We stopped in Golden, and Nick got some hiking shoes. Then we headed on 70 west into the mountains.
We drove past the foothills, and up towards the ski places I'd been too. We took Loveland Pass over the continental divide, rather than taking the highway tunnel.
I'd been here many times on the way to A-Basin, and noticed there was a hike along the ridge, which Nick was up for.
He was in good shape, and the 12,000' didn't bother him much.
There was still lots of snow capped mountains to look at, despite the recent warm temps. We could see skiers at A-Basin, where I went snowboarding last week.
It was chilly and windy at this altitude, and Nick was anxious to get to the 90 degree temps in Utah.
The trail continued along the ridge, but we were happy to make it to the first peak, and headed back down.
Before we hit the highway again, we saw a bunch of mountain goats on the side of the road.
We headed on 70 past Copper Mountain, and now this was all new terrain for me too. We passed Vail, which had lots of waterfalls pouring down the mountains.
Nick took lots of pics from the car, as the scenery got more red, and rocky, as well as biege and sandy.
We stopped at Grizzly Creek, in the middle of a canyon.
Soon afterwards, the CD player stopped working. This was a big downer.
Near Parachute, CO, we saw a mountain that I thought would make a perfect Legend of Zelda dungeon entrance (at the top).
Very near the border, we stopped at a rest area with an overlook.
After we crossed the border, we stopped at another scenic rest stop, and I had to ask an odd question to the lady at the welcome center: "What time zone is Utah in?". It was important to know...
Also important to know was the location of the next gas station, as I was running low on gas. Best to fill up if you see a gas station and only have half a tank left.
Check out Nick on the small hill to the left.
The low gas light popped on 2 miles before the exit for gas. Then we headed South towards Moab, and the terrain started getting very red.
We decided to go to Arches National Park, as it was ~4:45, and we had lots of light in the evening. The road climbed up along the red rock mountain.
The first attraction we hit was "Park Ave", a sharp skyline of sheet rock lined up in a row.
The evening sun was magnificent.
Next up we hit "Balance Rock", which kind of looked like a spoon. The La Sal mountains (12000') loomed in the background.
Nick ran up the path on the right.
The mountains were really pretty, and still white.
I tried for a picture a bit in towards the setting sun.
Next we went to the "Parade of Elephants", and walked around the rocks.
Nick poses on a red rock.
I told Nick he should try climbing this rock to get to the hole. It looked doable from afar, but he turned back at about this point.
I also gave it a try, and he was right. No ledge to stand on to reach up to the next level.
Next we drove to the arches area. There were some hollow zones in the rock as we reached the parking area.
A couple of arches.
I climbed a rock in front of Turret Arch. A great pic taken by my brother.
A cool closeup of Turret arch.
Nick ran up into an arch.
Another look at an arch.
A look back at Turret Arch.
A few nice pics looking east towards the mountains, with the setting sun making the rocks glow red.
We drove north, trying to see as much as possible before the sun disappeared, and looking for a good spot to catch the setting sun.
Some red rocks, just before sunset.
A few more minutes of sun.
We reached Devil's Garden Campground and wanted to camp in the park, but it was full, so we climbed some rocks to see the sun set, and left the park for a camping site the ranger recommended.
It was dark when we got to the campground, and we didn't feel like setting up the tent, so we slept in the car. Nick is a easy sleeper, I'm not. So I downloaded my pictures, and started writing this report.
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