Sun, May 31 – Waking up under the tarp, it was damp and uncomfortably cold. Condensation had formed on the inside of the tarp, and the blanket was starting to get wet. I still felt pretty crappy, but I tried to not let it bother me. I did a workout without getting out of my sleeping bag, then finally got up and went for a jog with Dazey.
Tyne was still sleeping in the van, so I drove out of the National Forest and to the Coffee Cabin, which is a cool little coffee shop in the tiny town of Alpine. I had visited this place before; two years ago I worked for a white water rafting company in Jackson and we went here for coffee every morning.
I waited 15 minutes for them to open at 7, ordered a hot cup of coffee and sat at a comfortable chair using their Wi-Fi. I noticed that there were a lot of new caches placed along the route from here to Jackson, so I plugged 10 of them into my GPS.
Setting off on the 40 mile drive through the Snake River canyon to Jackson, I started stopping off and finding the typically easy caches that were hidden not far from the road. By the 5th one, Tyne had gotten up. I found one at the "Lunch Counter," which I remembered was one of the biggest rapids on the river. I went to another cache site that was just a huge pile of boulders. The ammo can was tucked somewhere deep in a crack or crevice. It was probably the hardest cache I've ever found with such a large container, but I did eventually find it.
After a few more caches, we came into town. Tyne's best friend Bridget has a summer job an hour or so away from here, so she drove out to meet us in town. We sat in the ElkArchPark for a bit, talking and sitting on the blanket. Dazey enjoyed other dogs walking through and running after tennis balls.
We got up and took a stroll around the town. The girls stopped into a few shops to window shop while Dazey and I hung out outside.
It was almost lunchtime, so the girls wanted to go on a little hike and have a picnic lunch. I took them down to Cache creek, a nice park that I had lived near when I was homeless in Jackson. We sat at picnic tables and had turkey sandwiches, apples and chips, then walked a half mile along the pleasant but rapidly running creek.
They had gotten the idea that they wanted to go up into the Tetons and drink a beer on JennyLake overlooking the mountains. We rode the 30 minutes up into the National Park and the girls went down to the water while I waited in the car. I just was not feeling good today. I wasn't really tired, but just wanted to lie down. I hate when I feel like this, especially when I'm in such a great place.
After an hour or so, the girls returned and we headed back into town. Bridget had a couple errands to run before driving back to Dubois. In K-mart, I got a bottle of St. John's Wort to help with my mood problem. Bridget bought us dinner at Albertsons and we all headed back to Mosquito Creek to have dinner.
It was raining in town, and was on and off as we drove to the camping spot. It had stopped when we got there, and we quickly set up the tent. By the time it was up and ready, the rain had started again, so we put a tarp over it and sat inside to have dinner. Bridget had bought a whole roasted chicken, Cole slaw, dinner rolls, chips and salsa. I wasn't really too hungry, but tried to eat some. What I ate was delicious though.
After dinner we played some Uno. Tyne won 2 and I won 2, then we played a game that lasted nearly an hour. Bridget was trying really hard to get her first win, but in the end victory was mine! It was getting late, and she had work really early with a long ride ahead, so she headed out.
It was getting dark later and later. Tonight it was after nine and still bright enough to read by. I read a couple more chapters in my book while Tyne did some writing, then I fell asleep in the van and Tyne in the previously set up tent.
An hour later I woke up and didn't feel good again. I had an anxiety issue and couldn't get comfortable. It took awhile of me taking deep breaths to get back asleep.
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Tues, May 26 – It was apparent that we were coming out of the desert that morning. It was relatively late, almost 8 when I got up. The tent was still shaded by the canyon walls, but the tent and ground were wet. It hadn't rained, but dew had dropped pretty heavily. It had been awhile since it had been humid enough for dew, so it was a little bit of a shock.
I wasn't in any hurry though, I wanted to wait until the tent dried before heading into the city. I did some reading and eventually we got on the road. I really hate cities. Coming into any big one just makes me stressed out and in a bad mood. We followed Adams directions, and something wasn't adding up. We drove all the way to the east side of the city, where the road ended at a mountain. We drove a little way back, then pulled into a park.
We spent three hours at WestValleyPark, reading, writing, playing with Dazey, and dozing. Finally, Tyne said she would drive and we tried to find Adams house again. She wasted another 20 miles of gas before Adam called us and told us what the mistake was. Finally armed with the right directions, we made it to Adam's house.
Dazey wasn't allowed in the house, so we chilled on the porch while they talked inside. Tyne's other friend Fletcher was randomly in town, stuck at the airport for the night, so Adam and Tyne went to pick him up while Dazey and I waited on the porch.
When they got back, Adam told us that he was taking us out to this great pizza place. We tied Dazey in the garage, and headed to The Rusted Sun Pizza shop. Great vibe in there, good music, and excellent food. Adam ordered for us; pasta salad, killer cheese dip, 2 pitchers of some delicious micro-draft, and a large pizza with Canadian bacon, artichokes, portabellas, black olives and fresh tomatoes. We were all stuffed and there were leftovers in every dish.
We went outside to breath, stretch and smoke, and Adam quietly disappeared next door. 5 minutes later, he appeared with a paper bag and 4 cups. He had stopped at the Indian restaurant and gotten us all a little potatoes/pea curry treat and an Indian equivalence of a mango slurpee. Somehow, we managed to eat this too, but by now I was lethargicly full.
We got back to the house, and found Dazey had missed us bad. She had barked the whole time, and now wouldn't stand for more time in the garage alone. I went out there and sat with her while everyone else watched planet earth. Finally, I just said goodnight and took Dazey out to the Nar. I did some writing and internetting and watched an episode of SouthPark before turning in.
Wed, May 27 – I was awoken at 6am with my stomach not being happy with me. I ran into the house and took care o business, but it still wasn't right. I tried to lay in the van for awhile, but had to come back in for the bathroom again. Sleep was out of the question, so I just wrote until Tyne and Fletcher came out so he could get a ride back to the airport.
I gave him a ride there and he gave us $10 for gas. Tyne and I talked about what our plan would be for the day. We would take care of laundry and try to get a little done, then go downtown and see if we had any luck pan-handling. Dazey and I chilled in the garage while Tyne did laundry and made me some dank French toast with orange slices.
Dazey not allowed in the house had 4 options. She could either be in the garage, which she would bark and be freaked out if she was alone. She could be on the front porch tied up, but I needed to be out there with her. She was allowed on the balcony, but would scratch at the door if I wasn't within eye sight of her. The last option was the van. Why couldn't my little brat just go in the house!!
I was really tired from not sleeping much, so I took Dazey out to the van and tried to sleep. I was almost sleeping when I jumped awake all sweaty. The sun was over the top of the house! We went inside and into the garage. The concrete was too cold to sleep, and I could hear construction just around the corner. We tried the balcony. I laid on the floor inside while she sat outside. She didn't have much room and wasn't too happy, but I was able to almost fall asleep.. Until the drier turned back on and the TV got turned up and someone started hammering outside.
Realizing I wasn't going to be sleeping, we just spent the afternoon writing and lounging, something we have been doing too much lately. Its nice, but I can be lazy at home. I want to get out and experience the world more.Tyne made a lunch out of all the stuff we had that was going to go bad. She came out with an amazing lunch of spaghetti with alfredo sauce, chicken and pepperoni mixed in, along with a very garlicky cheesy toast. So good! I finally found the sweet spot outside on the front porch. Shaded and satisfying to both Dazey and I, we spent the afternoon out here. Adam came home and we had a bottle of wine with some yak cheese called Euphoric. It was interesting, but defiantly a wine that you have to drink with wine. Nothing much happened that night. I slept in the van again with Dazey.
Thurs, May 28 – We got up early to go down to the temp. labor office to try to get a job for a day or two to make some extra gas money. We figured that the office would open at 7, so we were there at 655. It didn't open until 8, so we went back to Adam's house for an hour before returning. Finally talking to someone, they informed us that they only did longer term work, weeks or months at a time. They gave us the address of another place that had work on a day to day basis.
At the second place, we were greeted by a very nice young lady who told us that they were out of jobs for the day, but if we filled out the paperwork and took a short test, we could have first pick the next morning. We took the 75 question test, which was really easy. They plugged in my results and it came back as a fail! Tyne finished 10 minutes later, and she failed as well! Something had to have been wrong with that machine, because I know I did good on it.
A little disappointed, we went to a third and final employment office. This one not only didn't have any work, but didn't even have any more applications, so even if we wanted to, we couldn't work. Disappointed, we decided to try to go and panhandle to make some cash.
Driving downtown, we found the center of the city pretty quiet. Considering the size of the surrounding suburbs, SaltLake doesn't have much of a middle. Looking to find a high traffic area, we pulled into a Wal-mart not too far away. The parking lot had a second story, so the big lot was shaded; a perfect place to panhandle.
I took Dazey and began asking people coming out of the store if they had an extra 34 cents. My story was I was short to buy dog food. 34 cents is a good number to use because it sounds like you are really close to having what you need, and its very easy for people to digest. It doesn't sound like a lot of money, but three people add up to a buck. Plus, a lot of people just ended up giving us a dollar, or if we talked to them a little more, sometimes more than a buck.
After 10 minutes, I had made $5. I was feeling pretty good about the situation when I asked a man if he had any change. He said he didn't have any change, but he had a debit card and he would buy me some dog food. He took me into the store and bought a $13 bad of food for Dazey. When he paid for it, I noticed it said, "Change - $40." On the way out of the store, he handed me the money and told me to get some food for myself as well. The man's name was Kirby, and he made Mormons all right in my book.
For some reason, Tyne wanted to go across the street and try to make money at a Lowes. Even though we were shaded and making a good return, she went out into the sun. I went back into Wal-mart and returned the dog food, taking a gift card that I will probably use for more dog food when I run out (no sense carrying extra weight)
Tyne appeared after 10 minutes, saying that the people across the street were cheap and some Mexican dude tried to get her into his car, thinking she was a prostitute. I spent another 20 minutes getting cash, while Tyne talked to some bums that were sitting outside. Their names were Wes and Josh, and they said we should go to "Sugar House" to panhandle more efficiently. They got in the van and we drove 10 minutes south.
The Sugar House was just a series of strip malls. We all split up and tried our luck at getting paid. I made a few dollars, but it wasn't as good as Wal-mart. We all met up and the guys said they were going to get a bottle of booze if we wanted to drink with them. We had been working for hours, so a break sounded nice. They got a bottle of whiskey and we walked down to a little wooded creek next to some stored. I had just a couple sips, Tyne a couple more, and the guys killed it.
One last round of panhandling after our drinks, I was making progress outside of a Taco Bell. A guy came out and he gave me a chicken taco to share with Dazey, then asked if I wanted a job for a few hours. I told him yes, that Tyne and I would love to work for him. He introduced himself as Lar and he gave me his number. Wes and Josh came up as we were talking. They were half drunk and very obnoxious. Lar looked a little worried, but I told him it was just me and Tyne that would be coming.
The guys got on my nerved more and more. They were rude to people and annoying, and I was embarrassed to be around them. Tyne was having fun with them, so I just bit me tongue and sat back.
They wanted to go see a dollar movie, and I told them I didn't. Dazey wouldn't wait for us, and I didn't really want to sit in a theater anyways. It took awhile for it to sink in that we weren't going to go there. Finally they got the idea to go up to CottonwoodCanyon for a little hike.
I was not happy at all driving up into the Canyon. The guys were loud, drunk and making a mess in the backseat. I just wanted to drop them off and go home. We pulled into a campground to take a little hike, and were told that it was $6 to get in, plus dogs weren't allowed anywhere in the canyon because the creek was drinking water for the city.
Discouraged even more, we stopped at a little picnic area. Even though Dazey wasn't allowed in the canyon, we still stopped because it was pretty quiet. I wasn't really in a good mood at all, so I took Dazey and we did some climbing on the many rock ledges that led up to the mountains. The guys and Tyne were drinking another bottle of whiskey, but I was not feeling it at all. Finally, they smoked a bowl and got me to take a toke. I really didn't want to, but it kept them quiet.
A man riding his bike stopped and told us that we had to leave because of Dazey. I said ok, and was walking to the van within 10 seconds. Josh and Wes didn't like his attitude I guess, because they stayed back for a few minutes and argued with the guy. I didn't understand this at all, because it didn't concern them. Finally they showed back up at the car and we headed back into town. They got dropped off at Sugar house. I almost just left them on the side of the highway, I was so sick of them.
We headed back to Adam's and had a quiet evening. Josh kept calling Tyne, (why did she give her real number?) and for several days I got laughs at Tyne making excuses for why we couldn't go and pick them up again.
Fri, May 29 – I spent the night thinking about how crappy my life was and how I wasn't able to give anything back to society. I decided that I wanted to donate some time and just volunteer to help someone. If I cant be happy, I thought, then maybe I can make someone else happy.
I took off on foot around 10am, going door to door asking folks if there was anything I could help them with. I told them that I had some bad karma that was weighing on my soul, and I wanted to clean my slate and start fresh
I knocked on 10 doors, only two of them answered and neither had anything I could help them with. Pretty discouraged, I almost walked back to Adam's, but decided to try to help at a pet resort that I passed. The girl at the counter seemed very surprised when I asked her if they had anything I could do to help, but she soon found some work for me.
I spent the next three hours in a yard with 30 dogs, pulling weeds. Some of them were very thorny thistles, and it took some care to not get stuck. The sun was hot and I was sweating, but it felt great to do something that mattered. By 2pm, the yard was clean. I hauled out the 4 garbage bags of clippings that I produced, and was on my way.
I walked back to Adam's and was really thirsty. I wanted a drink, but only had 88 cents. I walked into a store, and low and behold one of my favorites was on sale. Dr. Pepper for 79 cents. Good karma pays.
Back at Adams, he came home around 4 and the three of us went to a little outdoor bar on the east side of town. I sipped a beer and hung out while they polished off a couple of pitchers and some nachos. 515 came around, and Tyne and I excused ourselves to go to Lars house to do some cleaning for him.
Lar was a really great guy. He gave me hope that Mormons were alright. He had us clean out his garage and front porch. It took us about three hours, and when we were finishing, he went to one of his favorite Mexican places and returned with some amazing dinner for us. He offered us some soda (7-up, orange, or strawberry; no caffeine for Mormons) and then paid us $60 for our time. He wanted us to come back the next morning to do more, and to help his parents, but we were getting low on time and had enough money for now, so we declined , thanked him and hit the road.
Back at Adam's around 930, we were rushed into some nice clothes, and herded onto the train towards downtown. Apparently we were going to Adam's friends art show. After a 15 minute train ride and a 5 minute walk, we came to what looked like a bar. I was asked for my id, which I didn't have. The "art show" was also a club/bar, so I wasn't able to come inside. Half an hour later, I was hanging out with Dazey back at the house. I guess I didn't miss much because I was told that the place was expensive and pretty lame.
Sat, May 30– I came into the house a little after eight. Adam was making a "last meal" for us, which was amazingly dank! He made an open faced sandwich on a croissant, two poached eggs on it with a piece of Canadian bacon and a roasted red pepper sauce over the top. Excellent! We started to get our stuff together to leave and spent some time getting music from Adam's computer. Finally we were ready to go, but before we left Adam gave us a going away present of two campfire Jiffy popcorns, a bag of Chex mix and a bottle of Fry Sauce.
Adam really is a great guy. I'm not sure if it's just because he loves Tyne so much, but I don't think that is the only thing. He is a very considerate and giving man, and I'm very happy I got to meet him.
We had some work lined up for the day, some more time with Lar and another guy that wanted us to do lawn work, but we had been in Salt Lake nearly a week now, and we were ready to move on. We had made more money that we had needed, so we just left town.
Tyne wanted to see the "Great" SaltLake before leaving, so we made a little pitstop over to AntelopeIslandState Park. Surprised to see it was a $9 entrance fee, we pulled over just before the ticket booth and had a look at the lake. It's pretty sad looking, very flat and shallow. There are miles and miles of dried up salt flats before you even get to the shore, and from the ground its very hard to get a good handle on how big the lake really is. Disappointment is the word I would use for the lake, but I had known this would be the case before I got there.
Driving on, it had been nearly an hour since leaving Adams, but we hadn't gotten out of the city. The interstate runs between two mountain ranges and the lake, and the valley between is a metropolitian area over 100 miles long, but only a few miles wide. We drove into downtown Ogden, and finally found our turn onto state route 39 headed up into the CacheNational Forest.
Up into the mountains, it got cool quickly. Every time I've driven into National Forest I stop seeing people immediately, but this was a little different. There were people and cars everywhere! It was probably the close proximity to the city and the fact that it was Saturday, but after we got to the pass there was barely anyone around.
At the top, I stopped along a huge snow drift and took Dazey for a walk. She loves snow and was very happy to run in this huge mound of it after being cramped on a porch in SaltLake.
Down the other side, the landscape began to look a lot like Wyoming. Tyne fell asleep, and an hour later we had officially crossed into Wyoming. The sky was darkening and I saw lightning in the distance, but I still drove the 15 miles out of the way to FossilButteNational Monument.
The Monument was tiny. There were about 10 people in the entire park when I walked into the visitor center. Inside, I saw a whole collection of fossils that had been extracted and put on display. It was very interesting, and I was looking forward to taking a walk and seeing some fossils in the "wild."
When I went back outside it was raining hard. Reading the park guide, I was disappointed to find the park only had two short trails, and neither featured any visible fossils. With the rain coming down in sheets and the girls still sleeping, I decided to just continue on the way. I wanted to make it to Alpine by dark.
Driving through the green rolling hills of southwestern Wyoming, I passed through a plethora of tiny sleepy ranching towns. Cokeville, Thayne, Smoot, Etna barely had a combined population of 1000. The road crossed into Idaho for a mile or so before coming back into Wyoming. 20 miles from Alpine, Tyne woke up. We gased up in Afton and finished the last leg of the day's journey to town. From Alpine, we drove a few miles into the BridgerNational Forest and spent the night at a campsite that I had been to a couple years ago.
The sky was still threatening, so I laid a tarp out, folded it over, and lay a sleeping bag and blanket in between. I really wasn't in a good mood that night. I was short and moody and didn't want to do anything but go to sleep, but that was pretty hard to do since it was only 9pm. I watched the sky darken and a couple skies peak through the clouds before I passed to the other side.
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Mon, May 25 – 5:30, it was getting light but not quite there. I got up and drove to the grocery store. I had been planning a special night for Tyne for several days, and tonight was the night. I did my shopping in town and got back to the house around 6am, arriving unnoticed. I passed back out in the van until Tyne came and woke me at 7:30.
Everyone was leaving. They all were planning on being on the road by 8, so we got ready quickly. They had a lot of extra food they were going to throw away, so we got some rolls, cheese, roast beef, pepperoni, spices, and an artichoke. We stopped at a Holiday Inn for some breakfast. They have one of the best free breakfasts I've ever had; Hot omelets, sausage patties, biscuits and gravy and some really good coffee. We were filled up and on the road north. A few minutes on the road and I gave Tyne the flowers I bought for her. I told her that I was supposed to give them to her later, but I didn't want them going bad and she would find out who they were from and why later.
Tyne apparently had drank a lot the night before and she was sleeping again a little out of town, by 9am. We drove an hour north, then west along the interstate, then north again to Price. It was noon and I had to do a few things in town. Got internet, gas, condiments, no post office, (memorial day) K-mart for a cup, then to a car wash where I sprayed out our next storage unit and refilled and retied it to the roof. I ate a sandwich for lunch, then continued north.
Tyne was still sleeping an hour later when I came into the National Forest. I stopped twice to find a couple of geocaches, one in a really cool cemetery where instead of big stone markers; they used a tree to signify the person. I really liked this.
The second cache was up a little dirt road. I got out and marveled at the towering rock formations on both sides of the canyon. I walked a quarter mile to the cache and realized how nice a camping area this was. I didn't want to drive any further; this was where we were going to spend the night.
Back at the car, I started to get some of Tyne's surprise ready. I climbed the canyon to a really cool looking nook. It looked like it could be a cave or an old Indian home. I left a note with Tyne's name on it and climbed back down. I collected firewood and started cleaning out the car. It was then, around 3PM that she finally woke up.
We cleaned out the car really good. Emptied it completely, packed stuff into the top, and had more space than we could ever dream of. It was getting to be 5o'clock so I told Tyne to climb up and check out "the Indian ruins."
She started the steep climb and I sprang into action. I tried to get the fire started – too windy! I tried to get the stove started – too windy! I got her cottage cheese and strawberry appetizer set up and ready, then kept working on the fire. The stove was lit for a minute and water started heating so I turned and started spicing the chicken and pasta, but when I turn around again the fire was out. Tyne was coming down and I didn't have nearly what I wanted done.
Just as she walked up to me and hugged me for the note and flowers, I got the stove lit. She ate her cottage cheese and danced around singing cheese songs. I got the food cooking on the stove good, then was able to start the fire. I showed her what was for dinner, and then opened a bottle of champagne.
I love Tyne. She is an amazing girl and I think one day we could be something great. She wants to spend some time living and not dating and I can totally understand that. I've pretty much accepted that I'm not going to find a real girlfriend anytime soon, but I still wanted to show her that I love her. That's what this night was about; to thank her for being such a fun travel companion and friend and showing me a great time.
The lemon pepper chicken and 4 cheese ravioli with alfredo sauce was amazing! The artichoke ended up taking almost 2 hours to finish, and by then we were on our 4th and final bottle of champagne and eating cheesecake with ice cream. (very melted)
Holding our full bellies and bubbling heads, we finished the last bottle and artichoke. There were s'mores too, but we weren't having any of that tonight. We had the big tent set up and filled with blankets. We were sleeping not long after the last bottle hit the ground.
Wed, May 20 – I had a headache when I woke up around 10am. I was expecting this, but didn't really remember laying down on the futon. It had been along time since I could sleep without the bother of the sun, so after letting Dazey out, I went back to sleep.
By 11, all three of us had gotten up. We wasted a few hours doing nothing.
Finally, we got our stuff together and made a list of errands that we had to run. Tim took us to thrift store where we bought a can open, new nalgene, bag for my tent, tote to sew into the van, new bathing suit and a cooler. Then we went to the grocery store and got a lot of groceries we needed.
Tim headed into work around 4 o'clock. We stayed at his house while he was there and did laundry, writing, charged batteries and made a dinner of hash browns, eggs and corn on the cob.
After dinner, I wrote some more then we put in a movie. We made popcorn and watched "Renegade" which was a pretty stupid new age western movie. I passed out when it was done at around 11pm.
Thurs, May 21 – My alarm woke me at 445am. We were up and in the van before 5. Tim, Tyne and I drove a couple of miles out of town and into ArchesNational Park. After a mile and a half hike in the brightening sky, we reached Delicate Arch, which is one of the most famous arches and can be seen on the Utah license plate. About 5 minutes after we got there, the sun poked over the horizon. It wasn't visible THROUGH the arch, but it was pretty sweet regardless.
By 7am, we were back to the car. We stopped at the gas station and to the grocery store for bagels and cheese. Back at Tim's house, we finished our eggs by making egg and cheese sandwiches. We relaxed around the house all morning, and at noon went downtown to get Free Lunch. This was a program that volunteers run where they would collect food wastes from grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations, and serve a lunch to anyone who wanted it in the center of town. There were a lot of bums and tweekers there to eat, but also kids, young travelers and single parents. It was a really nice thing to see people from all walks of life lining up together for a bite to eat.
None of us really slept much the night before, so we cat napped through the early afternoon. Tim had to go into work in the afternoon, and we planned on going out and seeing canyon lands, but by the time he left and we got some errands done in town it was getting late. Instead we just hung out at the house and enjoyed the easy life. Some Latkes for dinner and we were asleep by a decent hour.
Fri, May 22 – The day earlier, Tim's roommate Joe had asked us if we could babysit his son for a few hours that evening for some extra cash. We gladly accepted the job, but then Tim found out he had the day off. No matter though, we still had until 4pm.
We got out around noon, stopped down at the free lunch again for some good grub, then hit the Colorado river canyon. We had a list of geocaches loaded, and the first stop was Negro Bill's Canyon to see a Natural bridge and hike the canyon. After finding the one cache and seeing the natural bridge, we were already almost out of time. We weren't able to even go down the side canyon to another cache because it was getting so late.
We pulled in at 2 minutes after four. Joe was a little worried, but very happy that we showed up. He was soon out the door and we were alone with Little Joe, age 3. We asked him if he wanted to go to a couple parks and do some "treasure hunting." Of course he said yes.
We went to the Moab Rottery park, which was a really amazing park with a big section of it devoted to xylophones. A dozen or more were set up, each made of different materials. We played some music for a while, then found a cache in the park. Walking a half mile along a bike trail, we found two more. Joe was loving the hunt!
One last stop at another park for a final find, the rain had started to pick up. After quickly signing the log, we headed to the grocery store for some supper ingredients and went back to the house to cook Joe something. We made some delcious chicken salad and more Latkes, even better than the first round the night before. After dinner, Joe played some video games and put himself to bed.
His mom came to get him by 10 pm, and we stayed up til around midnight having just a couple more rounds of drinks.
Sat, May 23 – We had spent our time great in Moab. The town is so chill and revitalizing after spending so much time in the desert. We hadn't done much, but knew we had to make at least one trip into Canyonlands for a good hike. Tim had to work today, but was going to try to get Sunday off so we could do something good.
We all got up at a decent hour and decided to go do the caches we had missed the day before down the river. We spent the next few hours going on short hikes along the river, climbing rocks and geocaches all the way to CastleValley.
Tim went to work, and we told him that we would probably go hiking the next morning, but we would check in before we left to see if he got the time off. He went off to work and we headed to see Tyne's friend Adam we was randomly in town biking. We drove down to his condo to see him, and I soon left to go and pick up a Storage unit for the top of the Van that I had found on Craigslist.
I got all lost and annoyed while trying to find the place, and I finally gave up. Not wanting to come all the way back out to Adams place and endure small talk with strangers while being pissed off, I parked behind a Days Inn and passed out.
Sun, May 24 – I woke up in a pretty bad mood, but did all I could (and succeeded) to make it better. I stopped at the Days Inn lobby for some coffee and breakfast, then drove down to the library for internet access and shade. I did some writing and thinking and started to plug in a couple of nearby geocaches when Tyne called. Adam and his friends were going on a 24 mile bike ride and they were leaving then, so where should she get dropped off at.
She came to the library and we tried to plan the day. I wanted to do an 8.4 mile loop in Canyonlands and do a couple other shorter hikes. Before leaving, we went back to Tim's house to see if we could leave Dazey there for the day and woke up Tim to see if he had the day off. By a stroke of god, he did have it off! The three of us were driving into the National Park by about noon.
After passing Arches and seeing a half mile line to get in, we got a little worried. It was Memorial day weekend, and as we pulled into the parking lot there wasn't a single spot open. We had to drive back nearly a quarter mile down the road to find a spot on the shoulder. Walking to the trailhead, the sign read, "Upheaval Overlook - 0.3 mile. Upheaval loop 8.4 miles. After turning onto the longer trail, there wasn't a single person. Everyone was there to see the overlook, not experience it fully.
The trail started by descending almost 2000 feet sharply, dropping us into a huge canyon about halfway down to the Green River. At the base of the cliffs, the trail followed a sandy wash gently downhill until we reached the halfway point. There was another trail intersection here, and we stopped for some fruit and water. A couple hikers passed us, proving that we weren't ALONE out here, but nearly. Under the ledge we sat on was some mud, a rarity in the desert. The past couple of days had given enough rain for the washes to run down some of the canyons.
We continued up another sandy wash, slowly rising into a vertical walled canyon. There was actually a little running water in the canyon here, and pools began to get bigger and more appealing as we went up. Finally the temptation was too much to take. We had found a perfect pool and proceeded to strip down and dip into it. Amazing! The sweat washed right off, cooling us instantly. A couple of there hikers walked by with a surprised look on their face. Haven't you ever seen someone swim before?
After drying off, we continued up the increasingly difficult trail. We were really headed uphill now, and took a minute to try to climb up a crack running up a wall. We made it most of the way, but soon realized that following it more would put us just over a big cliff edge. We quickly gave up on that side adventure.
The skies had been getting more and more dark all day, and now hell was letting loose. The wind picked up, the rain started falling and before long, hail was also in the mix. We jogged a quarter mile until we found an overhang, where we stopped for some food and to wait out the storm. After a couple cold Latkes and pretzel rods, we watched the rain slowly stop, then continued on our way.
We had a cold beer waiting for us at the car. We sat on the side of the road and rubbed our feet and drank the beer. It was starting to get late, but not dark yet, so we stopped at one more short hike. Mesa Arch is a half mile loop taking you to an amazing arch perched at the edge of a cliff. The view was amazing, but don't get too close to the arch because you can drop off the cliff on this side. We climbed over the arch and took some pictures. There were a lot of tourists hanging out and coming by, so we quickly moved on.
Coming back into town, Tim pointed out that you could see "The Windows," in ArchesNational Park a dozen miles across the desert. The Windows are matching arches nearby each other, and I could easily see why they called them the Windows.
We stopped at the market for some dinner, chicken wings, potato salad and cheese and went back to Tim's house to eat. Little Joe was there, and kept stealing and eating my wings. After we ate, we said goodbye to Tim's housemates and the three of us headed over to Adams condo. They were having a party on their last night in Moab. Just as we arrived, the rain started coming down lightly again. We put a couple logs in the fire and said screw it. We stayed up a couple hours, talking around the fire and drinking. Eventually, I got tired and went back to the van with Dazey for the night.
Tues, May 19 – In my dream, I was eating something very gritty. Then I realized I really was eating something gritty, woke up and spit out some sand. The wind had continued all night and the blanket I was sleeping on was half covered in a sand dune. The sun was still down, and I watched it rise from my sandy bed.
I got the camp cleaned up and got into the van. Tyne was still sleeping, (it was still before 630) so I just started driving to the arch trailhead. Dogs weren't technically allowed, but the trailhead was bare, so we took her with us. The trail was pretty level, and the sun didn't peak over the canyon walls until most of the hard hiking was done. The arch was really beautiful, and to have it before anyone else that morning was great. We took some pictures and started back to the car. It wasn't until we were more than half way back before another person passed us heading to the arch.
Driving west out of the park, we came to the town of Hanksville and tried the grocery store again. No artichokes, but they had some deals and we got some canned mushrooms and mandarin oranges.
The next stop was GlenCanyon and LakePowell, which is a huge lake made from damming the Colorado River. We slowly wound down to the lake and stopped at an overlook. The sign said that water was pretty muddy and smelly, and we really didn't feel like we wanted to swim in it. There wasn't really any good access anyways, so after crossing the DirtyDevilRiver, we began the long drive back up from the deep canyon.
Tyne fell asleep and I was getting tired myself from the early morning, but before long we arrived at another National Monument, "Natural Bridges." This park was pretty small, the loop was only 9 miles long and had viewing of three Natural Bridges. We stopped and looked at the overlooks of them, but didn't feel like climbing all the way down into the canyon to look at them closely. We also did a short hike to an overlook of another 700 year old Indian ruins. My stomach was hurting so we didn't stay too long.
On the road again, we stopped and checked out two more sets of ruins. Indian ruins are all very difference, but a lot of the architecture and pottery are similar. The second ruins required a mile and a half hike to get to, and although it was hot, there were a lot of scattered clouds to help block the sun now and then.
Finally we came to another junction. There were a lot of cars again, real grocery stores and fast food chains. We finally bought our artichoke in Monticello and continued on another 30 miles to Moab through the first rain in about a month, since Katy Texas. The electric storm was amazing, with red rock canyons and snow capped mountains in the distance.
Coming into Moab, we were tired of driving and just wanted to relax and find camp for the night. Before heading to the woods, we went to the library to get internet and was able to get a hold of my buddy Tim who lives in town. We met him at the restaurant/bar he works at (Eddy McStiff's) and he gave us directions to his house.
We relaxed indoors, made dinner (artichokes, spaghetti-o's and garlic bread) and enjoyed ice water and TV while we waited for Tim to get out at Midnight. At 11pm, I was half sleeping on the couch when Tim walked in with a 12 pack.
We ended up staying up until after 4am, drinking the beer and some Black Velvet. The three of us walked up a hill overlooking the town and looked at the little resort town of Moab and the stars. We drank and talked and philosophized until nearly dawn.
Mon, May 18– I hadn't slept very well. The van was parked on uneven ground and I was tossing and turning all night. Tyne heated up some water and washed herself and I had a very strong cup of coffee. We discussed the goals for the day, go to town (if Torrey was big enough) and get internet, groceries, water and advice on what to see down the road. Coming to the junction, we were happy to see Torrey was large enough to support more than one gas station and hotel.
Noticing a Days Inn advertising an excellent breakfast, we pulled in. I walked into the lobby and saw a big breakfast set up with barely anyone eating. I put some waffle batter on the iron and went back out to tell Tyne to come in. Pretending we were guests, we sat down to a superb breakfast of waffles, bagels, yogurt, coffee and juice. We also grabbed some nutria-grain bars and condiments for the road.
Another half mile into town, we turned in at a sign for free Wi-Fi. Tyne was using the internet for some necessary correspondence, so I went into the hotel we were parked in front of and used the bathroom. I went up to the front desk and asked advice on which route I should take to Moab, even though I knew which way would be better. Then I went into the breakfast room and grabbed a box of Frosted Flake and a couple little bags of Granola.
The grocery store was a disappointment, with a tiny produce section and prices still near double, we just pressed on. We stopped at the gas station and topped off at $2.33. Tyne went into a visitor Information office to get maps and advice, and after a few minutes waved me and Dazey inside so the ranger could give her a treat. He was really nice, made some great suggestions and even let us fill up our water in the delicious and cold water faucet outside.
We were only a dozen or so mile from CapitalReefNational Park, but we stopped for a little hike and geocache. There were three to find on the edge of a cliff, which we later learned was the waterpocket that makes the reef in the park. The first one was easy, 500 feet from the car. We hiked up the cliff along herd trails. We stopped at a tree covered with amber and got some of the biggest pieces yet. Continuing up the hill, we lost the trail and continued towards the cache.
After a while of hiking, we came to a 3 foot log of petrified wood that was balanced on a rock. It was nearly too heavy to even lift, and we think it had naturally been left like that. A few more paces and we came to a field of mica. The white stone shimmered at us as we trudged on up the hill.
Finally, we came to a cliff that was 30 feet high. There wasn't really any way up, so we continued along the edge trying to find a good route. We couldn't find anything and the cliff was only getting higher. Discouraged, we gave up on the cache.
Starting to climb down, I looked up and suddenly a route opened up to me. We were soon up on the edge of the cliff, (Dazey included) and were only a few hundred feet from the cache. After another find and rest in the shade of a rock overhang, we walked a little further to a supposed petrified wood field.
Sure enough, there was a lot of petrified wood on the ground. We collected a few pieces and decided not to go up to the third cache, which was still a long ways up. It was just too hot! We started back to the car and realized we didn't know how to get back down. After walking a ways, we finally found a way down, but not before crossing the ridge line of huge piles of gravel. The sandy rock was several difference colors, and it felt like we were running across the rainbow as the shaded changed below us.
Driving into the park, the cliff to our left that we had climbed on grew and grew. We stopped to see the panoramic view (decent) and the "Gooseneck" (Very cool – top view of a very windy creek deep in a canyon.) We drove into the historic Fruita district, which in the early 1900's was a Mormon village and orchards. Being at the intersection of two perennial rivers, the town site has been inhabited by Indians long ago, and then more recently by these Mormons. The blacksmith, schoolhouse and several farmhouses are still standing.
We drove down the scenic road south along the "Reef." At every turn, the view was breathtaking. We passed Fern's Nipple (obvious shaped mountain point) and The Egpytian temple, (side of cliff that looked like an ancient temple) and to the end of the pavement. Continuing down a dirt road into a canyon, we drove several more miles enjoying the views, got to the end, looked at each other and turned around with a shrug.
On the way back up to Fruita, we were going to stop and do a short hike in a large canyon called Grand Wash. However, the clouds were beginning to get dark and we could hear rumbles of thunder in the distance. The road turning into Grand Wash had a sign warning that the road turns to a raging river during rain, and if storms were threatening to not drive down it. We stopped and waited for a few minutes. Dazey found and ate a soft pretzel.
One last stop before we left the stop, a short walk along a cliff on a boardwalk. They weren't pointed out, but along the boardwalk were lots of pictographs. We slowly walked the trail, spotting ancient art and speculating what each of them signified.
We wanted to go on a two mile hike out to an arch, but it was getting late and we wanted to find a good campsite along and river and take a bath. We drove out of the park, took a right onto BLM land, and started looking. Being a little selective this time, we finally found a nice sandy spot along a creek. I walked down to the water planning on building a dam to take a bath in, and to my surprise one was already built. Instead of 4 inches of running water, I had a pool a foot deep.
An hour later, I had deepened the pool to two feet and I was cooled off and refresh. Tyne came into the water as well, and the two of us diverted the stream from one channel to another upstream, just playing in the water more or less.
As the sun dropped, it got cooler and we got hungry. We made some white rice and Vienna sausages, then poured in some maple syrup, oriental ramen spices, and hot sauce for a Asian sweet and spicy flavor. As bad as it sounds, it was amazing! It started getting really windy after we ate and the clouds weren't going away, but I decided to sleep outside anyways. I lay a blanket down in the sandy rut in front of the van, then got in my sleeping bag on top of it. It was very comfortable and I passed out in minutes.
May 16/17 - Grand Staircase Ecalante National Monument
Sat, May 16 – It was later than planned when we finally got moving. Tyne made some oatmeal and we shared a can of mixed fruit as we emerged from the National Forest and back towards Rt. 12.
The plan for the day was to go to Escalante, the biggest town from here to Moab and plan out a couple days hiking and sightseeing. We were going to get groceries, wi-fi and maybe catch a shower. As we were coming into town, a state park caught our attention on the right hand side. The Escalante Petrified forest enticed us to stop. As we pulled in, a lake appeared on the left and a ranger came up to the van with a smile and hello.
The fee for entrance to the forest was $6, more than we really could spend today. We talked to the ranger and he gave us some great ideas on what to see in the next few days. Tyne thought he was from Minnesota because he said "road" funny, but he turned out to be just a "Utah Boy" from Salt Lake City.
Thanking the ranger for his advice, he headed into the vistor center and we eyed the lake. It had been since Vegas since we had a shower, and we hadn't been to many bodies of water since then either. Tyne put on her bathing suit and jumped off the dock. I hesitated, but soon joined her, the old fashion baby step, gasp as you go method. The water was frigid, but very refreshing in the heating sun.
Escalante turned out to be tiny; two gas stations, one grocery store and a couple hotels and gift shops. This town was among the last in the country to get reliable mail service. Even less than 100 years ago, milk and mail were brought in via the single mule that made the trip. Most of the mail had milk stains and most of the milk had turned to cream or butter, but it was the only option the townspeople had. We didn't have much luck wit our errands. We did find wi-fi, and stopped at the grocery store. Just crackers, white rice and tortillas costs us nearly 8 bucks.
We almost stopped at the visitor center to get maps, water, and a backcountry permit in case we ended up staying a night in the bush. Tyne had dozens of spots that she wanted to check out, but unfornuatly most of the good stuff was off of miles of dirt, sand and rock roads that only a 4x4 could access.
After a couple of failed attempts at getting to a good hike, we settled on Phipps arch, which the guide paper said was about 5 miles round trip. Parking at the crowded EscalanteRiver trail access, we started off downstream through a wide red slickrock canyon.
The trail followed the river, and once even had a ladder to climb to get over rocks that blocked a narrow pass to the river. Within a mile, we had come to our first river crossing. The water was almost a foot deep in places, but it felt great after hiking in the sun. Dazey enjoyed the dip as well and we continued down the canyon.
On the left we heard running water, but nothing appeared around the bend. Then we realized that the water was running underneath the canyon wall and coming into the river below us.
The trail was not marked, and there technically wasn't a trail from the river up the side canyon to the arch, but many people had come through and a herd trail was easy enough to spot and follow. When we reached the side canyon we knew it because most of the tracks headed upstream.
Walking up the wash a ways, we came to a smaller canyon on the right with tracks leading into it. Taking the trail, we soon passed a lone women who said the natural bridge was just around the corner. We found something, even if it was something we were't looking for. The NaturalBridge was a 20 foot hole on the river bed, that dropped down and provided a sandy shaded area underneath over 40 feet wide. Every time heavy rains come to this area, the wash runs and this little hideout becomes a swirling torrent of water.
Back to the main canyon, we continue upstream looking for this arch. The guidebook says its up a canyon on the left, then you have to rock scramble to get there. We see a dead trail layed up against the small opening to a canyon and we carefully climb up it. A half mile up this canyon, it's a dead end. Luckily, I had a geocache programmed in my GPS that was just 50 feet from the arch, so after a check there, I knew the arch was 800 feet to the south in the next canyon.
Getting kind of tired now, we drink some more water and try this last canyon. After a good walk in, it dead ends as well. Looking at the GPS, I saw that we circled the arch, and it had to be "up there" high on the canyon walls.
Dazey was getting really hot, so we rested for 10 minutes under a juniper tree before scaling another rocky hillside. It took almost half an hour to climb this last bit, and soon Phipp's arch appeared before us. It was huge, nearly 100 feet wide and 40 high, and as it was so hidden and far out here, we were really impressed. We ate a life giving orange, and headed back to the trail.
We were going to go on a second hike, walk in a few miles and camp on Sandy creek, but by the time we made it back to the car it was after 6pm. We drove down a few miles to Calf creek campground but it was totally full. The camp host suggested we drive 5 miles back into town, cross the cattle guard, hang a left and across another cattle guard. This would be BLM land, free to camp on and boasted some incredible views.
30 minutes later we were happy that we didn't stay at the crowded Calf Creek. This spot was pretty touch to drive up to, but with my skilled driving we were out and looking at the views in no time. We could even see the rock formations where Phipps arch was and the canyon that we walked up along EscalanteRiver.
We made white rice with refried beans, and mixed in some Vienna Sausages to try to finish them up. (Vienna Sausages mysteriously appear, we somehow had three cans of them and neither of us had ever bought a can.) As the sun set, we found a tree that had some of the biggest and best amber ive ever seen on it. We collected some and sat out in the cool air as the stars appeared.
I had my little tent set up in a sand dune not far from the car and Tyne took the van so she could write tonight. My head was so filled with thoughts and ideas that I couldn't sleep. I went back to the van and got my notebook so I could at least write down some of the thoughts that came to my head.
Sun, May 17– The sun woke me at 630 am, but after 20 minutes it was high enough to be blocked by the little juniper I was under. By 8am though, it had gotten too hot to bear so I got up and took apart my tent. I cleaned up the site, made a cup of coffee, and tried to wake Tyne.
"I slept like crap," she said, "Let me have 15 more minutes."
An hour later, I was sitting against a tree in the shade reading and Tyne was still sleeping. Finally I woke her good, saying that she asked for 15 minutes and its been already an hour and 15.It wasn't til after 10 when we left the site, and the sun was already blazing hot.
Our destination for the day was LowerCalfCreekFalls. It started at the campground we had been at the night before, and followed the creek 3 miles up the canyon to a year round waterfall standing over 100 feet high. The trail was very hot and sandy, but had access here and there to the creek so it wasn't too bad.
We passed by ancient granaries that were used 800 years again by Indians storing their grains, and also spotted some pictographs on the wall of the canyon on the far side. Finally we reached the cool and shaded waterfall oasis. We waded into the water and slashed it on our faces. Dazey drank all she could while Tyne and I shared some saltines and cheese spray.
Starting back, we found a cache a few hundred yards downstream from the waterfall, not far from the trail but high up the side of the canyon, all the way to the vertical west wall. The view of the waterfall was great, a view that most people don't even know is possible. Dazey and I ran down the slope, "surfing" on loose gravel and jumping back onto the trail just as two foreign tourists hiked around the corner. They looked pretty surprised to see us appear from a steep embankment.
The sun beat down on us pretty badly on the way back and Dazey was really starting to feel it. She would go from shady spot to shady spot, and eventually just sat down under a pinion pine and refused to budge. Even with lots of cool water, she took awhile before she was able to continue. I carried her over my shoulders for a while and she liked that, but after 100 feet she jumped down when she spotted a lizard in the bush. When we reached the creek again, I pushed Dazey in and to her annoyance, splashed her until she was soaked. I think she was a little mad at first but she quickly regained the energy she needed to get back to the Nar.
The Escalante area and Grand Staircase had treated us well. Driving north towards Boulder, Utah we drove up onto a narrow ridge with drop offs on both sides of the car. At one point, the ridge was only was 10 feet of ledge on both sides f the narrow two lane highway, with sheer canyon walls dropping hundreds of feet straight down into the shadows. The name of this feature was Hogsback, and the road had been built on it in around 1935 at a high cost. The nickname of the road that allowed mail service to Boulder was The Million Dollar Road."
Just as we came into Boulder, we turned onto an off-road to find a couple geocaches and check out a SlotCanyon that was suggested to us. A mile or two down the road, we stopped at the "Sugarloaf" to find a geocache. The huge rock formation was white, and looked kind of like popcorn with "bubbles" to cracked rock protruding in places. We climbed a fraction of the way up and found the ammo can. It didn't look like we got very high in perspective to the entire "loaf," but it was high enough to get us sweating.
Continuing another eleven miles down the scenic road, we came to the slot canyon. It was pretty short, but instead of a dusty, hot and little vegetated landscape, we walked into a very narrow canyon that was filled with tall shade trees and had an "other worldly" vibe. The ground was cool, soft sand and there wasn't anything sharp, unpleasant or ugly. This little haven was amazing. We looked forward to CanyonLandNational Park and the more impressive slot canyons that awaited us there.
We had intended on stopping at a grocery stop to buy an artichoke and some other food, but Boulder had nothing but a gas station/general store. Prices were double to what you would pay in a normal town, so we decided to just go with Mac N Cheese for dinner. We did buy a beer though, a "Captain Bastard's Oatmeal Stout," which was a very heavy and delicious dark microbrew. We sat outside of AnasziState park and drank in sitting in some lush grass. Being in Utah, beer is only 3.2%, but it was delicious anyways. We tried to get into the park to see the ruins, but they wanted $6 apiece.
It was getting late in the afternoon, so we made plans to camp in Dixie Forest Again. Driving into the mountains north, we drove into birch forest high on the mountain. The pass was 9600 feet, the highest we had driven at so far in the trip. After the pass there were a lot of turnoffs to good camping areas, but the roads on them were all torn up. We had to turn around a few times, but finally we found a good spot while pulling over to look at a view. It was a slow drive in and out because it was pretty rough, but we had a large camping area all to ourselves.
We made a small fire, keeping it very small because of the gusting winds and abundance of dry pine needles. Tyne cooked up some Mac N Cheese and I added a can of crab meat to my half. It wasn't all too great, but a change from the normal low grade noodle and processed cheese sauce. Tyne set up her Tent and did some typing while I sat out and read for a while.
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