Days 29/30: The Dreaded Drive Home

Day 29: August 31

Andrew woke up early this morning and let me sleep in. He ate, got dressed and hopped on the bike to go for another ride before we hit the road. Today we would begin our 2 day eastbound journey back to Ellijay, Georgia. As soon as he left, I rolled out of the truck in a daze. I made myself some coffee and breakfast. I pulled one of the camp chairs into the sun and warmed up while I typed up some stories for the blog. Within an hour Andrew returned covered in mud. He worked on getting the solar shower set up again while I began packing up the rest of camp. We were on the road by 11:30am.

We drove through dark gray skies for about two hours before a drop of rain ever hit the truck. And with the rain came hail. It didn't last long and no damage was done to Black Betty (Andrew's beloved Chevy) or the bikes, which have yet to be named. The drive was quite; allowing us to reflect back on the trip...to all the beautiful places we were privileged enough to see and visit. My iPods song shuffle option kept us entertained for the drive.

Again, we stopped in Kansas, what I have deemed the never ending state, and slept for the night at a rest area. We downloaded a free rest area finder application for the iPhone several weeks ago and it has been quite handy on this trip.

Day 30: September 1

We slept well last night, even with the muffled sound of semi engines running behind us. Last night was the first time we ever rolled up the sides to the topper. It was hot and humid out when we stopped and it didn't change much during the night. We did our last coffee and breakfast routine and I savored for the moment before we got back in the car for the long haul ahead of us.

While we drove, we talked about the upcoming weekend. Trans North Georgia (TNGA) was having its second annual ride across the state of Georgia and it is always a hectic and entertaining weekend at Mulberry Gap. There's lots of energy and excitement all around you.

The long day finally ended late at night. We pulled into a familiar driveway and crashed in a luxurious bed compared to what we have been sleeping on the past month. We had to get rested up because we had a busy, busy weekend in front of us - no down time...that's what the drive home was for!

Day 28: 401 Trail in Crested Butte

We woke up this morning with the sun in our face. You would think by now we'd learn which direction to park the car, but we were so ready to get out of the truck last night that we paid no attention.We made breakfast and Andrew worked up the bikes to make sure they were in good shape. He took off the two larger chain rings on the Ellsworth that were bent so that I would not have issues with slipping. He rigged the crank and it was ready to go. I would have to be in granny gear all day..but something told me I would have been in that any ways. We packed up the car and headed towards the trail. You're supposed to ride about 5 miles of gravel before you get to the trail head, but I had no idea what I was in for, so Andrew drove me up the majority of it and dropped me off. We drove back to a parking lot and rode up the gravel road..show off. I entertained myself for about an hour while he did this. Once he met up with me, we both got on the bikes and started up. 

The road was blocked to cars not far up the road. About 100 yards past that sign, we found out why. There was still a large sheet of snow on the road and the genius that tried to pass it most recently, ended up like this...

Whoops!

We passed several pretty glacier lakes on the way to the beginning of the trail.

Once we got to the trail head, we stopped for a pee break and I took a deep breath before I attempted the rest of this climb which was guaranteed to keep my heart pumping - fast. But, I pushed those thoughts out of my head and continue moving my legs. Parts of this trail were so steep that I could not gain enough momentum in granny gear to make it up, so I hike a lot. The trail head also started at 9,000+ feet. Add another 1,500 feet of gain in the climb and you've got yourself a pretty decent hill and enough altitude to make my heart ump out of my chest.

Here's a picture of Andrew part way up the trail surrounded by wildflowers.

Finally, we made it to the top! Yay! I caught my breath and we took a few minutes to take photos of the bikes. As you can see in the background, dark clouds were moving in and the wind was picking up.

We started feeling light sprinkles falling from the sky, so we kicked it in high gear, trying to outrun the storm. Not exactly the kind of pressure I wanted to shoulder at the moment.

Gorgeous views at the top

Wildflowers

Beautiful

All the views were distracting me as well. I'm so busy admiring all the sights around me that I stopped paying attention to where I am going and what I am doing. Then, when I realized I could fall 200+ feet down the mountain, I would snap back to pretty quickly. It's so dang hard though! Andrew would fly down the mountain super fast...way ahead of me to get video on the GoPro, then he'd start coming back up the trail to make sure I had not died or rolled off the cliff. I was just easing down the mountain - holding the brakes the entire time. I'm not adrenaline junkie by any means...if you all have not figured that out yet. As I told Andrew several times, I kind of like this life and want to be around for a long time - fully intact, so if I slowly creep down the mountain, avoiding life threatening jumps, rocks, cliffs, etc. then I will do so. Thank you very much.

OK - moving on...

I made it down the mountain in one piece, but I got off the bike going down just as much as I did climbing up, but for different reasons. We didn't get caught in the storm, which I was happy about. It was an awesome trail and I would have done it again, even with all the scary moments. I just think too much when I am on the bike. Andrew loved it and I tried to get him to do it again without me so he could bomb it all full speed.

Bottom of the trail

Once we got back to the truck, we loaded up and started to look for a different camping spot. We came across this great place, right off the main dirt road that was fully covered and had a large area for us to spread out. We had only really set up a full camp once before, near Lyons, CO. We decided it would be nice to set up again and have a relaxing afternoon. We stopped by a creek to fill up the solar shower container so we could rinse off later. We pulled out the EZ Up, Andrew went hunting for fire wood and I worked on washing clothes and setting up the tarp for the shower. Andrew went in to town to grab some beer and run a few errands.

Our camp - notice the tarp to the right of the picture. This is where our cold shower took place.

We weren't able to get the water in the solar shower very warm because the sun was setting quickly. It was luke warm so Andrew and I decided to boil some water to warm it up a bit. He had to run back down to the creek on his bike in order to accomplish this task because we were so low on water. I made dinner while we was away and after we were finished eating, we hoisted up the water container and stripped down again. I had almost every side closed off, but there was once opening and the wind coming through was cold! We were able to rinse off though and freshen up. Mission accomplished.

We sat around the fire for a while, spent time admiring the beautiful night sky and then headed off to bed.

Day 27: Slickrock in Moab, Crested Butte, CO & the Milky Way

We were woken up to a Forest Service truck this morning around 8:15am. They were checking on the picnic areas and toilets. Andrew had wanted to get an earlier start this morning as he was going to ride a trail or two and wanted to beat the heat. We weren’t ready to wake up, but it was actually already too late. By the time we finished cleaning up after breakfast and on the road, it was already 10:20am. We drove up to Slickrock Trail in a state recreations area. Andrew got dressed, set up the GoPro and hit the trail as quickly as he could, but it was already very hot out! Since the Ellsworth is still immobile, I stayed with the truck and worked on typing up blog posts underneath a shaded picnic table. These little chipmunks surrounded me. They were entertaining to say the least.

Froggy style...

The mountain biking terrain

Andrew had a good ride. He was out for about 90minutes and came back looking fatigued and uncomfortable hot. We had a snack and loaded back up the car. Andrew did a quick rinse off with more wipes in the restroom - then we hit the road towards Crested Butte, CO. Yay...several hours in close quarters next to stinky Andrew! Unfortunately, we had to bypass Fruitta, UT on this trip. We just didn't have enough time and it was late afternoon by the time we drove through the town, so the heat would have been unbearable. Maybe next time.

Andrew and I had a nice, relaxing drive. We finally got some rain and with that, hail. It was sporadic and never lasted terribly long, but Andrew's truck was finally wiped of almost a months worth of dirt and grit. We drove over the last mountain before Crested Butte around 6:15pm. I was so excited as we drove through all the birch trees. I snapped a lot of pictures and admired their beauty.

We drove through Crested Butte and Mt. Crested Butte on our way to the 401 trail head area. It was getting dark so we focused on finding a place to camp for the night. Andrew wanted to get a feel for the area so he would know where to find the 401 trail in the morning. By the time we found a place to sleep for the night, it was already dark outside. We set up the light and put our head lamps on so we could function. Andrew focused on the fire, once more and I worked on chopping up the chicken and vegetables for dinner. Soon, I found myself searching the grounds for a place to drop trowel to pee. I happened to look up and sure enough there were a million stars in the sky and I could see the Milky Way. We had not noticed how bright the sky shone because the fire was altering our vision. I called Andrew over and showed him what I had discovered. Once the fire died down, I pulled out my camera and attempted to capture the beauty in the sky. I was actually quite impressed with the photos but they still look nothing like what my eyes could see. The photos of the Milky Way didn't quite turn out.

Heat lightning off in the distance - or the glow of the city

Day 26: Arches National Park & the Moab Brewery (Pt. 1)

Note: There are two parts to this post due to the large amount of photos.

We woke up to semi trucks pulling in and out of the rest area. We had beautiful 360 degree desert views.

Storm clouds rolling in.

Quite the set up..made us a little jealous.

We did our usual morning routine and got back in the truck to drive the remaining 30 miles to Arches National Park. We pulled into the park around 10:00am and stopped at the visitor center. The park itself is not very big; you can see a large majority, if not all of its major features in a full day. We didn’t get as early of a start as we wanted…and the heat was already starting to set in. There was a huge rain storm over most of the park this morning when we woke up, but we could not see any signs of it now, besides humidity. We started the scenic 36 mile drive and pulled off at most of the sights. I’ll letthe pictures do the talking for me. 

Notice the balancing rock on the bottom right.

Balancing Rock

Don't forget to read the second part to this post!

Day 26: Arches National Park & the Moab Brewery (Pt. 2)

It was extremely hot out! Even with sunscreen, Andrew and I both got sunburns. We went through a lot of water and day dreamed about being back in the AC of the car while we were out exploring. The sights were spectacular, but the heat took away some of the joy. The walk to Sand Dune Arch was great because were hiking through a cool, shady place.

We reached the end of the road at 6:00pm and did the 2.2 mile walk to Landscape Arch. I really wanted to stay and get some great photos of the sunset, but we would have had to wait another hour just for the sunset to start, then wait until it was almost completely gone. We didn’t have the gear, nor the energy to deal with that, so I had to put that idea out of mind.

Andrew climbing to the hole.

Andrew made it to that top.

We had both worked up an extreme appetite after hiking and climbing in the sun all day. We decided to head into Moab and grab dinner and a beer at the Moab Brewery. Andrew got the Scorpion and I had another stout. We got chips and salsa for an appetizer because we couldn’t wait for the food. Andrew had a huge burger and fries and I had the hummus wrap with the house salad. They were delicious and very filling!

After dinner we stopped by the gas station to top off and grab some ice. Then, we headed towards Manti La Sal National Forest to find a place to sleep for the night. We camp upon Pack Creek Picnic Area, which had several free camping spots, so we backed into one and got ourselves situated. I desperately needed a shower of some sort, so I grabbed a wash cloth and the 5 gallon water jug, stripped down and started scrubbing down. I didn’t want to mess with the hassle of the solar shower system because it was late, dark, and chilly – so I had to do this in steps. Wash the body first, get dressed, and then wash hair. It felt great to get several days of grit off, especially the sunscreen and sweat from today’s dessert climate. We were both exhausted from today, so we went to bed shortly after.