The Great Western Road Trip 2

The next morning we woke up to a chill in the air, I’d always though that the Grand Canyon was supposed to be boiling hot- but up on the rim, it’s at about 8,000 Ft above sea level so it’s actually cooler!

Greg woke me up before sunrise, he wanted to make it to Las Vegas to get the truck window repaired by noon- then on our way through Death Valley to Bishop, CA.

On our way to Las Vegas we decided to stop and see the Hoover Dam, one of the modern marvels!

After we stopped to get the windshield fixed we made our way to the edge of Nevada- driving through a flight test range for the military- I did get to see a Joshua Tree- which was pretty cool…but no explosives or planes.

Death Valley is one of the most desolate, hot, beautiful places that I’ve seen- I wish I had been able to see more of it!

We did make a point to stop at Badwater Basin- the lowest point in the contiguous US– I was able to hit the high point (Mount Whitney) and the low point( Badwater) in a 3 month span. It was kinda cool.

The road to Badwater Basin.

Water sitting on the salt flats near bad water.

This was the lowpoint….

We got out of the car at Badwater… it was 100 degrees on the dot. It was awful- but still so neat to see.

Once we were back on the road we made our way to Bishop, CA- and camped in the Buttermilk Boulders area- like Sarah and I had done earlier this summer.

Sun setting behind Mount Whitney(in the middle)

Beautiful full moon…the sky was ACTUALLY that purple!

It ended up being an amazing idea- we camped up on a hill by an old mining area overlooking the valley. It was beautiful- and quite warm when we arrived 68 degrees. We decided to eat under the full moon, there was no wood to make a fire. It was a great evening!

 

The Great Western Road Trip 1

Greg and I had a wedding to go to in California in mid-September- so rather than spending money on plane tickets, rental cars, and hotels…. we decided to make it an adventure road trip! I figure I’d show some photos- it was amazing!

Our first location was Unaweep Canyon in southern Colorado- a beautiful drive to the Utah border!

Waking up in the Dominguez-Escalante in Colorado

Unaweep Canyon

We made our way into Utah, and headed south for Monument Valley at the Arizona border! Along the way- a truck kicked up a rock, and dinged up our windshield….now both of our cars.

This trip was made up of places that’d we had wanted to go, and things we’ve wanted to see- but didn’t have a real reason to go out of our way to see(Hoover Dam).

We continued our trek to the Grand Canyon’s South Rim- arriving around 2PM. This was my first time at the Grand Canyon- and we stopped at many vantage points along the way. It was absolutely spectacular… I can’t wait to go back and hike it!

First time at the Grand Canyon!

My favorite adventure partner… HUMAN!

We then had a chat with one of the rangers, and he told us where there is BLM camping outside of the park, so we arrived right before dark- made a fire, and made dinner. It was a great way to end the first full day!