Cool Colorado- Rafting in the Rockies (& so much more!)

Despite the scary adventure of the electrical storm, we have had a blast in Colorado. We've been here just under 2 weeks (not including our 5 days for Mesa Verde & Cortez on the other side a month ago). Originally I wasn't looking forward to Colorado as it sounded fairly similar to BC but its been a breath of cool fresh air and a surprise. Here are a few highlights:

Great Sand Dunes National Park was a surprise. We were coming out of the desert and were not exactly excited to see more sand. However the dunes are the tallest in North America and abut a mountain range. Colorado is also full of flowing water (so exciting!!) and we got a taste of it with the magical Medano Creek which flows only in May & June as snow melts and floods across the bottom of the dunes. It comes in strange, shallow waves as small sand dams break and flood water forward. Easy to cross. Although hiking the dunes is a challenge, the kids were so stoked about the running and sliding down of them that they hiked quite high up--we probably hiked up for ~1hr. Then we got a panorama of valley and 2 mountain ranges before running down. We won't miss our first real taste of hungry mosquitoes but it was worth a stop for sure (and be sure to camp if you go as the lines to get in between 9-1 were ridiculous--they haven't figured out timed entry like other parks).

Where the dune meets the forest & the mountains-- Great Sand Dunes National Park

Medano Creek- flows May/June

Colorado Springs & Denver: We had 2 nights each in Colorado Springs and Denver and had some tastes of city life. There are lots of fun activities to do in both and we really enjoyed cycling the numerous paths. In CS we really enjoyed heading the short distance to Manitou Springs, an adjacent town with a colourful history. There you can walk around and taste all the unchlorinated natural springs in little fountains around town and visit the penny arcade.

We tasted 5 of 8 fountains in Manitou Springs

 Nearby we also had a blast at the Rock Ledge Ranch Historic Site which we all loved--hands on history, with actors while traveling through time from prior to settler introduction to the 1900's. It was like a smaller version of Barkerville but equally good in its own way. 

We cycled to town each night by urban streams to dinner with very little time spent on streets. There is a sizable homeless population living along the trail near where we stayed but maybe not too much different than in Victoria?

In Denver we stayed in the Cherry Creek State Park which had the nicest reservoir we'd seen so far. Corwyn and I had a lovely kayak on the lake and we cycled around this park and later cycled into town to the confluence of 2 rivers. Denver also has an amazing science museum. We spent hours there avoiding a second electrical storm and still didn't get to about 1/3 of the exhibits.

The Rockies of Colorado. Now we've driven about 2hrs northwest of Denver into the Colorado Rockies. We're staying in a high valley in the town of Fraser which is cool and lush and full of fun. We've met up with Meme and Tate (my parents) for the rest of the journey and we've challenged them to many fun outdoor activities in the thin air including:
-Horseback Riding (Vera's choice) 

-Class 3 River Rafting

-Alpine Tundra and Colorado River source valley hiking 

Vera's wish--to ride a horse.

Meme and Tate hiking in the tundra, Rocky Mt. National Park

Downstream Adventures- 90 min's of fun on Clear Creek, Co.

We've seen TONNES of animals (2 moose, 50+ wapiti (elk), 20ish bighorn sheep, 10 mountain goats including one licking our car and other cool things like fawns and white pelicans. So far everyone is mostly in one piece (the 3 things listed above are mega adventures especially for my mom) and we're all having a great time. 2 more days here and then we're off to our final big leg of the journey--Wyoming.

Mountain goat and kid

Driving up Mt. Evans- 14 130 ft

Mountain Goat licking our car--salty?

Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep

King of the Alps- So small & beautiful

The Storm (Denver, Colorado)

I was excited to be in a big city again. Denver, Colorado. And there was an MLS professional soccer game our first night there when the Colorado Rapids were playing, ironically, the Vancouver Whitecaps. It was going to be too late at night for Corwyn, so he and Chloe went kayaking earlier in the day on the reservoir we were camped on (Cherry Creek State Park). That left Vera and I to leave the campsite after dinner and go to the soccer game. We got there early enough to see the warmups, the introductions of the starting lineups, and the national anthems which included a brief fireworks display. Vera was enthralled by a big sporting event. I was looking forward to the rare opportunity to watch professional soccer live ... and then the announcement. "Due to an extreme weather warning, we ask all spectators to return to their cars or the covered area." But weren't the skies clear? There was a little wind but not significant. I was a little surprised but expected a brief delay and then the game would start.

Instead, Vera and I sat in our seats (which were conveniently covered and on the lee side of the wind) and listened to stadium music. After about 30 minutes, the rain and the lightning started. The rain started coming harder and more diagonal, the lightning seemed distant but it was getting closer and more frequent. Soon, there was sheet lightning on three sides of us. It was actually pretty cool to be sitting with several thousand people watching lightning and listening to rock music ("Thunderstruck" and "Raining Men" were big hits). Vera was more interested in the event than the actual soccer, so she was happy. A text message from Chloe confirmed that there was no rain at the campground, although she could see some lightning in the distance. Corwyn was sleeping happily in the tent.
Then the power went out at the stadium and the weather report changed: hail was coming. I pictured my wife and son trapped in a tent without any other cover, while Vera and I were at a stadium. Bad Dad. Time to go. About five minutes into our drive home, the hailstorm hit. I don't think I've ever experienced such a loud storm. Vera and I had to yell at each other in the car just to be heard. Sheet lightning was visible over and over, in multiple directions. I've never seen so much lightning. Road visibility deteriorated rapidly and as water pooled on the highways, lanes became rough guidelines. Cars started hydroplaning at strange angles and we were brought to a crawl as an four-lane highway was limited to one car at a time driving on the shoulder because the other lanes had too much water (or trapped cars). Some people were crawling along in their vehicles with the hazard lights on while others continued to drive the 65mph (100 km/hr) speed limit weaving in and out of lanes.
We made it back to camp to find Chloe had evacuated the tent to our neighbours car. Corwyn was in her arms still sound asleep in his sleeping bag. We hung out in our car for a while and then the lightning seemed to subside for a while, so we finally got into the tent. We were generally dry inside, although a small leak at the top of the tent led to drops of water that would consistently find my forehead no matter how I tried to dodge. Chloe had the weather radar map on her phone and it was showing a full rainbow of colours that you don't want to see from a tent. Most of the neighbours had packed up to go home (if they lived in Colorado or were hiding in their cars). The lightning didn't dissipate though and still seemed to be coming from all sides. I was always counting the seconds between the lightning and the thunder. After one intense blast, I barely got to "one" before the thunder struck. Time to go back to the car. This time, we had two sleeping children in sleeping bags to take with us since Vera had conked out in the tent. After another hour in the car (time is difficult to measure as you drift in and out of uncomfortable sleep), the worst of it seemed to have moved on. Again, we returned to the tent and were able to stay there until morning. When we awoke, there was little trace of the previous night's storms. Even though it was fully booked, half the campsites were now empty, and the remainder were swapping their survival stories.
Thunder and lightning are pretty rare in Victoria and can be exciting when they occur. I've seen a few bigger thunderstorms in other places around the world, but this was on a different level than I've experienced. The electrical storm (Chloe clearly differentiated it from a thunder storm) had lasted about six hours and must be generated thousands of strikes. When my phone received an emergency signal today stating "Severe Weather Warning! Go indoors!", I was worried that the next night was going to be even worse. It started raining hard while we were making dinner ... but then it stopped and there was only minimal lightning for the rest of the night. Maybe it hit the next campground over. Fortunately, tomorrow night we'll have a proper roof over our heads.

Forests and Phones- New Mexico

The landscape around Chaco Canyon was pretty bleak (Chloe doesn't seem to think so) but there was one particular Northern Mockingbird that I will always remember. I've always laughed at its song on our bird clock at home because it's so long and varied ... but the real call was even crazier! This bird was a non-stop chatterbox with a variety of different songs, calls, and chirps. I'm not sure if that's normal for a mockingbird or if it would be ostracized by its peers for being obnoxious, but it was impressive nonetheless. The next impressive thing in New Mexico were the forests. Two hours outside of Chaco Canyon, we picked up some groceries in a small town and then we started to climb into the mountains. The trees (mainly pines but also the occasional Douglas Fir) appeared immediately, along with meadows of green grass. Corwyn kept screaming with joy in the backseat saying this was the best day ever! We stopped for lunch and he rolled around in the grass like a dog that found a dead seal on the beach. He was ecstatic! The campground at Bandolier National Monument was full of pines and we were able to hang our hammock in the campsite again (We hadn't had enough trees to do this for a couple of weeks). Mountain trails, more cliff dwellings with dangerous ladders, a close encounter with a big diamondback rattlesnake, and flush toilets. All we could hope for in a campground.

We also experienced some city culture in Santa Fe by visiting Meow Wolf, which is a combination of art museum, modern lighting display, and escape room. The mystery we were supposed to solve required too much patience and reading for the kids but they loved all the wild lighting, strange creatures, secret doors, and tight passageways. I was skeptical of the steep price before we went but the 2+ hours we spent in there were great! Unlike anything else I've experienced in real life (kind of like being in a video game, actually).

Chloe's phone died on us which caused a minor crisis since it's the one that connects to our car and provides all the maps. It took a day and a half to get it fixed, which kept us in Santa Fe for an extra day, and we had to limp along with my more simple phone. Suddenly, we were reading actual maps again and looking at travel pamphlets for information! It was a great reminder of how important these devices have become in our daily lives, even when we come in and out of cell phone range each day. I've been reading about the negative effects of social media on people's mental health recently (in a paper magazine, not online!) and I'm concerned about that, but as a navigation and information tool, they are second-to-none. I can't imagine completing this trip without all the information they provide us daily. We got to explore this town a bit more though including cycling some of there many rail trails!

Chaco Culture in New Mexico

Chaco National Historic Park is a few hours SW from Mesa Verde but in New Mexico. We spent the day in Farmington appeasing the kids with a fun waterpark and appeasing me by visiting Aztec--another set of Ancient Puebloan ruins with a reconstructed big kiva you could go into (its cool too but kids can only take so many ruins and there are MANY in this area).

Then we headed into the desolate world of Chaco Canyon on mostly bumpy, cattle-guard ridden roads. The last 20km were the worst and we went slow. Traveling in is kinda part of the experience as you feel like you are way out there but yet in a place that at one point (1000AD-1200AD) this was the center of a civilization. Unlike Mesa Verde which was green and lush, Chaco canyon wasn't and there are no trees (there was 1 cottonwood in a wash in our campground but no much else). I wouldn't say it was desolate, but Chris would (see photo below-- you can deside! and it is still the end of Spring so there were flowers and grasses. One flower, perhaps the Desert Verbena in our campground, became wonderfully fragrant at night---a perfect combination with the amazing stars and the coyote yips. No need for a fly on the tent most nights in the desert! The campsite was cool as it was filled with rock art and even a cliff dwelling from ancient farmers. So many ruins and so much rock art that most weren't even listed on the map! Just meant to explore and find.

Mesa Verde- Cliff Dwellings from Ancient Puebloans

The Puebloan Indigenous peoples have been in this area a long time. People may be more familiar with the Navajo (Dine is what they call themselves, Navajo is a name the Spanish gave them that means "farm fields in the valley"). Though the Dine say they have been here and originated from the 4 sacred mountains in New Mexico (where we are now), their genetics and language point to them as Athapaskan people and being related to the Dineh of Northwestern Canada (we have Dineh in BC). The Puebloans I believe, have been here much longer though they are scattered into many nations now throughout New Mexico and Utah (the Hopi). Their ancestors left an incredible mark on the landscapes here---communities of buildings in cliffs and canyons that still are very noticable on the landscape today. These buildings are on average 800-900 years old. Mesa Verde is a National Park that encompasses a large mesa (table land--from a distance it looks like low mountains but flat) with valleys. Without a car it would be a trek to get up but the Mesas provided extra moisture and so were better at the time for farming (the 3 sisters- beans, corn & squash). Though there is evidence of people living up on top of the Mesa for >1000 years it is only around 1100 that something curious began--people went over the cliff edges of the small canyons on the mesa and began to build--beautiful stone structures. When you approach these villages you are on the mesa which is now a Pinyon pine and juniper forest (except for the sections that burned between 2000-2003, 1/3 of the park). This is where the farming would have occurred. Dryland farming, which means you plant and hope the rains for the most part, water your crops. You meet up top your Ranger on Guided tours (we did 3) and then you descend. There are now some paved and staircases but the main way in traditionally and the way out now is through ladders and hand/toe holds over the cliff. We thought it sounded cool so we signed up for all three tours we could.

We first went to Balcony House- a small house of 2 extended families. We did a 30' and 60' ladder and had to craw through a traditional rock tunnel that was a 3m long and just barely fit Chris and our even larger guide if they crawled sideways with their packs in front. It was a cool place. Each household has a Kiva-- a perfectly round structure made of stone with a air vent on one side, a hearth fire, a place to sit and a ceremonial hole called the sipapu (it is believed that this hole represents the place where people emerged from the earth). Then a number of multi-story rectangular buildings surround the kiva for living and storage of food.

We also went to the even larger 'Cliff Palace' a larger one with many kivas--lots of families lived here or people congregated to perform ceremonies. We also got a special tour (only 10 people per day) of Square Tower house where we decended ladders into an area most people don't get to to see this dwelling with a Hopi guide and a very knowledgeable docent. This one was great as we could even see places where the kiva roofs were still in tact and hear more about how some traditions of Puebloan life carry on. These cliff dwellings are so special not only because the brick dwellings meant buildings still stand but the shelter under the cliffs meant so much were preserved-- pottery cups hanging on hooks, feathered blankets, wood beams etc. Cool to know and cool to see. These people lived here for a few hundred years in these dwellings and then left, scattering in many directions. The common theory is that people migrated here as the climate got drier and a drought drove people out of other areas. However, as the drought continued people had to leave and find more reliable water than the seep springs that weep out of the canyon walls. But there are many questions about whether that was it or other changes in culture (conflict? astronomical signs to travel?) that made these people leave by 1300 leaving all the things they couldn't carry carefully stowed or in the case of kivas, burnt as they moved on to their homelands.

Square Tower House and the Route Down via more traditional steps (and more ladders too!) The campground and park itself was great, even had free showers (so rare) and evening programs. Juniper and serviceberry (read saskatoon variety) and pine. But 2 nights and we were moving on to Chaco National Historic Park.

Canyonlands and Arches (Utah)

We're now moving on to our most Western section of the trip (Colorado, New Mexico & Wyoming). More wonders I'm sure await us but we thoroughly enjoyed the landscapes in Eastern Utah. There are a number of different national monuments, national parks and forests here to discover and state parks too--we did not get to them all and its the first place that I felt like I'd like to come back to soon--with a backpack and maybe a boat? Canyonlands National Park, Bear's Ear National Monument and Arches National Park are the ones we passed through. Canyonlands has 3 (and a half parts) (see map). We went into the 'Needles' section as we were passing by thought we could get a campsite without booking and needed water (so many campgrounds here you need to bring your own water). I fell in love. It isn't the most dramatic landscape (the more popular Island in the Sky section and of course the Grand Canyon have dramatic) but it was like a fairytale landscape. Beautiful rock formations everywhere with lots of ups and overs and downs all climable. The campsite is nestled in amongst these rocks really spread out with trails and backcountry campsites in all directions. I could have easily stayed 3 or 4 nights and day hiked in every direction or gone in for longer with a backpack.

We enjoyed Island in the Sky as well as a day trip. There are a lot more people in this section and less backpacking but you can take a high clearance road and drive around to more remote campsites. We didn't as we are so fully loaded. Plus kids don't get scenery from the car so everything is best by walking or biking. We did an out and back to be able to look into the twin Canyons of the Colorado and Green Rivers. It's differently amazing to looking at the Grand Canyon--still pretty high and with these huge spires in one section. We have little rock climbers now so doing the 'Whale' a big sandstone rock for an amazing view was no prob!

Arches we spent 3 nights in--it is also very dramatic. I think between Chris and I we visited most of the more accessible arches (15?) but there are actually 2000+ arches in the park. We enjoyed 2 nights of Ranger led talks at the campsite (very poorly advertised) and had lots of fun scrambling. Arches take better pictures and Delicate Arch, the symbol of Utah is an amazing one to go to. I enjoyed a run one morning up and through "Broken" arch being alone in these landscapes is amazing and you can see so far I don't worry about being lost.

Anyway, an amazing landscape and WHEN I return I will explore the Needles section of Canyonlands more thoroughly (and maybe the very remote Maze section)? and likely the Bear's Ear NM and perhaps Natural Bridges National Monument, Capitol Reef NP, Dead Horse State Park--so many options!

Sorry we skipped the Grand Canyon for posting (it was cool too) --I'll try and get Chris to write something about it!

Amazing Rock Art in the High Desert

For the last month we've been in a variety of desert and chaparrel (shrub) desert environments. Along with the amazing rock formations and the view into the history of the Earth through the layers of sediment from ancient seas and sandunes is the presence of past peoples. What is amazing is that ALL of these parks and surrounding areas have rock art. And not just one small scratched image (though there were less in the more Western edges of parks like Mojave and Joshua Tree) but tonnes. And both Pictographs (rock paintings) and Petroglyphs (scratches into the rock). Here are a few of the sites that have inspired me and left me in awe thinking about the messages left by these peoples 1000, or even 2000 years prior to today. Valley of Fire State Park, Nevada Valley of Fire is not too far from Las Vegas but shows the contrast between that built environment and what is really going on in Nevada. It is HOT! Temps hit 38C when we were there though the 'fire' part is not because of the heat but because of the striking red rocks. It is an interesting place and one that people lived in for hundreds of years at a time with evidence from the Archaic period and a few other periods. There was even farming in this Valley though other than the interesting melon species I found, you'd never suppose--the climate has warmed and dried over time to a point no one could live here anymore, let alone farm.

Up the huge staircase to see the petroglyphs However, when they did those that came left their mark in many ways, one of them rock art. We had to climb ~80 stairs to reach this panel of rock art and even then you would have had to use ladders for those to paint what they did. These are petroglyphs and in amazing condition. While many of the stories are left to you to decide you can clearly see bighorn sheep and the Atlatl--a tool that came before the bow and arrow where an arrow-like projection is launched with the Atlatl. If you want to try it out, go to Camp Thunderbird where it is an activity you can try! Carvings with Atlatl date to the group before the farmers so ~1000BC to? So neat.

Petroglyph Panel. See the Joshua Trees on the left and the Atlatl thrower at the top. Palatki and Honanki village sites and the Sinagua Peoples, (Sedona, Arizona) We did a day trip on gravel roads from Sedona to these sites. Both are in the very large Coconino National Forest so have volunteers and staff to talk to you and in the case of Palatki a tour by docents. These were village sites for the Sinagua people, a 3 sisters (beans, corn & squash) farming group that lived in this beautiful amphitheatre-like area--with their cliff homes right up against the mountain to get shade in Summer and sun in winter. A lush-for Arizona valley surrounded them where farming occurred both when they were there (1100-1400AD) to recent. Though the cliff dwellings were amazing the rock art even more so. The docent was so good at pointing out even the early scratch marks made from Archaic people as well as those of the Sinagua which included an outline of the mountains with the sun where summer soltice would be, the "monster" coming up from the underworld and neat designs which may have been inspired by the reflection of the pool there.

At Honanki, another nearby village the rock art was within the village. (Sinagua villages were spaced a few miles apart to lesson the burden on the environment and close enough to run in 20-30mins in an emergency). Chris wondered how they had managed to preserve OLDER art while living there and add their own but then again, it is something we still do today save for a few vandals. I particularly enjoyed learning about the white insignia that villages had so people knew the village from a distance. It looked like someone had recently spray painted the one at Palatki it was so clear.

Insignia from Honanki near the village -paint from over a 1000yrs ago. Newspaper Rock, Bear's Ears National Monument, Utah This was my favourite so far although I hear there is another newspaper rock simialar in Arizona. These rocks are called so as many groups passed through leaving lots of carvings. And these ones, even from the Archaic (see the trapezoidal people figures) are very clear. This one, as others had lots of animals but lots of grizzly bear prints & bison! It is more grasslandy here in places with more rivers (the Colorado and Green bisect this area plus others) so I can imagine them. I'll have to check to see what the historical range of bison was but certainly only deer and goats showing up in the more southern areas. The swirls we've learnt may have to do with the several world that many of the indigenous peoples in this area believed to have passed through to get to this world (4 I believe). This is something we learnt about at the Experience Navajo museum (the Dine people who's territory and reservation is the largest today in the USA) but also holds true to many others (Paiute, Ute?) of today and yesterday?

I am left to wonder many things, not just about the messages but also WHY are the carvings and rock art so abundant here versus in Western Canada? It must be in part the rock, so much easier to carve and the climate, so much easier to preserve with less rain! But perhaps, these cultures were more into leaving their messages than others, maybe it is in part, culture?