The next morning after planning on getting up early (ended up around 9-10am), we had to deice the driveway manually with some basic snow hoes and plastic snow scoops. This process took another hour, to hour and a half and some serious pushing of non-4 wheeled vehicles, including Randall's 4Runner. After we were able to get the cars up the driveway's hill, we then retrieved my car, and headed towards the Arches National Park in Moab, UT. The road to Moab was an exciting one to say the least, we drove West on I-70 as it went through some of the most mountainous terrain in America. We encountered a few snow pockets, but all in all the drive wasn't bad to Moab and there were some cool sights along the way. Once we got to the Arches National Park the weather was pretty cloudy, and overcast but we still had some of the most amazing views of the journey. We consolidated into one vehicle and were able to see the majority of the park in about an hour and a half. Might have been the quickest anyone had been in and out of the park, at least I'd like to think so. After leaving the park, the sun had started to go down but I had no idea what was in store for us later.
Moab, UT is somewhat in the desert, and was definitely warm enough that I didn't consider what would happen next. A few hours after leaving Moab, we entered a snowstorm (maybe a blizzard), and I experienced some of the worst weather I had ever seen. Partially blind, and only partially getting traction for three to four hours we drove on I-70 about 25-50 mph towards I-15 for what should have been some of the fastest driving on the trip. (The speed limit was 80 mph in a good portion of this section.) I was constantly loosing traction but never bad enough to stop completely, although going 15 mph in a 80 mph zone might as well be stopped completely. Luckily there weren't many other people as dumb as us to drive through this area, although a few truckers would fly past us, causing whiteouts each time. Once we were in the southern portion of Utah the snowstorm subsided and we decided that we would at least make it to Vegas before calling it a night. Almost 13 hours after leaving Vail, CO we ended up in Las Vegas, NV trying to figure out how we survived while eating the best dinner I've had in years.
Path to Southern California
The journey is the destination.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Day 6 Fort Collins to Vail - Sunday
Sunday morning I found myself lying on my buddy Owens couch with all of my clothes on and no blanket. (It had been 30 degrees the night before.) Not exactly how I thought I'd wake up while partying the night before, but at least I was indoors. At one point during the night I realized I had no blanket, but it was too late at that point and I just passed back out. After a few more hours had passed I finally decided to get up around 11am, and call my caravan companion who had continued on to Vail. At this point I didn't have a hangover but I started to do that math and realized that I drank about 8 high gravity beers. (Of the 12 beers I brought, I had 10 bottle caps in my pocket. My cousin only drank two all night.) Once I got in touch with my friend, I started the packing and saying my goodbyes. Overall I had a great time in Fr. Collins, even though my cousin and I had a few arguments about life, the universe, and everything. A few hours later, on my drive to Vail, I started to feel the effects of the hangover, albeit still not badly.
Once I reached Vail I got my first experience with fish tailing on ice. Driving along on a highway trying to find where my buddy Randall had been staying, I lost all traction on the road and wasn't able to accelerate. So, I took my foot off the brake and stopped even trying to accelerate and just let the ice take over. I was able to avoid hitting anything but I was now aware of how hard it is to drive a front wheel vehicle on icy surfaces. Eventually, I found the house, unfortunately it was up a pretty steep hill which gave me a little bit of trouble getting up. I thought the hardest part was over, turns out its harder to go uphill once you have stopped. After reaching the driveway of the house, I was told I couldn't park there so we had to move my car. Problem was the ice didn't think that was a good idea. After about 15 minutes of tires squealing on ice, Randall took over and backed my car down the hill and drove to a parking garage, while I rode in his friends car with some of my luggage for the nights.
My one night in Vail was a complete 180 in difference from the people I stayed with in Ft. Collins. The people I stayed with in Ft. Collins were all eco-conscious, heady folk. They were into recycling and nature, and were very nice and helpful. Also, they had all moved there for the time being, working to make a living and enjoying where they were. The people I stayed with in Vail were nice, and helpful as well but in different ways. They were all University of Alabama fraternity kids, who were more or less just living in the area to ski, and work at ski lodges. The Vail area was very touristy and was completely different than what I had expected. I somewhat expected a nice, quite mountain town, but I was more reminded of an all inclusive resort town. Potatoes, potatoes, and tomatoes, tomatoes. (You have to say the second one of each differently, otherwise it doesn't make sense ha.)
That night we went to bed planning on waking up around 7:30am, so that one of the kids living/working there could be first one on the mountain.
Once I reached Vail I got my first experience with fish tailing on ice. Driving along on a highway trying to find where my buddy Randall had been staying, I lost all traction on the road and wasn't able to accelerate. So, I took my foot off the brake and stopped even trying to accelerate and just let the ice take over. I was able to avoid hitting anything but I was now aware of how hard it is to drive a front wheel vehicle on icy surfaces. Eventually, I found the house, unfortunately it was up a pretty steep hill which gave me a little bit of trouble getting up. I thought the hardest part was over, turns out its harder to go uphill once you have stopped. After reaching the driveway of the house, I was told I couldn't park there so we had to move my car. Problem was the ice didn't think that was a good idea. After about 15 minutes of tires squealing on ice, Randall took over and backed my car down the hill and drove to a parking garage, while I rode in his friends car with some of my luggage for the nights.
My one night in Vail was a complete 180 in difference from the people I stayed with in Ft. Collins. The people I stayed with in Ft. Collins were all eco-conscious, heady folk. They were into recycling and nature, and were very nice and helpful. Also, they had all moved there for the time being, working to make a living and enjoying where they were. The people I stayed with in Vail were nice, and helpful as well but in different ways. They were all University of Alabama fraternity kids, who were more or less just living in the area to ski, and work at ski lodges. The Vail area was very touristy and was completely different than what I had expected. I somewhat expected a nice, quite mountain town, but I was more reminded of an all inclusive resort town. Potatoes, potatoes, and tomatoes, tomatoes. (You have to say the second one of each differently, otherwise it doesn't make sense ha.)
That night we went to bed planning on waking up around 7:30am, so that one of the kids living/working there could be first one on the mountain.
Day 5 Fort Collins - Saturday
On Saturday, we woke up and played 18 holes of disc golf behind the Cache La Poudre Middle School. The course was in a semi-wooded area, next to a creek, and only had 9 holes so we played twice to make 18. Most of the holes on the course were straight shots to the bucket, but because of all the trees and branches they were all fairly difficult. The hardest hole being number 6, as this was closest to the creek, and one would have to hop a fence if you hooked the throw badly enough. Each time we came to this hole I had to go into the creek and cross the other side of the fence. I kept saying that I was having bad throws, but really I'm just not good at disc golf. Even though on this particular day, I kept pretty close as my opponents (apart from my buddies roommate Will) weren't much better than me. After an hour or so of disc golf we went back home, as my friend Owen had to be back for work by 3:30pm. Later that evening, my cousin David and I went to a tool coop for a Taco Dinner/Dance Party which had Star Wars playing on a projector while a bunch of locals got drunk. The party was a lot of fun, and there were plenty of party favors going around to make the event that much more delightful. I, myself had a few of these favors and I got pretty drunk as well. As the night went on I made a few friends and I eventually found myself acting a fool on the dance floor. As I said, it was a fun night. I wish I had done some more events like that in my travels, but that was pretty much the only night I drank excessively or partied hard.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Day 4 Exploring - Friday
Waking up a little after sunrise, and after only an hour or so of trying to gather warmer clothes from my buddy and his roommate, my cousin and I set out for Rock Mount National Park, near Estes Park, Colorado. If you haven't ever heard of the park, I suggest you look it up. There are some of the most beautiful views in all of Colorado, if not the great US of A. I obviously am up here in the dead of winter, but the few days I've been here in Fort Collins it has actually been rather mild in temperature for this time of year. The Hi temperature has been about 61 degrees and the low has been around 35 degrees. Although, the temperature in the Rock Mount Park was much different since it was up in them beautiful mountains an hour west of the city. It was here that I saw the first snow fall of the year (for me), although it wasn't when we initially got into the park but an hour or so later.
Upon entering the park the first site we headed to was the Alluvial Fan area in the northern most area of the park. This area received the name because it was here that a damn broke in 1982, which caused massive flooding, bringing tons of sediment, as well as large rocks and boulders from the sides of the gorge. This event happened in July 1982, killing 4 people in several different campsites that were several miles downstream of the damn, one of those who perished worked for the National Forrest. We initially were unable to visit this site as snow from the previous days was built up and the roads were pretty icy. However, it was on the way to the flood plain that we saw a female Elk that had been tranquilized by Rangers. The Park Rangers were in the process of testing for diseases, etc. to make sure the population is stable and not growing. Apparently, there has recently been a problem with large numbers of Elk in the area, and some of the folks at the National Forest have consider reintroducing some wolves into the area, to help cull the population naturally. Anyway, it was very interesting to see this taking place on one of the main roads in the park.
After talking to one of the Park Rangers who was helping with the Elk, and following his suggestion to not head further in the direction we were, we decided to head to the southernmost point of the park that we could get to in the winter. This lead us to the frozen Bear Creek, it was still beautiful since the snow was several feet thick and the wind was creating some cool effects on the rocks around the lake. My cousin even attempted to run across the frozen snow covered lake and made it most of the way, before turning around to continue on.
The next place we visited was Sprague Lake which ended up being closed due to maintenance, however it was somewhat visible and was also frozen solid and covered with snow. (Starting to see a pattern here with lakes.) Anyway, after farting around that area for a little while we headed back north towards what we were told were the better sites in the park. The first one on the way was the Many Parks Curve, which as the name suggests, was an area in the road in which it curved to give a great view of the many parks inside of the greater national park. It was here where we could see how glaciers had formed the many lakes and valleys in the area. This was truly the best view of the park, its beauty can't be described, and no picture will do it justice... just that amazing.
After that amazing spot we had to turn around and take another path (since most roads are for summer use) to head for the Alluvial fan, which was an extreme flood plain, as I explained earlier. It was here that we did our only real hiking of the day as the snow fall had mostly subsided by this point. The river was still barely active through the ice, the vast majority was frozen over, so we carefully climbed up the river bed making sure not to hit the soft spots in the ice. We hiked for about an hour up the gorge and got some great views opposite of the Many Parks Curve. All in all this was the best National Park I've ever been to, as well as the highest I had ever been in my life, several of the peaks were 14,000 feet high in the area. The roads and hiking trails averaged probably somewhere around 75000-9000 feet.
I really want to come back in the summer time, when the park is actually in season and do some extreme hiking/camping/climbing but that will have to wait for another time. Speaking of time, it is 1:51 AM local time. Got a big day ahead of me... disc golf, and maybe getting a little drink on.
Upon entering the park the first site we headed to was the Alluvial Fan area in the northern most area of the park. This area received the name because it was here that a damn broke in 1982, which caused massive flooding, bringing tons of sediment, as well as large rocks and boulders from the sides of the gorge. This event happened in July 1982, killing 4 people in several different campsites that were several miles downstream of the damn, one of those who perished worked for the National Forrest. We initially were unable to visit this site as snow from the previous days was built up and the roads were pretty icy. However, it was on the way to the flood plain that we saw a female Elk that had been tranquilized by Rangers. The Park Rangers were in the process of testing for diseases, etc. to make sure the population is stable and not growing. Apparently, there has recently been a problem with large numbers of Elk in the area, and some of the folks at the National Forest have consider reintroducing some wolves into the area, to help cull the population naturally. Anyway, it was very interesting to see this taking place on one of the main roads in the park.
After talking to one of the Park Rangers who was helping with the Elk, and following his suggestion to not head further in the direction we were, we decided to head to the southernmost point of the park that we could get to in the winter. This lead us to the frozen Bear Creek, it was still beautiful since the snow was several feet thick and the wind was creating some cool effects on the rocks around the lake. My cousin even attempted to run across the frozen snow covered lake and made it most of the way, before turning around to continue on.
The next place we visited was Sprague Lake which ended up being closed due to maintenance, however it was somewhat visible and was also frozen solid and covered with snow. (Starting to see a pattern here with lakes.) Anyway, after farting around that area for a little while we headed back north towards what we were told were the better sites in the park. The first one on the way was the Many Parks Curve, which as the name suggests, was an area in the road in which it curved to give a great view of the many parks inside of the greater national park. It was here where we could see how glaciers had formed the many lakes and valleys in the area. This was truly the best view of the park, its beauty can't be described, and no picture will do it justice... just that amazing.
After that amazing spot we had to turn around and take another path (since most roads are for summer use) to head for the Alluvial fan, which was an extreme flood plain, as I explained earlier. It was here that we did our only real hiking of the day as the snow fall had mostly subsided by this point. The river was still barely active through the ice, the vast majority was frozen over, so we carefully climbed up the river bed making sure not to hit the soft spots in the ice. We hiked for about an hour up the gorge and got some great views opposite of the Many Parks Curve. All in all this was the best National Park I've ever been to, as well as the highest I had ever been in my life, several of the peaks were 14,000 feet high in the area. The roads and hiking trails averaged probably somewhere around 75000-9000 feet.
I really want to come back in the summer time, when the park is actually in season and do some extreme hiking/camping/climbing but that will have to wait for another time. Speaking of time, it is 1:51 AM local time. Got a big day ahead of me... disc golf, and maybe getting a little drink on.
Friday, January 20, 2012
Day 3 Driving/Relaxing - Thursday
After that little adventure my buddy had to go to work around 3:30pm, so we went back to the house while he got ready for work. My cousin and I meanwhile planned a trip to go to a local brewery for a tour, but we ended up talking in one of the fields around the house and completely forgot about our 4:00pm appointment. Oh well, maybe I can do the brewery tour other time. We ended up catching up for a few more hours before going to get some beer and see about possibly going out. After a while longer of talking, one of the roommates that works for the National Parks advised that my cousin David and I go to the Rocky Mount National Park in the mountains the following day. We agreed, and we started to plan which locations and sights to see. Since it is winter time many of the areas/trails would be close because of snowy/icy conditions. We ended up talking and catching up until about 2am, before eventually passing out.
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Day 2 Driving - Wednesday
Day 2 Drive
After a few short delays the second day we were able to rendezvous at a strip mall in Dallas, before making way to Amarillo, TX. The route we took had us within a few miles of the Oklahoma border, but we never quite crossed instead taking Highway 87 towards New Mexico's Northeastern corner. There isn't much worth mentioning in West Texas until we passed through Amarillo, and got within a few miles of the New Mexico border. Its around this area where we started to see a few windmill farms, as well as a beautiful sunset. There were some sights I wanted to see in the New Mexico stretch, but we ended up driving through since it was too damn cold to do any sort of primitive camping. The volcano crater and canyon will have to be done at a later date. We are now resting up in a motel about 15 miles north of the New Mexico/Colorado border in a small town off I-25. At the end of the day we drove around 600 miles, which took us about 12 hours. It was a few hours longer since there wasn't as much interstate, as a result the speed limit was <= 70 most of the time.
After a few short delays the second day we were able to rendezvous at a strip mall in Dallas, before making way to Amarillo, TX. The route we took had us within a few miles of the Oklahoma border, but we never quite crossed instead taking Highway 87 towards New Mexico's Northeastern corner. There isn't much worth mentioning in West Texas until we passed through Amarillo, and got within a few miles of the New Mexico border. Its around this area where we started to see a few windmill farms, as well as a beautiful sunset. There were some sights I wanted to see in the New Mexico stretch, but we ended up driving through since it was too damn cold to do any sort of primitive camping. The volcano crater and canyon will have to be done at a later date. We are now resting up in a motel about 15 miles north of the New Mexico/Colorado border in a small town off I-25. At the end of the day we drove around 600 miles, which took us about 12 hours. It was a few hours longer since there wasn't as much interstate, as a result the speed limit was <= 70 most of the time.
In the past two days total we have driven about 1200 of the 2500 or so miles that we've planned it will take going to California. Tomorrow, I will continue on I-25 to Northern Colorado up through Denver and into Fort Collins to stay with friend from high school and my cousin, whom has been crashing there. Meanwhile, my buddy who is driving to California with me will head straight to Vail to ski with some more of his fellow U of A buddies.
Day 1 Driving - Tuesday
Day 1 Drive
Getting a late start leaving Mobile, about 11:30am yesterday morning (which was somehow not my fault; even after only getting 4 hours of sleep, hah), we headed for the Dallas area. We decided to take I-10 through Mississippi and I-49 through Northwest Louisiana before turning onto I-20 heading in to east Texas. Driving through Mississippi/Louisiana there were several large storm clusters. We were able to avoid the worst areas when we took the interstate route versus the highway route via Hattiesburg/Jackson,MS. We entered Texas shortly after nightfall, luckily I was able to stay at a fellow Auburn Alums house in the Plano, TX area. Meanwhile, my buddy Randall stayed with an old roommate of his from the University of Alabama south of where I was staying in midtown Dallas. In total we drove about 650 miles, which ended up taking about 10 hours including several stops along the way.
Getting a late start leaving Mobile, about 11:30am yesterday morning (which was somehow not my fault; even after only getting 4 hours of sleep, hah), we headed for the Dallas area. We decided to take I-10 through Mississippi and I-49 through Northwest Louisiana before turning onto I-20 heading in to east Texas. Driving through Mississippi/Louisiana there were several large storm clusters. We were able to avoid the worst areas when we took the interstate route versus the highway route via Hattiesburg/Jackson,MS. We entered Texas shortly after nightfall, luckily I was able to stay at a fellow Auburn Alums house in the Plano, TX area. Meanwhile, my buddy Randall stayed with an old roommate of his from the University of Alabama south of where I was staying in midtown Dallas. In total we drove about 650 miles, which ended up taking about 10 hours including several stops along the way.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)