Big Picture: Cycling in the West...so far

So far, cycling the National Parks has far exceeded all of my expectations. The flags on the map represent the cycling I've done in the Black Hills, Rocky Mountain National Park, Arches National Park and Bryce Canyon. Thus far I've biked 255 miles and climbed 24,500 vertical feet and burned over 16,000 calories, which means that I can drink a few beers now.

All rides have been exciting and rewarding in their own ways, but without a doubt, the cycling highlights have been Trail Ridge Road at the Rocky Mountain National Park and the Black Hills ride through Mount Rushmore.

There is so much more to come, including Wasatch National Forest in Utah, the Tetons and, of course, Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park.

Holy Hail, Batman!

We're currently once again huddled in the car, this time at Bryce Canyon, as we wait out a hailstorm. Just moments ago I returned from my 34 mile bike trip through the park road and back, and it looks like I returned not a moment too soon. I only endured a few minutes of hail on the ride, and otherwise it was just windy, with some steady south winds. We seem to be getting lots of dynamic weather in the last few days, and it's quite exciting in spite of the minor inconveniences.

Today was a welcome mellow day, that started off with welcome showers (luckily there are convenient shower stalls at the very cool general store) and more laundry. Where does all of this laundry come from? I just can't figure out how we're generating so much of it.

We hiked the Queen's Garden trail and marveled at the hoodoos, washouts and other interesting and quickly changing geological features. The boys are really getting into hiking the National Parks, especially with the lure of ice cream and the engaging junior ranger programs that each of the parks has to offer. We're really hitting our National Parks stride, and I'm also quite satisfied with the cycling that I'm able to fit in.

Now I have to sign off and figure out how to deal with a bucket full of wet shoes (the wind blew the lid off), and also we have a river running under our tent. At least we're all safe and good-humored.

Reaching the Boiling Point at Arches

This morning’s blog entry is coming to you from North Campground at Bryce Canyon National Park. We landed here last night after a frustrating night and amazing morning.

Saturday night at Arches, we all settled into our sleeping bags and drifted off. All was well. But at about 11 pm, a new group of campers arrived at the site next door. They proceeded to start their campfire and open their beers…and talk. Loudly. With much swearing. Until around 4 am. Armin talked to them early on, using his best high-school-teacher firm-but-affable voice. He explained that quiet hours start at 10 and that we had 2 kids who were trying to sleep. They promised they would “try” to be quiet. They didn’t try very hard. Armin went out and shushed them several more times, getting more and more frustrated each time. They finally quieted down at around 4:00, and when we got up in the morning we contacted the campground host and the ranger and wrote up the incident. When we left, they miscreants had been awakened by the ranger and she was preparing to dish out justice (we don’t know what kind…as much as we were hoping that they’d receive 40 lashes, they probably just got a ticket.

Anyway, we were in pretty sour moods when we rolled out of camp, but we had reservations for the Fiery Furnace tour and were determined to turn the day around. The Fiery Furnace is an area of Arches that’s comprised of blind canyons with no marked trails. You need to go in with a ranger or get a special permit to hike there. We met up with our group of 25 people (from around the US, France, and Italy) and Ranger Jess and headed out. What a great experience! The hike is labeled
“moderately strenuous,” and was mostly pretty easy, though there was some excellent scrambling, jumping, and crawling through narrow places. Ranger Jess was the perfect guide—knowledgeable and enthusiastic, with a passion for the desert and wild places. Our final stop on the walk was in a natural rock amphitheater under an arch, and Ranger Jess gave a stirring talk on protecting our natural sanctuaries. We emerged from the Fiery Furnace with our good spirits restored.

We hopped in the car and drove the 5 hours to Bryce Canyon. We made a grocery stop along the way and didn’t arrive here until nearly 7 pm. We were the Grouchy Family, since we were all starving, Armin & I were exhausted, and the boys were antsy after the hours in the car. We got the tent up and dinner made (with a fair amount of grumbling and sniping all around) and got some sleep. I made a bathroom run in the middle of the night and spent a few minutes goggling at the amazing stars. I hope tonight is clear so I can have a better look!

This morning I went on my first run in about a week and a half. I’ve hiked nearly 20 miles in that time, but hadn’t strapped on the running shoes. I had a nice hilly run on strong legs, maybe 2.5 miles or so. I don’t know that I’ll be ready for the 5&10 in September, but I’m enjoying the hiking and hope I can get in more runs in the next 4 weeks. The weather here at Bryce is certainly conducive to running. It was in the 40s last night, and looks to dip into the 30s in the next couple days, with highs in the upper 70s.

Now we’re off to the Visitor Center and a hike and SHOWERS! YES!! The little park store has pay showers! 

Colorado to Arches: More Drama!

Today was another day of unexpected weather-related excitement at Arches National Park in Utah, a most wild, magical and spectacular place. But before I tell that story, it’s worth sharing a little about Friday’s long trip from Estes Park, Colorado to Moab, Utah.

We broke camp like pros, with the boys more than pulling their own weight and doing a great job of helping out with all the details. It was sad to leave RMNP, but I have vowed to return to this great park again before too long. Our road trip took us through Boulder, a city that I’d love to spend some time in, particularly because of the vibrant cycling culture. As we descended into Boulder we saw a steady stream of competitive and recreational cyclists heading north, and we passed many large and accommodating shoulders and bike lanes. Vail was similarly nuts about cycling—it seems like Colorado is THE place to be if you’re really into cycling.

Shortly after Boulder we picked up I-70, and this highway had me a little stressed. Boulder is around 5200’ in elevation, and the busy artery took us through Colorado’s ski country and up to over 11K’ in short order. Our van is no slouch in the power department, but its’ 6 cylinder engine was straining from the weight and wind resistance caused by the four bikes on the roof. The engine sure was revving pretty high, and it was by no means a relaxing drive. The terrain was dynamic and ever-changing, particularly after our excellent lunch break in Vail. We descended back down to under 5,000’ and into very desert-like terrain, crossing the Colorado River and seeing lots of red rock and rafts on the fast-flowing river.

We finally arrived in Moab around dinnertime, and the approach to this alien landscape was nothing short of magical. Dark storm clouds were on the horizon and we saw huge bolts of lightning, a foreshadowing of our experience today. After another restaurant meal at a perfectly passable Mexican restaurant in somewhat trippy Moab, we drove on the only road in Arches Park to the very end and the highest point (5200’) where our campground was located. I’d be hard-pressed to do justice to this incredible landscape, so I’ll just let the pictures tell the story.

It rained on Friday night, which was helpful, since it cooled down dramatically. We were quite pleased with nighttime temperatures in the low 60s, and we did a good job of getting an early start, heading out before 8 am to explore the more accessible stone landmarks including Delicate Arch and Windows. The boys quickly got excited about the rock scrambling, and soon they were challenging themselves with some pretty impressive bouldering, as they scrambled up the steepest section of some of the big arches.

After a picnic and a lengthy visit to the Visitor’s Center, we headed back to camp, noticing the dramatic dark rain clouds on the horizon. When we got out of the van, we suddenly became aware of the high winds, then were all shocked to see our tent about to launch like a hot air balloon! It had become untethered from two of the stakes, and we all grabbed a corner of the tent, thinking that we could just bring it back to earth and stake it back in again. It started raining, and a ranger drove by to tell us about the flash floods on the way and urged us to quickly take the tent down and seek shelter. We had no time to take the pads, sleeping bags and other miscellaneous items out of the tent, so we all scrambled, removing the tent poles and frantically shoving the tent and its contents into the back of the van. This was no easy task, since there really isn’t much room left in the trunk, but we somehow managed to shove it all in and watch the howling wind and rain while sitting in a shaking and rocking van.

After over an hour of waiting for the wind and rain to subside, we finally decided that it was safe to set up the tent again. Fortunately we arrived when we did, since the tent was mostly dry, we didn’t lose anything, and we were able to get the tent back up without too much drama. We took a quick tour of the campground and discovered that others weren’t as lucky. We spotted at least six or seven flattened tents with stuff strewn all around. I’m really proud of how the boys really helped out throughout—we’re really becoming a good team.

After one of our best camp meals yet, grits with veggies and white beans, I went for my only Arches bike ride. It was surprisingly challenging and most exhilarating, just under 27 miles and over 2300’ of climbing. I had a headwind heading north toward the park entrance but I also had an impressive 4 mile, 800’ descent, followed by a 500’ climb over only 1.5 miles. The wind helped out quite a bit on the return trip, but I most definitely deserved my dessert of a peppermint patty and breakfast cereal! I also clocked my fastest speed of the trip thus far, 47.5 mph. I don’t think we went that fast in the car on the park road.

We decided to shave a night off of Arches so that we can have a third night in the Tetons, so tomorrow we head out to Bryce Canyon. Before we do that, however, we will participate in the highly anticipated Fiery Furnace guided hike, which will include some good scrambling. Gail will most certainly have a lot to say about that experience.

Note: This entry was written offline, since there is no 3G service here at the campground. Hopefully we can get this entry uploaded sometime on the road tomorrow.

A Mellow Last Day at RMNP

Gail writes:

Today was much less dramatic than yesterday. We had a fairly leisurely morning, then grabbed the shuttle up to Bear Lake. We joined the throngs hiking the Emerald Lake trail. It’s the most heavily trafficked trail in the park, and with good reason. It’s not too hard—just enough elevation to make you feel like you’ve done a little work—and the views are spectacular. The trail takes you past a chain of small lakes, each pretty enough on its own, but truly lovely when you look across them to see the massive, craggy peaks of Flattop and Long’s Peak. The trail was pretty jammed with people, but the boys loved striking up conversations along the way. The whole hike was 3.6 miles, and we did it in a little over 2 hours.

One of the reason we chose this hike was to restore Leo’s confidence. The Bierstadt hike the other day was a little hard for him, and he was pretty upset when we got a little lost. So this hike, with its ease and views, made him feel a lot better about this whole camping/hiking thing. He’s been homesick, pining for the familiar, but he’s fine once he’s distracted and engaged.

The post-hike shuttle ride down to camp was almost longer than the hike itself. There’s a major reconstruction project on the Bear Lake Road, and the bus had a couple of long waits while construction vehicles beeped up and down the road. Luckily, we were the only ones on the bus, so we got to spread out and relax.

Back at camp, we grabbed some lunch, greeted some new campsite neighbors from Wisconsin, and made our way to the Beaver Meadows visitor center so the boys could get stamps on their National Parks Passports. Armin went for a quick bike ride and the boys and I drove back to camp in the daily thunderstorm. It was a quick one, without much rain, so we didn’t have to run around and dry things off.

Tonight we’re enjoying a small campfire, and we’ll get as much stuff packed up as we can. Tomorrow morning we’ll pack up the tent as quickly as we can and head out. Armin has promised that we can stop at Donut Haus in Estes Park—I’m usually in favor of a high-fiber, low-fat, nutritious breakfast, but in this case the Yelp reviews have me yearning for some good treats.

Armin writes:

Just a quick addendum…I couldn’t resist, and revisited the Trail Ridge Road climb this afternoon. It was even more fun the second time, though I didn’t have enough energy or time to make the summit again. I turned around at 10,100’, and the descent was more fun this time, since I was more familiar with the roads. I'm so lucky to get this hill climbing in! Who knows when we'll be back.