Moving On

Delighted with our decision not to continue to Estes Park; they ended up getting almost 34” of snow from that winter storm. We’d probably STILL be there! And. I got to add another National Park to my repertoire, Great Sand Dunes National Park. What a gem. Tallest sand dunes in North America. Cover 30 sq miles. Contain 6.5 billion cubic meters of sand. The sand has accumulated over tens of thousands of years, formed from the deposits of ancient lakes & rivers, and brought to this spot by winds that continue to recycle the sand back to the dune field. We stayed in an RV park just outside the park, Great Sand Dunes Oasis.

We pointed the RV toward Arches National Park knowing there were still a couple of mountain passes we needed to traverse, keeping our fingers crossed that they had not been buried in snow. There was a little bit of snow on the mountains and in shaded areas but none on the roads. We have been fortunate regarding weather. Most days high 60s with some breezes. We call that practically perfect.

Arches did not disappoint. We drove the whole park…you know, I love to go to the end of the road. Made several stops with short hikes to see arch after arch. Our longest trek was a couple of miles to see Landscape Arch. It was certainly worth it. Double arch with another on the side! Spent the night at Mountain View RV Park, in Monticello, UT. Greg’s comment after scoping the showers was, they’re nicer than most homes. We all took LONG, hot showers that night.

Drove to Desert Rim Campground to scope our reserved site before heading into Grand Canyon National Park. This park never gets old for me. This was my fourth visit. We decided to walk the South Rim Trail. We were pleased that it was not very crowded. A lot of the larger National Parks do not allow dogs on the trails. Rory was happy that this was an exception. The plan was to walk the trail to the El Tovar Lodge then catch the shuttle back. Dogs aren’t allowed on the shuttle (we knew before we started) so Greg & Madison stopped in for a snack at Bright Angel Lodge. Lucky Rory & me—we spotted three elk on the way back. Her nose twitched a lot but otherwise she left them alone. Had dinner in the camper then hopped on the shuttle to Hopi Point to watch a sunset. It was less than brilliant but we were still glad we tried. Before crashing, I checked my tracker and saw I’d walked 7.6 miles that day. No wonder I was tired!

Made Madison get up at 5:15 to watch a 5:30 sunrise. It was a little more dramatic and we were all pleased with our quick visit to this iconic park. On to Bryce Canyon National Park. We arrived midday and were told at the gate there was no place available to park our RV. Not easily deterred, we pulled into the first overflow parking lot with oversized spots. Don’t know if we live right or if someone had just left, but we pulled into the last available slot. Wahoo! Got on the shuttle and did the on/off at the major points. 

Have you ever seen hoodoos? They are also called fairy chimneys. To me they sorta look like those sand “castles” the girls built when they were small out of wet sand dripped on top of itself until they had a tower. But these are massive rock formations that took millions of years to form. Pretty other worldly. After a short rim walk we took the RV to Rainbow Point. Why? End. Of. The. Road. Made a couple of stops on the way back and called it a day. Ate out at a local joint with live music then camped at Ruby’s Inn RV Park. 

Slept in (6:30!), did some laundry, ate breakfast then headed west. The next two days have few stops and many miles to cover. Fortunately, we are making great time on highways (not interstates) with little traffic and incredible panoramas. We were driving through Great Basin National Park, pretty much an arid wasteland, when I was surprised to see the gas light pop on. We’ve been so intentional about filling up at half a tank that this caught us both by surprise. Fortunately, five miles later we passed through one of the very few communities, Baker, NV (population 100, 1 unmanned gas station, diesel $6.10/gallon) in this barren desert. Whew. Picked up some scrub brush and vistas of the Sierra Nevadas. We’ve passed 3,000 miles since leaving Murphy. All good.

Pics here.