End Of Summer

It finally has cooled off some and it will get a bit chilly tomorrow morning. This has been the warmest summer I can recall. Soon I will be carping about rain and cold.

This is the first summer we have been home since 2011. We have done a "thousand" little projects that would have never gotten done with our usual travel schedule. 

Finally, I will be able to accomplish some projects that have been on hold all summer such as waxing KoKo and installing a new AC with the help of our S-I-L.

The last four weeks have been all about Dorothy. She is in her fifth week in a non-walking cast. One more to go, if the x-ray shows the proper healing. Then two weeks in a walking cast, and finally four weeks in a boot. 

Our Jeep had a sudden growth spurt. A 2.5 inch lift with 35" inch tires. Next new bumpers and more armor. I have to stretch to get in. We made need a wench to get Dorothy up.

Post Polio

I only want to write this one time. So here is what's going on with Dorothy.

Dorothy had polio when she was 18 months old. It affected both of her legs, but especially her right foot. She had surgery at 5 and wore a brace. Polio destroys muscles and tendons. The remaining muscles are then overworked. In short, by the time she was 50 her walking was unstable and she was prone to falls, sprains, and fractures.

We took daily walks for our cardiovascular systems. This turned out to be the worst thing she could have done as it stressed her already over-worked muscles.

This is the reason we bought a Jeep. Our adventure needs could no longer be met by hiking so we needed something to get to off-road attractions.

The daily pain and swelling increased quite a bit this year and her stability was markedly down. She was a hip fracture waiting to happen.

She elected to have some very painful surgery to help stabilize her foot. This was done yesterday.

For those that can comprehend medical terms, this is the laundry list of what the surgeon did.

Right subtalar arthrodesis, bone graft from the tibia, percutaneous Achilles lengthening, osteotomy first metatarsal; exploration of peroneal tendons.

Three incisions were made on her foot and another on below her knee for a bone graft. Think plates and screws.

She was in surgery a little over 2.5 hours.

Her spirits were much improved today.

They will keep at the hospital a second night and then release her to a rehab facility for 7 to 10 days.

Recovery will take three months. The first 4 weeks will be in a no-weight cast.

She is going to be damn tired of my cooking before she can walk again.


We are in the process of lifting the Jeep to access the more difficult trails. Just hoping she will be able to get in and out of the higher Jeep.

My Energy Level

For the last decade, my "energy level" has dropped every year. It was not great when we retired, but I could still hike 4-6 miles and stay up past midnight.

In the last 3-4 years, less than 2 miles has been my limit and I might start yawning at 6pm and will be asleep before 9.

I started using a CPAP during this time and it pushed my "energy level" way up, but the good effects wore off after three months.

I took CoQ10 and again my "energy level" went up for a month, then it went back down. I continue it as my doctor says it a good thing for anyone on a statin.

I had all sorts of tests done, even a heart cath. My heart and lung functions were considered normal. 

Meanwhile, my doctor was looking at my blood platelets. I don't know but guessing this is not a normal part of a blood test. They were low but on a roller coaster. After three years the trend, even with ups and downs, has been down. I am not to the required treatable threshold, but getting there.

Anyway, this is the reason for my complaint of fatigue.

Second Rant

This and the last post have been on my mind for several years. Maybe posting my thoughts will put them out of my mind?

My second rant about public lands concerns the self-appointed protectors. Those that want all public land to themselves and who will not share information except with vetted friends. They compound their sense of entitlement by resenting the federal agencies who administer the land. 

So, on the one hand, they will not share information with those that are not physically able to hike with them. These types need constant validation that they can still cut the mustard on the trails and having people with lesser abilities is repugnant to them. All the while they deeply resent park rangers for any restrictions that are placed on them.

We have met a few of these folks over the years. I will home in on a couple in Colorado. We met them through a mutual acquaintance. We wanted to know some Jeep trails that went close to the summits. At the time, Dorothy could hike 2 to 3 miles round turn.

I took maps with me so he could point out trails that would meet our criteria, but on two occasions he declined to respond to my questions.

Reading his blog I later figured out that he would never drive all the way to the trailhead. He would park farther down the mountain so the hike would be more vigorous for him and his wife. That's fine. But, I think selfish of him to require everyone to do it his way or not at all. I suppose it increased his self-esteem.

If you can not handle rock scrambling above 9,000 you are just not worthy of his association.

You have to be able to do this. Even when the snow is above your knees.

Fuck em!

Enough Wilderness Areas

In case you don’t know Wilderness Areas are federal lands that are off-limits except to hikers, boaters and horse riders. If you have a physical disability, tough, no access for you. Only those with the best genes in the prime of fitness are allowed in. Sounds discriminatory to me. But probably not to those want a private experience on public lands.

Few movements are better funded and coordinated or more messianic than the environmental left.

Wilderness Areas are very popular with the greenies. Many are established by You Sue, We Settle technique. All you need are folks who want to control access to federal lands managed by the Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, etc. A suit is filed to restrict access to the land. The agency agrees and settles.

There are also Wilderness Study Areas. These are BLM lands that someone wants to put off-limits to the unwashed - those who are not able to hike. They make their case to the BLM who thinks it's a great idea. BLM erects signs announcing it's now off-limits to vehicles. Congress is not involved. It's done by administrative fiat.

Here is a pissed off disabled woman being denied access to hoodoo's in southern Utah. Too bad she can not handle the 7.2 mile round turn hike. See the tire tracks that remain from decades of access.

Since mechanized vehicles are not allowed into WA’s, there is no need for roads. Fires in Wilderness Areas cannot be fought with mechanized means. Many Wilderness Areas border on National Forest and Parks, so fires easily spread from one to another.

It's not just land, some of the most scenic rivers are off-limits to mere citizens. You can raft the Colorado and Yampa rivers, but you will have to go with a guide who has a permit. No way you can get a permit. This is a most effective way of preserving the rivers as the Feds need only to control a few guides who are responsible for controlling you.

How much land is already designated as Wilderness Area’s? This 2004 map is the latest one I could locate and so it’s out date. The more saturated colors are Wilderness Areas. See legend.

Blow up the map in Colorado and see how effective the Greenies are there.

Here is a list by state. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_U.S._Wilderness_Areas

Colorado has a nifty deal. You can apply for a grant from the revenue collected from marijuana sales to purchase public lands and have your own wilderness area. Just you and your best friends behind a gate.

Outdoor equipment companies support Wilderness Areas big time as the people that can hike them buy their expensive equipment to be able to fully enjoy their experience.



Sarah Margaret "Sally" Roffey Jewell is a British-American politician and businessperson who left REI to serve as the 51st United States Secretary of the Interior in the administration of President Barack Obama. 

The lovely Rose Marcario is the CEO of the outdoor apparel company Patagonia. The company is suing Trump over the administration's reversal of making half of southern Utah a part of the already existing Bears Ears National Monument. [You may recall that monuments are birthed by the President signing a paper] Obama pissed off the local Indians by making it a monument. But, you would not think that to be the case for the Indians supporting it were from California.

Sweltering Here

We have been back home in Montgomery for 2 months.  It was warm when we returned, but it soon turned to just down-right hot and humid.  I expect that in August, but not in June. We should have summered on the Oregon coast.

Our oldest two grands unpacked Koko’s kitchen for me. It’s so much easier, and more fun, to pack than unpack. I’ve cleaned the inside which had lots of red dirt and then Don cleaned the inside again. Still lots of red dirt in the window tracks.  Don washed the rig. Bennett, our 15-year-old grandson, came over to help Don put the cover on Koko. It’s really heavy and a young person has so much more energy. So now Koko is covered up until we decide where we will go and when. Still needs waxing and several repairs. 

We have bought six fans. A tower fan for me next to my lounge chair, a replacement fan for my bedside, a new ceiling fan in the kitchenette, one that will blow your contacts out for Don when he works on the Jeep, a floor fan for the workshop and a replacement for the attic exhaust.

Montgomery has one of the top ten Shakespeare Festivals in the world! Our youngest grandson, Patrick, went to the Shakespeare Extreme Camp. At the end of five days, they do three 20 minutes skits from three different plays. This year it was: As You Like It, Romeo and Juliet, and Macbeth. They were well done and the kids did them in the original Elizabethan, which I found impressive since they only had a week to learn the skits and also how to present themselves as actors.

Don’s playing bridge every week and I am back at my volunteer job on Wednesday mornings.  If you are traveling, I hope you have a great summer and at some place where that is cool. We are trying not to be envious.

On The Way To Alabama

Tuesday, May 1 - Dark skies and rain in the forecast made our decision easy. We packed up and headed east. A 1.25-hour drive all the way to Exit 2 in Colorado. We parked in a BLM area that Ed Daniels told us about. There is green grass!  Will do a little exploring in the morning before we go to Grand Junction and head south into the Colorado backwoods.

Grand Junction is the headquarters for City Market and they also have a Sprouts which always has great produce. We leave Whole Wallets and the like to others.

Wednesday, May 2 - Cooler and overcast with rain in the forecast for today and tomorrow. We got out early to drive the canyon south of us. Not bad scenery and we wound up overlooking the Colorado.

We decided to move 30 minutes east to the Colorado National Monument. This will put us conveniently close to Rattlesnake Canyon. We are going to try to hike some of it. It has the second largest concentration of arches in the world.

Thursday, May 3 - Fog, overcast and chilly this morning. The weather this trip has been as unsettled as the DOW. We wanted to do something, so we went into town and lucked into a great dining experience. It was a Chinese buffet. Yeah, I know but it looked good, perhaps the best buffet of our lives. I needed veggies! The sky changed to blue for a few hours, then back to overcast.

Friday, May 4 - Great weather. We headed to Rattlesnake Canyon to see some arches. Route finding is problematic. Many roads, few signs. We made it and started our first serious, for us, hike of the trip. We hoped to go two miles round turn. We only made it one mile, but had some nice views of the canyon and of one arch across the canyon. I might have made it in cooler weather, but there were too many obstacles for Dorothy. It's an easy hike for anyone in reasonable shape. There is a Jeep trail all the way into the canyon. It has not been closed too many years.

 The Arch We Saw

 The Arch We Did Not See

Saturday, May 5 - Down the mountain to dump at the rest stop. Water problems, site closed. Grumble! Found a Maverick with a dump.

We headed south on CO141 through a green canyon at 7,000 feet then descends through red rock to Gateway at 5,000. We stopped at the fire station to ask about camping options. They directed us to three canyons and we picked a spot under some Cottonwoods. From there we drove west into Utah. The ascent from the canyon was scenic, but once we topped the mesa it was not much too look at endless mesquite. We did have a view of the east side of the La Sal's. 

Worthless Information: Abandoned Uranium mines cover this area. The material for the first four nuclear bombs was extracted from the tailings of Vanadium mines. The government wanted "tons" of it, so this area, like Moab, this area is dotted with former mines. Cleanup continues.

More Worthless Information: The John Brown Road was smooth hardpan. There were several unofficial signs that pointed to Moab. I checked the map and there are four ways to get to Moab. The shortest/fastest route would be to intersect La Sal Loop Road (Castle Valley) which is blacktop. The others are Onion Creek, La Sal Pass, and Geyser Pass. Garmin routes back you back to I70 for 128 miles in three hours. I think I would take the dirt road the 31 air miles.

Yet More Worthless Information: Many cities in Utah name their streets 400 East NE, 800 South SW. Which seems helpful, but it confuses me. Colorado has their own scheme. Streets named B, C, and D are common. They really like streets named for the mileage from some common point. For instance, 4 2/10, four and two-tenths miles from some point. They are referred to 4.2, but the street signs and maps have them 4 2/10 or get this one 15/100.  

Sunday, May 6 - We continued south on CO 141 through what must be the worlds longest red rock canyon. Wingate formation I think. It changes to Entrada/Navado as you get close to Gateway. South of there it becomes part of the Great Gravel Pit that starts in West Texas and extends to the Pacific. Nothing to see here, move along.

In need of water to work it's Dolores Canyon gold claims the Montrose Placer Mining Company built a 13-mile canal and flume to deliver water from the Delores River.  The last 5 miles of the flume clung to the wall of the canyon itself running along the cliff face. It was constructed between 1888 in 1891 The 4-foot deep 5-foot wide hanging flume that carried 24,000,000 gallons of water a day - enough for three teenage girls to shower. It's construction dazzled mining pros with this sheer ingenuity.  The placer claim, unfortunately, dazzled no one and after three years the company folded and abandoned to the flume to the ravages of weather and time. It is now listed in the national register of historic places. This engineering marvel symbolizes the twist of fate for all in the pursuit of Rocky Mountain gold.

A short day turned into a long day. I had guessed we would be staying at one of the numerous campsites along the Delores River. I had not read the fine print, they are all boat in. We wound up at McPhee Reservoir just north of Cortez. 

We stopped for lunch at a pull out in Dove Creek. Dorothy was making sandwiches and the door was open for a breeze. 1PM on Sunday is when they test the air raid siren. It was right outside our door. We both had heart attacks.

Dove Creek must the bean capital of the world. The fields literally go to the horizon for a dozen or so miles along 481.

 The Back Side (eastern) of The La Sal's

 What You See When You Arrive In the Unincorporated Berg of Gateway

 See It Closer - It Would Look Great In Our Backyard

 A 5-star Resort Was Built

 The Back Side (eastern) of The La Sal's (Again)

 The Butte Seen From A Distant Butte

 The Delores River

Can You See What's Left of the Flume? - on the wall

Monday, May 7 - Made it all the way to Bloomfield, NM. This section of Crossing America is never scenic and is problematic finding a place to park. We settled into a private park and enjoyed sitting on their patio listening to Youtube tunes with their super high-speed wi-fi.

Tuesday, May 8 - Stayed at our usual Albuquerque place, Enchanted Trails. A decent park for $19. Albuquerque almost set a record yesterday, 93 degrees. Finally a Costco, so we could get some Angus hamburgers and 87 octane for $2.63, 50 cents less than in Moab. Got the Jeep tires rotated.

Wednesday, May 7 - Three hours east brought us to Tucumcari. Never stayed here before. An old park dating to the 1930's for a discounted price made us stop. We parked in the shade of a cottonwood tree.

 Our Home For A Night - Tucumcari, NM

The Old Cabins

Thursday, May 9 - A long day for us. 4.5 hours from Tucumcari to Elk City, OK. From the desert to green. I can always tell when we cross the magic 100th parallel to green pastures. By staying on the northern route, I40, trying for cooler temps, we missed good BBQ and still have 95 plus temps. We overnighted at a city park on a lake. Last year there was a goose that honked like a pig. Did not see any water foul this year. Blown away I suppose.

Friday, May 10 - East 3.5 hours to a COE park on Lake Eufaula. The trees are now tall and glow brightly in spring green.

Having abundant water and no reason to conserve it, after a week, I washed the cow shit off the Jeep.

Saturday, May 11 - A shorter driving day, about 2.5 hours to Lake Dardanelle near Russellville, AR. Another COE facility with hookups for $10. The wind was much lower today. The three days in OK it BLEW.

Sunday, May 12 - Got four hours more toward home. Parked at another COE cg, This one is south of Memphis. Almost full on Sunday. Long Mother's Day weekend? Nice lake, great breeze.


Monday, May 13 - Our last night on the road. And our most expensive. We wanted to stop in Birmingham and stock up on pita bread from a great baker. Birmingham is not camper friendly. There is only one private campground and it costs $40. The city of Hoover has a parking lot that charges $50. Regrettably, none of our friends have 20amp service. We will get to the bread store in the morning and then head home. 

Last Days In Moab

Two-Thirds of Millennials Don't Know What Auschwitz Was.

One-Third of Millennials are not sure Earth is round.

Conclusion: Our education system is not doing any educating.


Tuesday, April 24 - Two Jeeps went back to do the Courthouse, Monitor, Merrimack "rocks" and Determination Towers at a slow pace. On the way back we went to Tusher Tunnel. It's like a slot canyon but completely closed at the top. They call it an underground arch. It goes about 60 yards and opens on a canyon.

There were 21 rigs here Sunday, but today only six remain and they are all at a distance from us.

Wednesday, April 25 - Chores, lunch in town and shopping. Keith helped me replace the fuel filter on the generator. No, Kieth did it. Perhaps this will cure the intermittent problem we have had with it the last year. What a pain it was to get the new filter threaded. Poor design by Onan. It did not cure the problem.

Thursday, April 26 - We did a new trail called Jackson Hole which can only be reached via Hurrah Pass. It was not very scenic, but we found that bikers carry their bikes up a tall near vertical cliff and ride out over Cliff Hanger Trail. See the pipeline running up the hill? See the 'X' at the top. That's the top Jacob's Ladder the way bikers carry their bikes. And runners too! A 25k run this weekend features descending and then ascending Jacob's Ladder. We could not see a defined trail, only markers indicating where the runners should go.

Friday, April 27 - Keith and Sandy left this morning. An illness in the family and they felt they needed to be there. They plan on driving the 1,100 miles in two days. I about fainted at the thought. We are going to miss them, having spent six weeks together.

We went back into town to pick up a long-awaited part. It's a hot one today. We have no interest in installing the part or doing more than sitting under a fan.

Saturday, April 28 - Months before we left, I had no idea where we would go after Moab. Still, don't. We have both been thinking about returning to Alabama. Yesterday we talked about it and decided to head east in a few days. It will be our shortest trip ever - just over two months. Colorado and Wyoming would not be acceptable to us weather wise until late June. So we will just head home and endure the humid South. I can work on the toad braking and the generator in the early mornings before it gets too hot.

We went to a car show in town yesterday. Always enjoyable. It wore Dorothy out. Two hours of walking and standing. I always see lots of big block Chevrolet 396's, but never a 409/427. Wonder why?

Her quesadilla lunch did not agree with her. I had the same thing with no ill effects.

Sunday, April 29 - We lazed.

Monday, April 30 - 13 days of laundry were done. Picked up a few groceries and dumped. Cooler and windy. My allergies have never been worse than today.

Stopping at the Halfway Stage Station which was four hours from Moab, now 20 minutes

My best guess of how John Ford would have wanted to show Determination Towers. I like it. Hope he would.

 More swirly rock at Tusher Tunnell

Believe It Or Not - See the propane pipeline running up the hill? See the 'X' at the top. That's the top Jacob's Ladder the way bikers carry up their bikes. And runners too! A 25k run this weekend will feature descending and then ascending Jacob's Ladder. We could not see a defined trail, only markers indicating where the runners should go.

I keep a monthly log of our camping fees. In March, we averaged $5.57 a night. In April, we averaged $0.75 per day. The average for our trip is $3.15.  I love boondock camping.

 I always wanted something, anything, with a supercharger

One of three Cobras at the show. The first I have seen buffed.

 This JK was getting a lot of attention. It was built for the 2017 SEMA. I want it.

Something Dorothy wanted when she was a young lassie

Pictures I Did Not Take

 ...but I wish that I had taken or could take

The first one is Determination Towers taken from Tusher Tunnel. We were in both places, but I did know that had I descended into the canyon I would have seen this. Next time.

This is Secret Spire taken in the late afternoon with storm clouds in the background. We have been there in prior years but did not make it this trip. Next Time

This is what I call the Trifecta. It can be seen on 128 just south of Dewey Bridge. It shows Fisher Towers, the La Sals and the Colorado River. I have photographed it several times, always with some haze. This guy got shot without haze in the summer, as the snow is gone from the mountains. 

Wheeling In Moab

Dear Diary, This is one long convoluted blog, but I have given up on making sense of it.

 Klondike Bluffs From A Distance

  Klondike Bluffs Zoomed to the Tower Arch

 Who Are These Guys?

Thursday, April 12 - WooHoo, the winds came, the dust blew. After lunch, it was gusting over 30 and it was white out city at times. We had all the windows are closed and one vent on exhaust to keep a negative pressure inside. The dust came in anyway.

Friday the 13th - Dorothy writes: I told everyone that it was Friday the 13th, but no one backed out of going on a trail.  The plan was to go to the Poison Spider Trail.  We have done it twice before, but the third time, the waterfall seemed bigger and steeper and we wimped out.  Brett and Keith are very experienced so going with them would be a good thing.  We did that trail just fine, but did not turn around when we could have.  We then did the Golden Spike and Gold Bar.  At the end of the trails, we should have been given a gold bar for completing these trails without breaking the Jeep or ourselves

We wanted to try run the Poison Spider trail again. The last time we tried to run it we were intimidated by a waterfall that had become a real obstacle. I wanted to see another Jeep do it to give me confidence. Team Wyers fit the bill. I would have preferred to run it in perfect weather for photography and mid-week when there are few on the trail. But, the clock was ticking for the "kids" on vacation, so I went with them to get some confidence. The intimating waterfall was even more so, but we got up it with no problems.

When we got to where Poison Spider makes a scenic loop, the others wanted to continue on the Gold Spike Trail, which my guidebook said is one mean bitch. Keith said it was not really bad. [After running it this year he retracted that. It has changed] The first 3.5 miles were delightful steep up's and down's on the smooth slick rock. Then came the obstacles named the Golden Crack, Golden Stairs, and the Body Snatcher. We crossed the crack by putting spare tires in the crack so the wheels would not sink down as much. Once started one wheel is in the air. The  Body Snatcher referred to the Jeep body, not your own. You slide to the right into a rock unless you maintain throttle. To cap it off the next 8 miles were the worst trail I have ever been on. It was no place for a stock clearance Jeep. Brent had to tow us up steps three times. It's hard to move uphill when your skid plates are scraping the rocks.

Then it got worse. The long, long trail got longer time wise when the ground wire on Keith's Jeep came loose again. The "kids" got on the ground and fixed it, but that burned up an hour of daylight. At dark, we found an intimating waterfall that looked to me like the Wall of Jericho that we had to scale to continue out. Brent winched up. He then tried to pull us up, but it was not working. Plan B, Brent got us positioned just right and Rubi came up under her own power. I was amazed. I turned just as they told me and never backed off the gas. If we had two more inches of clearance we would have had no problems on the trail.

We got back to camp at 11pm, after 13 hours on a 15.4-mile trail.

Saturday, April 14 - Sunday, April 15 - Spent being lazy and cleaning the vehicles.

Monday, April 16 - The forecast is for two days of high winds. The wind started mid-afternoon while we were town doing laundry. We had dinner at the Moab Diner a 50's style place and the food was good. The wind rocked the rig during the night, but we it did not disturb our sleep.

Tuesday, April 17 - The wind is still blowing, but skies turned blue by 7am. By noon, the light was perfect. The bright white clouds looked like a white kitten's paws just over the orange rocks. We wolfed down a sandwich and made tracks for the bluffs. Although the bluffs can be seen from our camp, it takes two hours to get there as there is no direct road and the Jeep trail is iffy in most places. You know this not going to end well already, don't you? Right! About an hour into the drive those cute clouds grew to enormous dimensions all around the compass. We could see water vapor trying to reach the ground from the bottom of the clouds. Where the water comes from escapes us. By the time we got to the bluffs, the sun was obscured by a solid cloud. And so it goes. We crawled over the trail into Arches and took the longer, but paved road home.

 On The Poison Spyder Trail

 Pig Rock - Really - Look

 The Team - Dorothy, Linda, Norma, Rob, Brent, Sandy and Keith

 Keith Watching Brent Try to Cross The Golden Crack Unaided

 Rob Crossing The Golden Crack Using Two Spare Tires

One Of the Only Scenery Shots I Took on the 13 Hour Trail

Wednesday, April 18 - Good weather today, more wind for tomorrow and then, drum roll, good weather for at least 10 days.

Dorothy writes: The first ride of the day was the Rim Trail.  Don is doing such a good job on these difficult trails and I have confidence in his driving ability and also Rubi’s handling ability.  We got to Wipe Out Hill - Bret went down and then up and then Keith went down and then up. Sandy and Linda stayed at the top.  We didn’t do it.  Then Brett wanted to do the “Pickle”.  He made a few attempts.  One that will stand out in my memory is Brett trying to get up the rock ledge and Keith and Don with a strap in each hand trying to keep the jeep’s four tires on the ground!  All was good until I decided  I needed to get higher up to watch.  That’s when my ankle rolled and I fell down. I looked like a turtle on it’s back, but nothing was broken just embarrassed. 

We drove a particularly scenic area we had not been to before in the general area of the 7 Mile trail. We got to Wipeout Hill. I took one look and knew the Jeep could do it, but I would not try and Dorothy would not ride down with anyone. Keith and Brent went down and back up. After that Brent wanted to try The Pickle a high steep waterfall. He tried mightily but was not able to crest it.  I don't think it can be done except by a specialty climbing machine.

Thursday, April 19 - It was supposed to be windy, but instead there was dense haze that obscured even the La Sal's. No photography today. We went on the Top Of The World trail. It a 4.5 mile rough broken layered rock trail through a P&J forest that goes from the Colorado River at 4,000 feet to an overlook of Onion Creek Canyon at 7,000. There is nothing to see until you get to the top. And then, oh my, what a view. Even though the dense haze, it was breath-taking. Not likely we will do it again, but it was worth it one time.

I searched for some pictures to show the view, but all I found were countless ones like these. Not a single shot showing the multi-colored canyon. Scenery must not be high on most Jeepers list.

Onion Creek is 3,000 feet down. It always amazes me that how such a trivially small creek could cut such a canyon. It must have been larger in the last few million years.

Bret expertly spotted us through a few obstacles.

Good campfire.

Friday, April 20 - A Lazy day for us. We picked up our mail, dumped, and got groceries. The Weyers did Strike Ravine. It's was the last day for the working man.

Saturday, April 21 - Another lazy day for us. We did some chores in the morning and then we chatted until lunch. A large contingent of ATV's and cycles came in and we decided the trails would be a little busy for us.

Keith On Wipe Out Hill

On The Trail

Rocks And The La Sal's

The End Of Top Of The World Trail

                        Looking Over The Edge Of Top Of The World 

Some Like To Push It At Top Of The World 

The Very End Of Top Of The World 

Sunday, April 22 - We looked at the pictures Linda took with her iPad. I thought they were better than mine. Nothing that can be adjusted, taken in the bright sun without benefit of a viewfinder. Maybe I should toss the $800 camera?

With Keith and Sandy we found Hidden Canyon which we deemed to be one of the most interesting canyons in the area. The rocks were extremely swirly. Great weather. Good campfire, no wind.


Monday, April 23 -  Another mostly lazy day. We picked up some items shipped to us, shopped and were back at Dalton Springs for lunch, nap, chat and game of Golf. 

Hidden Canyon Overlook

                                               Hidden Canyon

Trails, so far

Klondike

7 Mile

Poison Spider

Golden Spike

Gold Rim

Tower Arch

3D

Top Of The World
Hidden Canyon