Travelogue -- Sinks Canyon State Park, WY

"The Sinks" of Sinks Canyon.

And the Rise of the Popo Agie

From Boulder, we took I-25 North into Wyoming, retracing our steps from last week towards Cheyenne. We had researched various cheap campgrounds and Walmarts where we might sleep and planned to get about halfway to Grand Teton National Park, our next intended destination, but as we drove past a climbing area whose name Todd recognized we got sidetracked. Diane was driving, so Todd took the opportunity to do some research and concluded we should stop and consider camping so they could climb in the morning.

We stopped at a rest area whose claim to fame is that it is the highest point on all of I-80, a road that crosses the entire country! The elevation was 8,600 feet. We weren't really in the mountains at that point, but rather on the high plains. 

Todd did some more research and concluded that the climbing area he had first considered would be too hard for Diane, who is just a beginner at climbing, but he found an easier one in Laramie, which was only 10 miles down the road, so we drove to the Walmart there to sleep for the night.

It got very cold overnight and we all woke up feeling very chilly. We weren't that far from Boulder and yet we were in a whole different climate.

After Diane had fallen asleep the night before, Todd had done more research and decided the climbing area in Laramie was no good either, so we got a nice early start towards the Grand Tetons. As we drove, Diane and Todd were really excited to cross the Continental Divide not once by twice! We skipped crossing it in Colorado, but now we've had the experience.

Late morning, we took a break at a national historical marker at a place called Split Rock. Split Rock is a massive, rocky hill that rises from the plain. It earned its historical marker by being a landmark used by travelers on the Oregon Trail, who would travel along the rocks for an entire day on their way West, and who could see the rock behind them for two more days as they continued on the trail. Split Rock was also a station on the pony express.

After a good stretch of the legs at Split Rock, Diane had the brilliant idea that Todd should call his friend Ben, who has spent several seasons in Jackson Hole, to get some suggestions of places we might go on our way to the Tetons, and he suggested Sinks Canyon State Park, which is in Lander, WY, about 130 miles from Grand Teton National Park. 

We took Ben's advice (Thanks, Ben!), and for once we got to our campsite early in the day! We arrived at it was only about 3:30 on July 13. we scouted out the campground and choose a nice site in the Popo Agie Camping Area.

The camping area is what is described as "primitive sites," meaning there's no electricity or plumbing, but it is very nice. There's a good flat spot to park the Big Rolling Crate, a big picnic table, a fire ring, and a designated area for a tent. There are composting toilets here and a well for water, but no showers or any other sort of facilities. It's really the best of both worlds--campground meets Boondock. 

There are twenty or so sites here, but they are arranged to be fairly private and even though they are closer together than the dispersed camping sites we used on Colorado, this is a much quieter place with a more peaceful vibe. 

Our campsite

The Popo Agie (pronounced Po-Po-shuh)  River flows right behind our campsite, and there's a swinging suspension bridge for pedestrians to cross the river to a nature trail and a climbing area. I was highly uncertain about the bridge and had to walk very slowly and cautiously, but I made it and the walk on the other side was worth it.

Downstream the Popo Agie flows through what's called the "sink," hence the name "Sinks Canyon," and into a pool called "the rise."

Geologically, the sink and the rise and very strange. At the sink, the river disappears into a narrow, unexplorable cave. A quarter-mile down the hill, it emerges again at the rise. Here's the wacky part: It takes the water--which is a fast-flowing, rushing stream--two hours to make its way through the cave and back out, even though it's only a quarter-mile! Even stranger, more water comes out of the rise than goes into the sink! No one knows where. It was only relatively recently in history that it was proven that the sink empties into the rise. 

The Popo Agie from the pedestrian bridge

After we settled into our camp, we went out and explored the nature trail, which was quite beautiful, and we checked out the climbing area where two groups of climbers were doing their thing. They gave Todd advice about which routes would be good for out-of-towners like us, particularly since Diane's only experience so far is in the climbing gym and top roping, and then we made our way back to camp for a delicious dinner of macaroni and cheese with broccoli and bratwurst. Diane dinner and Todd washed the dishes afterwards, and it was the most peaceful evening we've spent since our second night in our Colorado Boondock. 

Todd doing the dishes.

We had thought we'd stay here one night, but it's so nice--and so cheap! Only $11 a night--that we're going to stay for two instead. This morning (Thursday, 7/14), we had pancakes and bacon and lounged in the cool morning air, and I think we could stay here a long time and that would be just fine with me.

It was only in the 50s this morning, but Diane warmed up with some hot coffee.

This is the river right behind our campsite.

None of us have ever seen flowers like these before, but the big bees really like them.

As aspen grove we passed on the nature trail.

The view looking out the door of the Big Rolling Crate towards one of the climbing areas.

Diane, working on our blog.

Travelogue -- 44 Hours in Boulder, CO

As I explained in my last post, Sunday, July 10, we were evactuated from our lovely campsite in the Gross Reservoir/Winiger Ranger area due to a forest fire. We'd already been planning to stay at the Boulder University Inn on Monday night, and luckily our room was available for Sunday, too, so we checked in around 8:30 or so Sunday night.

To be honest, I much prefer camping to staying in a hotel, and I suppose it's no surprise that I like to be in the country more than in a city, so I was a bit reluctant to go inside the hotel. In a hotel, there are so many unfamiliar human smells and sounds and people making noise in the hall and the rooms next door. It can be overwhelming for a shy dog such as myself. Diane and Todd seem to find the air-conditioning to be a nice sort of white noise machine, but I hate it. The constant rattling! Have you seen my ears? What sounds pleasant and soothing to people can seem very loud to me. 

Still, it was nice to see Diane and Todd relax a little after our harrowing evacuation and drive back to civilization. When they are relaxed, I can relax, and also, they ordered pepperoni pizza Sunday night, and pepperoni is one of my favorite foods, so that helped me feel at home.

As far as cities go, it's hard to imagine a better one for a dog than Boulder, especially since our hotel backed right up against Boulder Creek Path and a park. We could walk out the back stairs and right onto the nice, soft, green grass along the creek, which was ideal for me. There are few things in life I enjoy more than nice, soft, green grass. 

It took me a minute to get used to all the people in the park. There were people sitting in groups, and other people in sleeping bags, and some people just sprawled out in the grass. It was hard to tell which people were just chilling for a while and which ones actually lived in the park, but all of them pretty much ignored me. As anyone who has ever met me can attest, my favorite people are the ones who ignore me, so it all worked out fine.

Probably the best thing about the park area, in my humble opinion, was the large amount of food people had left in the grass. Half a hamburger here, a crust of pizza there, bones from chicken wings here, a spilled out can of chickpeas there. I could have spent the rest of my life scavenging that park for tasty treats and been a happy dog. Diane, old kill-joy that she is, didn't let me, though. Still, I'll be dreaming of that lawn full of snacks for a long time.

Since I wasn't allowed to partake in the ground-food, I guess I'd have to say my favorite thing was swimming in the creek. I got to swim in it both days we were in Boulder. It was so cold and refreshing after the hot, dry, dusty campground. Even though there were lots of people wading and tubing and even a good number of other dogs around, I found the creek very relaxing.

On Monday afternoon, after I had had a walk in the park and a swim in the creek, and after Todd had found a garage that could service the Big Rolling Crate (no small feat! He had to try 8 garages before he found one that could handle putting a 9,000+lb vehicle on a lift), Diane and Todd left me to nap in the hotel while they did what the locals do: Rode their bikes.

Diane wants Jeanne Depasse to know that her old bike did a great job on the bike paths of Boulder, and she's so grateful to have it! Thanks, Jeanne! 

They rode on the Boulder Creek Path and also in the bike lanes of some streets. Boulder is such a bike-friendly city that Diane says she wasn't even nervous to ride on some of the bigger streets. Their ride took them up Pearl Street, which is a shopping area where several blocks are closed to cars. They tell me I would have hated it, and I believe them, but Todd really enjoyed the kite shop.

After riding bikes, they took a quick dip in the hotel pool and then went to meet their brother-in-law Ian for dinner. He took them to a place called Rueben's. I was very sorry to miss out on the hamburgers. Diane and Todd came back smelling so yummy and didn't bring me any leftovers! Sometimes those two are real jerks.

On Tuesday morning, Todd rode his bike over to the garage to pick up the Big Rolling Crate, which was all tuned up  and ready. It turns out we didn't blow a shock off-reading! The fluid Todd saw that he thought came from the shock was actually some sort of differential something or other that had apparently been overfilled last time Todd had work done on truck. Still we were all reassured to have had everything looked over and the Big Rolling Crate seemed very happy as we drove off after the oil change.

Now that we had our wheels back, we drove up Boulder Mountain to Flagstaff Summit where we took a one-mile loop trail to beautiful vistas. Boulder looks really nice when seen from above, I must admit. It's like a green oasis on the edge of the plains that sweep up to the foothills where we were hiking. 

Todd did a little bouldering and we disappointed that Diane didn't want to try rock climbing, but it was very hot out and she wasn't feeling well. We drove back down into town and parked at Settler's Park to check out the tubing scene in Boulder Creek. 

The path along the creek out there is like a beach. There are people everywhere! People carrying tubes up stream. People sitting in lawn chairs watching tubes float down. People playing guitar. People snoozing in hammocks slung between trees. People having picnics. So many people! It made me pretty nervous, but I was on my best behavior because I didn't want to miss out on anything.

We didn't have a tube with us, so we just waded a little and walked up the stream for a while. Then, Todd worked up the nerve to ask someone if he could borrow a tube for a quick ride. My nervousness then went from 9/10 to 11/10. How could I possibly fulfill my duties to protect Todd from all dangers, real and imagined, if he was in a tube in the middle of a very fast-moving and deep stream and I was on the bank, leashed to Diane?! My only consolation was that we could walk down the bank in sync with Todd as he drift by. Twice he went over little shutes where the tube came up under him and flipped him off backwards and I nearly had to jump in and rescue him, but by and by he got the hang of it.

We left Boulder around 4:30 in the afternoon, and we were all pretty happy to get back on the road. It was fun to visit a city where there are so many outdoors activities to do, but the goal of this trip is to commune with the wilderness, which is why we headed North, back to Wyoming.

A Colorado Forest Fire and a Camping Trip Cut Short

In my last post from our dispersed camping site, I think I mentioned that on Saturday afternoon we saw smoke rising in the distance. At that time, we checked with 911 and were told we were safe and there was no need to evacuate. The fire on Saturday was fairly small, 220 or so acres, and it wasn't moving our way.

Well, that wasn't the end of the story. Indeed our Colorado adventure took an unexpected turn on Sunday, but let me back up a little bit first.

All afternoon Saturday, Diane followed news of the Cold Springs Fire, or Nederland Fire, on Twitter. Planes and helicopters flew overhead all day long and at some point, we saw this evacuation map.

Notice in the lower right of the map where it says "Aspen Meadows" and highway 68? We drove on highway 68 to our campsite, right past Aspen Meadows. Still, we weren't "in the zone," and there were literally hundreds of other people in our camping area, none of whom seemed worried, so we didn't worry either.

Around dusk, people starting lighting campfires, which seemed rather risky given the obvious fire danger the weather conditions presented (I was shocked to see campfires Friday, given the windy, dry weather), but each campsite had a fire pit with a grate for cooking, and presumably the fires wouldn't be left unattended. We had planned to have a supper of hot dogs over a fire, so Todd went ahead and made a small campfire for us in our fire ring, and then we turned on the radio and sat back to relax. Todd had no sooner gotten the fire going than we heard a news update on the Cold Springs Fire which included the information that all open burning, including camp fires, were currently banned in Boulder County. We decided to hurry up and cook our hot dogs and then let the fire go out. That was around 8:30ish.

Around 10:00, our fire mere embers, we heard a diesel truck chugging up the road through the camping area. We looked out to see front-facing red lights and (because we drive an ambulance and have been told we need to swap out the front-facing red light-covers so as not to appear to be an emergency vehicle) we knew it was some official truck. Turns out it was firefighters hauling water out to enforce the campfire ban. The firefighters were as nice as can be and since our fire was already going out, they continued down the hill towards the larger blazes we could see in the distance. After they left, Todd sped up in extinguishing our fire with water and we went to bed.

Sunday morning, the sky seemed clearer and we couldn't see any traces of smoke drifting on the horizon, so we didn't think much of the fire, but as the day went on, the number of planes and choppers flying overhead seemed to steadily increase. Once again, Diane kept an eye on things on Twitter, and by early afternoon, she learned the fire had grown to 330 acres.

Still, we could hardly even smell the fire where we were, and as far as forest fires go, that still counts as fairly small, so we didn't think twice about our plan to stay put until Monday morning. Todd's thought was to drive out in the early morning before the heat of the day for the sake of the Big Rolling Crate's transmission and brakes. 

All afternoon, we noticed that traffic into the camp area had slowed from earlier in the weekend, and we chalked it up to the fact that it was Sunday afternoon and people were getting ready for the work week. That was probably part of it, but the rest was that, unbeknownst to us, the evacuation zone was being expanded.

And then, at 4:30, someone from the sheriff's department rolled up on an ATV with mandatory evacuation orders. Diane went into full panic mode. Meanwhile, Todd was slow and methodical. Diane starting chucking things into the Big Rolling Crate, willy-nilly, while Todd carefully took down tarps and rolled up the parachute line that had held them. 

All afternoon, Diane had been hanging out with me in the Big Rolling Crate because the bugs were bad today--not enough wind to keep them off like we'd had on Saturday--but now she had no choice to face them and she wasn't one bit happy about. She kept jumping up and down and slapping at flies and then a wasp flew up her pant-leg and stung her twice on the thigh before she could kick the pants off and kill it. 

In one hour, the entire camp site was cleaned up and everything was packed except the bikes. Diane wanted to Todd to just throw them into the back of the Big Rolling Crate and get the heck out of there, but he wasn't having it. The problem is we don't have a real bike rack. Instead, Todd has to take off the front tires and some of the pedals of both bikes and then he ties them to the back of the Big Rolling Crate. Every time, they go on a little differently because it's a sort of made up system and sometimes it can take a very long time.

This time Todd decided to try to leave his front wheel on to save time, so he put Diane's bike on first and then tried to add his, but it was a total failure. In the end, it was just about 6:00 when he got it all settled to his liking. 

The only thing left to do was dump out the solar shower and some jugs of water we'd filled at the reservoir on our walk earlier that day. But Todd wasn't going to let all that hot, ready-to-use water go to waste. Oh no. He'd worked up a fine sweat packing. He wanted a shower. At that point Diane threw a hissy fit and threatened to call 911 and ask them to send someone to get her and me if Todd didn't get his butt in the truck and drive. 

The real issue was that two days in a row Todd hauled about 5 gallons of water 1.25 miles up hill from the reservoir to camp so we could have enough water to enjoy our stay until Monday. It was a lot of work to go to waste and damn it, even though we were headed to a hotel with a nice hot shower, he was going to use it.

So Todd rinsed off and put on clean clothes, apparently following that old grandmotherly advice to make sure you're always wearing clean underwear just in case there's an emergency, and then we set out. After Todd got the go-pro on top of the Big Rolling Crate, that is.

The rough and rugged dirt road actually proved no trouble for the Big Rolling Crate when we were in 4-wheel-drive and 1st gear, and Diane and Todd had done a good job securing everything in the back with me so nothing rained down from the cubbies this time. When we got to the end of the dirt road, there were dozens of police cars and someone was being arrested. It was quite a scene. 

The flagged us along and we never felt more stupid to be driving an emergency vehicle. We made good time out the smooth dirt road that led us up to a ridge and Magnolia Drive, the road we were most afraid of, even though it was paved. Locals will know why we were afraid. Magnolia drive is insanely steep and twisting. 

Todd kept the Big Rolling Crate in 1st gear, kept his foot completely off the gas pedal, and let gravity do its thing. Nonetheless, to ensure we didn't lose our brakes, he stopped every half mile or so. 

At this stop, Diane looked up and down the hill at the twists and turns and guessed it had to be at least a 7% grade. She was wrong. We no sooner left this spot than we saw this sign:

We saw trucks hauling horse trailers up and down this! We saw cars racing by like it was nothing. But we could only take it at about 12 MPH. It was like the worst roller coaster ride of your life. 

If you know Diane at all, you know how seldom she takes selfies, but she couldn't resist taking this one from one of our brake-cooling stops. Clearly she was no longer thinking straight, because she looks like a bus just hit her.

We stopped before a section of the road Diane and Todd called "the ladder," which they both remembered miserably from the drive up. It is a series of hairpins before you get back out onto the main road and they both terrified of it. Diane suggested Todd consider riding the emergency brake down, and after a moment's consideration he decided to try it. It definitely helped and we made it, finally, to the main road where there were more police since Magnolia Drive was part of the evacuation zone.

We had planned to stay at a hotel on Monday night, so Diane called to see if we could come a day early. Happily they had room so we went straight there and they were kind enough to waive the pet fee since we'd been evacuated. 

We ordered pepperoni pizza and sat in front of the TV watching the local news of the several forest fires burning all over Colorado. 

Todd promises our next campsite will be as boring as can be. Diane and I sincerely hope so.

Here's one last screenshot, which basically shows that status things when we were evacuated:

What's with this blog, anyway?

You know, I have asked myself more than a few times why Diane and I are keeping this blog. It's kind of a lot of work to keep a travelogue from the road, and in the past few years, Diane has tended to want to pull back from sharing compulsively to social media, so why in the world are we doing this?

And I finally think I figured it out. Diane isn't blogging with me because she thinks we're doing something so unusual or interesting, or because she thinks I deserve to be an Internet sensation, but rather because having an assignment helps her to feel brave.

It's like this. Diane often says that when she's at school and a wasp flies in her classroom, all the boys squeal and squirm and she either totally ignores it or walks up to the wasp and smashes it with a book like she's the bravest person in town. But I know for a fact that Diane is afraid of wasps. She doesn't act afraid at school because she had a job to do, but at home, she squeals and squirms over wasps, too.

So the blog is sort of like that. If Diane and I are documenting our travels and recording them for all to read, she's now studying the experience from a slight remove and finding it interesting instead of giving into the panic that could easily take over if she let it.

Here is a short list of things Diane is afraid of:

*Crashing the Big Rolling Crate

*The Big Rolling Crate breaking down in an unfortunate location

*Wildlife, including but not limited to bears, rattlesnakes, wolves, coyotes, and mountain lions.

*Poisonous bugs and plants

*Thunderstorms

*Forest Fires

*Flash floods

So when you see these fun posts and smiling pictures like the one on this blog, just remember: It ain't all fun and games out here. But it is interesting, at least to us--and we hope you're enjoying, too! Also, we apologize for the numerous typos and we hope you understand that blogs are, by their nature, first drafts, and it's hard to proofread when you're swatting flies and on the lookout for bears.

Back to Boondocking

Well, Jawed was right and the Internet lied to us. 

When Todd told Jawed that he wanted to Boondock in CO and get away from people, Jawed told him Colorado was not the place to get away from people. Our experience suggests he knew what he was talking about.

When the Internet told us that Gross Reservoir is a hidden gem that's never crowded, we believed it. We should have known better. 

We arrived at the site where we ended up camping around 8:30 last night. The ride was harrowing. Personally, I do not like off-reading. I don't know if it would be better if I could ride up front with Diane and Todd, but it is no picnic from the back of the Big Rolling Crate. Not all of the cubbies back here have doors and as we bounce along, everything falls down all around me like the world is ending! And then there's the noise and rocking and swaying. 

To quote Mark Twain, "Ours was a strange and swaying carriage." (We're listening to the audiobook of "Roughing It," which we are all quite enjoying)

To be honest, the paved road was actually worse in some ways than the dirt road. From the minute we turned onto Magnolia Drive, we were climbing a series of hairpins that were essentially a ladder for cars. Even in first gear, we had to stop four or five times to avoid overheating, and all Diane kept saying was, "Yeah, but even if we get up, we have to come back down!" 

And Todd said, "What? Do you want to go find some Walmart 30 miles from Boulder?"

And Diane said, "Sounds great."

And Todd ignored her and kept driving.

Eventually that road came to its high point, but where the descent began, it turned to dirt. All alone the way there were houses and cars kept zipping past us like it was nothing. People in Colorado have some crazy ideas about where to live and what makes a sensible road!

At last we came to the gate into the dispersed camping area, which was where the road turned truly rough. Unlike our Boondock in South Dakota where we could choose our own place to camp, here there are 20 sites that labeled and available first-come, first-served, and our plan was to take the very first thing we came to because we'd all had enough of the crazy driving, but the first site was taken. By an RV! A big bus-sized RV! How did they get that thing up here? 

We kept on down the road and passed four or five more occupied camp sites. We also encountered a couple of vehicles who were heading back out. We flagged one of them down to ask if there were any camp sites open or if they were leaving because there were none. Guess what they told us. The camps were all occupied. 

It was nearly dark, we'd hardly eaten a thing all day, and we were exhausted. No chance in hell were going back tonight. On that we all agreed.

We kept on down the road until we came to a large site where three very nice women, students from the University of Colorado, were tent camping. Diane begged them to share and they were super nice and said of course! Since they were only staying one night, and we planned to stay a few, they said they'd happily share. They were our angels and saviors--no exaggeration. 

They even moved their tent so we'd have a better spot to park the Big Rolling Crate. To thank them, Todd chopped some firewood for them and we gave them some ice since we had more than we needed. 

When we finally got the Big Rolling Crate parked, we paused long enough to see the end of sunset:

As awful as the drive out here was, the camp site is fantastic. When it got dark, we could look down into the valley and see the lights of Boulder glittering below, and behind us the sliver of moon was light in the sky. There was a great breeze and it was a cool evening perfect for sleeping.

For the first time since we set out, Diane and Todd actually made a real, hot dinner on the camp stove (pasta with meat sauce) and made a small camp fire in the fire ring. Todd decided right away that we would stay here for several days, basically until we run out of water, because it's nice here, and because we need to relax before tackling the drive back out.

This morning (July 9), after our saviors left, we moved the Big Rolling Crate into the shady spot where they had parked, Todd set up some awnings and we all got right into relaxing camp mode. 

Well, actually, first thing when we woke up, Todd turned to Diane and said, "Okay, I'm exhausted. I'm ready to go home." It seems that none of us understood how exhausting travel like we're doing would be, or just how long a month is. But once he had some nice coffee, he was right back in the swing of things. 

One thing we can all agree on is that we have to take the rest of the trip at a slower pace. We've been on the road a week and a half and we've been running a sprint. If we're going to keep this trip going--and keep having fun--it's time to slow things down. 

Here are a couple more pictures from our Gross Reservoir camp site:

Todd put one side of the bus up no blocks to make the bed more level, but then it was so high up, we had to move a rock for a step in the door. I like hanging out under the bus in the shade where it stays cool because it is really hot and dry around here. Today it was almost 100 degrees but only 13% humidity! None of us can used to the lack of humidity. We first noticed just how dry it is out here in the West when we were in South Dakota, and we've all been dry-mouthed and thirsty pretty much continuously since then.

Here's proof that we are indeed camping legally. We're at site 7, and it's all on the up and up.

And this is smoke rising in the distance from a forest fire out in another canyon. We had only just gotten all set up and relaxed when we saw the smoke and we briefly wondered if the next thing would be an evacuation. Fortunately the fire was quite far away and we were safe. We called 911 and made sure, so no need to worry about us! Scout's honor!

And lastly the view from our campsite, looking down the slope towards Boulder. 

We're going to hang out here until Monday and then head back to Boulder and a hotel for a night to rest and clean up. We're all already totally filthy, and we don't want to waste water on showering, so we're going to properly dirty by Monday morning. Personally, I love it. The dirt here is so much fun to roll in. Diane is less excited about it, but she's in no hurry to make the drive out, so she's going along with it. Once she had a hotel reservation for Monday, she figured this camping stuff wouldn't be so bad.

It seems we may have broken one of the new rear shocks on the Big Rolling Crate getting in here, so we have to get that fixed when we get back to town. Hopefully they can do it Monday and have it ready for Tuesday so we can roll out again towards our next destination.

Travelogue -- Rocky Mountain National Park

Second National Park of the Todyssey! Rocky Mountain National Park!

After our lovely stop at the Jawed's on in Cheyenne on July 7, we took their advice and headed for Estes Park as a jumping off point to tour the Trail Ridge Highway in Rocky Mountain National Park. In typical fashion, we got the Estes Park rather late, around 8:45, and we were the last people to get a spot at the KOA there before they closed for the night. 

The people working at the KOA were as nice as can be, but honestly we didn't love staying there. They cram the RVs in like sardines in a can and there's no privacy or anything to make you want to hang out outside your own camper. We were hungry, but we didn't feel like getting all involved with camp cooking, so we just ate some snacks and made a plan for Friday.

Friday morning, we woke up nice and early and decided to get a jump on things in the park like we did at the Badlands, as the info we read informed us that Rocky Mountain National Park is the 3rd most visited National Park in the country. We had already ignored their advice to plan in advance, so we figured the least wee could do was get into the park as quick as possible. 

This picture above is from the first stopping area when we drove onto scenic highway 34, the Trail Ridger Highway, our first glimpse of the big mountains. We also saw prairie dogs playing the meadow here. I would have loved to chase them, but Diane and Todd told me I had to be on my best behavior or I wouldn't be allowed out of the Big Rolling Crate in the park. I wanted to see the mountains and sniff all the mountain dirt and rocks, so I was good.

The park is truly amazing. Just like Niagara Falls, the sight brought tears to Diane's eyes. The road is INSANE! It's hard to imagine what it took to built that road, winding its way up to an elevation of 12,000 feet, clinging to the side of a mountain. It was a white-knuckle drive for Todd the whole way. Often, the steep sides of the mountain fall sharply away from the road and the drop is hundreds of feet. There are no guard rails and often no shoulder. Sometimes you are on the outside going up, and sometimes you are on the outside going down, and it is scary. Diane isn't afraid of heights (although we're learning just how many thousands of things she is afraid of on this trip), but she couldn't look down.

When we drove up into the zone called the alpine tundra, we saw the last remaining snow drifts on the slops of the mountain. 

It's so weird to be in sandals and shorts and snow! Lower down on the mountain it was in the high 80s and sunny and hot, but up where it was slightly overcast, very windy, and chilly.

At the high point of the road, Diane and Todd were able to walk up a path to the Trail Ridge Peak at 12,300 feet. I'm very jealous that they saw a marmot up there. I wasn't allowed to go on the paths. Park rules.

We were initially planning to drive across the continental divide, but once we reached the Alpine Visitors Center, we'd all had enough of the crazy driving and felt we'd seen as much as we could possibly take in, so we turned around and headed back towards Boulder, our next stopping point.

Here are a few more pictures from the park:

It's a good thing Todd and Diane figured out how to drive the truck in the mountains. Without our lessons from the Black Hills, we never could have made it through the park. But now that we know to climb and descend in low gear, everything is going great.

A really nice local lady who took Diane and Todd's picture at an overlook gave us some advice about where we might go next, so we took her suggestion and headed towards Boulder. On the way, we saw kids tubing in this stream and stopped for a quick dip.

Afterwards, we called the state park that had been recommended to us to see about camping, but they said they were a day park only, so we tried plan B: The Boulder County Fairgrounds, which Diane found online. They normally allowed RV camping and it's only $15 a night if you don't need a hook-up. But we got there and learned we should have done more homework, because there was a festival and therefore no camping. 

It was already around 5:00 and as it was Friday night, we knew finding a place to stay was going to be tough. We probably need to plan ahead better for weekends. Weekdays are easy, but on the weekends, everyone wants to go have fun.

Some quick research lead us to believe we'd find good dispersed camping about 8 miles from Boulder in Roosevelt State Forest near Gross Reservoir, so we provisioned and headed off into the canyons.

Travelogue -- Wyoming

On July 6, we left our Boondock and turned South into Wyoming, and let me tell you: Wyoming is terrifying. The wind roars across the plain, the weather turns violent all around you and you can see it change from miles away. There's wildlife everywhere and the highways are dark and empty. It's beautiful, too, but my overall impression is that it is one crazy place to be.

I'm writing this from a very nice place: the home of the Jaweds, kind friends who are wonderful hosts and who are letting us use their washer and dryer. Todd and Jawed have gone to the big Sierra Trading Post store, because they both love bargains, but Diane didn't feel like she needed a shopping trip so she stayed with me and we're getting all caught up on our writing.

The first thing that happened when we left our Boondock was a steep descent out of the Black Hills, and it turns out the truck doesn't like descending any more than it likes climbing. On the long 7% grade, we had to pull over because our brakes were overheating and losing power. As Diane watched Todd inspecting things under the hood, she mentioned he might try using a low gear to go downhill without so much braking. When we got back on the road, he did just that and everything went just fine. It was after that, at lunch, that he saw that sticker about using lower gears to climb hills and descend steep grades.

We stopped for lunch at Cheyenne Crossing and Todd suggested it was time for a hotel night. Diane was shocked that he was the one who had reached that conclusion, but she was happy, too. We drove on highway 85 South, stopping for a hike at the Eagle Cliff Trails. We had a nice stroll, but then a thunderstorm swept up so we had to turn back.

From there, we drove on to Newcastle, Wyoming in worsening weather. Thunder and lightening all around, wind, pouring rain. It was crazy! But it all came and went quickly. 

 The view from a scenic overlook at Salt Creek.

At Newcastle, Diane had enough cell reception to make a hotel reservation for a place in Wheatland, WY, about 150 miles away, at a place with a pool and hot tub, and then we just had the long and harrowing driving down highway 85 in truly insane wind with what seemed to be violent weather forming on all sides. The relief we all felt when we finally reached Wheatland cannot be underestimated. It took us 4 hours to drive that 150 miles, and getting out of the Big Rolling Crate never felt so good.

So now we're all caught up on the blog and we're soon to head off to our next stop, Rocky Mountain National Park and National Forest. Colorado, here we come!