Tag Archives: hiking

Riding ‘The Wave’

Posted on by
Reply

We won the lottery.  As you know, it wasn’t Powerball, but we did get a permit to go and see ‘The Wave‘ in Utah.  George had been talking about the Wave for weeks, and then we found out we needed a permit.  They let 20 people in to see the wave each day.  10 slots are made available online months in advance.  10 slots are handed out by lottery the day before your hike.  The day we arrived there were about 18 people hoping to visit the wave the following day (and this is off season).  You submit your application and they literally put balls in a lottery type spinner and pull the out until there are no spots left.  We were the first group called…woot woot! The fun thing about getting to the wave is that the hike is not marked.  They do provide you with a series of picture instructions, so it turns out to be pretty easy to get there.  If you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it.  The Wave was incredible.  Beyond the Wave, the Coyote Buttes area offers a lot more really great hiking.

 

 

Hoodoos to Faces

Posted on by
Reply

Our next stop after the Moab area was Bryce Canyon.  Bryce is known for Hodoos, the tower like rock formation you see in the photos.  It’s pretty high elevation (close to 9000 feet at some of the rims), so G and I bundled up for a hike and tour around the park.  The hike went down into the amphitheater area of Bryce past the Hoodoos and into a Ponderosa forest which smelled wonderful.

Our next stop was Zion.  Driving into Zion is like driving into a stone fortress.  You’re surrounded by incredibly tall rock faces.  We did some hiking and bedded down for the night at the only open campground in the park.  The next morning we set off to grab  some breakfast before heading out of the park.  Almost immediately, we heard a terrible grinding noise coming from the back wheel.  We assumed the noise was coming from the brake after a little investigating.  This meant a day delay and a small detour to the closest town.  The good news is that it gave us time to refurbish our coffee maker.  The next morning we headed to a local mechanic only to discover that our brake problem was actually the mud flap grinding up against the wheel.  George had backed into a rock leaving the campground the day before and bent the flap.  Lucky for us, the mechanic didn’t charge us and topped off our tires to boot.

 

 

 

Moab: an eye-opener for a coast lover

Posted on by
Reply

It has never occurred to me that the desert is a place I want to be.  Moab and the surrounding area of Utah has definitely changed my mind.  The town is in the middle of national and state parks and offers hiking, climbing, biking, and rafting/canoeing.  Moab also offers great local restaurants and cafes and a fun local NPR station (90.1).  90.1 played a ton of new-to-me music.  One of the songs I was digging was Breezeblocks by Alt J.

George was excited to do some mountain biking.  I bit the bullet and we headed to Dead Horse Point State Park.  George was busy setting up jumps and shooting video while I went from hating it, to sort of liking it, to wishing the ride was over for the sake of my behind.  I definitely recommend the park though, beautiful.  We spent the next couple of days hiking in the Arches and Canyonlands National Parks.  Great time of year to visit: few people and perfect sunny yet crisp weather.

I’ll definitely be back Moab!

 

 

 

Grand Teton National Park

Posted on by
Reply

We are currently in Grand Teton National Park. We stayed 3 days in Jackson, Wyoming. Teresa wasn’t feeling well so we took a hotel. To be honest I did not fight much since the Fall temperatures finally caught up with us. Our last night in Yellowstone the temperature came down to -14C (7F). This caused the water hoses in the back of the car and the heat exchanger in the front to freeze. So we drove to Jackson, i.e. we drove South and stayed there for 3 nights. A bit of a splurge – TV, showers and a bed. After the third day we decided to go budget again and we move to a hostel in Jackson Village – a small ski resort about 30miles out of Jackson. The hostel is half the price of the hotel and we still have showers and a bed :).

The weather is not much better in Grand Teton vs. Yellowstone. It is sunny and clear during the day going up to 10C/50F and -10C/14F at night. I drained all the water from the car hoping to save the heat exchanger and etc.

We are planning on a 10miles hike tomorrow with a 6200ft vertical change roundtrip. It will be challenging day so we waited an extra day to make sure Teresa is really feeling better. In the meantime Jackson Village is a desert town. The resort is officially being closed today for the offseason (only 2 weeks) so we basically have the place to ourselves. This is a welcomed change from the RV madness of Alaska and the crazy campsites of Banff (780 spots campsites…).