Advertisement
Published: December 11th 2010
Edit Blog Post
Aspens in the volcanics
Driving through Utah near Capitol Reef NP. The last time we wrote was in Utah on our way out East! We haven’t been very good, but we have been filling our 4 month autumn with lots of biking, ‘hiking’ and exploring. After dropping K and B off we headed north again to the rolling hills around Central Utah. We stopped off at a few of the National Parks; Capitol Reef and Bryce Canyon. The Aspens were yellow and the stormy weather made for dramatic views! We carried on east into Colorado and one of the biking meccas - Fruita. We obtained a map and shredded the trails for 3 days. They were an awesome mix of single track with tough rocky sections on the edge of a cliff to flowy and smooth fun. We headed up into the mountains south to try our luck with more riding, but met the snow. We had a nice walk in the snow blizzard in Crested Butte and carried on through the dodgy pass to Ouray, a cute old mining town. Ouray township was crammed in a small flat amongst towering mountains and cavernous rivers. It has become one of North Americas best ice climbing sites. We soaked in the hot pools
Hoodoos
Hoodoos at Bryce Canyon NP here after a loop walk around the town and then went to the touristy Telluride. Between seasons, Telluride was quiet without bikers or skiers. We spent 1 night here before deciding we needed to get out before the snow made it impossible! After a refreshing short walk in the storm we took the long road back into the desert around the mountains to Cortez. Cortez is a sleepy farming service town, but has amazing riding. We had a nice day ride here and met some very friendly locals. Not far down the highway was Mesa Verde National Park, an outstanding area of Native American history. For 400 years there were settlements built into the overhangs below the Mesas. They housed a few hundred people and the native peoples used to farm and hunt the land above the cities perched high in the rock cliffs. We took an informative tour around one of the sites and decided that we both would have been almost dead if we lived in those times (life expectancy was about 25 years for females and 30 years for males)! We visited another area with both mountain biking and dwellings the following day satisfying both of us.
Ouray
The town of Ouray from our walk around the town. Colorado We rode and then stopped to explore more untouched sites. We saw our first Tarantula this day as well. The afternoon involved driving onto Durango for more riding, cheap beer ($1.50), super cheap Pizza ($2) and very friendly locals (Bruce). After deciding that Colorado was too cold we headed east to Great Sand Dunes National Park. We spent the morning driving straight across the valley towards the dunes, while staring at the 14,000 + ft mountains in front of us. Rob had discussed the wish to climb one and we thought that they didn’t look too technical. After consulting the Park Ranger and the weather forecast we set off at 3pm (a little later than we usually leave for a tramp!) towards a lake at 11,750 ft (higher than Mt Aspiring). We arrived in the dark and dreaded putting up our tent, but luckily there was a shed which was great as we could get out of the wind. A friendly mouse visited until we confiscated the food and toilet paper (nesting!) and we had a reasonable sleep. We got up as early as the sun would allow and plodded up to the top at 14, 345 ft (4,471.6 m).
Dwelling
City under the cliff in Mesa Verde Rob was affected by the altitude; a little nausea and dizziness, which made the last ridge section on the rocky edge in the wind more challenging. We we estatic and a little emotional (altitude!) at the top. We went back to the Como Lake (up to7 hours at this point) and collected our other gear and walked out to Chad for tea, wash and an awesome sleep! After a lazy get up we went back to the sand dunes for a morning of plodding up dunes and using a snowboard to fly down. The board was great as after it overcome the sands’ friction it took off enough to lose your stomach! We had fun, although the body was feeling weary from the day before! In the afternoon we went towards New Mexico and arrived in Taos. We explored the old part of town; narrow streets, old adobe buildings and art galleries on the bikes. The next day we went for a bike, forgetting to take lunch as we failed to convert the miles into kms, arriving back to the van at 3.30pm! Miraculously neither of us got a migraine! The following few days were in Santa Fe, biking and
Another
Another dwelling at Mesa Verde. The ladders go down into rooms underground called Kivas, which were used for religious ceremonies. in town visiting the amazing farmers market. We had had enough of town so boosted through Albuquerque to a volcanic area near Acoma Pueblo. We spent a few days walking in the volcanic caves, up cinder cones (El Calderon), exploring to cliff top dwelling and rock inscriptions; Native American petroglyphs to early explorers (El Morro). The next day we went to Zuni Pueblo to see a Indian Reservation. In the US the native peoples were given land and the ability to self govern. Most build casinos to make money for their communities. In Zuni 80-90% of the population are involved in making crafts to sell. They are not allowed to marry out of the Zuni community or they lose their rights within the ‘system’. We enjoyed a tour by a young woman of the old Spanish mission and the old part of town. It was nice to a working Native Indian Reservation in the US which didn’t involve a casino
We hit the highway again and headed into Arizonia. We headed up the hill past cinder cones to Flagstaff. Rob had bought some new shocks as his had died and he had these fitted. We also got a super map
Mt Blanca
our massive 14, 000fter!! At the top feeling elated of the riding in the area and headed to the tracks. Rob was super excited about his new squishy shocks so we planned a nice mission. We got about 10minutes up the trail and his derailleur fell apart. We rolled back to the van and went for a not-as-satisfying run. In the evening we soaked in the community pool for a warm up and shower. In the morning we attempted again the mission we had planned out the previous day, only this time the trails were closed halfway around due to fire damage in the forest. We shortened the ride and found ourselves in some very technical volcanic rock sections! Back to the van and on the road again down towards Sedona. The road dropped into a narrow and pretty gorge called Oak Canyon and out to the town of Sedona, which was surrounded by orange-coloured cliffs and buttes. Here in Sedona were rode and walked some great trails and also recharged our energy by visiting an energy Vortex. We spent a nice 4 days here and then headed west towards California. In the morning we stopped at the cute mining village of Jerome perched hill on the hillside and
Robs birthday
Biking in Sedona for Robs Birthday!! onto Prescott. It was nestled in a granite basin and we spent a night out at the provincial park. We had a great walk up on the hill and bouldered on the rock and then the next morning we rode around the valley. After a wash and lunch we aimed for the border into California across the desert. We arrived late in the afternoon to the hot, desert trailer town of Quartzite. It was a sad looking place, and I think owning a trailer and being retired was a prerequisite to living here.
So into California and turning North is part 2....
Advertisement
Tot: 0.175s; Tpl: 0.011s; cc: 7; qc: 51; dbt: 0.0545s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.1mb