Almost Didn’t Make It Back….

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So this past summer (August ’10), we had planned to visit family in Colorado and Kansas, so we decided to make an expedition trip out of it, trying to camp and visit as many new places as possible along the way. I bought a ’97 Land Cruiser from a fellow Expo member that was already built, and added a Serengeti RTT, ARB awning, and built some homemade drawers for the cargo area. From our home in San Diego, our plan was to take the southern route through Arizona and New Mexico, visit and stay with family in Colorado Springs and Kansas, and then come back through Colorado, Utah, and then home through Nevada. We loaded up the Cruiser with all the gear to spend over two weeks on the road with myself and my wife, and our two kids, ages 6 and 2.

It was an epic trip…..we made it back home safely, miraculously…..unfortunately, the Cruiser did not…..here is our trip report:

 

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Day One: Sedona, AZ

We had done the Grand Canyon on a previous trip, so we wanted to do another area we hadn’t done before. Sedona was the easy choice. We had heard so much about it from here on this site, as well as from other people. We ended up staying in Sedona for two nights, but we can’t wait to go back, as there is so much to see and explore there, it was absolutely beautiful there. After leaving San Diego early and driving for quite a while to get to Sedona, we decided everyone need to stretch their legs for a bit, so we stopped into the downtown area to check everything out and find out about where we would be approved for backcountry camping. We knew we wanted to check out some of the ruins sites, so we ended up finding a place to camp out near Honanki Ruins. We set up camp, which was a bit of an adventure deploying the RTT and awning for the first time in the field just as a quick rainstorm started dumping on us. Naturally it let up just as we finished setting up camp. Pizza was on the menu for dinner….it turned out great. As for the first night in the new RTT, it was brutal as our 2 year old daughter refused to sleep since she so excited she had three other roommates she usually doesn’t have (even though we did a 6 day camping trip in Death Valley earlier this year).

 

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Day Two: Sedona, AZ

After a nice relaxing night of full rest (well….not entirely accurate), it was time to explore Sedona. After breakfast, we packed up and headed over to the Honanki Ruins. It was awesome that we got to actually got to see these ruins where ancestors of the Hopi lived and thrived in the hot Arizona sun. The ruins were at the base of this sheer cliff that shaded them from the heat, and where everything else was blazing hot, it was actually cool and comfortable in the shade protection of the cliff. Plus there were some great petroglyphs.

 

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Day Two: Sedona, AZ (cont’d)

As we headed away from the ruins, we wanted to see some of the famous landmarks of Sedona. We went up to the Chapel of the Holy Cross since we knew the view over Sedona would be spectacular, and it didn’t disappoint. The views were amazing and breathtaking. It’s a popular tourist spot, so we didn’t stick around for long, and headed over to Cathedral Rock. With the two little ones, and the temps approaching 100, we didn’t hike much of it, but we plan on doing it in the future when the kids are older.

 

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Day Two: Sedona, AZ (cont’d)

One of the things I wanted to do while in Sedona was a little wheeling with the new Cruiser, so Broken Arrow was on my must-do list. We headed over to the trailhead and started airing down, just as a couple of the Pink Jeep tours came by, asking if we were going to “come out and play?” The Cruiser performed great. We got out and walked around on Submarine Rock. And then checked out the awesome view at Chicken Point. Heading out via the Devil’s Staircase was a good time too. Such a fun and scenic trail.

 

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Day Two: Sedona, AZ (cont’d)

Our plan was to head out for New Mexico early the next morning, so we wanted to make camp on the outskirts for Sedona. I had heard Schnebly Hill Road was very scenic as you got out above Sedona, so we headed up there to camp for the night. We actually met up with another Expo member (SilverBullet) on the drive up at one of the overlooks. We continued on, and ended up finding a great spot in the woods that was much cooler than the previous night, and everyone got a better night’s sleep.

 

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Day Three: Petrified Forest / Painted Desert, AZ

Our destination the next day was Chaco Canyon, but we needed to stretch our legs along the way. When we were planning it out, the Painted Desert / Petrified Forest was a logical rest stop. It was a great quick stop, the colors in the Painted Desert were spectacular.

 

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Day Three: Chaco Canyon, NM

Visiting family in Colorado Springs was our destination, so that was where we were on our way to. We had done Mesa Grande on a previous trip, so we wanted to find something new on a different route. And then from this site, I read about this little known, off the beaten track treasure known as Chaco Canyon. The few posts I had read about raved about Chaco Canyon, and it looked very interesting from my research, and it did not disappoint. It was one of the highlights of the trip. One of the most impressive things I have seen. First of all, it is in the middle of nowhere, New Mexico. We entered the park via an endless dirt road and were greeted by some locals. Once in the historical park, we were blown away by the ruins. These ruins were over 1000 years old and they allow you to walk in them and explore them. It was amazing to think that this architecture from more than 1000 years ago was so advanced and well constructed that it is still standing. Even the outlay of these great houses were so well planned out, you can’t be anything but impressed and in awe. I was so glad that we made this a part of our trip, I would recommend Chaco Canyon to anyone. Amazing.

 

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Day Three: Chaco Canyon, NM (cont’d)

We ended up camping in the park’s campground, which was great because there is a ruin right there, along with some petroglyphs. It was awesome. On the menu for dinner was some Caesar salad and breadsticks. The kids had fun watching the bats fly around camp at dusk, and we had some Jiffy Pop popcorn from the fire in the evening, which is always a fun treat when camping.

 

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Day Four thru Ten:

We packed up in the morning in Chaco, and were treated to a spectacular rainbow over the horizon as we broke camp. We headed up into Colorado through the gorgeous Santa Fe National Forest, which made the long drive very nice and scenic. We arrived into Colorado Springs, where we stayed with family for several days, and then onto Kansas to see more family.

 

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Day Eleven: Pagosa Springs, CO

We left Kansas to start making our way back home, taking our time and seeing as many new places as possible. We had read so much about the sheer beauty of the San Juan National Forest, so we had to make sure to spend some time there. After a full day driving from Kansas into Colorado, we got into Pagosa Springs, CO in the late afternoon. We found a spot in the woods on BLM land and set up camp. We had followed a heavy rainstorm in, so it had thankfully passed by the time we got to set up camp. We made some Curry Noodle dish that was great, and really simple to make. That night, we had the most spectacular lightning storm I had ever seen in the middle of the night, with loud, cracking thunder. It was amazing. I spent half the night awake watching it from the comfort of our RTT, just taking it all in, in awe of the beauty and power. Somehow, thankfully, the kids slept through it all, as it would have been interesting to keep them calm most likely.

 

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Day Eleven: Durango / Silverton / Ouray, CO

Now we had stopped through Durango on a previous trip, and we really liked the feel of the town. We stopped there again to walk around some of the shops, and go to the train museum for our son, and got lunch at this tiny Thai restaurant, where they had the best Massaman Curry I have ever had. I still remember how good it was. From there, we drove up further into Silverton. This was our first time into Silverton, and it is a very beautiful drive and a neat little town to visit and is full of history. It was fun to see this famous mining town, and we could see why it is such a popular tourist attraction. From Silverton, we drove up further to Ouray. The copper mine along the highway looked surreal, and you could see the mountains stained from the minerals in the ground, it was pretty neat to see. We stretched our legs in Ouray and wanted to talk to some locals about a good place to camp away from it all. We spoke to a gentleman in one of the outdoor outfitting stores, and he recommended finding a place off of the famous Alpine Loop Trail, so we headed back to the trailhead to go find a good spot.

 

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Day Eleven: Ouray, CO (cont’d)

This is why I love having a good, capable, 4x4 Expo rig. We found this little spot in the woods, near a beautiful stream, with a view of a meadow leading up to this magnificent mountain. Pictures don’t do it justice. It was my favorite camp spot we found on the trip. The highlight of this camp spot were the deer that came to hang out with us. There were three does that hung around our camp for most of the evening. I was shocked how comfortable they were around us, I think the closest they ever got was about 10 yards away, which was much closer than I would have ever thought. That was our coldest night on the trip, as we were at about 10,000 ft, but we were comfortable in a light jacket. I would imagine its quite a bit colder up there during this time of the year, but just as beautiful. It really was breathtaking.

 

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Day Twelve: Ophir Pass / Telluride, CO

We packed up camp in the morning to start heading out in the direction of Utah. We wanted to stop into Telluride. Being that we were in a built Land Cruiser, I wanted to get there the fun and scenic way: off-road. Originally, I wanted to take Imogene Pass up and over to Telluride (well, actually, I wanted to take Black Bear, but I knew I wouldn’t get that one approved), but when my wife read the trail report on Imogene, she started getting a little nervous. We compromised on something a little more mellow and we went up and over Ophir Pass. The drive up to the pass was fairly uneventful, but the drive back down was better than expected from a scenic standpoint. Although I would have preferred a little more of a wheeling challenge on Imogene, but I was glad we did Ophir, as it was very beautiful. Plus, now we have an excuse to go back in the future. I could have easy spent a week in the area, it is spectacular there. We had lunch in Telluride and walked around for a while, as we were about to make the drive to Moab, UT.

 

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Day Twelve: Moab, UT (cont’d)

As we dropped out of the San Juan Mountains, and towards Moab, it was interesting to see the drastic changes in landscape. The Moab area has always been one of our favorites and we have stopped into Arches NP several times on previous trips to visit family in Colorado. We stopped into Arches once again as we arrived into Moab, but we didn’t stay long this time. Everyone was tired, and thunderstorms were rolling in, so we quickly setup camp in one of the primitive campgrounds along the Colorado River outside of Arches. We got rained on pretty good that night, and then the humidity after the rain cleared made it a tough night’s sleep.