On The Road Again!

Greetings from Butte, Montana!

A couple weeks ago, I made a (late) decision to join my brother Bob and friends on a week-long bike trip from Pittsburgh to DC starting October 3rd. Then Karri decided to join us for a portion of the ride. Last week, Karri and I decided we'd turn it into a roadtrip. After the ride, we're planning to spend some time in New England, hopefully catching some of the last fall colors, before driving back home.

Packed and ready to go!

We left Seattle around 9:30am this morning, got through downtown quicker than expected, and hopped on I-90, planning to make it to Butte - or maybe stretch it to Bozeman - Montana. We stopped in Spokane for a great 6-mile bike ride on a portion of the Centennial Trail. The trail follows the Spokane River as it winds through downtown, past housing developments, office buildings, Gonzaga University, parks, restaurants, museums and more. Neither of us had spent any time in Spokane, and we both agreed we'd like to visit again - post-Covid.

Waterfall on the Spokane River

Along the Centennial Trail in Spokane; the structure behind us was built for the '74 World's Fair

Our plan is to van-camp on the drive east, but today we realized we'd be arriving in Butte (or Bozeman) well after dark, so we're opting for a hotel tonight. We decided to stop in Butte - about 9.5hrs of driving - arriving at the Hampton Inn around 10:30pm MT.

Planning for an early start tomorrow so we can get to Bismark, ND before dark. No reservation again, but we are planning to camp near a reservoir just outside of town.

Pendleton; And HOME!

[This post belatedly covers Friday 9/4 - Sat 9/5]

The drive from Ogden to Pendleton was long, but manageable. We stopped outside of Twin Falls, ID to briefly checkout Shoshone Falls Park on the Snake River - a beautiful spot where we might have lingered a while if we weren't getting anxious to be home.

Shoshone Falls; looks like some great kayaking on the river below; Evil Knievel's failed crossing was less than a mile downstream

Drove another 5.5hr, through Boise, ID and on to Pendleton. Like Ogden, Pendleton has an old-west feel, aided by the 110-year-old Pendleton Round-Up rodeo. Main Street is lined with western shops - where you can buy cowboy boots, a new saddle, western antiques, locally made wool blankets, etc. - plus several inviting bars and restaurants. We checked in at the Best Western, walked through town, then had a cocktail at Hamley's Steakhouse and Saloon while waiting for a table at Oregon Grain Growers Brand Distillery - both great spots.

Early to bed again, grab-and-go breakfast at the hotel before starting the final, 5-hour drive home. We took a few remote, 2-lane roads through southeast Washington farmland before passing through Yakima and hopping on I-90 West and heading over familiar Snoqualmie Pass. Hit mid-day-Saturday-on-a-holiday-weekend traffic in Seattle, but not too bad. Pulled into the driveway around 1:15pm - very excited and happy to see our daughter, Victoria, who had held down the fort for 3 weeks (while starting her freshman year of college, remotely, at University of San Diego) and dog, Jack.

Hand-stitched t-shirt Victoria made for me as a send-off gift!

Final stats:

• 3,200+mi driving
• 80+mi hiking
• 50+mi biking
• 5 national parks
• 1 national monument
• 2 state parks
• 16 nights of camping
• 1 large bottle of Advil!

What a trip! 

So thankful to have shared it with my intrepid, amazing traveling companion!

Dead Horse Point State Park; on to Ogden, UT

[This post covers Wed 9/2 evening through Fri 9/4 morning]

The drive to Dead Horse Point SP was familiar, as we had covered this route on our way to Islands in The Sky a few days earlier. The entrance to the park is just a few miles from where we had camped at Horsethief CG. Fortunately, it's an easy drive (less than an hour from Moab) and the scenery never gets old. 

At 5,362 acres, Dead Horse is, by far, the smallest park we've visited. It's basically a small peninsula that juts out above a twisty turn of the Colorado River. It's got a few hiking trails that mostly trace the rim of the canyon, and a network of mountain-biking trails to the north. Its namesake viewpoint, at the southern tip of the park, sits at 5,900' elevation, about 1,000' above the river. To get there, you have to drive (or walk or bike) through a ~30-foot wide section with 1,000-foot drop-off on either side. Right up my alley.

We camped at Kayenta CG, a very nice, clean spot with nice amenities (large, clean bathrooms nearby and a covered picnic table in our site). After setting up camp, we headed out for a short hike to work out some of the kinks from the 14-mile trek the day before. We headed to the west rim trail and the Big Horn Overlook - another (smaller) peninsula that juts out above the canyon. Then crossed to the East Rim trail and the Basin Overlook, with views of the Colorado.

That point is the Big Horn Overlook

Near the Basin Overlook with the Colorado River below

At the start of the hike, we both commented on how surprisingly good our legs felt after the Needles hike. After a couple miles, we started feeling a little sluggish. By the 4-mile mark, I was done, and we headed back to camp - about 5 miles total.

Chicken curry over rice for dinner, accompanied by some tasty Moab microbrews. We cleaned up as the sun set, watched some early stars and the rise of the full, 'corn' moon, then climbed into bed around 9:00pm. Up with the sun, we had oatmeal and coffee in camp before packing up and heading to the Dead Horse Point viewpoint.

A viewpoint above the viewpoint

We drove back to check out the nice, modern visitor center, then decided to hop on our bikes for a short ride out to another viewpoint. The trail was labeled as 'easy' but was definitely more technical than anything I'd ridden since my 20's. We only rode a mile or so, but it was still really fun.

Peeking over the edge - at least she's wearing a helmet :)

We loaded up the bikes and headed out for our 4+ hour drive to Ogden, UT. The drive was easy - until we got to Provo when we started to hit heavy traffic for the Provo/SLC/Ogden stretch along highway 15. It had been a while since we'd experienced 5 lanes of highway traffic.

In Ogden, we stopped at the address where my maternal grandfather lived from 1893-1907 (age 6-19) with his mother, grandmother, and step-grandfather - a railroad executive. We checked into our room at the Hampton Inn & Suites (nice spot), checked in with my siblings on our weekly Zoom call, then headed out to a nice dinner at an outdoor table at Union Grill. After dinner, we walked through historic 25th Street and on to Union Station before heading back to the hotel. Ogden has a great, old-western-railroad-town feel. It was really fun to imagine what it might have been like when my grandfather lived here.

Historic Union Station

Railroad Museum

Early to bed, up around 6:45, breakfast at the hotel. Just booked a room in Pendleton, OR, so we've got about 8hrs of driving today. Karri's checking out hiking/biking/sightseeing options along the way. 

Song Spot: Nothing in particular. We spent a big chunk of the drive laughing while listening to 'The Monkey Wrench Gang' (book on tape).

Hiking: ~5mi (Thu)

Biking: ~1.5mi (Fri)

Going with the Flow in Canyonlands NP - Needles Area

[We're back at our favorite city park in Moab - our 3rd and final stop in this town that sits in the middle of Arches NP, Canyonlands NP and Deadhorse State Park. This post covers Mon 8/31-Wed 9/2.]

After a relaxed morning, we reluctantly left our campsite in Horsethief CG - so peaceful and beautiful - and headed back to Moab to re-stock on a few food items and ice, before heading south to the Needles portion of Canyonlands NP. The Colorado and Green Rivers intersect to form a 'Y' which divides the park into 3 main sections. Islands in the Sky is the northern section, Needles is the southeast section. The southwest section - the Maze - will have to wait for another trip.

On the road to Needles, a few miles before the park entrance, we passed Newspaper Rock - a large petroglyph with carvings believed to date from B.C. times to around 1300 AD. Crazy.

Newspaper Rock (I couldn't find the sports section)

We drove about an hour (total from Moab) to Needles Outpost, a private campground just outside the park boundary. We dropped a few things at our site, then headed to the park and visitor center. At the park entrance, we were pleasantly surprised to learn the park campground had availability (sites are first-come...; we had assumed they'd be full). After a quick stop at the visitor center, we hustled over to the campground and realized all but a small handful were available. Staying here would save us 3+ miles of biking or driving to get to our trailhead. We decided to sacrifice the $45 we had paid for 2 nights at Needles Outpost, picked a great spot in the park, then retrieved our items from Needles Outpost and setup camp.

View from our site

We drove the length of the scenic road and stopped at a trailhead for a short hike just as some storm clouds came into view. We decided to wait and see what developed, ultimately deciding to skip the hike and drive a few miles back to camp. With an early start to a long, tough hike planned for Tuesday morning, neither of us minded a day off from hiking and an early-to-bed night.

Storm clouds made it to our site just as we were cleaning up from a delicious chicken taco dinner. We could see lightning in the distance and hear thunder echoing through the canyon as we covered our gear and climbed in the van. We dozed off, waking up a few times as the thunder and lightning - and a brief, light rain - moved over our site. Up at 6 on Tuesday to clear skies and a few lingering stars, just in time to watch a spectacular sunrise.

Sunrise from camp as we got ready to hit the trail

We walked ~.5mi from camp to the trailhead (much easier and quicker than biking from our original campsite) and set off on what we anticipated would be about a 14 mile hike. Needles has a set of interconnected trails that allow you to 'build your own' adventure. Our goal - based on reviews and recommendations from the visitor center ranger - was to get to Chesler Park loop, but first we had to hike 5+ miles to get there! The trail was unlike any we had done on this trip - more technically challenging with stretches of scrambling up/down rocks, along ledges, through tight canyons. It challenged both of us... and was really fun! [Fortunately, the heights/ledges didn't bother me - phobias are, apparently, fickle.]

Climbing up a narrow canyon

A long section of the hike was over moon-like cratered rock

Climbing a rock face

An elbow-width passage; Karri's phobia? Claustrophobia - she's a trooper!

Rock cairns marked the trail

That's Islands in the Sky (where we had been 2 days earlier) in the background; ~15 miles away (a 2+ hour drive around the canyon) and ~1200ft higher elevation; the arrow marks the Grand View outlook we hiked to

At just under the 6 mile mark, we reached the Chesler Park loop where the trail opens up to a giant grassy/scrub field surrounded by large, sandstone rock formations. 

Chesler Park rock formations

About half a mile onto the loop, we encountered the first(!) hiker we had seen all morning - a guy who was camping at one of the (few) nearby backcountry sites. At the 7 mile (total) mark, we decided to turn back - completing the loop would have made for a 17 mile hike, it was getting warmer, and we felt the first mile gave us a great taste of the loop. We decided to take a different route back - similarly technical and also very fun. 

More scrambling

View from our lunch-stop spot

We finally got back to camp around 3:45 - hot, tired and exhilarated - both feeling a great sense of accomplishment. We took much-needed camp showers, then put our feet up for happy hour. After a delicious pasta dinner, we mustered the energy to scramble up the rocks immediately behind our campsite for a glimpse of the sunset.

Last rays of sun from above our campsite

In bed at 8, woke to the sun hitting the van as it peaked over the horizon - around 7am! Breakfast, packed up and headed to Moab. Restocked our ice and grabbed yummy quesadillas at Quesadilla Mobilla (thanks nephew Jeffrey for the tip!).

We're on our way to Dead Horse Point State Park - back near Islands in the Sky - for our final night of camping in Utah and, likely, our last night of camping for this trip. Hard to believe this adventure is coming to an end.

Song Spot: Walking on the Moon (The Police) and Don't You Look Back (Augustines) on the hike to/from Chesler Park

Hiking: 14.25mi (Tue)

Biking: <1mi (Tue)