Category: 2017, June Western Trip

It was 5:30 am when I woke up On Saturday, the day after I played in the Senior’s Event. There wasn’t any reason to hang around, so I headed northeast from Vegas on Interstate 15 towards Utah and Zion and Bryce National Parks. I had a campsite reserved at Panguitch Lake campground in Dixie National Forest for tonight (Saturday) and Sunday. Panguitch Lake campground is a little north and between Zion and Bryce. Panguitch Lake is at a higher elevation than Zion and Bryce, so would be cooler and more comfortable. My plan was to get to Panguitch Lake later in the afternoon, set up camp, relax, explore Zion on Sunday, and Bryce on Monday. Because I left Vegas so early, I got to Zion pretty early in the day. The road leading into Zion was just packed. I was a little concerned that I might not get into the park. After a while, I did get in it, and Zion is just beautiful, but I decided not to fight the crowd. I will visit Zion in the future in the off-season.

I drove east through Zion, exited the park, and drove a few miles on highway 9 to Mount Carmel Junction, Utah, where I headed north on highway 89. About an hour north is Panguitch. A few miles before Panguitch is highway 12 east, which takes you into Bryce National Park. On this drive, I could see smoke coming from the hills west of Panguitch Lake. This turned out to be the beginning of the “Brian Head” fire which became pretty big, moved east, and one week later, burned the Panguitch Lake area. Brian Head is a ski area popular with skiers who live in Vegas. Anyway, I took highway 12 east through Bryce. Bryce is another beautiful National Park. I stopped at three scenic overlooks, walked to the edge and snapped photos.

It was 3:30 pm. Although I saw just a fraction of Zion and Bryce, it was in the mid-90s, the parks were crowded, and I plan to return to these parks, so decided to forget about camping at Panguitch Lake. I headed towards home. Highway 12 heads east out of Bryce, to the town of Tropic, then the town of Escalante, then north to the town of Torrey. This drive is incredibly beautiful. Months later, when looking at one of those internet, Best Drive in Every State lists, I saw that it is someones opinion that this drive is the most beautiful drive in Utah. In Torrey, I turned due east on highway 24 which cuts straight across Capital Reef National Park, another gorgeous drive. About halfway through the park is Fruita which is like an oasis. There is a little campground there that I will visit with a small trailer someday in the future.

At this point, the only plan I had was to head towards Milwaukee, and get a motel when I got too tired to drive. I continued on 24 north towards Interstate 70 which would take me east across Utah and Colorado, and back to Sterling, Colorado. After driving east on 70 into Colorado, it had been a long day, so I started looking for a place to sleep. It was midnight when I exited 70 at the Glenwood Springs rest area. This is a large, popular, very nice rest area. It felt safe, so I shut my eyes. When I opened my eyes again, it was 5 am, so I started driving east and didn’t stop except for gas, coffee, and snacks until I was back home in Glendale, Wisconsin, a suburb north of Milwaukee. I just checked on Google maps, and Glenwood Springs to Glendale is supposed to be 17 and a half hours. I don’t remember what time I got home. My trip odometer showed that from Las Vegas to Glendale, WI was 1880 miles. Google confirms this. Driving 1880 miles with 5 hours of sleep wasn’t a smart thing to do, but I just didn’t want to stop, get a motel, and get up to face another day of driving.

An amazing thing about this trip is that it covered 9 days, 4500 miles, I think 8 national parks, and I never saw one drop of rain, not even on my windshield.

The Senior’s Event is a 3-day poker tournament. The entry fee is $1000. I think the minimum age is 50. Two years ago, I played in the event and lasted the entire first day, which I think was about 13 hours. This year, not so much. After 5 hours of the first day, I was eliminated. Oh well, so I just took it easy and went to bed early.

It’s Thursday, and I’ve spent two great days camped at the South Rim of The Grand Canyon. The drive to Las Vegas was through desert, and it was hot. By the time I reached Vegas, it was around 105. I headed south from Grand Canyon Village on highway 64. At the town of Williams, Arizona, I got on Interstate 40, drove west until I reached Kingman, got on highway 93, and went northwest until I reached Hoover Dam. It’s been 30 years since I’ve seen Hoover Dam, so I stopped and walked onto the “new” bridge, which is below the dam, and took a few pictures.

I had time to spare, so I took a look at Boulder City, the town that was created to house the workers who built the dam. There is a big, old, white hotel in the middle of town which has a small museum on the second floor. The museum is about the town and the construction of the dam. It costs $2 to go through the museum. It was late afternoon when I got to the Rio in Vegas, where I stayed for the next two nights. The Senior’s Event would start the next morning (Friday), so I had dinner, had a couple glasses of wine at a bar while playing video poker, and went to bed early.

Tonight and tomorrow nights, I will be camping at the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. It’s roughly a six-hour drive from Moab to the South Rim. Headed south on highway 191 until I reached Bluff, Utah where I picked up highway 163 which goes southwest towards Arizona. Just before reaching Arizona is Monument Pass.

Highway 163 continues southeast into Arizona until you get to the town of Kayenta where you continue southeast on highway 160. I followed 160 until just past Tuba City and turned south on 89. After a short distance, highway 64 west took me to the southeast entrance of Grand Canyon National Park. My first stop was Desert View Watchtower.

It’s not possible to overstate how spectacular the Grand Canyon is, so I won’t try. I had a site at Mather Campground reserved for the next two nights.

The South Rim is at an elevation of 7000 feet. It was around 85 both days I was there but one night, it dipped below 30 degrees. I could post hundreds of photos of the Grand Canyon but will only post two, one from mid-day and one from sunset.

 

 

It’s Monday, the 4th day of my trip. The drive from Mesa Verde to Moab is supposed to be less than 3 hours. From Mesa Verde, I drove straight west towards the southeast corner of Utah. In Cortez I picked up highway G, passed just south of Canyons of the Ancients National Monument and into Utah. I’m not sure what country roads I was on but ended up on highway 162 in Aneth, Utah. The drive from Cortez to Aneth passed through perhaps the most desolate, inhospitable land I’ve seen. From Aneth to Montezuma, highway 162 parallels the San Juan river. At times it seemed a little bit like an oasis. In Montezuma, I turned north on highway 262. After a bit, 262 goes west and picks up highway 191 which goes north towards Canyonlands National Park. North of Monticello, I turned west on highway 211, which heads towards the southeast portion of Canyonlands National Park. This is called The Needles District. On the way to the entrance to the Needles District, you will pass by Newspaper State Historical Monument.

Needles District

There is a campground in the Needles District. The campground doesn’t have one tree. There wasn’t a soul camping at this campground. The national park site kinda warns you that this is an inhospitable place to camp. After checking out the campground, I headed back east on 211, picked up 191 again, and finished my drive to Moab. The northern section of Canyonlands is a little west of Moab, and Arches is just to the northeast of Moab. The temperature was 96, and by the time I arrived at the northeast entrance to Canyonlands, the wind must have been 30 mph. At times, it was a hot sandstorm.

Canyonlands, Green River

Couldn’t stay at the observation point long as the sandstorm stung my face. I headed back to Moab planning on visiting Arches National Park. There were signs at the entrance to Arches warning of roadwork and delays. That and the wind and sand helped me decide to see Arches on a future trip.

The idea was to drive to Mesa Verde National Park campground and pitch a tent for one night. From Ouray to Mesa Verde is about a 3-hour drive. By 8 am, I was dressed and ready to go. Ouray is a beautiful small town in the mountains. About 45 minutes south of Ouray is a similar but more rustic town named Silverton. Having several hours to spare, I headed south to Silverton. Hwy 550 goes from Montrose to Durango. The section from Ouray to Silverton is known as The Million Dollar Highway due to the gold and silver mines that were active in the area. The drive is beautiful but a little scary due to the hairpin turns and vertical drops.

After what was probably the most breathtaking drive of my life, I arrived at Silverton.

Now I turned around, went back through Ouray and made my way to Telluride and on to Mesa Verde. Telluride was once probably similar to Ouray, but it has a ski area, so it is a very expensive version of Ouray. The valley leading into Telluride is gorgeous. 
The valley leading to Telluride

I drove through Telluride, it isn’t very big, to see Bridal Veil Falls, which is just on the other side of Telluride. Then I turned around and headed mostly south and a little west on Hwy 145 towards Mesa Verde. This is another beautiful drive which goes through the San Juan National Forest. There are many National Forest Campgrounds in the San Juan National Forest. After a stretch, the highway follows the Dolores River to Dolores, Colorado, and then to Cortez, Colorado. From Cortez, it’s Hwy 160 east to Mesa Verde. It’s a bit of a drive to get up to the top of the mesa where the park buildings and campgrounds are located. The campground is first come first serve. I found a pleasant spot in the Taos Loop and pitched my tent. By now it was 6 pm, which left me some time to look at some cliff dwellings from lookout points .

Close to sunset, I returned to my tent to find a doe and baby mule deer.

 

Slept in a little as my drive to Ouray was supposed to be about 7 hours. From Sterling to Denver is about a 2 hour, not so exciting drive, but once you leave Denver heading west, you climb up into the Rockies. It’s interstate 70W from Denver to Grand Junction, Colorado. This is a beautiful drive through the mountains, by famous ski areas such as Silverthorne, Copper Mountain, Vail, etc.. Before getting to Grand Junction, the landscape changes quite a bit, from mountains to hilly country. At Grand Junction, I headed south on Hwy 50, passed through Delta, Olathe, and made it to Montrose. From Montrose, it was a short drive to my first National Park of the trip, The Black Canyon of the Gunnison. It’s a spectacular gorge cut by the Gunnison River.

The Black Canyon of the Gunnison

Ouray

At 5:30 am I left my home in Milwaukee and headed west to my first stop, Sterling, Colorado. From 1st through 5th grades, I lived west of Des Moines, Iowa. My route to Sterling took me within 2 miles of my childhood home.  At 9:30 pm, I was in my hotel room near Sterling, Colorado. A long first day.