountain peaks galore including some of the most prominent peaks in the world.

Mormon Row has both historic structures and the majestic Tetons for photo ops.

The Tetons truly are spectacularly rugged!

 

 

Canyons that rival any canyon.

Clark's Fork view at Sunlight Creek Gorge Bridge (a 1200' gorge! along the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway)

The Big and small of fishing.

Ya, and to think I caught one tinier than this guppy!

Flowers and more flowers.

On top of Beartooth Pass

Waterfalls and waterways.

The lesser known Moose Falls

 

And who can forget the wildlife!  I'm not sure what was going on but it was spectacular this year! I saw a Mountain Goat along Yellowstone River (really), a bison that has a serious rocky mountain oyster issue and a ton of bear! In fact, this year I saw an amazing 22 grizzly bear in a 5 day period! 

These are just a couple of the 22 grizzly bear!!!

 

You can't miss bison in the park now days...this guy has prostate issues - can anyone say Rocky Mountain Oysters?

Yes, there is a mountain goat right in the middle of the picture

So, despite what we typically think of Wyoming, it really is pretty.  Really!

You can find these pictures and more from my trip posted in the NEW gallery until my next post.  After that, you can find them under their respective "location" or "type" gallery. 

LoLo Pass: In the Footsteps of Lewis & Clark

Ever since I was a kid I've always been fascinated by explorers.  It might have started when my Dad told me bedtime stories about Jim Bridger. It could have been going to an elementary school named after Sacajawea.  Whatever it was, I love explorers.  A great area to visit, as an explorer lover, is LoLo Pass in Northern Idaho, along the Bitterroot mountains, where the Lewis & Clark expedition passed twice (once there and once back).  Here's some detailed information about it if you are interested (http://www.nps.gov/nr/travel/lewisandclark/lol.htm).

Along the Lewis & Clark trail we have a good idea of where they went but we don't always know exactly where they went and which trails (i.e., which side of the river) they took.  Along the LoLo pass area, however, we know exactly where they went because they were following well established Nez Perce trails and camps!  There are official markers historians have placed to show these trails and camp areas.  I loved the idea that I could hike a trail and be in an area where Sacajawea, Lewis, Clark and all would have walked way back in 1805. I could image their awe of the beauty and yet the shear terror of the ruggedness of these mountains.  In fact, the party barely survived. I was glad to have a four wheel drive car to travel in and Mom's cooking each night! 

Here's one trail area which you can access and what the trail markers look like.

Here's right where the Lewis & Clark party camped - maybe even where they ate some pancakes or something (okay, probably more like camas roots but you get the idea)

In this area there isn't a ton of hiking (except for the trails mentioned above) but there are a lot of forest service roads which give you access to the trails, wildflowers, really huge cedar, grand fir and spruce trees, and vistas. 

One of the many "vistas"

Surprisingly there were lots of little waterfalls still flowing.

The Lochsa River turns into the Clearwater - I see why it gets it's name!

Looking up some cedar tree skirts

This was a small (but easily accessible) cedar tree. 

At Packer Meadows the stream runs through it.

You always have to find some animal on the trip right?

As the road was dry just about any decent car could have made the day drives but if it rained it would have quickly become a tough four wheel drive road.  It was great for my parents who are a bit on the aged side of things and not as agile as they once used to be.  The other cool thing is that even on a summer weekend there was only a handful of people in the area.  In some ways I was glad about that (who wants crowds in the mountains?) and in other ways not (why aren't more people exploring this amazingly beautiful area?).

Enjoy some of the other pictures from our drive along the Lewis & Clark trail below.  You can find these pictures posted in the NEW gallery until my next post.  After that, you can find them under their respective "location" or "type" gallery. 

Thistle can actually be pretty!

Pictured for my Mom - Indian Paintbrush is her favorite flower!

There were a ton of purple flowers out at the time. 

Amazing how colorful and delicate Columbine can be up in the mountains.

My first Bear Grass in bloom (I've seen a lot of it dead). Check out the bug flying in the top left corner of the picture.  Total skill and photographer patience (or more likely luck).



Another flower showing the diversity of flowers in these mountains. 



These fern plants were so cool as the sun would filter through them.