Off He Goes Around The Bend

Smoke and Trout

It has been about a week or so since I got back from Utah. A friend of mine was doing interviews down in the south for residency at hospitals so we made a bit of a road trip out of it.

After leaving Detroit on a Tuesday am, we staying in Cleveland for a night and headed down to WV. It was not rafting season, but it gave me the chance to set up the ATV outfitter near Beckley. It seems pretty cool operation on the Hatfield McCoy Trail.

It snowed 5 inches in the morning when we got out of the hotel room. This only added to the treacherous turns on the WV mining roads. After visiting with my rafting guide and having breakfast in Fayetteville at Cathedral Cafe we moved on down to NC.

I day spent kicking around U. North Carolina and Duke and I was itching to get onto a trail. We headed towards Asheville and into the Smokey Mountains. It was raining and fog was heavy so I felt like I was in South American Rain Forest. Here are a few of the shots. It was kinda strange as we rolled through some pretty scary back roads and then came upon the town of Gatlinburg. It is the tourist trap of all tourist traps. There is a wax museum, a Hard Rock Cafe, 10 miniature golf courses, etc.

After the Smokeys we drove to North Georgia and stayed at my Fly Fishing Outfitter's house.

We got up early and visited the small town of Helen before hitting the stream. Helen is a town built in Swiss Alps theme. Everything looks like a chalet, even the McDonalds have to build according to Swiss building codes, which is kinda neat and strange at the same time. 

We got on the stream near Unicoi State Park and fished for a few hours. I am not good so I spent most of my time in the trees. Our guide did help me land this one big one, but he did all the work to make it happen.

Tomorrow we head back to Detroit and into the frozen Tundra of winter.

All the best,

Darren

       

Trip Debriefing

I have had a day to recover. I felt like Tom Hanks in Cast Away yesterday. There is a scene in the movie where he comes back to civilization and is handed a lighter, and smirks at how we take such things for granted. I had the same feeling when I had a warm shower, ate out of the refrigerator, and slept in my bed.

A great trip, can't wait to figure out what is next, but I need some time to get my business and life back in order. I can't think of anything I would have done differently. I would suggest to anyone thinking of going on this trip to go in November as you avoid the crowds and can drive your own car, as opposed to being forced into shuttles at park entrance.

Here is my devolving into a madman. If anyone wants a nice framed versions, let me know. I think a 7 picture framed and matted display over the fireplace would be a great Christmas present.

I also included some of my favorite shots from the week below. If anyone is interested in doing this trip give me a call for thoughts, or if you have ideas for the next expedition!

All the best,

Darren

 

Redeye Back From Vegas

I wrap up the trip today.

I got up this morning at Grand Canyon. Not too cold last night. As I was moving the car, I kinda, sorta ran into a boulder. I was moving forward and there are these 2 foot high boulders all around the campsite, well I obviously did not see it. It cracked the whole front end. I pushed the frame back together and duct taped from inside but if you look close you can see the damage.  When I got out this little Chinese man was standing there and said, "Sorry", kinda like I just lost the big prize in a game show.

I was planning on working on the car some more before returning (door and fender) but I did not have time to without missing my 10 pm flight. Let's hope it goes unnoticed...right

After getting over the car issue, I snapped this shot of the biggest Mule Deer of the week. I boarded the shuttle for one of the few trail heads that goes down into the canyon. I am amazed at how crowded this place is. I have been spoiled all week with solitude and only now am able to really appreciate it.

It was pretty funny hiking down into the canyon. You have babies crying, kids running and elderly struggling. You wonder what they are thinking as you still see them a mile in, "don't they realize that they have to hike out?" There was no way some of these people were going to make it out without help...and oxygen.

Here are some pics of the canyon. I must say, that although the Grand Canyon was large, it was my least favorite of the parks. I am also a little desensitized, but all the other parks had a uniqueness to them, where this is just a big hole.

I did not make it the whole 5 miles down to the Colorado River before turning around to make it back to Vegas, and I am glad I did not as the hike out from 2 miles in was rough enough. If I come back, I would like to hike in and camp along the river and hike out the next day. I saw many people along the trial who had done just that.

After getting back up to the rim I headed back to Vegas via route 93. This is a shortcut that goes by Lake Meade and over the Hoover Dam. If you ever, ever think about going to the Hoover Dam, or going through route 93, please call me so I can tell you how idiotic that plan is.

When I got 3 miles from the Dam, it became a standstill and I literally moved 3 miles in 2 hours. That breaks down to about 10 minutes for one lap around a track...that is a pretty poor 400M dash.  It is absolutely crazy, the freeway runs right over the Dam and all the tourists are snapping pictures and walking through traffic. They are now building a bypass (been working on since 2001) but who thought this would be a good idea? Let's just say I was mildly frustrated.

I made it to Vegas in time to make the 10pm flight and got home to Detroit at 6am, snapping the final portrait. A great trip, but I am too tired to think right now. 

Happy Thanksgiving

This one will be short as it is cold, and I don't want to go sit in the bathroom tonight, I want to sleep.

This morning was the coldest one yet. It got down to 10 degrees last night. I was ok, but the clothes I left hanging on the tree to dry did not fair so well. Hard to tell in this picture but the socks are frozen solid. All the water was frozen as well. I eventually thawed some and made some breakfast and some food to last through the day.

I did 3 hikes at Canyonlands today. The first two, Whale's Rock and Upheavel Dome were only 2 miles each, but closed the morning with a 4 mile trip to the edge of the canyon on Murphy's Trail. These are some shots along that trail.

I left Canyonlands about noon and swung through Moab to get some gas and catch the second half of the Lions game at the Moab Brewery. They lost. You would think that a guy of my appearance who has not showered in 3 days because too freakin' cold for the rain shower, would stand out, but not in Moab. I was actually the cleanest one in there, that is a lie, but sounds better for the story.

After leaving Moab, I drove through Navajo Tribal Monument, or something to that effect. This place is famous for being the backdrop for many Western movies. Here are some shots.

After that I had a 4 hour trek to Grand Canyon. I detoured for 1 hour as I was too busy singing songs and hallucinating to see the turn off. Once I got there, I was amazed to find it packed. I mean all the hotels were sold out and the campground is full. This is odd as throughout this trip there has been no more than 2 other people staying in the parks while I was there. What kind of idiot camps in the end of November! I guess Turkey Day in Grand C. is a big pilgrimage for many.

Anyway, off to bed. Tomorrow is a full day of hiking and may try to scoot back to Vegas to catch the Red-eye home.

Arches

Spent the night in Arches National Park. Not that cold. Got up early and had the usual...Ramen Noodles and hot chocolate. Here is Arches Map:

Download ARCHmap1.pdf

Did a 7 mile trek at Devil's Garden or something to that effect. I am on overload right now when it comes to crazy names for trails, cliffs, monuments, arches, etc. Here are some of the arches along the way. Since I am staying in Moab area for another night, not too much exciting happening. It got really cold during the day and tonight it is supposed to get down to 15 degrees, good thing my sleeping bag is good for 20 degrees. I don't know what that means, does the bag freeze below 20, or did they guy testing it, get out and say, "Wow that is too cold, I am done."

I did a scenic drive tour of canyonlands, where I am spending the night. Here is the map, I am at the Willow Flat campgrounds about the middle of the map.Download CANYmap1.pdf

Pretty cool view, Canyonlands has three sections, I am staying in Island area, here are some of the views, and your daily self portrait, notice the increasingly crazed look . The plan is to do a couple hikes tomorrow, Whale's Back being one of them as it is supposed to be a short intense climb.

On the way out of Canyonlands to Moab, where I am grabbing a hot meal and updating blog, I happened across this little guy. It is kinda funny, along with him there were 2 deer sitting outside my tent this morning, as you feel like you are in the wild, but all the animals are so domesticated. This coyote actually followed the car and kept getting in front when I tried to move on, hoping I would give him food. Sad that it has gotten to a point where animals are forgetting their instincts and now dependent on humans for survival. Tomorrow Canyonlands hike and I will try and make the 8 hour drive to Grand Canyon. 

Bad Idea Jeans

You get two posts for one today as I could not upload last night. I stole the title for this blog entry from an old SNL Skit. Basically I was an idiot all day. We will start with the dop kit.

I was driving from the campsite to trail head (20 miles) and zooming down the road, watching as I passed people, they slowed down and even stopped. I thought that was odd, wondering if they were pissed at me for speeding and debating if they wanted to turn around and chase me down. When I got to the trial head, I realized I had left my dop kit and toiletries on the roof and that was why they were looking at me....think highway seen from Planes Trains and Automobiles..."Oh how do they know where we are going...they are drunk."

Phase 2 of Bad Idea Jeans was the Park Card. At Zion I purchased an inter-park card that allows you to pay one fee for all US parks (see picture).  Well, when I was driving down the road with the dop kit on the roof, I slid the card into the driver window (see insert)  as I was gonna leave it there so the ranger could see it as opposed to the usual ticket you buy at the front gate.

Well, a great photo opportunity came by and I rolled down the window, took the shot and kept going. 10 seconds later, I realized what I did and that the card was now inside the door. Later this evening, I took the whole door apart (broke it open) to get the card. Basically all the wiring, handle, and junk were just hanging there, I am pissed I forgot to take picture, but I did take this one. If you look closely you will see the bonding agent (duct tape) I used to reattach the door frame to the car body. Hopefully no one from Alamo Rental is reading this.

Anyway, other than that, I spent the day hiking at Capitol Reef. Here are a couple choice shots. I also took some time to show people the art of bouldering. As you can see I have the proper flower print climbing shorts and in this shot I am going through move, we call in the business....falling.

After the Reef I scooted over to Arches to catch these shots during sunset.   Campground is pretty cool, very windy and cold, but cool. Final shot is the town of Moab. I had to come in here to get some WiFi and a warm meal before back to campground.

See you in morning

Capital Reef

Could not get Internet connection at Capitol Reef. I know everyone has found it hard to function without the update, but rest easy as we are back online.

Spent Monday doing a hike at Bryce Canyon, the Fairyland Trail. Sunday night was extremely cold but it warmed up during the day as you can see by the sunshine in my self portrait.Although some may feel these self portraits are due to my narcissistic tendencies, really I just want to chronicle do devolution into a sweaty-toothed madman by the end of the trip.

Here is a picture of a natural bridge on the Fairyland hike,  I show this because I went off the trail to see this, and had a tough time getting back to the trail. I ended up going straight up a huge hill to to get perspective and find the original trail. When I got there I took another picture of the bridge here to show the vertical distance I traveled straight up. It was near heart attack exertion.

I took a few shots along the way. The trail was very cool, but I will give you this bit of advice. When a trail says 8mi long, you can't necessary think, "well I can walk 8 miles, so it wont be that bad," The key question to ask is how much climbing elevation is involved. I had to go uphill both ways and was about dead by the end.

After recovering in the parking lot I headed for 2 parks on the way to Capitol Reef, where I was planning on camping. The first was Kodachrome. Here is a picture, nothing special, but I did try hiking a bit in my flip-flops, as I did not want to put the boots back on for a while, and crashed twice as they just don't make a good hiking flip-flop...I think I have a new business idea.

After Kodachrome it was off to Escalante, where I snapped this picture. Escalante is actually a very large park, so I just chose a 4 mile trail called Calf's Creek.  it was a nice hike through sand, did not make it to the waterfall at the end as I wanted to get to Capitol Reef by dark.

Before getting to the Reef I climbed to about 10K feet in the car for the panoramic image here. Lots of birch trees surrounded me as I speed at 100 mph down a 10% decline in the minivan.

Finally arriving at Capitol Reef, this is a rock formation called Chimney Rock, or something clever like that. The campground was nestled in a canyon, with great views during sunset. The group I had been seeing ever since Zion arrived at the campground just before me and stole the prime campground as you can see here.

Well, it is 4am and I am again sitting in the men's room as it was the only place with a power supply. The things I do for my loyal reader...(s)?

10,000 Feet and Snow

It is 11pm, I just built a fire, I am at 10,000 feet and there is snow. So what is the first thing you need to do? Update your blog. Man Vs Wild has nothing on me, and this is no spoof where I actually double down on a hard 14 at the Mirage while writing this. How do you know this, first because you cannot use electronic devices at the table and second, read on to see the description and top notch photography.

I got up about 6am, the tent held up pretty good. I wanted to break out the shower I bought last week so I went into the bathroom to fill it up and hang from a tree, but all the bathrooms have only one nozzle, and it is not hot. My shower claims " As simple as 1,2,3." First you fill with water, then you set in sun for 2 hours and third you enjoy! Well, it was 6am and I was in a canyon...no sun.

I filled it up and hung from tree, exhibit A.  I will spare you the pictures of a naked man in the middle of a RV campgrounds showering, lets just say it was cold and I had no towel.

After recovering some body heat, I headed to the visitor center to get the skinny on the "Narrows." They said it gets about waist deep going upstream and they rent waders and boots, and a walking stick.

Well, I don't need no stinking waders, I had gaiters (rain guards that go up to my knees). I also spent the last few days waterproofing my boots, so I was confident in my dryness. I took 2 steps into the river and I was dry! I took two more... and I was soaked. Good thing I wore the wool socks as they dry fast...not really.

I pressed on and got over the discomfort of having aquariums in the bottom of my shoes and made it about 4 miles into the canyon. It was very technical and deep as you can see by this picture where I seem to be missing the lower half (Good thing I am wearing the Gaiters..you cant see them as they stop 1 foot below the surface). The water was a balmy 40 degrees and no sunlight so that was great. 

I survived and head back to the family truckster and off to Bryce Canyon. Here is the map of Bryce.Download BRCAmap2.pdf 

It took about 2 hours to get there. I took this shot at RedRock park just before you get to Bryce.  I made a whirlwind tour of the Bryce Canyon scenic drive as I wanted to get to my campsite before dark to set up the tent, get some wood and make dinner, but I was able to get a few good shots.  

It is off to bed as I have an 8 mile hike in the early hours and 3 parks to get through.

Higher Than A Lion in Zion

Up at 4am to be at the airport for 6am flight...it does not get much better than that my friends.

I arrived safely in the City of Sin (Vegas) and picked up the super sport wagon for the trip cross-country.

She is a butte Clark. It took about 4 hours to get to Zion and get going. The parks have really cut back as you can see by the picture I took of the new recruits at the entrance gate.

I picked up a pass for all the national parks that last a year. Seems like a good deal as I will be hitting 6 this week and at $20/Park, even I can figure out that the $80 card is worth the expense. I grabbed a campsite and headed for the trail head. It was about 2:30 when I got started, leaving 3 hours of light, so I picked a short tough trial. The description said that it contained a bunch of switchbacks and not for those who are scared of heights....I don't like heights...so I took it.

It was called Angel's Landing and started easy enough. I decided to take a self portrait about this time.

Well, shortly after this, it became a little steeper, as you can see by installment 2 in the self portrait library.

Along the way I saw this guy free climbing the face of the mountain. Here is a picture. If you click on it and enlarge you might be able to make him out in the bottom right...crazy stuff.

Once I got near the top, I took a few nice shots to add to the collection

This is when it became a bit crazy. Once reaching the summit, or what I thought was the summit, I started seeing people way up above me on a ridge. I could not understand how they got up there, and then I saw it, this steep winding staircase going up the side of the mountain. In some parts there was a guardrail, but the path was 3 feet across with 1,000 foot drops on either side. I thought it was crazy, they actually have this as part of the trail? Tons of people must fall off here every year (I later learned 1 every other year). It was at this point that a 10 year old girl with flip-flops bounded past me up the incline. The gauntlet was thrown down. I climbed along the ridge, focused intently on the chain and my footing and a small 3 foot field of vision in front of me. Once I got to the top I took these pictures looking down. On this first one, if you enlarge you can barely see a couple with blue jackets near the bottom, showing the path, it was intense.

After getting down in darkness. it was back to the campsite to set up shop. Note to self, next time you go out and buy a tent, set it up in your yard, or at least in the daylight before heading out into the woods, huddled over a light trying to read and remember 4th grade Spanish in order to decode the directions. Lets just say I had a lot of extra parts, so we have our fingers crossed.

Weather is decent and I fixed a hearty meal of Ramen noodles and Couscous (quite sure I spelled that wrong). Anyway, off to bed, for tomorrow is a hike through a stream in a part of the park called the Narrows. Below I attached a PDF of Zion if interested.

Download ZIONmap1.pdf

Twas The Night Before.....

Ok,

Leaving for Las Vegas in about 10 hours. I have spent the last week visiting every REI, Moosejaw, and Gander Mountain Store in Michigan. It is getting a little ridiculous. I feel like I am purchasing a house, except this one is made for Lilliputians. For example, I need a shower, but this one comes in a 4 gallon bag. I also purchased a bedroom, but this one has a zipper instead of a door.  I got a stove but there is only one burner and is pretty weak. I could go on about food, utensils, toiletries, but I think you get the idea.

I always wonder why people buy all the crap that stores sell, but I am beginning to see the light. You find yourself walking down the aisle and searching your brain to make sure you have not overlooked anything, when you see a pretty package for Big Foot Repellent. You think, I don't believe in Big Foot, but if I do run across him I bet I wish I had this, and you know what they say, better safe than sorry. So you grab it and and the Cajun Salmon Cooking Injection Kit acting like a five year old reaching for candy at the grocery checkout line.

I got it all back to the house. After scanning the web I created the attached checklist for Camping / Hiking Download CAMPING.pdf   

It seems to cover everything, but I am guessing I will be updating at the tail end with things like:

• Room Service
• TV  w/ Tivo
• Heat
• Food not brought to life by adding boiling water

I dumped everything on the floor and tried to figure out how to fit it all into packs that I could get on the airplane, or at least bungee to the fuselage.

Ya, I know it is a lot. One bag is my computer stuff and another is all the food, so really I could have gotten by with just the big red pack and the black roller bag. Would I look strange hiking through Zion pulling a carry-on behind me?

The final addition to this journal is my itinerary. I spent a week researching the parks to make sure I do not miss anything important. I was terrified I would get back from the trip and tell someone I went to Arches, and have them ask, "Cool, what did you think of the Leprechaun who rides the Unicorn down through the Narrows at precisely 12:00pm every afternoon?" I am sad to say, I could not find reference to the Unicorn, but I think I left no stone unturned and am sure to see the highlights of each park.

Here it is, now off to sleep for a few hours, and tomorrow Zion!

Download Grand_Circle_Trip.pdf