Photo of the Week

Enjoying the solitude of the narrows of the Virgin River, 7/5/07, Zion National Park















This photo was taken at 7:07 PM on 07/07/07 just outside Bryce Canyon National Park. I wish I could have bought a lottery ticket!

Utah, finally at last, Red Canyon, UT

It has been a while since we had internet access, so we have a bit of catching up to do.

Wednesday July 4

Happy 4th of July! We packed up and left the Kaibab NF and the North Rim with some hesitation. We are headed back into the valley where the temperatures were soaring. We actually made a reservation for a campsite tonight. We will be staying at Camp Lutherwood, a Lutheran church camp that allows outside campers. It is located in the Dixie National Forest at Long Valley Junction, UT, about half between Zion NP and Bryce Canyon NP. We are thankful to be in Utah for good, where they know what Daylight Saving Time is all about. We arrived at Mt. Carmel, the cut-off to Zion NP about 2:00 and decided to drive on into the park for the afternoon. There is a tunnel at the east entrance to Zion. It is a spectacular tunnel and an engineering marvel. It is 1.1 miles long, but only 11' 4'' tall at the edge. Consequently large RVs cannot pass without an escort. If your RV is greater than 11'4" but less than 13'1" they stop the traffic coming from the other end, while you get to drive your RV right down the middle of the tunnel. They charge $15 for this service. Since we were not staying in the park, we unhitched the Honda at the Mt. Carmel cut-off and drove it into the park. We spent the afternoon getting oriented and doing a windshield tour of the park. On this Independence Day they set a park record high temperature of 112 degrees. Our tour seems to have fallen into what is known as the "Grand Circle". The Grand Circle is the collection of Utah national parks that include Zion, Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches and Canyonlands, as well as several national monuments. I think the North Rim also counts, although it is not in Utah. It seems very popular to visit each of these parks in order, where you travel a "Grand Circle" about 900 miles in circumference. Southern Utah also encompasses the "Grand Staircase". Geologically speaking, each of the parks steps down through geologic layers like a staircase. The Kaibab Plateau is at the bottom of the staircase because it contains the lowest and oldest layers, even though it is not necessarily lower in elevation.

We had been advised to arrive at our campground before dark since there were numerous mule deer in the area. They forgot to advise us that the entrance road was two miles long and required a four wheel drive vehicle. We successfully negotiated the entrance road, but made a serious strategic error. Remember that 112 degree temperature? We had opened the windows in the Honda to help keep it cool, but didn't think to close them before going up that two mile pig path. It hasn't rained here since April and we put about 4 inches of dust in the car. They weren't kidding about the mule deer. As we entered the campground we had to stop and wait for them to get out of the way. They weren't in a hurry to move. I think they were afraid to move because they would stumble over all the black-tailed jack rabbits. I guess I have never seen a jack rabbit before, but they are pretty neat. They are about three times the size of the cottontails back home and have huge ears and long black tails. They don't really hop but sort of run like a cat. Once we got up here it was pretty neat. They have good facilities, and we are at EL7470', about 3500' higher than the campgrounds at Zion NP. It is very pleasant here, cool and breezy.

Thursday July 5

We drove back to Zion NP to spend what turned out to be a very long day. Zion is a deep sandstone canyon carved by the Virgin River. To enter the canyon, you must take a free park shuttle bus. The buses are pretty neat. They are propane powered to reduce pollution and have rear wheel steering for tight turning. We arrived early to take a "ranger shuttle", a private shuttle ride up the canyon with an interpretive ranger. We departed the shuttle at the the end of the road at the head of the canyon and took the 1 mile riverwalk up the canyon. At the end of the riverwalk, we put on our Tevas and begin walking up the "Narrows" of the canyon. This basically involves simply wading up the Virgin River on bowling ball-like rocks, while the canyon gets narrower as you go. Unfortunately, Dorcas left her walking stick in the car. Those of you who have hiked with Dorcas know that she can't cross the street without her hiking stick, much less wade a river lengthwise. But she actually did pretty good though, and by the end of the day was rock-hopping like a champ. We were under the mistaken impression that a hike up the Narrows would be a quiet, solitary, experience. I think the other 9000 people there thought the same thing. However, by the time we had gone about a mile and then turned up Orderville Canyon, a smaller slot canyon, the crowds had thinned out. By that time, some dark clouds had formed, and we heard thunder, so we beat it out of the canyon. You don't want to be in a slot canyon during a storm. A flash flood there is deadly. From there we worked our way down the canyon and did hikes to Weeping Rock, Hidden Canyon and Lower, Middle and Upper Emerald Pools. We arrived at Zion Lodge to find the ice cream shop at the Zion Lodge had closed. Dang. By the time we caught the shuttle and drove back to camp, it was almost midnight, We had been out almost 18 hours and were whipped.

Friday July 6

We slept late and had a big breakfast. Since we have full hookups with plenty of water and power, we did about 4 loads laundry. We didn't have all that much laundry, but our washer can only do tiny loads. Unlike most other campgrounds, Camp Lutherwood actually encourages folks to wash their cars, because it helps water the grass. We washed the Honda and shoveled out the dust. I was on a roll and washed the coach too. After lunch we headed up to Cedar Breaks National Monument, which is a high canyon featuring colorful spires, pinnacles and columns. It's kinda like a mini-Bryce Canyon at EL 10,350'. We then continued to Brian Head Peak, which overlooks the town of Brian Head, a ski area and a mountain biking mecca.

Saturday July 7

This morning we broke camp and moved about 30 miles up towards Bryce Canyon NP and set up at Red Canyon Campground in Dixie NF about 10 miles south of Bryce. We had considered going on up and camp in Bryce Canyon NP, but we have had very good luck finding great sites in the national forests. They have been much less crowded and generally have had better facilities than the national parks. We found a wi-fi hot spot near Bryce Canyon Lodge, and so were able to establish communications. This afternoon we plan to do some overlook walks and maybe hit some ranger presentations.

The Perfect Day

Tuesday July 3

Today was the most satisfying and enjoyable day of our trip so far. We slept well and long from our hard hike on the North Kaibab trail the day before. After we got up we puttered around camp for a while and then went to the Kaibab Lodge, which is next door to the campground. Our campground host had said the Lodge had free wireless internet and wouldn't mind us logging on. We asked to use their facilities, and they said come on in. We set up in their dining room and spent about two hours writing and responding to e-mails and doing other internet chores, mostly researching the next leg of our trip through southern Utah. By that time it was lunchtime, and they were bringing out their daily special: hot open-faced turkey sandwich with broccoli and mashed potatoes. Thinking it would not be right to take advantage of their hospitality without spending a little money, we made the sacrifice and ordered the special. If you ever get to the North Rim stop in and visit the folks at Kaibab Lodge.

The remainder of our day consisted of tourist-like activities: driving around and short walks. We drove out on the Walhalla Plateau on the eastern end of the park and enjoyed the amazing vistas. The views from Cape Royal are the best from any place in the park, North Rim or South Rim. The only place the Colorado River can be seen on the North Rim is from near Cape Royal. There is one very unique view of the Colorado River through Angel's Window, an arch-like formation in the rocks. We did several short hikes including one to Cliff Springs, where water weeps out of the cliff wall and nourishes many lush plants.

This evening we attended a campfire program on fossils in the park and another program in the Grand Lodge on "Geologic Hikes", namely specific hikes from the North Rim where one can see great examples of the most unique geologic features in the canyon. After the program we sat on the back veranda of the Grand Lodge, ate ice cream as the nearly-full moon rose and watched shooting stars over the canyon. Can it get any better?

We also saw the most diverse wildlife we have seen in the park. In addition to numerous mule deer, we saw a small herd of wild turkeys with several chicks, Kaibab squirrels with their unique white tail and tufted ears and a coyote. The picture at left is the Cliffrose (Cowania Stansburiana)

We will be moving tomorrow and will spend tomorrow and the next day in Zion National Park.

Chillin' Out on the North Rim

Saturday June 30

Upon leaving Page, AZ we headed towards Lee's Ferry. Lee's Ferry is about 15 river miles downstream from Glen Canyon Dam, but about 45 road miles away. We crossed the Navajo Bridge over the Colorado River and descended to Lee's Ferry. At ~3000', Lee's Ferry is very hot in late June. The forecast there for this day was 110' and I believed it. Lee's Ferry lies at the break between Marble Canyon (the upper Grand Canyon), Glen Canyon and Paria Canyon, providing the only relatively easy access to the Colorado River for many miles in either direction. The Navajo Bridge, opened in 1928, made the ferry obsolete. Lee's Ferry is most famous now for being the put-in for all Grand Canyon float trips. There were a number of float parties, both private and commercial, setting up to put in the next morning. I had a grand time chatting with the river rats and really hated to leave. But we needed to find a place to camp, and we were burning daylight.

Our objective that evening was to get as close to the North Rim as we could. We left Lee's Ferry hoping to get to the Kaibab National Forest Visitor Center at Jacob Lake before they closed at 5:00, but it was going to be close. From Lee's Ferry we gained altitude steadily as we crested onto the Kaibab Plateau. The Kaibab Plateau ranges in elevation from about 7000' to almost 9000'. Kaibab is a Paiute Indian word meaning "mountain lying down". The Kaibab National Forest was a stark contrast from the desert environs we had been in for the last week or so. It is heavily forested with spruce, fir and aspen and was green and lush. It also contained a number of beautiful meadows along the road. The campground at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon was booked solid until the end of July. There was a possibility that we could get a site due to a cancellation, particularly if we got there in the morning, but we would arrive after 6:00. (or 5:00 or 7:00, I don't know.) Our fall back position was to try to get a spot at DeMotte CG in the Kaibab National Forest. We arrived at the Kaibab NF Visitor Center one minute after they closed, and the doors were locked. We lurked outside until one of the staff came out, and then grilled him about camping in the NF. He couldn't tell us about the availability of camp sites at DeMotte CG (this is the beginning of the 4th of July holiday week), which is just 8 miles from the entrance to the North Rim, but he said we should be able to find some nice places off the highway if we wanted to experience "dispersed camping". When we arrived at DeMotte there were plenty of sites, so we set up on No. 2. The first thing we noticed was how cool it was. We were now at about 8800', almost a mile higher than we had been the night before. By the time we went to bed the outside temperature was 47 degrees. The low for the night ended up being 31 degrees. We had gone from 110 degrees to 31 degrees in just under 12 hours.

Sunday July 1

In 2005 the Grand Canyon National Park received 4.6 million visitors, but only 10% of those people went to the North Rim. In spite of that, it still took us almost 20 minutes to clear the entrance gate. The parking lots at the Visitor Center and lodge were nearly full. We attended a ranger talk on the California condor. The number of California condors once dwindled to 22, but, thanks to captive breeding programs, now number 300+. There are ~70 in the Grand Canyon area, including one which has been perching on the North Rim Grand Lodge. There is a release site nearby on Vermilion Cliffs. We did a few easy overlook walks and then drove out to Point Imperial, at 8803' the highest point on either rim. The north rim is about 1000' higher than the south rim and about twice as far from the river. Since it slopes down to the south, it experiences more erosional forces than the South Rim and has receded away from the river more quickly. Tomorrow we plan to do some longer hikes. We would like to catch some more ranger talks, but they start at 7:00 and 8:00 and that is a little late for us since we are staying outside the park.

Monday July 2

Today we arose early for a hike into the canyon. When we got up it was 32 degrees. We hit the North Kaibab trail head about 6:45 for a walk to Roaring Spring. Roaring Spring is about 5 miles and 3005' down from the North Rim. It is the source of all the water used by the North and South Rim and is the headwaters to Bright Angel Creek. The walk down was very pleasant. We soon shed our jackets, and we arrived at Roaring Spring in about 2 1/2 hours. By then the temperature had risen significantly. We cooled our feet in the stream, ate PBJs for lunch and started the long trek out of the canyon. The hike out was reminiscent of a backpacking trip we did from the South Rim in May 1998. Hot, dry, steep and long. We finally made it out of the canyon and bee-lined it to the lodge for some ice cream. We then enjoyed a very entertaining ranger talk on Grand Canyon geology.

Hot and Dry, Lake Powell NRA, Page, AZ

Friday June 29

"Does Anybody Really Know What Time It Is? Does Anybody Really Care?" by Robert Lamm, Chicago Transit Authority, ~1969

We left Cottonwood CG at Canyon de Chelly bright and early on Friday morning. As we drove through Kayenta, AZ, I realized that we were pretty close to Monument Valley. I had been to Monument Valley once about 30 years ago, but Dorcas has never seen it. At Kayenta we unhitched the Honda and drove it about 25 miles up US 163 to Monument Valley. Monument Valley is a Navajo tribal park and a 4th of July celebration was in progress when we arrived; live music, dancing, the works. We drove the 17 mile loop trial through the valley among the buttes and mesas. It wasn't as pretty as I remembered it (is it ever?). We returned to Kayenta, hitched up to the coach and continued to Page, AZ. At Page we arrived at the Carl Hayden Visitor Center at Glen Canyon dam just in time to catch the last tour of the day. After the tour we drove about five miles up the lake to Wahweap Campground, where we settled in for the night.

Today was a hot one. We have continued to drop in elevation. Last night we were at about 5300'. On Lake Powell we are at only about 3700'. The outside thermometer on the coach registered 115' degrees this afternoon, although I'm pretty sure it never actually got over 110! We have been in and out of Utah all day. In fact, parts of this very campground are in Utah. This leads to confusion since Utah observes Daylight Savings Time, while Arizona doesn't. Arizona is effectively at the same time as Pacific Daylight Time. Except on the Navajo tribal lands in AZ, where they do observe DST. Confused? So am I. I check the clocks on the wall every chance I get so I know what state I'm in (besides a state of confusion.)

I am looking forward to getting up on the Kaibab Plateau at ~EL 7900' where it should be significantly cooler, and we know what time it is. But does anybody really care?

Myron

Bearing the Heat - Canyon de Chelly National Monument, Arizona

We are camping at Cottonwood Campground, Canyon de Chelly National Monument near Chinle, AZ. The campground is near the Visitor's Center for the national monument, at the lower ends of Canyon de Chelly and Canyon del Muerto. It is shaded by a wonderful grove of cottonwood trees, which makes the 100' temperatures tolerable. It is fairly remote, but is adjacent to the concessionaire-operated Thunderbird Lodge, which has free wireless Internet, which we can receive on our site. Geek heaven. Also, the campground is free. While it doesn't have water and electric at the campsites, it does have nice paved sites, new picnic tables, running water at the bathhouses and a dump station. The campground is as nice or nicer than most other NPS campgrounds, some of which charge as much as $15 and $20 per night. Go figure. Staying in the campground is a fellow from Phoenix driving a Safari TREK. When I talked with him I realized I had met him at a Safari TREK Fun Club Rally near Asheville last September. Small world.

Canyon de Chelly is a box canyon, up to 1000' deep occupied by the Navajo people, who still live and farm in the canyon. There are a number of Anasazi ("the Ancient Ones") ruins in the canyon, dating back as far as about 700 A.D. With the exception of a single trail, the trail to White House ruin, one must be accompanied by a Navajo guide to enter the canyon. However, many of the ruins can be viewed from the overlooks along the rim. Today we drove along the north and south rims, viewing from each of the overlooks. We also walked the 3-mile round trip to White House ruin.

We have been here for two nights and will leave in the morning. We will go at least as far as Page, AZ or Lee's Ferry. If we feel lucky we may go on to the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, but tomorrow is the Friday beginning 4th of July week. When I checked for vacancies at the North Rim campground, the next opening was for a 15' site on July 2. I don't think we could even get the Honda into that site. Page, AZ is the location of the Glen Canyon dam and Lee's Ferry is the traditional put-in for most Grand Canyon float trips. Barry Goldwater, that GOP senator from AZ, said before his death that supporting the construction of the Glen Canyon dam was one of his biggest regrets. The Glen Canyon dam flooded the beautiful Glen Canyon and its tributaries. It also drastically changed the character of the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. It has eliminated the natural flooding and increased the clarity of the water, significantly altering the flora, fauna and land forms in the canyon. Glen Canyon dam opponents have predicted the dam will eventually fail, and that nature will prevail in the end. I don't have a problem with that, but I would like to see the dam once while it is still here. If it ever does fail, I wouldn't want to ride that wave!

Myron

On the Road Again - Gallup, NM

It has been a pretty hectic and stressful few days. We spent Sunday night in the parking lot at the Cummins/Onan Coach Care facility for scheduled generator service. The generator had been smoking heavily on start and there was an engine knock. There was also an oil leak. This facility is an Onan dealership and a Country Coach partner facility. We wouldn't find another facility as qualified as this one anywhere else nearby, and since we are dependent on our generator for battery charging and A/C, we decided we needed to bite the bullet and get it serviced.

The mechanic fixed the oil leak pretty quickly. The leak was due to a cross-threaded fuel filter. The smoking and knocking was likely caused by at least one fouled fuel injector. When the mechanic saw how the generator was mounted in the coach, he had some unkind remarks towards the Country Coach engineer who designed the installation. In order to service the injectors, the generator, which is mounted in the front of the coach, must be removed by dropping it out the bottom. This involved jacking up the coach, cutting a steel cross member, removing a number of other obstructions and then dropping the generator. Of course this process would have to be reversed to re-install the unit after service. Most units, including those in most other models by Country Coach, slide out on rails for easy access for service. What should have been a one hour injector service took 8 hours of mechanic time. It turns out that all three fuel injectors were extremely fouled, likely due to low usage by the previous owner. These units run best when run often and at full load. We spent Monday night at the Onan facility in their "campground", which consisted of four RV spaces at the back of their parking lot with water and electrical hookups. I'm not knocking it. With daytime temps over 100' it was good to be hooked to shore power. We also took advantage of their water and dump station and did three loads of laundry.

Work was finished about about 3:00 on Tuesday. It runs like a top now. We just beat the rush hour traffic out of Albuquerque. As we left town on I-40 west, our outside thermometer read 108'. Still, it felt more comfortable than NC at 85' and 85% humidity.

We seem to have also solved the problem with the EvenBrake in the Honda. As you may recall from a previous post, my original EvenBrake had failed. The manufacturer shipped me a new unit and it, too, was not operating properly. Subsequently I talked with the designer of the unit. It turns out the the unit, which operates using compressed air, had never been tested at elevations above about 7000'. I was at 8400' and, in this thin air, the air tank could not be pressurized before the compressor timed out. The designer promised to pull a new unit, make sure the compressor was a sound one and reprogram the processor to allow the compressor to run longer before shutting down. He essentially is customizing a unit for me adapted to for high elevations. We will talk again in about a week, and he will ship me the unit when we are laid up for a few days. In the meantime, when I re-installed the replacement unit before leaving Albuquerque (5300') it worked like a charm.

We have stopped in Gallup NM for dinner and some grocery shopping. We will drive a little further tonight and sleep somewhere in Arizona. We are starting to look more closely at where we want to go and have realized that we must make some decisions. We had wanted to go to most of the national parks in southern Utah, but if we go everyplace on our list, we will drive ourselves to death. Even though we have over 4 weeks before we need to be in Kalispell, MT, we can't do it all. I think it is better to go to fewer places, but stay longer and enjoy them. We are at a critical point, however, and need to either continue west or turn north. We are also coming up on the week of the 4th of July. We either need to make some reservations somewhere pronto (it's probably already too late for reservations) or plan to go someplace not very popular.

On the Move Again ... sort of ... for a while ... in Albuquerque, NM

Saturday June 23

I have good news and bad news: Our EvenBrake arrived as promised, but this replacement unit appears to be defective as well. We will have to continue for now with no brakes in the Element-in-tow. I left a message with the manufacturer, but they likely won't get the message until Monday. If I am lucky, they will let me pick up another unit at an RV supply in Albuquerque, and check it out before leaving. If I am even luckier, they will refund the cost of the unit, and I can install a better braking system. If I had it to do over, I would probably get the system made by M&G. This system uses the coach's air brakes to pressurize the car's hydraulic system.

This afternoon we took a bike ride. We put in at the Aspen vista picnic area (EL 10,000') and biked up a service road to the summit of Tesuque Peak (EL 12,000'). The distance was about 5.6 miles each way. Tesuque Peak is at the top of one of the two summits for the Aspen/Santa Fe ski basin. It was fairly challenging, but we both made it! There were excellent 360' views of the mountains and Santa Fe.

Later that afternoon while kicking back at the campsite, we saw a bear! He came down the road from the upper loop, crossed by the edge of our campsite and ran up the mountain at full speed. He was a black bear, but was brown/cinnamon in color. Every site in the campground was filled this Saturday night, but we were apparently the only ones who saw him. The campground host said that was only the seventh bear sighting in the campground this summer.


Sunday June 24

We finally packed up and left Black Canyon Campground this afternoon. It was hard to leave, but it was time to move on. We have been using our generator heavily, about 2-3 hours per day, because we have had no electrical hookups since leaving Texas. In the past few days, I have observed heavy white smoke on start-up, and it seems to be making a faint rattling sound, which may or may not be normal. Since we will be highly dependant on our generator for much of our trip, I have scheduled service at the Cummins/Onan Coach Care facility in Albuquerque. This facility is the only Onan manufacturer's service facility in a radius of about 500 miles. Thankfully it is on our way, although that may be hard to prove, since we don't really know where we are going next. We spent Sunday night in their parking lot in order to get into their shop when they open at 7:00 Monday morning.


Monday June 25

We make this post from the customer lounge at the Cummins/Onan Coach Care facility in Albuquerque. The coach is currently in the service bay. We have repaired the generator fuel leak. It was due to a cross-threaded fuel filter. The smoking and engine knock is more serious. This problem is caused by a bad fuel injector. This is not normally a very serious problem, however, access to the generator in our coach is problematic. On most diesel coaches the whole generator slides out the front cap on rails, providing good access to the generator. Ours does not have this rail access. The technician says he thinks the whole front cap must be removed to access the generator. I have a call in to Country Coach to get their advice.

The saga continues. Wish us luck.

Myron

Still Hanging Out Near Santa Fe

Tuesday June 20 Lounge Chair Lizards
Today we didn't really do anything. We puttered around the campsite most of the day. That eventually wore us out, so we took a nap. By mid-afternoon we decided we needed to go somewhere, so we drove about 6 miles up to the end of the highway to the Aspen/Santa Fe Ski basin. Along the way were some excellent views to the south and west including the city of Santa Fe and the Sandia Crest near Albuquerque. We scouted some hiking trails that start at the ski area parking lot that go into the Pecos Wilderness. On the way back down tour campsite we stopped and took a short hike (perhaps 1 mile each way) up Big Tesuque Creek. This slope is filled with "sun-loving" aspens. Aspens are the first tree to return after a major fire, and this grove benefited from a major fire in the 1800s. Eventually the conifers will grow through and shade out the aspens.

Wednesday June 20 Taos
Friends had told us we really needed to visit Taos, so today we drove about 70 miles north up the Rio Grande valley to Taos. The Rio Grande above Espanola and below the Rio Grande gorge offers some very fine Class II-III whitewater. We saw a number of rafts and duckies, a few kayaks, but no open canoes. We explored the BLM camping areas along the river in the Orillo Verde Recreation Area. Originally we had considered camping here instead of Black Canyon, but I'm glad we didn't. The campsites are dusty and hot, with little shade. Black Canyon is much nicer. We had what I will assume to be authentic mexican food at a cantina south of Taos at the village of Rancho de Taos. We ate outdoors in a shaded, walled courtyard. Later we strolled the Taos plaza and the shops for a while. We went to the Taos Pueblo, but it had closed for the day, so we weren't able to get in. Taos was actually a bit of a disappointment. It was crowded and commercialized. The shops we visited were essentially tourist traps. I know there are some excellent outdoors activities in the area. Unfortunately we didn't have time to enjoy them.

Thursday June 21 Nambe Lake, Pecos Wilderness
Today we took a very nice hike in the Pecos Wilderness to Nambe Lake. We started on the Winsor Trail at the Aspen/Santa Fe Ski Basin Parking area at EL 10,400'. The Winsor trail climbed gently about 500' and then dropped about 500' over about 1.6 miles. Then we took the Nambe Lake trail which climbed steeply about 1000' over 1.5 miles to Nambe Lake, EL 11,380'. There were respites from the steep climb at two very lush meadows along the trail. The lake was in a cirque at the base of high rock cliffs. It was very pretty and we had the lake to ourselves. Thunderstorms were threatening, so we ate lunch and began our descent. During the afternoon we had dodged several storms, but our luck ran out. We endured a brief storm that included heavy rain and BB sized hail. We we returned to the trail head, the ski slopes looked as though they had received fresh snow.

Friday June 22 Are You Still Here?

We had originally planned to leave Black Canyon CG this morning. Our site was reserved by other campers for the coming weekend. However, the other campers canceled their reservation, so we decided to stay until at least Sunday, maybe Monday. Really, we will leave then. No fooling. Actually, we have a lot of the Rockies yet to see and need to be moving on. When we leave here we had hoped to camp at the national park campground at the North Rim of the Grand Canyon. Unfortunately that campground is booked solid through June and July. Ironically, the North Rim gets only about 10% of the visitors the South Rim gets, but the campground at the South Rim has plenty of vacancies. There are several forest service campgrounds near the North Rim that don't take reservations, so we hope we can get into one of those. If not, there are apparently opportunities for "dispersed camping" throughout Kaibab NF.

We have come back into Santa Fe today to take a walking tour of the historic district and to take care of some business. Roadmaster has shipped out a replacement tow vehicle brake unit, and it is scheduled to be delivered to the New Mexico Public Lands Information Center in Santa Fe between 2:00 and 3:00 pm today. We have our fingers crossed.

Tomorrow we hope to take a bike ride up a service road to Tesuque Peak ~EL 12,000'.

Santa Fe or Bust

We are camped at Black Canyon CG, Santa Fe National Forest, about 12 miles NE of Santa Fe. It is a beautiful campground on the road up to the local ski areas, and is at El 8400'. We're sucking wind pretty hard! The CG host says to expect temperatures to be in the 40s at night. A far cry and a welcome change from the mid 90's we experienced in Mississippi and Texas.

We came back down into Santa Fe to get some groceries and do some business, and it was a miserable experience. We are ready to get back to camp and chill out. We will be here until Friday. After that, we have no clue where we will go.

We have had several minor mechanical issues. First, the automatic door lock on the coach is not working. I have to use a key to lock the door. How quaint! I called Country Coach on Saturday, but they didn't return my call. I will try again some other time. In the meantime I will tough it out. Second, there is a small oil leak under the generator. It only leaks when the generator is running. I can't tell yet where it is coming from, but I suspect it is a diesel fuel leak rather that lubricant. I'll get under there and figure it out in a few days. Third, the brake for the supplemental brake on the Honda failed. I called the manufacturer, and they will send me a new unit, but they may not be able to get it here before we leave on Friday. I can't tell them our next destination until we make a plan or a reservation. The way we are traveling, it may never catch up with us. I feel fairly comfortable driving without it. The unit has been misbehaving for several days, but the coach stops very well in spite of having no supplemental brakes.

We hope to hit some hiking trails during the next few days. We should be acclimated to the altitude somewhat by tomorrow. Looks like perfect weather.

It is ironic that we are at the western end of the Santa Fe Trail. Several weeks ago while biking on the Katy Trail, we where in New Franklin, MO, considered to be the beginning of the Santa Fe Tail.

Myron

New Mexico: Land of Enchantment

Sunday June 17

Today was another travel day. After laying over two nights at Thousand Trails Lake Texoma we considered staying over another night. After all, it's paid for; we could stay up to two weeks and it wouldn't cost us any more. However, it was raining, and we didn't figure it was a good day to stay in camp. We had walked the whole preserve the day before, and, unless we bought fishing licenses and rented a boat, there was little left to do. We decided it was time to move on.
After a hearty breakfast at Ruby's Roadhouse Cafe, we struck out at the crack of noon. I have to say that the rest areas in Texas are the best I have ever seen. The one on US 287 east of Amarillo looks like a wild west theme park. They even have wireless internet service. Cool!
We bought 94 gallons of diesel at the Flying J in Amarillo. At $2.649/gal it was the cheapest fuel we would see for many weeks. We got into the one and only RV lane pretty quickly, but I sensed right away that the pump may not be working correctly. I think the card reader hanging out of the console and dangling by its cable was a hint. Not to be discouraged I sent Dorcas into the store to tell the folks to turn on pump #15. She did and the pump actually dispensed the fuel rather quickly.

We had planned to stop at the New Mexico I-40 Welcome Center at MP373 to get some travel information and plan the NM portion of our trip, however the sign said "Welcome Center Closed, Next Rest Area 72 miles". OK, fine. When we passed it we saw they weren't kidding. If there had been a rest area there before, it had been razed and buried. They were apparently fixing to build a brand new one from the ground up. OK, on to the next rest area. Maybe they would have a highway map there. At the rest area at MP 301 the sign said "Rest Area Closed Due to Contruction, next rest area 50 miles". OK, is this some kind of joke? Do they expect you to hold it until you get to Arizona? When we went by, it looked perfectly functional to me. What's the problem? OK, on to the next one at MP 251. We had no expectation that it would be there, but the NMDOT surprised us. There it was. It existed, but it was nothing special. I quess we should be grateful, but I think Texas spoiled us. It was getting late so we decided to spend the night. I was afraid if we passed it by, we would never see another one. "Land of Enchantment" indeed.

We still haven't made a NM plan yet, but I think we might turn north towards Santa Fe and Taos. I hope we can find some information on the National Forests in northern New Mexico.

Myron

Travel day: Texas Bound

Today was a travel day. We departed Shelby, MS early Friday morning. After crossing the Mississippi River at Greenville, MS, our trek across southern Arkansas was uneventful. We entered Texas at Texarkana, famous for being the place where Burt Reynolds stole a semi-trailer load of Coors beer in "Smokey and the Bandit." We left Texarkana empty handed. It rained, hard at times, for most of our drive throughTexas. We drove about 450 miles and 9 hours today and landed at the Thousand Trails Lake Texoma, on the shores of Lake Texoma, near Denison, TX. Lake Texoma is touted as the "Striped Bass Capitol of the World". Too bad we didn't bring a boat. We haven't fully explored this preserve yet, but, from what we have seen so far, it is the nicest Thousand Trails preserve we have been in. We will lay up here until Sunday and then, after another travel day, probably spend Sunday night near Albuquerque, NM.

Still hanging out in Shelby, MS

It's a slow news day here in Shelby MS. We will be packing tonight and tomorrow and leave Friday morning for somewhere in Texas.

In the meantime I am posting a link to a previous DBT club trip report. The DBT (Dumb But Tough) club is comprised primarily (actually exclusively) of Wayne, Don and me. We're actively recruiting for new members, but so far have found no new prospective members dumb enough to qualify for admittance. The DBT club follows the theory that if you're gonna be dumb, you gotta be tough. The dumb part is our penchant for doing week-long canoe trips on rivers in NC during February. The tough part is enduring the miserable weather during those trips. We must be getting a little less dumb however, because the last several DBT trips have been in Florida and south Georgia.

This trip report is from a cruise on the Oconee River in South Georgia in November 2006.

Myron

Katy Trail Trip Wrap-up

Now that I am once again one with my PC and can download some photos, I have gone back and added some pictures to some previous posts that I made along the trial. I also made some technical and factual corrections to some trail side posts.

We were asked a lot of questions by the people we met on the trail. Following is a sampling.

FAQs

Question: How long y'all out for?
Answer: We put in on May 27 and finished on June 8, 13 days and 12 nights on the trail.

Question: How far y'all going (been)?
Answer: We'll never know exactly. It turns out that of the three odometers that were installed at the beginning of the trip, all three crapped out and failed to give a good cumulative reading. Dorcas' computer was not installed until we reached Rhineland MO. The milepost mileage from St. Charles to Clinton and return is 450.2 miles, but that is based on the original historical railroad mileposts, which were probably not very accurate, and does not account for detours and trail re-locations. It also does not account for trips into towns to scout for diners and bars and for doubling back on the trail to see what happened to Dorcas. I figure my actual mileage was close to 500 miles. The others' was probably slightly less.

Question: Y'all sure are carrying a lot of gear!
Answer: OK, technically this is not a question, but it did beg a response. We carried way too much. Everyone carried rear panniers, a rear center bag and a handlebar bag. Additionally, I carried front panniers. I didn't weigh my gear before leaving home, but, based on the weight of what I carried on the C&O trip last year, I figure the weight of the gear on my bike totaled about 80 pounds. It turns out we ate out almost every meal, and we could have done without a lot of food and cooking gear. I also carried a lot of clothes I didn't use.

Question: Are you staying in B&Bs along the way?
Answer: Are you kidding me? Do you see all this s**t we're carrying? We camped every night, mostly in public parks.

Question: Y'all had any breakdowns?
Answer: Incredibly no. Not even a flat tire. The only thing even close were the three broken computers. I did lube our chains a few times during the trip.

Question: How was the weather?
Answer: The first part of the trip was hot, muggy and rainy/stormy, although we never actually got wet. Every time it rained we were in our tents or some other shelter where we could wait it out. The latter part of the trip was sunny and cooler. While not perfect weather, it was better than we expected.

Question: Did you see any wildlife?
Answer: No, most of the Missourians (sp?) were at work. Just kidding!!! We saw tons of reptiles, particularly turtles and snakes. The snakes included copperheads, black snakes and garter snakes. We once even saw a snake crawl over a turtle! It's true! Dorcas got a picture. The trail was an excellent bird habitat, being at the edge of wetlands, crop fields, open prairie and woodlands. Sightings included, redwing blackbirds, eastern bluebirds (the MO state bird), indigo buntings, gold finches, Baltimore orioles, red tailed hawks, various woodpeckers, turkey vultures, turkeys, scissor tail flycatchers, St. Louis Cardinals and peacocks (domestic). Mammals included numerous squirrels and bunnies, a few deer, raccoons and a groundhog.

Question: What was the best part of your trip?
Answer: It's a toss-up between the super-friendly Missouri folks we met along the way and the local bar and grills. We also enjoyed the ragtime festival in Sedalia.

Question: Would you do it again?
Answer: Probably not. It was a great trip, but there are too many other things we want to do. If I am able to get back to the area I would certainly do some day trips and more thoroughly explore some of the towns, particularly Sedalia and Jefferson City.

Question: Did you use a guidebook?
Answer: Yes. There is an excellent book: The Complete Katy Trail Guidebook by Brett Dufur, Pebble Publishing, Inc., Rocheport MO.

Sunday June 10. Soul Food: Cleveland MS

We are back in Shelby MS visiting Mom and will probably stay until Friday morning, at which time we will depart and continue our westward adventure. This morning we went to church and then drove to Cleveland MS to lunch with some friends of Mom and JR. Cleveland is a regional farming community and home to Delta State University, whose mascot is the "Fighting Okra". No kidding. I didn't make that up. I think they compete in the Veggie League and determine their conference champion in the annual Salad Bowl. We lunched at the Country Platter Restaurant which is certainly the place to go to get great southern soul food. Funny, they weren't serving okra.

Friday June 8. Play Ball: St. Louis MO

To top off the Missouri portion of our adventure, we went to a St. Louis Cardinals baseball game. The Cards were starting a three-game weekend series with the American League Los Angeles Angels. Tickets for Cards games are apparently hard to come by. Several folks had told us the games were sold out every night. The Cards haven't been playing very well, but are in a brand new Busch Stadium and are the defending 2006 World Series champions. We called the box office two days before the game and got four tickets in the right field nosebleed section. Actually, they were pretty good seats. Things didn't go so well for the home team however. After building a 4-0 lead in the early innings, the Cards gave up 6 runs in the seventh and lost 10-6. My hopes of seeing a major league no-hitter were dashed early in the game; the teams combined for 29 hits. A real pitcher's duel.

Friday June 8. We made it!!! St. Charles MO

Friday June 8. Our last day on the Katy Trail was a relatively short day. We camped again at Klondike Park, a St. Charles County park and a former silica mine and sand pit. Klondike Park is only about 25 miles from the eastern terminus of the Katy Trial in St. Charles. We were off the trail by about noon and, after an excellent lunch at the Trailhead Brewing Company, spent an hour walking around historic St. Charles. St. Charles was a center for French fur trading on the Missouri River before Missouri gained statehood. Once statehood was assured, St. Charles was named the interim capitol of Missouri until the permanent capitol in Jefferson City could be established. The story goes that nine towns vied for the honor of the interim capitol, but St. Charles won because it offered free meeting space for the legislators. Some things never change. Before leaving St. Charles our UCC friends wheeled into town, and we were able to make final farewells to them.

Almost Done! Augusta, MO.

We are in Augusta, Mo., only about 27 miles from our return terminus in St. Charles. Augusta is a very quaint and historic town, that used to be a port on the banks of the Missouri River. Unfortunately in the late 1800s a series of floods relocated the river about a mile south of its current location. Augusta now boasts about a dozen B&Bs, a half dozen wineries and two pretty good taverns (don't ask how we know). We will be camping about 3 miles east of town at Klondike County Park. Today was very hot and windy. Forecasts were for 90+ degrees and winds gusting to 40 mph+. Luckily for us the winds were predominantly from the southwest, so they represented a slight tail wind. We still may be in for a thunderstorm.

We left our UCC friends today and probably won't see them again. They are staying tonight in Marthasville, about 15 miles behind us. We did share a wonderful meal with them at the UCC church in Hartsburg on Tuesday, but declined their offer to sleep in the church. We slept instead in the park near the trailhead. I'll miss those folks. They were really nice and were fun to ride with. After riding with them off and on and sharing several meals over about three days, we kinda got attached to them. Wednesday night we stayed in the town park in Rhineland.

We hope to get off the trail by early afternoon tomorrow. Friday night we have tickets to see the St. Louis Cardinals play the California Angels. Look for us in the first row in the outfield stands. Maybe we'll bring home a home run ball!

Myron

On The Flip Side: Boonville, MO.

I make this post while visiting the public library in Boonville, MO. Boonville is where the Katy Trail crosses the Missouri River and re-enters the Missouri River valley.

We spent Saturday night at the Henry County Fairgrounds, just behind the Clinton Community Center in Clinton, MO. The folks at the community center were as nice as they could be. They let us take showers, offered us ice and told us where all the good eating places are in town. Clinton is the western terminus of the Katy Trail and represented our turn-around point. The trip is now half done.

We spent Sunday night at the Missouri State Fairgrounds facility in Sedalia (again). The fairgrounds campground was nearly empty. The ragtime festival was over and the weekend horse, sheep, and fiber(?) shows were all over. Today was a wonderful day to bike. The temperatures were in the low seventies, it was clear and bright and the humidity was low. I hope this good weather holds as we pedal on down the Missouri River valley. Later this afternoon we plan to drop a few dollars in the local casino, grab some fried chicken at the Riverside Cafe and bike across the river bridge to Franklin where we will camp at the Katy Roundhouse Campground.

Today we met some folks on the trail biking for a fundraiser organized by the United Church of Christ. They are biking the trail back to St. Charles and staying at UCCs along the way. They invited us to have dinner with them tomorrow night and sleep with them in the UCC in Hartsburg. We had camped in Hartsburg on the way out and had planned to stay there again tomorrow night, so we are tempted to accept their offer. Their invitation does represent a moral dilema however. The Hartsburg UCC is just around the corner from the Hitching Post, the best bar and grill we have found along the whole trail. So, is it OK to eat at a church dinner, go out drinking draft beers and then go back and sleep in the church? How many beers can we drink? Will they pray for us sinners? I guess we'll see.

I have had a little feedback from our friends that are reading this journal, but I am curious how many folks are following our adventure. Please drop us an e-mail or post a comment so we will know who's listening. The posts have been infrequent during the Katy Trail portion of our trip, but I expect to post more regularly once we get off the trail.

Later,

Myron

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin': Sedalia, MO

Yesterday afternoon, after biking about 200 miles since Sunday, we arrived at Sedalia, MO. Sedalia is famous for, among other things, being the destination of the cattle drive on the old Rawhide TV show. I've been looking for Rowdy Yates, but I haven't seen him yet. It is also home of the world famous Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival, which happened to be in progress when we arrived. Scott Joplin was the king of Ragtime music. He lived in Sedalia for a while and wrote and published some of his famous works while living here. There are dozens of world famous ragtime performers playing on a dozen outdoor stages throughout town. Ragtime heaven. We had originally planned to spend last night here and then depart for Clinton, MO. this morning. However, the festival provided a good excuse for a much-needed rest day, so we are staying over tonight and enjoying the music today. We are camping at the Missouri State Fairgrounds, which is about two miles west of town on the Katy Trial. When we reach Clinton, we will spend one night and begin our return trip to St. Charles.

It has been a very interesting trip so far. The section of the trail from St. Charles to New Franklin closely follows the Missouri River and the route of Lewis and Clark. It was characterized by very flat and fairly monotonous terrain. We left the Missouri River at Boonville and climbed onto the Osage Plateau. Since then the trail has been more rolling, characterized by slight 1-2 mile hills. There has been a small town about every 12 miles along the trail. If the population of the town was greater than 50 people, there was a bar. If the population was greater than 200 people there were two bars and they grilled burgers. Most were open when we came through, so we could enjoy a cool one before wheeling along. Biker heaven. You just don't see this in the bible belt. It has rained almost every day, but it has always been when we were in our tents or near a good shelter, so we have stayed dry so far (knock on wood). The trail surface is excellent. It is hard and well drained, so the rain has not affected the biking.

Will post again when I can.

Myron