White River National Forest

We found free camping for the second night in a row on Monday night at White River National Forest in Colorado. The van did well making it’s way to 8900 ft in the Rocky Mountains. We moved along slow but a strong tailwind helped us go faster than expected. We found a Forest Service ranger station and the Ranger at the office gave us directions to a campground no longer in service but permitted for free camping. We made our way there and found a great spot right on the White River. He warned us that there may be snow and there was, but we got a spot with dry ground – we even had enough space to set up a bocce ball court and use the set my sister gave us for the first time! The morning was cold (27 degrees in the van according to my thermometer), but we stayed toasty in our sleeping bags.

Our Bocce Ball court

Action shot!

If you look closely you can see the red ball in the air.

Notch Mountain

Star Gazing

Last night we were able to see lots of stars and with the help of our Iphone Ap we were able to locate the Leo constilation right above us and also Saturn which we could see in the distance. I also took the opportunity to do some night photography:

Sunset over the van

Not quite a full moon but still giving off lots of light

A car driving by in the distance and the van illuminated below

Arches National Park

Written on Sunday May 15th: Last night we had a celebratory dinner because Kyle found out he passed his Plant Pathology final with an 83%! He got a B in the class. We indulged with a steak dinner at “the best steak house in Richfield”, Steve’s Steakhouse and honestly, it was amazing. The place was packed, every person in town was having dinner there, the service was extremely friendly and the food was delicious. So if you are ever driving through Richfield, Utah – try it out! We left Richfield this morning about 9am, showered and refreshed. We made it slooooowly (a major headwind combined with climbing several thousand feet in altitude = 40 mph, flashers going & semi trucks passing us… but we keep saying it’s good for 2 reasons #1 we can really enjoy the scenery when going 40 mph and #2 you can take photos out the window without having to pull over, seriously) over many large mountains and arrived at Arches National Park about 12:30. We were told that the best arches were at the end of the park, so we headed for Devil’s Garden Trail head, which was supposed to have the most arches in the whole park. We stopped for a photo op at Balancing Rock.

Devil’s Garden trail was popular to say the least, but we got some great photos and found some parts of the trail less traveled. The rock formations are unique and individually impressive.

Begining of Devil's Garden Trail

Kyle standing under Landscape Arch

Landscape Arch

Partition Arch (as you approach it)

Partition Arch

Me standing at the base of Partition Arch

Partition Arch

Both windows of Partition Arch

Standing in Partition Arch

Partition Arch

Navajo Arch

Navajo Arch

I am not sure what this rock formation is named

but I thought it looked like files in a file cabinet

Double O Arch

Double O Arch

Inside the bottom O of the Double O Arch

"Finger" rock formations

And our goal for tonight was to find free camping… and we did! Less than 30 miles north of ArchesNational Park is an area a few hundred yards off the main road and there are at least a dozen RVs/toy haulers and several people camping in tents. So we found a spot for our selves and made camp.

New Orleans Cancelled

Last night while staying in our hotel room we happened to catch the news that the Morganza Spillway in Louisiana has been opened and New Orleans and Baton Rouge are in danger of flooding. According to CNN.com "In New Orleans, the river is now expected to reach its crest at 17 feet on Sunday, instead of 19.5 feet on May 23, according to the weather service. The New Orleans levees are built to withstand 20 feet." So, staying flexible with our plans Kyle and I have decided New Orleans may not be in the cards. We were really disappointed by this news but glad we are aware well before we spent hours traveling in that direction. I guess we'll just have to go for Mardi Gras in the future...

Zion National Park

Jen: Yesterday we left Lake Powell and arrived at Zion National Park via the East Entrance on Utah Route-9 which enters the park at about 5000ft elevation and takes you throught a one lane tunnel carved into the mountain and then down a switchback to the valley floor. We took a risk arriving such a small national park on a Friday, and as luck would have it all the campgrounds in the park were full. We intended to camp at a campground Friday night and backpack Saturday and Sunday nights, since there were no campgrounds available we made the decision to backpack to a campsite that night. From the main visitor center in the valley we had to drive to the north entrance to get to the trail head we picked. We were on the trail by 2:30 and arrived at our campsite about an hour later. The mountains are huge beyond belief and shoot straight up and the wild flowers were in full bloom. I was intreged by the ecosystem that had cacti next to pine trees. We had a breath taking view of Shuntavi Butte from our camp site. As the night went on we heard thunder and while we were sleeping it rained. When we woke this morning we made the decision to go back to the car instead of going further because the weather looked promising for more rain and cold. Today we made our way up I-15 to I-70 and treated ourselves to a night in a hotel in beautiful Richfield, Utah (only $53 with our AAA discount!). Tomorrow we plan to go to Arches National Park and do a day hike then camp in the Manti-La Sai Naional Forest... but if I have learned anything so far it's that our plans don't always go the way we think they will - so we'll just have to see what happens! Here are some photos of Zion and our drive today:

After we came through the mountain tunnel we got this view

The main valley of Zion National Park

Shuntavi Butte: view from our campsite

Our campsite with Shuntavi Butte in the background

Kyle enjoying the peace and quiet

The other side of Shuntavi Butte as we hiked out

Kyle on the trail

Shuntavi Butte in the distance

Beatty Point, Nagunt Mesa & Timber Top Mountain

Shuntavi Butte & Hop Valley in the distance

Pine cones next to Prickly Pear Cactus

The picture really doesn't do it justice... this view was simply amazing

Snow capped mountains we passed coming up I-15

The mountains from a distance

Lake Powell & Antelope Canyon

Jen: Just when I think I am going to have good internet access (Thursday) the blogging site went down! So if it seems like I haven't posted in a while, that might be why...

After the Grand Canyon we went to Lake Powell for 2 days. We only intended to stay over night, but loved the area so much and the weather was perfect that we decided to stay an additional day. I am so glad we did too because we spent a day kayaking and saw some incredible scenery.

A view of the scenery between the Grand Canyon and Lake Powell

Our campsite at Lake Powell - and me: toasting to our trip

Our view from the our campsite

Lake Powell rock formations

Lake Powell

Kyle talking to his sister Amy while on a bike ride at Lake Powell

Some of the huge yachts at Lake Powell

(we thought about renting one but decided it would kill our budget!)

The entrance to Antelope Canyon, which is a finger of Lake Powell

The white blob at the bottom is the dry sack on our kayak

At the end of the water you can hike up the canyon

Kyle standing in the distance give you a scale

for how tall the walls of the canyon are

The lines in the rocks and the reflection of the water

made for very interesting canyon walls

Our kayak beached at the end of the water

It's pretty hard to take a photo of both of us while on the kayak,

but I made my best attempt here