Our Vacation 2010

[Richie]

It seems like most trip reports here are just about single days. But living in Germany means that we (me and my girlfriend) can't do daytrips. We always spent two or three weeks in a row in the US.

So I decided to write a trip report about our last vacation on the Colorado Plateau. Hope some of you find it interesting to read. I guess I will make one single post for every day.

June 22nd.

This day our flight departured at Munich airport at 9:50 am. Because we did't have a direct flight to L.V. we had to pass through the POE at Atlanta airport before we were on our flight to Vegas.

After arriving there we took the shuttle to the rental car center. The SUV in the Midsize choiceline where not suitable for our needs, but finally we were able to pich up one from the Standard Choiceline.

This was the car we got:

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Tired of the long flight we drove straight to Motel 6 Tropicana Ave. where whe went straight to bed (at that time we've been awake for almost 24hrs).

[Richie]

June 23

Because of the jetlag we woke up at 5:30 in the morning without needing an alarm clock. First we headed for WalMart to buy all the stuff that we needed (when you have to fly to the US it's not easy to bring your own cooler with you :mrgreen:). We've been several times to Vegas now but we never made it to one of the "main tourist attractions" so we decided to stop at Hoover Dam on our way to the Valley of Fire State Park.

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Busloads of tourists were around. Not really what we like. Hey, but it sounds strange when you've been to L.V. a couple of times but have never seen Hoover Dam. What's really impressive (but in a negative way) is when you look at the change of the water level of Lake Mead.

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The new bypass was almost done at that time but not finished (this has changed since then).

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Then we were on the way to the VoF which is really one of our favourite State Parks. First we drove to Atlatl Campground to set up our tent. Since Ephemeral Arch doesn't exist anymore there just one official trail which I would really recommend and this is White Domes. But the real beauty of this State Park is found when you walk away from the marked trails. One of our favourite areas is to the south of last pull out on the road to White Domes.

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We enjoyed that area last year for the first time and this year we wanted to explore it a little bit more. But unfortunately it was too hot that day. Still exhausted from the long travel, temperatures exceeding 100 Fahrenheit where too much for hiking. We didn't want to risk our lives so we decided to cancel the hike after hiking about one mile. Instead we drove to Overton to buy some stuff we forgot to buy at WalMart. Arriving back at VoF it was still damn hot but we decided to do another hike. But before that we drove to Silicia Dome Overlook which was really nice.

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Then we hiked to the Fire Wave. Unfortunately it was alread a little bit late and the Fire Wave was partly in the shadow:

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Looking around we discovered some interesting rock formations and so we decided to come back to this place tomorrow.

[bowjunkie]

:popcorn:

[Richie]

I hope you don't need popcorn because the trip is so boring :oops::oops::mrgreen::mrgreen:

[bowjunkie]

I hope you don't need popcorn because the trip is so boring :oops::oops::mrgreen::mrgreen:

nope waiting for more !!! very nice pics :nod: I haven't been to VOF for many yrs ugh !!

[Richie]

nope waiting for more !!!Ok, then here we go.

June 24

Jetlag woke us up early this morning. So it was just the right time to see the sun coming over the mountains.

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Then we headed for the Fire Wave again. But this time we spent much more time here than yesterday. Interesting rocks can be found all over the place

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Also some nice narrows can be found here.

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My girlfriend "surfing" the Fire Wave:

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The temperature started to rise again, so it was a wise decision to start that hike early. After we had enjoyed the area we drove north to Kanab where we checked in at the Aikens Lodge. We had planned to do a hike in that area in the afternoon, but my girlfried showed some flu signs (damn A/C in the airplane) and tomorrow we had planned to hike Yellow Rock, a hike we were looking forward to, the last couple of months. So we decided to have an relaxing afternoon so we could do that hike tomorrw.

[live2ride]

that sure looks like a great trip! nice pictures you took also

[Richie]

June 25

Both vacations we had 2009 we wanted to hike Yellow Rock, but both times dark clouds covered the sky and beeing on a dirt road partly made of clay is not exactly what we wanted with this kind of weather. But today the sun was shining so we left Kanab early in the morning and drove on 89 to Cottonwood Canyon Road. The southern part was well graded so it was a easy drive to Lower Hackberry Trailhead. We grabbed our backpacks and walked down the wash a few minutes before we turned right where the steep trail was going up.

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Shortly after that Yellow Rock was right in front of us

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On a German website you will find the citation "The golden Heart of the Grand Staircase". Couldn't say it in a better way.

To the south there was the nice view of Yellow Rock Valley and Red Top

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Castle Rock on the other side:

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Unfortunately clouds were coming up, so we hiked back to our car. Yellow Rock is really one of my favourite hikes.

Going north on CCR we stopped at the "Candyland" - the area between the two Cottonwood Narrows trailheads.

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Another short but beautiful stop was the huge Grosvenor Arch.

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Shortly after that there were some beautiful views of the plateau.

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Last stop for today was a short visit at Kodachrome Basin State Park where we hiked the beautiful Angels Palace Trail.

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Then we were on our way to Escalante where we set up our tent at the Campground of the Escalante Outfitters.

[jdgibney]

Richie, these are fantastic photos! I have been meaning to ask you what you use for camera gear (body and lens)?
I can't wait for my quick trip out there in a few weeks :)

[ibenick]

Very nice, Richie. :2thumbs:

[Philippe]

Hello Richie,

Excellent report, with a lot of very nice pictures ! :clap:

Philippe

[Richie]

I have been meaning to ask you what you use for camera gear (body and lens)?Since this year I use a Nikon D300s with a 16-85 and a 70-300 lens. I wanted to buy a D90 and technically this camera would have been all I needed, but the D300 simply felt better in my hand. Mostly the choice of camera was more based on how it felt to hold it instead of technical reasons (and by the way: Almost all cameras available are good enough as long as you don't have special needs like a pro-sports photographer).

@ Philippe and ibenick: Thank you.

[Richie]

June 26.

Today we planned to hike a canyon we've already been in Spring: Big Horn Canyon. The colors in the area at the south end of East Fork are incredible. So we packed our bags and gear into the car and headed for Old Sheffield Road. After about 2.7 Miles on OSR we parked the car and headed for the canyon.

In the background the straight cliffs were visible:

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Then we hiked to down the canyon which was very wide in this part.

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The first part of the hike is beautiful but it becomes more and more interesting after the confluence with the Middle Fork of Big Horn Canyon.

Can you find the Sandstone Face?

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The more we hiked down the Canyon the more beautiful the colors became:

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We had a rest in this area and ate the sandwiches we brought in our backpacks. Should we go to the West Fork with its beautiful narrows? We wanted to, but temperatures were rising and if we turn around here its already a 8 miles roundtrip. So we decided to save the West Fork for another vacation.

Back at the car we decided to drive to the Escalante River trailhead to cool our feet in the water of Escalante River. After a short brake here we went back to Escalante where we had dinner at Georgies Corner. We really love this little restaurant. The food is great!!! But don't forget to bring cash, CC are not accepted.

[Lynn Ross]

Boy! Richie,
You two had some nice days and captured some very beautiful photo's. Even with the skies being blue like that you made them look wonderful. Keep up the nice work ...

Lynn

[ststephen]

Great stuff! Both the shots and descriptions. Keep it coming!

[Richie]

Thank you! It's nice to hear that you like the description also. It's not easy to write it in a foreign language. :oops:

[Richie]

What's the best thing in the morning? Eggs Escalante and a cup of coffee sitting outside at the Escalante Outfitters :clap::clap:.

Today we started a little bit late. Because today was the soccers World Championship game Germany vs. England. My girlfriend had small talk with our neighbors Mark and Jeff from California. After Germany won 4:1 we headed for Calf Creek Campground where we started our easy dayhike to the Lower Calf Creek Falls. The trail is fairly easy to hike. Only the sand all along the trail makes it a little bit strenuous to walk. While on the trail we were almost alone but at Calf Creek Falls there were a lot of people.

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On the way back I couldn't help but wonder about some people coming along the trail. Temperatures were exceeding the 90s and we met people that carried one bottle of water for a party of three. Are they crazy? It's a easy hike bit around 5 miles long and it was hot! Just stupid.

Back at the trailhead we headed for Boulder. We love the Burgers that they serve at the Burr Trail Cafe. After a good lunch we headed back for Escalante where we turned onto Hole in the Rock Road for a short visit at Devils Garden.

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In the evening we sat the campground together with Marc and Jeff and exchanged travel experiences.

[Richie]

June 28

On Monday we drove up to Moab. We decided to drive Burr-Trail and Notom Bullfrog Road instead of the highway. So we headed for Boulder were we turned onto the Burr Trail. After a short drive we arrived at Long Canyon Overlook.

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The drive through Long Canyon is really a beautiful road.

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Shortly after Long Canyon there's a beautiful overlook where you can see the Badlands.

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Before reaching the Switchbacks we decided to make short hike to Strike Valley Overlook. A beautiful arch can be found at the start of the trail.

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The overlook itself is a incredible view of the valley below.

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Back at the car we drove down the switchbacks

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After a short drive we turned onto Notom Bullfrog Road heading north

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Reaching the pavement again we drove straight to Moab. Before reaching Hanksville we had a short stop at the Mesa Market where you can find some of the best bread.

In Moab we checked in at the Moab Rim Campark were we got a Cabin.

[Richie]

After having breakfast in front of our cabin, we got into our Wrangler and drove South for the La Sal Mountain Loop turnoff. Somehow this is really a funny drive. You start in Red Rock Country and after a few minutes you're surrounded with grass and trees. Everything's green.

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After this detour we drove on SR128, another tip from the excellent book "Photographing the Southwest".

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Another drive with beautiful views is the Onion Creek Road which is turnoff on SR128.

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The last stop fpor today was the 2.2 mile hike at the Fisher Towers.

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A beautiful hike with incredible views.

In the evening we bought some steaks at the City Market and had a barbecue in front of our cabin.

[accadacca]

:2thumbs: :popcorn:

[Richie]

After a few days I have the time to write a few more posts.

Today we decided to head for Potash Road. So we drove north to the junction with #279 (also known as Potash Road). The road is leading you along the Colorado River with steep cliffs on the other side. After roughly ten miles we reached the trailhead for Corona Arch.

Shortly after the start of the hike we crossed the railroad tracks leading to the Potash Mine.

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The short hike was really beautiful

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Before Corona Arch there's another one, Bowtie Arch, which is a collapsed pothole

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Corona Arch itself is really impressive and huge. If you lool very closely you can see my girlfriend in this picture, which shows the dimension of this arch

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Back at the trailhead we drove further on potash road. After 16 miles we reached Potash Mine. The mine itself is really surprising to look at. Blue pools in Red Rock Country

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Shortly after the mine:

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Shortly before the Shafer Trail we couldn't help but wonder where the road should lead up the cliff. :eek2:

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When we reached the main road of the Canyonlands National Park we decided that this is the right time for having a break. So we stopped at the overlook, grabbed a coke, sandwiches and our camping chairs. We placed our chairs right at the rim and had a "lunch with a view". Probably the Japanese tourists coming along the way have never seen people in camping chairs judging by their suprised look. :mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen:

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The rest of the day we spent with relaxed sightseeing. First we headed for Upheaval Dome:

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On the way back to Moab we had a short stop at Death Horse Point State Park. It's a nice State Park, but after what we had seen before it didn't really impress us that much.

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The way back to Moab:

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[Richie]

Today was our last day in Moab and we decided to visit Arches National Park. We've been there in 2006, doing the typical tourist stuff so this time we headed for the Devils Garden Primitive Trail.

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When arrived at the trailhead the hardest part was to find a parking lot. It was just like half the population of the US was on the way to Landscape Arch.

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The paved part of this trail to Landscape Arch is really attracting the masses. People with Coke and Candy Bars in their hand :mrgreen:. But just a short hike after Landscape Arch the masses were gone.

Navajo Arch was next:

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followed by Partition Arch:

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The trail is beautiful and definitely a "must" in Arches

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Double O Arch but you have to look close to see the second hole (don't mix it up with Double Arch)

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We skipped the detour to Dark Angel and continued on the Primitive Loop.

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Back at the car we had a small lunch and made plans for the rest of the day. We wanted to be at Delicate Arch at Sunset but right now it was too early. So we decided to make a short visit at the Windows section to take some pictures.

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At 6pm we started the hike up to Delicate Arch. The plateau where Delicate Arch is located was crowded with people waiting for the sunset. And it's really worth the wait. Delicate Arch with the La Sal Mountains in the background is an incredible view.

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[Richie]

Today was a lot of driving waiting for us. We left Moab in the Morning and drove East on I-70. We left the interstate in Fruita for a short visit at the Colorado National Monument. A 23 miles scenic drive is winding up 2000 feet over the Colorado River Valley floor. We stopped at the first viewpoint to take some pictures before stopping at the Visitor Center.

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Originally we planned a short hike at the National Monument, but shortly after our arrival at the N.M. we could hear distant thunder that was coming closer. Just a little bit later rain was coming down.

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So we decided to drive to Grand Junction. Soon before we left the National Monument the sun came through the clouds again.

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But already on the way to Grand Junction we decided not to turn around. In Grand Junction we had Dinner at Chillies and visited a huge Outdoor Store before heading for our todays destination, Montrose, Co.

[Richie]

For today mostly scenic driving was on our time shedule. After having a good breakfast in Ouray, Co we drove into direction of Red Mountain Pass.

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We drove the Million Dollar Highway to Silverton. The road offers incredible views of the Mountains surrounding the area.

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A very beautiful detour is the dirt road leading to Clear Lake.

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In Silverton we only stopped a short time because a few years ago we had already been here riding the Durango&Silveron Narrow Gauge railroad.

Further on US-50

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So after having lunch we continued on our way to Farmington, NM where we would spend our next night.

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[accadacca]

:popcorn:

[IntrepidXJ]

Great report and photos so far! :2thumbs:

[offpiste]

Excellent trip! Thanks for sharing and great pics. :2thumbs:

[Brian in SLC]

Wow, fantastic!

[Richie]

Starting in Farminton in the morning we drove South on Hwy 371 before turning on the unpaved San Juan CR 7650. Our destination was Ah-Shi-Sle-Pah.

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For people that love hoodoos this is really a paradise.

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After hiking around 2 hrs. we arrived back at the car and drove to Page,AZ

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Today was July 4th so we decided to drive up to the huge parking lot at the shopping center where all the people were waiting for the firework to start. A lot of Natives from around came to Page and were having barbecue in the parking lot.

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I was talking to a Native sitting next to me for a while, and there was one sentence that I kept in my mind: "We're all just people".

[Richie]

In the morning we drove on the 89 until Greenhaven where we made a left on a dirtroad. Thousand Pockets was the name of our destintion, an area we found on a German Travel-Blog.

After a few miles on a few dirt roads we found a place to park our car and hiked in southern direction.

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Three and a half hours we spent in this area before we were back at the car. We drove back on 89 but very soon we left it again. This time driving to the northern side. We wanted to enjoy one of the best viewpoints of Lake Powell: Alstrom Point.

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After enjoying this incredible beautiful view we drove back to Page.

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Back in Page we bought some ribs at Walmart and ended the day with a barbecue.

[Deadeye008]

Richie, excellent right up and beautiful pictures! What kind of equipment are you using?

[Richie]

Thank you.
This was my first vacation with a Nikon D300s with a 16-85 and 70-300 lens.

[Deadeye008]

Thank you.
This was my first vacation with a Nikon D300s with a 16-85 and 70-300 lens.

Very nice. Did you have a chance to try out the video mode? I shoot with a Canon 5D but am considering the upgrade to the mkII version so that I can shoot video.

[Richie]

I only tried it twice. Once to film the Bellagion Fountains in Las Vegas and once on Yellow Rock when my girlfriend forgot the camcorder. But I'm not really into shooting movies.

[Richie]

After leaving Page the next day we drove on 89A through the Kaibab National Forest to Grand Canyon North Rim. We've been to the South Rim a few years ago. What I still have in mind were the masses of tourists. North Rim is fortunately not so crowded. We booked a room at the lodge but before going there we drove to Cape Royal.

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Next stop was Point Imperial which offers a great view of Mt. Hayden and the surrounding canyons

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After enjoying the great views we checked in at the lodge. We then walked a part of the Transept Trail but we didn't like it that much so we turned around. At sunset we walked to Bright Angel Point.

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Somehow the Grand Canyon always causes mixed feelings. The dimensions are impressive but somehow it's not causing that "wow-effect" to me. On the Colorado Plateau there are so many locations which I would rank all before Grand Canyon.

On the next day we were thinking about a drive to Little Finland but a forecast of 114 degress Fahrenheit was the reason that we drove directly to Las Vegas.

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In Las Vegas we had booked the Strip View Suite at Planet Hollywood. The $89 we payed were a good value. Most of the evening in Las Vegas we spent watching the Bellagio Fountains.
We really love them.

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The last day of our vacation was the same as ever year. Half day of Outlet Shopping, and a half day of relaxing at the pool.

Next to the L.V. Outlets:
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Because the luggage we could carry on the airplane we decided to give some camping stuff to the Salvation Army. After dropping the stuff there we headed back for the hotel.

The evening we spent at the Strip again:

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The next day we had to get up early because at 7:50 our airplane left at L.V. airport. We drove to Rental Car Return and said goodbye to the Jeep Wrangler which was really a great car.
An hour later we boarded the airplane and another great trip to the US was over.

But it surely won't be the last time......

[jdgibney]

Richie, thank you for sharing your stories and excellent photos!