Bryce Canyon National Park

Bryce was a winter wonderland for the two days we visited

Continuing on our southwest Utah tour, our next stop was Bryce Canyon NP. We were immediately taken aback that this park was more like our Rocky Mountains in that the park was full or towering pine trees and forest vs. the desert surroundings and red dirt we have been acclimated to. The other more pressing surprise was the incoming snow storm, we couldn’t outrun this one, we had to brace ourselves and it was just a matter of how long to sit through it. The first day we were ahead of the snow, we found an open spot in the campground and got set up before the precipitation began. By about 2pm it started snowing steadily but we were busy distracting ourselves on a drive around the park and an attempt at seeing some overlooks. When this proved futile, we returned to camp to hunker down in front of our heater. There were people all around us in the campground that were in tents so we thought they were either hardier than us (or maybe crazier?). There was definitely a novelty to this snowstorm. I remember a childhood family trip today the Grand Canyon where we had snow, so if nothing else we were creating special memories. The next day we decided to venture out into a couple smallish hikes to still take in some sights. We bundled up and set out. The thing I’m learning in this season of being flexible and lowering expectations is that once we are out doing the activity, the weather doesn’t really matter all that much. If you layer properly, you won’t get too cold, and the sense of accomplishment after the task is all the greater with the added (insert your: snow, wet, heat, less than desirable weather) challenge. We enjoyed both a short hike to Mossy Rock, and a longer stint from Sunrise to Sunset Points in the canyon. There were few people, a few glimpses of blue sky lighting up the orange hoodoo rock formations, and as promised, plenty of great memories made. A second night of camping in the snow seemed like no big deal after our day’s accomplishments. We knew this second night was projected to be even colder though (and far less tents surrounded us), so we cut our intended visit short one day and planned to move on further south in the morning to dry and warmer ground. We didn’t want to break anything on Flossie if it could be avoided. Already the bathroom sink was freezing up and we were barely keeping warm ourselves. We’ll reassess if there’s anything we want to go back to in Bryce, but with winter coming it really feels like we are just trying to stay ahead of the inclement weather at this point in our travels. Lesson learned, one night of snow is fun for the novelty, two or more – we are just asking for trouble.

Our advice: Just keep moving and layer up!

Pretty magical but bitter cold. Time to move to warmer climates.

Capitol Reef National Park

Hickman Bridge, don’t miss this short-ish hike if you ever visit Capitol Reef

On our last stop in Denver, two different friends had told me that this was their favorite National Park out of the five in Southern Utah, so we were excited to see what all the hubbub was for ourselves. We’ve also never been this far into Utah, and new terrain is always an adventure that we are up for.

Upon pulling into the park’s campground we were immediately eager to set up amongst the orchard trees and lounging deer. Large swaths of this park had been farmed and homesteaded by Mormon pioneers in the late 1800’s and their evidence is left in thousands of heirloom trees that are still cared for and harvested to this day. Who knew you could grow such beautiful and robust trees in an arid desert climate? Alongside the orchards, the key geological feature of this area is the Waterpocket Fold which spans some 100 miles north to south. We drove and explored in our unique way. Most memorable here was our hike in Cottonwood canyon, approaching from the BLM side adjacent to the park. We covered a mile distance up a wash then the hike got skinnier with slot canyons and some bouldering. Once again, we pushed our bodies to their limits and accepted the fun challenge until it was no longer feasible to climb. New expectations/requests have been set by the kids for more technical and backcountry hiking.

Going into the skinny slot canyon at Cottonwood Wash

All of the ultra tame deer reminded me of Salida

Canyonlands National Park and Moab, Utah

These two places are our all time favorites to return to time and time again. We had a long standing family tradition of spending the week of Thanksgiving in Moab for years, it was low season so prices were favorable and crowds were nonexistent. Returning here was somewhat of a homecoming, so many familiar sights and a restoration of peace in the red Utah desert.

Since we were coming from the south and didn’t want to move twice in a short span of time we opted to spend more time in the Needles district of Canyonlands NP. The highlight was the 11 mile hike we took in the Chesler Park area. We all really pushed ourselves to go this distance, surpassing our previous hiking record of about 8 miles. I’m always particularly amazed at Camden’s ability to span these distances since he still has the shortest legs. Everyone loved the challenging rock scrambling parts the most. Needles to say, we took it easy the next day with a drive into Moab for our favorite burgers at Milt’s and some custom screen printed t-shirts from the old shop on the main drag.

Beginning of our big hike (the snow had melted by day’s end)

Zach is fully embracing the long hair/beard look

One of our other favorite pastimes in this area is to drive somewhere remote on a BLM road, stop at some rock outcroppings, then get out and start climbing. It’s a fantastic way to see a vantage point that likely no one has seen before. We always encourage one another and stay safe, never going too far a distance or too high that we can’t climb back down. Our next goal in Canyonlands will be to travel to the Maze district, perhaps later on this trip.

Final night’s sunset at Hamburger Rock CG

On the Road Again

Returning to writing about our life on the road now that our long stint in Salida has concluded. It was fabulous to be in one place for so long, we got spoiled by beautiful weather and long lingering fall colors. Camden had so much fun doing odd jobs for our landlord, things like running a four wheeler and chopping logs. He’ll definitely remember those experiences for his whole life. Natalie’s highlight was likely visiting an alpaca farm and getting inspired by the farm owner’s hobby turned career. We did a lot of hiking and exploring of the whole area and would love to settle down in the area on some land if the opportunity arises.

View from our long term place in Salida. Always a showstopper.

As the month of October drew to a close it was time to mosey on further west. Our first stop for this leg was the Great Sand Dunes National Park. We visited the day after a big snowstorm had blown through the area (we holed up at a hotel in Alamosa to keep from freezing ourselves). The massive sand mounds paired with the white of the snow was striking. We had the whole place practically to ourselves since the winds were high and it was still quite chilly. Much fun was had marching up and sliding down dune after dune. Such a unique place, I’m glad we finally made the time for the stop.

Next up was a little dip further south to Farmington, NM since we were ready to be back in our trailer but the RV parks in SW Colorado were in the process of closing down for the season. We resupplied in Farmington and ate some of the best street tacos we’d ever had before heading into the Utah desert.

Shaking the snow off our solar panels in Farmington, NM

Flossie the Red Dale meets Utah’s deserts

Settling into a fall rhythm

Back to the road, and back to the mountains, the ones we love so very much. Our next destination is Salida and Buena Vista (don’t come at me with that “boona” pronunciation😖), we say it in the Spanish pronunciation, probably at the disgust of the locals 😜

Through great luck and mutual Facebook connections, we found a place to stay initially in Salida with some new friends that also have a vintage trailer and two kids (and two super cute pups!). They just moved here from Evergreen and are also Colorado natives. We’re flipping unicorns here folks!

We started our homeschooling routine after our first night getting settled. It’s going good so far. The usual arguments ensue, someone doesn’t want to get up at a reasonable time, someone wants more computer time, so, basically it’s going completely as expected. The hardest part has been introducing the idea that there can be a lot more flexibility than what they’d previously experienced in school. We can go out for a hike mid-day and learn things in nature, but so far they’ve chosen to remain close to home base.

We are loving being “locals” in Salida, the kids can free range into town, we can walk pretty much everywhere, it’s just easy living being outside most of the time, smiling and waving to all the friendly folks around.

Zach and I had our first date night since February! We went out to dinner (seated outside) with our house hosts and their friends and had wonderful adult time. I’ve missed adult time so much. Hoping for more opportunities to sneak away like this and get creative when we do get the opportunity for one on one time.

Here are some Salida pics from puppies to aspens. Enjoy!