USA Part II

Utah

Said our goodbyes and thank yous to Ren, Jill and Case and headed for Utah. On the way we drove over Med Bow pass which took Patience to her highest elevation yet at 10,847ft and took us into our first snow. We also found out that hunting season opened that day which explained all the hunters and dead deer hanging from trees. It’s was mayhem!! After a long day of driving we made it into Utah and spent the night outside of a ghost town on the back road to Moab. It would have made a perfect set for a horror movie, but we slept well anyway. Moab was way too hectic for us so we grabbed some food and headed for Arches National Park. Arches, more arches and WIND!!! The wind was so strong that we got sand blasted in some of the canyons and had to gear up in desert storm gear. We did an awesome 8 mile hike that we thought was going to be 4 miles on the “primitive” trail which took us up and around and through a maze of sandstone formations. Great day! Then we headed towards Canyonlands National Park and looked for free camping along the way. We found a great dirt road which took us off the main road so we decided to follow it and before we knew it we were headed downhill in DEEP SAND!!! Uh oh! We got out and considered our options. We could keep going downhill and hope to find a spot to turn around or we could try and reverse out even though we are losing reverse due to our clutch. We decided not to make our situation worse and went for reverse. While Karen dug to firmer ground and pushed in the deep sand, Pete in true male fashion gave orders from the driver’s seat. The first go we went 6” and were stoked. We continued in this fashion with Karen getting her face sprayed with sand for about 20 exhausting feet before we found firm ground. Phewf!! We parked for the night and passed out. We spent the next morning checking out Canyonlands NP before heading to Bryce Canyon NP. Again we looked for another free site and found one up near someone’s cattle yard. We spent the whole night paranoid because it seemed as though someone was parked at the head of the road shining their lights at us. Good thing Pete brought a crowbar. We woke up to our coldest morning yet at -5oC and were awed by the frosted water sprinklers in the fields. We went for another hike in the hoodoos at Bryce Canyon NP doing the massive switchbacks twice just for fun and then headed to Zion NP. It was a beautiful drive to Zion, but the highlight was the mile and a half tunnel through the rock that dropped us down into the Zion canyon. We got there pretty late so we decided to spend the night and go hiking in the morning. We hiked up to Angel’s Landing for a view with thousand foot drop offs on all sides. We were going to do a hike up the narrows in the afternoon, but with the thunderstorm and rain that was on the horizon we opted out of getting hypothermia in the river and headed to St George instead. With our new climbing guide in hand we checked out the Green Valley Gap before heading into town to get our new front tires and alignment done. Four hours later we drove away a whole new van. It was like floating on air and so much quieter! All pumped up to drive we headed out to the Utah Hills to do some more climbing. The book said we had to go up a tough 2wd road and once again Karen ended up pushing so we took the closest pull out and spent the night on a steep off angle site. We woke up surrounded by rock, all alone. We spent the day climbing the limestone soul asylum wall with no one else around and the next day headed to Prophecy wall for two days of multipitches and long routes. Here we met Michal Nad who invited us to camp and shower at his place, an offer we couldn’t refuse and ended up staying there for two nights. Thanks Michal!! Spent another day climbing in Snow Canyon State Park where we realized it was time for a break so we threw the Frisbee in the sand dunes in the afternoon.

Nevada

Next stop... VEGAS baby!!! Bright lights, $9.99 1lb steaks and mini Elvis’s, that’s Vegas. We splurged on a night at the Luxor and took advantage of the four star room for $60! One night was definitely enough and we retreated to Red Rocks for some more climbing. We had an amazing first day even though the wall was packed and met Michiel and Kelly who let us tag along on a 6 pitch climb, the Prince of Darkness, the next day. This was a ~700ft climb straight up the face with 5.6/5.10b/5.10a/5.9/5.10a/5.10c pitches. It was a crimp fest with all hanging belays that definitely tested our new found strength. AMAZING!!!!! Unfortunately we were starting to run short on time so it was time to make a run for the border. We were surprised in Surprise, Arizona by a van that wouldn’t start so we had to spend two nights at 24 hour Walmarts and are now waiting at the Affordable German auto shop in Phoenix waiting for a new starter to be put in so that we can start the next stage of our trip...BEACHES!!

USA Part I Odometer 219522 to 222375

After saying our goodbyes to my parents and Pete's parents (thank you for EVERYTHING!!!),  our trip started on September 16th at 8:30am.  It began with the easiest border crossing into the States, followed by the hottest day of driving which caused us to jump in every lake we saw!  Unfortunately Patience's heating system works even when it's hot out, uhoh, hehehe.  After meeting Beynon for lunch in Spokane, Washington we started heading East.  We spent our first night in Montana and woke up to a beautiful sky where we got our first shots with the van.  After a few days of driving we finally made it to our first destination, Yellowstone National Park, where we played tourist with the endless wildlife and scenery.  Two nights later we wound our way into Grand Teton National Park where we did an awesome 19 mile (30km) day hike up the Paintbrush Divide to Solitude Lake and down the Cascade Canyon.  Breathtaking!!  After our long day of hiking we said goodbye to the Tetons as they glowed in the setting sun and headed into Jackson, Wyoming.  We immediately found a place to scarf down some food and looked for a place to crash away from all the blinding lights of the town.  The next morning we woke up to frost on the windshield, welcome to Wyoming!  From there we headed to Sinks Canyon outside of Lander for a few days of climbing to get us back into shape before we headed to Ten Sleep.  Ten Sleep is a massive canyon with endless sport routes on both sides of the highway with virtually no one there (well except for a billion cows).  Paradise!!  We managed to get some 100ft climbs in and Karen did her first 11b/c (top roping).  We are now hanging out in Laramie with Pete's childhood friend Renny, his wife Jill and their baby Case while we waited for new front shocks which Pete is now installing so that our tires will make it down South.  Thank you for being awesome hosts and putting up with us for so long!  Next stop Utah!

LOVING VAN LIFE!!!

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