TravelTacoma
Observer
Hi guys, I am a long time lurker and infrequent poster. I love the outdoors and the more remote and unpopulated the spot, the better. So for our anniversary my wife and I planned a 10-day trip to Moab to hike, whitewater kayak, and most importantly of all, to drive and camp on the White Rim Trail! Unfortunately, a couple of weeks before we arrived a storm washed out the trail past Potato Bottoms. So we altered our plans to drive to the White Crack campground, spend the night, and drive back out. We currently live in Alabama, which added a couple of days of driving to the trip. We are most definitely on the wrong side of the country for our hobbies!
Day One: We leave home around midday and drive to the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. Not much to describe or show, so here is a picture of our means of conveyance. It is a 2010 Wrangler Unlimited with a mild lift consisting of an amalgamation of well-researched components, sliders, skids, 33-inch Nitto Terra Grapplers, and not enough storage!!!:victory: Here is a poser shot from the start of the trip.
Day Two: The following day we began making progress. We drove through Oklahoma, through Texas, and ended up in Las Vegas, New Mexico. It was a long day of lots of miles, terrible fast food, and utilization of the Ipod. Here are a couple shots from the day.
Fellow diving enthusiasts will recognize the Blue Hole as the hot spot for diving in New Mexico.:snorkel:
Day Three: I'm a bit of a history nerd and I somehow managed to talk the wife into taking a detour through Colorado to see Mesa Verde. I, like many of you, had read about the cliff dwellings and seen pictures of Cliff Palace all through elementary school. I had to check it out in person! So we began the day in New Mexico and ended the day at the lodge in Mesa Verde National Park. More photos! The following photos are of sunset and the easiest of the dwellings to access.
Day Four: We woke early to catch an amazing sunrise and participate in a ranger-guided tour of Cliff Palace. Amazing. As I get older I realize more and more that the simplest things in life are what makes life worth living.
After the tour we loaded up and made the brief drive into Utah. We stopped to check out the Needles Overlook and then onto Moab to check in to our base camp, the Desert Garden.
We then proceeded to go on a quick hike on the Overlook trail right outside of town. The result was a beautiful panarama of the Colorado River.
Day Five: The other half of our party arrived and we proceeded to hit the trails in Arches National Park. A few of you will undoubtedly recognize the following landmarks.
A beautiful sunset on the drive out of Arches, via the four-wheel drive access road.
Day Six: Here comes the good stuff!!! I tend to be a bit long-winded, but bear with me. My wife and I travel extensively both domestically and internationally and this is the best trip we've ever had. I look forward to many more backcountry trips, albeit with more gear and better prepared! Anyways, I digress, here are the shots from the White Rim portion of the trip.
Day One: We leave home around midday and drive to the Arkansas-Oklahoma border. Not much to describe or show, so here is a picture of our means of conveyance. It is a 2010 Wrangler Unlimited with a mild lift consisting of an amalgamation of well-researched components, sliders, skids, 33-inch Nitto Terra Grapplers, and not enough storage!!!:victory: Here is a poser shot from the start of the trip.
Day Two: The following day we began making progress. We drove through Oklahoma, through Texas, and ended up in Las Vegas, New Mexico. It was a long day of lots of miles, terrible fast food, and utilization of the Ipod. Here are a couple shots from the day.
Fellow diving enthusiasts will recognize the Blue Hole as the hot spot for diving in New Mexico.:snorkel:
Day Three: I'm a bit of a history nerd and I somehow managed to talk the wife into taking a detour through Colorado to see Mesa Verde. I, like many of you, had read about the cliff dwellings and seen pictures of Cliff Palace all through elementary school. I had to check it out in person! So we began the day in New Mexico and ended the day at the lodge in Mesa Verde National Park. More photos! The following photos are of sunset and the easiest of the dwellings to access.
Day Four: We woke early to catch an amazing sunrise and participate in a ranger-guided tour of Cliff Palace. Amazing. As I get older I realize more and more that the simplest things in life are what makes life worth living.
After the tour we loaded up and made the brief drive into Utah. We stopped to check out the Needles Overlook and then onto Moab to check in to our base camp, the Desert Garden.
We then proceeded to go on a quick hike on the Overlook trail right outside of town. The result was a beautiful panarama of the Colorado River.
Day Five: The other half of our party arrived and we proceeded to hit the trails in Arches National Park. A few of you will undoubtedly recognize the following landmarks.
A beautiful sunset on the drive out of Arches, via the four-wheel drive access road.
Day Six: Here comes the good stuff!!! I tend to be a bit long-winded, but bear with me. My wife and I travel extensively both domestically and internationally and this is the best trip we've ever had. I look forward to many more backcountry trips, albeit with more gear and better prepared! Anyways, I digress, here are the shots from the White Rim portion of the trip.
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