Bill and Debbie's Blog

Trip Over - Too Bad

2009-05-20T13:48:00.000-07:00

We got back to Raleigh on May 19th. Bill the rode the Divisidero trail outside of Taos, New Mexico, where we also visited an old mission church that has been well kept. From New Mexico, we pretty much drove I-40 all the way back. We did stop for a few days in Palo Duro State Park in Texas which has some great mountain biking. They also have some big wild turkeys that woke us up with their mating displays and gobbling. We stopped at Red Canyon State Park in Oklahoma which was actually more of a big ditch than a canyon, but again, this is Oklahoma which is supposed to be flat as a pancake, so I guess that they can call it a canyon. We did a brief stop over in the Osark Mountains of Arkansas where a group of armadillos wandered through our camp. I wonder where we we will go next.

Santa Fe

2009-05-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

We spent three days camped at the Black Canyon Forest Service campground just a few miles outside of Santa Fe. We hiked a trail out of the campground and spent a day touring the Governor's Palace - the oldest continually occupied public building in the country ( since 1610!) Bill rode the "Dale Ball" mountain bike trail system as well as part of the Winsor Trail, considered to be one of the best and most challenging rides in New Mexico. To ride bikes on trails out here, you need to bring lots of water and have thorn proof tires.

Bandelier

2009-05-10T15:32:00.000-07:00

Bandelier National Monument is northwest of Santa Fe and like Canyon de Chelly, it contains a beautiful green canyon where Native Americans and their ancestors have lived for centuries. The unique thing about this area is the fact that the Indians enlarged the caves that are naturally formed in the volcanic layers by erosion. They built peublo structures in front of these caves to form multiple storied buildings high on the south facing wall of the canyon. One of the sites, Alcove House, we reached by climbing up a series of wooden ladders until we were 150 feet up the cliff face. The bottom of this canyon had a beautiful little creek shaded by groves of cottonwood and ponderosa pine trees.

Even More Canyon de Chelly

2009-05-10T15:24:00.000-07:00

Throughout the canyon we could easily see evidence of the many trails used by the Native Americans to climb out of the canyon to the mesa top. In the first pic you can see the foot holds carved into the canyon wall.

More Canyon de Chelly

2009-05-10T15:09:00.000-07:00

Canyon de Chelly

2009-05-10T14:13:00.000-07:00

Venturing further south still on the largest Native American reservation in the country, we arrive at Chinle Arizona. This is a small town at the mouth of an idylic, oasis-like complex of canyons that stretch nearly forty miles. Again access is only permitted while accompanied by Navajo guides. This catch is that there are no roads into the canyons! Access is only through a sandy wash which while dry most of the time, was completely flooded during our visit. The guide companies use war surplus all wheel drive troop trucks to haul their vistors through the water and sand. There were times that I thought that we were on a boat rather than a truck. The canyon is full of ruins dating from around 1,000 years old to some more recent. There are also innumerable pictographs and petroglyphs dating from the Anasazi period to more modern Navajo occupation of the area. This is a unique national park since it is administrated by the National Park Service, but the land itself is actually owned by Navajos whose ancesters have farmed the small plots for centuries.

Added Treat In Monument Valley Tour

2009-05-10T13:48:00.000-07:00

As we did in Arizona two years ago, we again almost stepped right on a rattle snake during our tour with Gary, our Navajo guide. He said that he rarely saw one, but that he wanted to gently remove it from the area since he did not want anyone to encounter it the next time he brought people to the area.

The Sacred Valley of the Navajos

2009-05-10T13:05:00.000-07:00

After a quick stop at Goosenecks SP where we saw an incredible view of the meandering Colorado River (this is the spot where Thelma and Louise drove off the cliff in the movie), we entered the Navajo Indian Resevation and Monument
Valley. We camped right at the edge of one of the most breath taking views in the world. The local wild dogs imediately came over to ask for a handout. That afternoon we hired a Navajo guide, Gary, to take us into Mystery Valley, one of the lesser visited parts of the reservation and only available to outsiders if accompanied by a native guide. We spent four hours climbing into caves and stone arches containing Anasazi ruins dating back almost 1,000 years. We savored the quiet of desert and the awsome landscape. Gary added to the moment by chanting in his native toungue and playing his cedar flute.

The Swinging Steak, Mexican Hat, Utah

2009-05-10T12:25:00.000-07:00

We stopped for the night in Mexican Hat, Utah. So named for a distinctive rock formation just outside of town. There was one gas station, two motels, a small RV park and one place to buy 3.2 percent beer (this is Utah!) The only other inhabitant of the RV parks suggested that we try dining out at the Swinging Steak. This establishment was right next door - everything in Mexican Hat is along a quarter mile stretch of US 163. The place was outside in the open air and features a blazing woodfire with a sort of bed frame swinging above it which was utilized as a grill by one of the two employees that cooked and served the food. The menu was only two kinds of steaks, chicken or hamburger and was served with salad and pinto beans - no substitutions, take it or leave it. The steak was cooked to perfection swinging over the fire and as the waitress explained, the dessert menu was beer. The place also presented a western swing band that consisted of what looked like several colorful locals. They actually were quite good - better than the photo that I tried to take of them. The restaurant soon filled up with the usual Japanese, German, French and even two women from Australia that had heard about The Steak in their own country. I wonder why only foreigners go to the really cools places in America!

The Moki Dugway!

2009-05-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

Highway 261 meanders pleasantly across the top of the immense Cedar Plateau and then DROPS OFF THE EDGE! The road turns to a narrow gravel passage which drops about 2,000 feet in two miles. This has got to be one of the freakiest roads in America. It's too narrow for two vehicles to pass so one has to backup or go forward to one of the few wide spots when encountering on coming traffic. The middle pic is looking back at the Dugway from the bottom. Where does the road go?

Desert Camping

2009-05-10T12:01:00.000-07:00

We heading south past Canyon Lands NP to a pretty little remote campground called Wind Whistle. Nearby was some breathtaking overlooks of the Colorado River.

Moab Utah

2009-05-10T11:51:00.000-07:00

We headed south through that unique Utahan landscape of other worldly arches and towers to Moab, one of the outdoor meccas. We camped right on the Colorado River just a few miles outside of town. Bill took the Poison Spider Bicycle shuttle up to do the famous Mountain bike trail, Porcupine Rim. This is an eighteen mile single track ride that drops from about 8,000 feet to 4,000 feet and ends right at our campground. This is a very technical, challenging ride which hugs the edge of a thousand foot cliff for much of the distance. Bill survived although he admits to walking some of the more difficult sections. Oh, I could not resist including a pic of the campgrounds "rest room" with its unique view.

Dinosaur National Monument

2009-05-10T11:36:00.000-07:00

After Leaving Boulder, we spent two days in Dinosaur National Monument. This remote park has beautiful scenery and is famous for the large numbers of dinosaur bones found there. Unfortunately, the museum is closed due to structural problems, but we did some nice hikes which went to rock formations with visible fossils. On was a large backbone of a dinosaur. Although the park is large, there are few developed trails and most of the action here is the rafting on the Green River.

Back In Boulder

2009-04-25T14:49:00.000-07:00

We spent a week in Boulder visiting Bill's father and son as well as other family. Bill did a 13 mile mountain bike ride in the cold and rain with his old friend Steve. It was wet and muddy, but a lot of fun. Tomorrow we are off for Dinosaur National Monument and then other points south and west.

Back to Civilization

2009-04-22T08:14:00.000-07:00

We left Chaco in another snowstorm and took the rutted dirt road north to Colorado. After a day in Cortez and a tour of the Anasazi Museum in Delores, we drove to Fruita Colorado via Moab Utah. Since Boulder was being dumped on with about two feet of snow, we decided to spend an extra few days on the western slope of the Rocky Mountains. Bill spent a full day riding the famous Fruita mountain bike trails. Finally last Sunday, we headed to Boulder, where Bill's father, several brothers and our son live. We went from snow in New Mexico to heat in Utah to snow as we crossed Vail Pass in Colorado back to warm sunny days in Boulder.

Ancient Messages

2009-04-22T08:04:00.000-07:00

After awakening to a light snow fall and twenty degree temperatures, we took the eight-mile round trip hike out to Peublo Blanco and saw the incredibly well preserved petroglyphs along the way. Near the end of the hike is the famous "Super Nova" pictograph, which, along with the crescent moon, is the ancients' record of the great super nova star burst that occurred in 1054 AD.

More Chaco Culture

2009-04-22T07:51:00.000-07:00

After exploring several of the ancient pueblo ruins, we climbed up through a rock chimney that was a hidden passageway used by the early native Americans to access the mesa top from the valley below. From the top we had an excellent view of the large ruins set among the gorgeous natural scenery.

The road to Chaco...

2009-04-22T07:41:00.000-07:00

From Clovis we blew through Albuquerque and entered the remote Chaco Culture National Historical Park. This hidden canyon was the center of pre-Pueblo civilization around 800 to 1100 AD.

New Mexico

2009-04-13T18:07:00.000-07:00

We hit Oasis State Park just inside the New Mexico line last night. This is truly an "oasis" with a beautiful spring fed lake in the middle of the desert. Of course, we were almost alone in the small campground. Today we got to Albuquergue where we visited Pictograph National Monument. Tomorrow we are off to the remote area of Chaco Culture National Historical Park. We loaded up on water and food and will be off-grid for several days.

Copper Breaks and Caprock

2009-04-13T17:23:00.000-07:00

These are two beautiful little parks in the panhandle of Texas. We did some serious hiking and Bill hit the mountain bike trails and learned the hard way about flat tires from cactus thorns. After using up all of his spare tire patches and his spare inner tube, he gave up until we can find a bike shop and by some thorn proof liners. He did manage to ride almost all of the trails in both parks.
We hiked on a trail in Caprock to a natural bridge. You can see the one picture of Bill standing in front of the tunnel through carved solid rock by water. We did not go into the tunnel because of the abundance of rattlesnakes in the area.

Into Texas!

2009-04-13T17:14:00.000-07:00

We continued westward and landed in the LBJ National Grasslands, somewhere northwest of Dallas. It cost $ 2.00 per night to camp on this beautiful wilderness lake - once again, we were the only ones there. This turned out to also be a "lovers lane" for turkey buzzards...

Mississippi

2009-04-13T16:55:00.000-07:00

We landed in Roosevelt State Park and enjoyed the cypress swamp and near empty campground.

Underground in the Deep South

2009-04-13T16:42:00.000-07:00

We continued to Rickwood Caverns State Park in Alabama and toured the caves.

2009's Adventure Begins!

2009-04-13T16:25:00.000-07:00

We are off again to the West! We left Raleigh and went all the way to Murphy in extreme western North Carolina. We then dipped down into Georgia where we stayed at Cloud Canyon State Park and toured the Chicamauga battlefield. It was almost like being in the west, on a smaller scale. There was a small canyon with some spectacular water falls. This is the only place east of the Mississippi that I have ever heard called a canyon!

The long ferry ride home

2008-10-17T14:17:00.000-07:00

In order to continue further south from Ocracoke it is necessary to take a long ferry boat ride across the Pamlico Sound to Cedar Island where one may rejoin the mainland highway system. The ride was very pleasant. Also on board the boat was a group of older motorcycle riders from Georgia out on a grand excursion.