Even in the middle of Nebraska you can find an archway spanning the freeway.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Flat Land Finally
It was actually refreshing finally getting far enough east where we didn't have to cross any more mountains. While they are beautiful they can be stressful if your not use to driving in them. Crossing Colorado on interstate 70 is awesome but you have two big peaks to cross, both 10,000 plus feet. We flat landers have our own style. Once you get beyond Denver your pretty much on flat land all the way home. Our home anyway.
Tuesday, August 6, 2013
More Canyon Lands
Some pictures from the Canyon Lands National Park
Shafer jeep trail
Land of color
Broken Arch
Sand Arch
Monday, August 5, 2013
Canyon Lands – Island in the Sky District
Green River Overlook
We left early this morning in hopes of getting a spot in our
favorite campground. Campgrounds in National Parks fill early and can be hard
to come by. We not only got a site but we got our favorite spot. We were here
once before and thought this was the best spot, there are only 12 spaces
available in this campground so we feel very fortunate.
Willow River Campground
Green River Overlook
It is very hot here close to 100 but as they say it’s a dry
heat and therefore more tolerable. It has rained off and on today which is very
strange as this is the first rain we have had since leaving in early July. The
thunder coming up from the canyons sounds awesome. Most of the day was sunshine
and beautiful however as you can see in the photos.
Just down from our campsite is the overlook for the green
river. The photos do not show the depth and expanse of this area, it is
spectacular.
This afternoon we took a hike to one of the few areas here
in the park with Indian ruins. The Indians lived in the overhangs on steep
cliffs. The trail to the ruins was easy enough till the very end when we had to
scale out a ways to reach the ruins.
Trail to the grainary....don't look down
The grainary
We then hiked another trail to Upheaval Dome. The trail ends
at an overlook in which a fantastically deformed pile of rock lies below within
a crater about three miles across and 1,200 feet deep. There is strong evidence
that a meteorite impact caused the structure.
Saturday, August 3, 2013
Ely Nevada and Great Basin National Park
We arrived in Ely late Wednesday afternoon. We had wanted to
stay at a casino RV park in town but they were full by the time we got there.
Option two was to take a spot at a private park in town. Nothing fancy but we
did have full hookups as well as cable TV and fast WIFI. We did see where 18
miles out of town was the site of the Ward Charcoal Ovens. The ovens were built
about 1876 to produce charcoal for the smelter serving the gold mines in the
area. The ovens were 35 feet high and would be filled with as much as 35 cords
of pinon pine before they were fired. So at 7:30 pm we headed out to find the
ovens.
We left Ely early Thursday morning for an easy drive to
Great Basin National Park. The park has five campgrounds that are first come
first serve but only one would accommodate our sized RV. We were fortunate to
get in right away. We have a great spot with a running creek right outside our
bedroom window. It is a very relaxing site.
One of the popular activities of Great Basin is a visit to
the Lehman Cave. The cave can only be entered with a guided tour and tickets do
sell out. So we went and bought tickets for the 2:00 pm tour. We have been on
many cave tours and this was one of the best.
This morning we headed out for a hike that took us to the Bristlecone
Pine grove. The Bristlecone pine trees are some of the oldest living on earth.
A bristlecone pine tree found here was determined to be the world’s oldest
living tree at 4,950 years old. At lower elevations, where the conditions are
less extreme, bristlecone pines grow faster and larger, but they die at the
tender age of 300 or 400 years.
Wheeler Peak 13,000 feet
Trail to Bristlecone Pine Grove
Trail to Bristlecone Pine Grove
Trail to Bristlecone Pine Grove
Bristlecone Pine
Bristlecone Pine
Bristlecone Pine
We left Great Basin National Park this morning for Utah. We
have always been drawn to Utah and were anxious to see parts of the state we
have not seen before. Although we
enjoyed the California and Oregon coast and its beautiful scenery we feel Utah
has the whole package, the entire state is a picture postcard.
We passed an extremely large lake, Sevier Lake, rainfall
variations over time have caused this lake to fluctuate between being a dry
lakebed and the state’s third largest body of water. It wasn’t long before we were in the familiar
red rock and canyons that we know as Utah. We are currently staying in Green
River which is just north of Moab which is base for exploring the Arches and
Canyon’s in the area. We will head into Moab in the morning.
Sevier Lake Western Utah
Western Utah
Scenery along interstate 70
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Redwoods National Park, Lassen Volcanic National Park and America's Lonliest Highway
Scenic California Highway 101
Redwoods
We are camping at the Redwood National Park in Crescent City
California. Today is our second and last day here. Tomorrow we leave the coast
and start the long trip home. We have really enjoyed our stay on the coast
despite the fog and cool weather; once we get inland I’m sure we are going to
miss the cool temperatures.
After arriving yesterday we drove the scenic Howland Hill
Road. This drive offers an amazing introduction to the towering old growth
redwoods of the National Park. To be among such giants is very humbling. Pictures
don’t do justice as you can’t grasp the size of these trees without being next
to them. Some of the trees are close to 400 feet tall and can be up to 2000
years old we took a hike through one of the oldest groves in the Park and it
was just awesome plus as a bonus there are no bugs to ruin a walk in the woods.
Our next stop was Enderts Beach where we combed the beach
for shells and found quite a few sand dollars even though it was later in the
day and most of the beach had been picked clean already.
Enderts Beach Cresent City California
This morning we headed south down the California coast to
Klamath the drive would have been beautiful but it was shrouded in heavy fog so
we didn’t see as much as was promised but we were lucky enough to see a Bob Cat
cross right in front of us and disappear into the woods. On the trip back to Crescent
City we were able to take the Drive Through the Tree Tour and visit an area of
tidal pools, very interesting but the tide started coming in so it was a little
scary .
Collection of sand dollars
Tidal Pools
Lassen Volcanic Nation Park
We are staying at a beautiful National Forest campground
just outside of Lassen Volcanic National Park. We are spending two days here.
Yesterday we arrived late in the afternoon and didn’t have time to see the area
so this morning we left early and headed into the park. Lassen Volcanic
National Park is located in northern California 50 miles east of Red Bluff and
Redding. In 1914 Lassen eruption launched three years of sporadic volcanic
outburst. The largest eruption was May 22nd 1915. Congress made this
area a National Park in 1916.
Bridge Creek Campground
Creek running through our campsite
After a stop at the visitors center we headed out for a
three mile hike called the Bumpass Hell Trail. This trail was easy enough to
begin with, winding around the mountain side with exceptional views of lush
meadows and beautiful valleys. The trail ended with a 300 foot descent to a
hydrothermal area. This area not only
features a boiling spring’s lake but bubbling mud pots, steaming fumaroles and
boiling water. The sulphur smell was over powering and reminded us of
Yellowstone.
Trail to volcano summit
Bumpass Hell
Today we are spending the night in Ely Nevada. We had a long
drive on Nevada highway 50 which has been named the loneliest highway in America.
If you drive this scenic highway you had better make sure your vehicle is in
good working order, you have plenty of gas and plenty of water. Towns with any
service are far and few between. It is a beautiful drive across the state;
there are many summits that must be climbed followed by long valleys and then
more summits and more valleys
Loneliest Highway in America
Looking back on one of the few towns passed
Love the clouds
Nevada's plush desert
Ranchers driveway maybe
Tomorrow we are visiting Great Basin National Park.
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