Photo Blog with Waterfalls, Hiking, Outdoors, and other Adventures
2016 road trip through western US. Because I was a contractor at my company they gifted me a 30 day furlough (layoff) as part of mandatory practices. What better time to take a vacation?
Today I tried to be pro-active and book lodging before actually arriving to my destination (what a crazy idea, right?). Well, in this case it worked against me. Booked a hotel in Santa Fe, NM thinking I would have time then ended up at Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park about an hour from … Read more
After staying in Grand Junction last night out of necessity, it was a pleasant surprise to find Colorado National Monument located in the same city some 10 miles from my hotel. Did t have time to do any hikes, but the views were worth the visit. Since I visited early morning, the sun was against … Read more
After Capitol Reef I had a decision to make – skip some parks and start driving south, or press my luck and go for more. Made some distance calculations with my road atlas (no cell service out here anywhere) and made the call to push onward in my adventures. Only about 100 miles or so … Read more
Cold, windy night in the tent again but wore my snowboarding gear and stayed toasty warm. First day in a while with 8 hours of sleep! Broke down camp and was in the park before 8am but found this wasn’t ideal to photograph the rock formations. Had to wait 30-45 minutes for more light to … Read more
Made it to Capitol Reef but too late – visitor center closed, campgrounds full, and raining a little. Found a tent site at a nearby RV park, little/no cell service and WiFi is awful. Tomorrow visiting the Reef. Only upside? Caught another double rainbow photo (2nd is weak but it’s still there). WHAT DOES IT … Read more
Ended up back in my favorite wilderness shack again last night. Cheap rates, bed, heat, and showers make a very happy and rested camper! Also very happy to be out of Nevada – not my favorite state, but some excellent geological features I wish I could have seen. Maybe some other trip. Woke up early … Read more
Left Vegas and headed north back towards Utah. Decided California has too much to see and I couldn’t pick a place, and The Hoover Dam was back towards the desert that has nothing for me. On the way, there is a NV State Park called Valley of Fire due to the prevalence of red rock … Read more
Out of sheer curiosity and proximity to other things, today I drove to Las Vegas. AirBnB here is impossible and couchsurfing nonexistent even days in advance. Booked a last minute hotel at Circus Circus, and after getting jerked around by Expedia (after an hour on the phone it got fixed but…) I set out to … Read more
Down the highway from Sunset is the Walnut Canyon National Monument. This site preserves the early cliff side dwellings of the Sinagua culture dating back to about 1100 CE, near the same time of Sunset’s eruption. Can you imagine what they saw in the distant sky from their caves on that day? Crazy to imagine. … Read more
I spent a good portion of last night trying to determine my next destination, and still haven’t decided. So instead, I am winding my way through some local monuments. First stop near Flagstaff is the Sunset Crater Volcano. Last erupting about 1,000 years ago, it blanketed the surrounding 800 square miles in ash changing the … Read more