• Utah

    White Rim Road

    November 29, 2015 - By 

    In the spring and fall permits for the White Rim Road sell out fast.  It’s no wonder why. The adventure on White Rim Road in the Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands offers more than just off-roading.  Tack on canyon rim camping, mountain biking, and hiking over a minimum of 2 days and 1 night and you’ve got some wild fun.  $30 permits can be reserved up to 4 months in advance but thanks to the cold off season we acquired ours the afternoon before we began our first real off-roading adventure. Because it was our first true off-roading…

  • Utah

    Needles

    November 25, 2015 - By 

    I should have explained in my first post about Canyonlands that the national park is divided into three districts: Island in the Sky, Needles, and The Maze. These three districts are separated by deep canyons created by the Colorado and Green Rivers, making it impossible to go from one park to the other within national park boundaries. Each district has its own entrance, which takes at least a couple of hours to travel from one to the next. Last year during my first visit to Canyonlands, I sampled two days at Island in the Sky by checking out every overlook, walking all…

  • Utah

    Monument Valley and Around

    November 23, 2015 - By 

    Monument Valley is arguably one of the most famous landscapes in the American Southwest. After watching Forrest Gump, I knew a snapshot of the epic stretch of road leading up into the valley was obligatory. Better yet, I was going to cycle it. Since we were approaching Monument Valley from the northeast in Colorado, I made note of the number of beautiful sites worth seeing along the way: Mexican Hat Rock, Moki Dugway, and Valley of the Gods. Immediately after hiking the Sand Canyon Trail we set out for Mexican Hat Rock, not because the rock formation was particularly interesting,…

  • Colorado

    Mesa Verde and Sand Canyon

    November 22, 2015 - By 

    I knew we weren’t going to leave Colorado before making it to Mesa Verde, the largest and most famous archeological site in the Southwest known to me. These ancient cliff dwellings were discovered by local ranchers only in the late 1800s, and then later became a national park in 1906. Now this popular national park has giant parking lots loaded with tour bus parking zones, and has a third party campground that hosts over 200 campsites. It’s a damn popular place. However, due to the off-season and the winter storm that passed through the night before our arrival, most archeological…

  • Colorado

    Great Sand Dunes and Zapata Falls

    November 19, 2015 - By 

    Last year we fell in love with New Mexico’s White Sand Dunes, so it was a no brainer that we had to see North America’s largest sand dunes during our time spent in Southern Colorado. The drive from Black Canyon of the Gunnison to Great Sand Dunes was beautiful, especially when passing through the Curecanti National Recreation Area. We arrived to Great Sand Dunes in time for a late lunch, and with the early winter month upon us, the low sun gave us perfect lighting for photos. In the peak months of May and June, a seasonal creek flows through the…

  • Colorado

    Black Canyon of the Gunnison

    November 18, 2015 - By 

    Of the 59 national parks in the U.S., most are unheard of/unknown, and that is definitely the case for the Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.  Maybe because it’s such a small park.  Maybe because it is simply overshadowed by Colorado’s other popular national parks such as Rocky Mountain or Mesa Verde.  But despite its unpopularity, gazing down (and hiking down!) into the canyon is spectacular, especially gazing at the famed Painted Wall at sunrise, Colorado’s highest cliff at 2,250 ft. tall.  There is a reason why it is called the Black Canyon.  With its steep drop offs and incredibly…

  • Colorado

    Colorado National Monument

    November 17, 2015 - By 

    Not having a strict agenda, or any schedule for that fact, is one of the best aspects of traveling.  Not vacationing.  TRAVELING.  And that is how we stumbled upon the wonders of Colorado National Monument. During our 2014 road trip across the U.S. we hardly spent any time in Colorado.  In fact, we only had 3 days to spare for Colorado, which forced us to rush through Rocky Mountain National Park, Denver, and Boulder.  Now we had real time (well, more than 3 days) to spend in Colorado, but all in the south.  My sites of interest included 3 national parks:…

  • Utah

    Crystal Geyser

    November 16, 2015 - By 

    No, not the brand of water. An actual geyser. An accidental, man-made geyser formed by a drilling attempt to find oil in 1935. The Crystal Geyser, located just a few miles south of the small town of Green River, Utah, was a rare cold water carbon dioxide driven geyser—it did not have any geothermal activity. I say was because it doesn’t erupt anymore. Prior to 2014, it was said that ~66% of the eruptions occurred about 8 hours after the previous eruption, and the rest about 22% after. Eruptions lasted 7-32 minutes, or 98-113 minutes. But now, due to stupid…

  • Utah

    Donut Falls

    November 15, 2015 - By 

    If you happen to be in or near Salt Lake City with a couple hours to kill, check out Donut Falls, perhaps one of the most popular hikes in the SLC area.  We were staying in Draper with friends, and they suggested making the quick hike (or walk) at Donut Falls. Apparently the week before, the climate resembled more like late summer/early fall. When we visited Donut Falls, it was clearly the start of winter.  The creek was mostly frozen with snow-covered rocks, and the hike up to Donut Falls was icy and slippery. But was it worth it?  YES! Because a portion…

  • Idaho

    Twin Falls and Around

    November 13, 2015 - By 

    Years of watching our friends base jump from the Perrine Bridge in Twin Falls on social media sparked the desire to see the bridge for ourselves.  Perhaps someday we’ll make the jump ourselves once our timing alines with some friends’ timing, but for now scoping out the bridge and the surrounding area would have to do. Between Boise and Salt Lake City was obviously Twin Falls, but was there anything else? Obviously, there was!  Not far from Twin Falls was a slight detour to Idaho’s Balanced Rock, seriously the coolest balanced rock I had ever seen. Numerous balanced rocks lay scattered throughout the Colorado Plateau, but…