Horton/Highline/Derrick Trail Hike We enjoyed our ride up on the Mogollon Rim and decided to do a hike in the area too. The loop went up Horton and Highline and down Derrick Trail. It is 9.5 miles with 1,814′ of climbing. This area is neat with pine, oak, alder and maple tree forests. It’s wild …
Petrified Forest National Park in NE Arizona was set aside back in 1906 to protect one of the largest petrified wood deposits in the world. We spent a day driving around to all the pullouts and hiking to see all the awesome sites. I’ve detailed some highlights below. Giant Logs Trail We started at the …
Canyon de Chelly National Monument is about 84,000 acres entirely on the Navajo Nation in Northeast Arizona. The monument was authorized in 1931 by President Herbert Hoover. Early Puebloans, ancestors of the Hopis, built cliff dwellings high in the sandstone alcoves and the canyon has been a sacred refuge to the Navajos for centuries. The …
Jug Handle Loop Jug Handle Loop is a mostly dirt road loop up by Dead Horse State Park in Moab. The loop is 37.5 miles with 3,247′ of climbing, mainly up Shafer Trail. We started the loop just off the split from 313 and Long Canyon Road. The gravel road into Long Canyon Road turns …
We put our Annual National Park Pass to use again and went to Arches National Park while in Moab. The area was a National Monument to begin with back in 1929 but upgraded to a National Park in 1971. The park has over 2,000 arches!!! It’s a really popular park, really popular. So, we waited …
We finally left Colorado and are spending a couple weeks in Moab, Utah. Derek and I have been coming to Moab for over 20 years and it never disappoints. As a bonus, our friend Kevin joined us for 4 days of riding and relaxing. Klonzo Trails As a warm up, Derek and I rode all the Klonzo trails from …
Hope Lake Another doozy! Hope Lake hike + extra credit add-ons was 6 miles and featured beautiful trail through forest, a river, waterfalls, a lake, wildflowers, and billions of jagged red and orange mountains. We hiked up about 2,000′ to around 12,200′. At that height we could see the whole mountain range! Looking back down …
Lizard Head Hike Lizard Head is an iconic mountain outside Telluride, jutting up into the sky. We started our hike at 9,953′ and hiked up 5 miles above the treeline a few thousand feet to views of Sheephead Mtn, Wilson, and Lizardhead. For my Bend friends, parts of the mountain views look a lot like …
Rustler’s Gulch Hike Crested Butte is known for wildflowers and this hike showcased some. We hiked a total of 9 miles out and back along the gulch and headed up along a stream of snowmelt through fields of flowers with mountains all around. We crossed several rock fields, some snow, and picked our way up the side …
Mount Elbert Mount Elbert is Colorado’s highest peak, and at 14,439‘, it’s the second highest in the United States. We’ve been camped at the base of it for a couple weeks and decided to climb it. We started up around 8:30am and with a steady pace, we climbed up the 4,888′ in a little over …