WINTER RETURNS TO THE TETONS

What happened to those balmy days in the 60's?  We were wearing shorts a week ago!

Both the Colter Bay RV Park (Paul) and Campground (Ann) opened with a light blanket of snow on Thursday, the day before the Memorial Day weekend began. The temperature had dropped into the upper 20's overnight and the rain changed to snow.

It also snowed on Friday, Saturday and Sunday of Memorial Day weekend. While many of you were going to the pool over this holiday weekend, we were dealing with snow each evening with some rain, hail and mixed rain/snow during the day. On Sunday, our RV was covered in "white".

As was our car.

 
Our fire pit hasn't been used this summer except as a place to put our lantern.

The weather forecast for the last week in May is showing high temperatures either in the 50's or low 60's but the lows are still going to be around freezing. Is this the last of the snow? Time will tell.

GRAND TETON NATIONAL PARK AT LAST

We decided to push on and drive over 325 miles from Heber City, Utah to our summer home in Colter Bay on the north end of Grand Teton National Park.  Since we arrived rather late in the afternoon, we positioned the RV in our site and were only able to do a minimum of the set-up necessary for our summer stay.  We still had a full day to get "settled in" before reporting for work.

The weather cooperated beautifully, with the sun shining and the temperature in the 60's by mid-morning. Our biggest problem in getting the RV situated was the fact that our sewer drain was about 15 more feet away than at a "normal" campsite.  We had to apply some creative engineering to be able to connect our sewer hose to the drain.

We washed both the car and the RV removing almost three weeks of built-up dirt and grime. Look how shiny the RV looks now.

By late afternoon we had completed most of the other chores both inside and outside, so we celebrated our arrival with an iced bottle of Korbel champagne.

Once it was dark enough, we took the following picture of the RV.

This was the unveiling of our second neon showpiece.  

PARK CITY

After one more visit to a repair facility for a regular oil change, we took a short drive of less than 50 miles to visit Park City, one of the most famous winter ski areas in the country and home of the Winter Olympics in 2002. We had visited this area when Wendy and Laura were in middle school but we wanted to return for a second visit, sans children.

Our first decision was the route to take. We could take I-80 over a rather long and high pass out of Salt Lake City to get to Park City. However, we chose a more picturesque route through Provo Canyon and over to the east side of the Wasatch Mountains. No pictures, unfortunately, because we had pouring rain the whole way.  Despite the rain, we enjoyed the scenery of sheer granite walls along the route.  More importantly the drive was a gradual incline that is easier on the RV engine.  We ended our drive near the small town of Heber City, Utah, where we found a nice campground along the Jordanelle River. Had either of us been avid fly fishermen, we would be in the perfect location.

After the rain stopped, we took a short drive in the car to Park City. The rain had brought in some cooler weather, which felt good after Moab and Salt Lake City.  Unfortunately, Park City was between seasons--ski season and summer season. Many of the businesses were not open, but we strolled along Main Street encountering very few other tourists. Paul found a friendly moose for a photo.

SALT LAKE CITY--CROSSROADS OF THE WEST

Since Moab didn't have a repair facility capable of diagnosing our ABS brake light issue, we decided to head towards Salt Lake City to visit with a certified service center.  We rolled into Salt Lake City by mid-afternoon and, by dinner time, our problem was fixed.  The ongoing issue was a brake sensor that had to be replaced.  Even better news was the fact that this was covered by the warranty on the motorhome chasis.  Our frustration finally over, we planned for some hiking the next day.

We were pleasantly surprised to find a nice trail within the city limits.  In fact, the trail started just to the east of the Utah capital building pictured below.

We followed a combination walking and biking trail that followed City Creek.  A bit of history - the creek was the first water source used by the Mormon pioneers settling in the  Salt Lake Valley beginning in 1847.

The two photos below show just how fast the water was moving through this picturesque area.  It was a great hiking atmosphere so near downtown.  

We did find lots of new wildflowers along the way. Unfortunately, there was no botanist or park ranger to help us identify these flowers, but we enjoyed finding the different species during our hike.

 A very relaxing day after over 2000 miles of travel.   

ARCHES NATIONAL PARK

After getting the motorhome brakes checked out in Durango, we decided to head further west to Moab, Utah instead of further north over 3 more high passes through the mountains of Colorado.

The temperature in Moab was about 90 degrees when we arrived mid-afternoon, quite a shock from the 60's and 70's we enjoyed in the Durango area. After finding the local visitors' center, we planned our next day of sightseeing.

Arches National Park is located about 5 miles from Moab. We got an early start so Ann, our chief photographer, could take advantage of the morning light. The red rocks were vibrant as the morning sun shone brightly.

Water and ice, extreme temperatures, and underground salt movement are responsible for the sculptured rock scenery of Arches National Park.  At every vista we stopped, the views seemed more and more breathtaking.  There are over 2,500 known arches ranging in size from 3 feet, the minimum necessary to be considered an arch, to 306 feet base to base.   Landscape Arch is pictured below--306 ft. across.

There have been many cowboy movies, including four movies starring John Wayne,  filmed in this area, as well as many commercials and music videos.  Maybe you will recognize some of our photos.  The terrain ranged from desert-like...

to monstrous red rock formations. The formation shown in the two photos below is called Park Avenue because it reminds you of standing among the skyscrapers in a large city such as New York.

Most of the rocks in Arches National Park owe their brilliant color to the presence or absence of iron. Bands of white occur where water has removed the iron or bleached the rock through chemical reaction. Bands of white can be easily seen in the photo below.

The most famous arch is called Delicate Arch.  You can judge its height when you look at the people standing underneath.

Over time, water seeped into cracks and joints, ice formed, and, with the expansion and contraction pressuring the rock, bits and pieces broke off, leaving a series of free-standing fins.  Several fins are pictured below.

Arches National Park also has a formation called Balanced Rock, similar to the one in Garden of the Gods in Colorado. 

Several other less famous arches include the following:

Pine Tree Arch

North Window

Turret Arch

Riddles we could not solve.  Which part of the tree is the trunk?  On the left or on the right?  Was the tree there first or did it grow through the fence? 

The dry desert climate was kind to certain types of flowers.  None of the flowers are duplicates of those we found in Mesa Verde.

Rosemary mint

Basin daisy

Common globemallow

Pricklypear Cactus

Yellow thrifty goldenweek

Uinta groundsel

Considering Arches National Park was not in our original itinerary, we had an enjoyable time hiking literally from arch to arch and viewing some amazing scenery.  Touring the park was a photographer's dream.  It's no wonder Arches is one of the most frequently visited national parks in the system.

TRAIN RIDE FROM DURANGO TO SILVERTON

On our last full day in Durango, we were treated by Ann's nephew Jon Schlegel to a first-class ride on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad from Durango up to Silverton. Jon is vice president of the company that owns this railroad as well as several others throughout the United States. Jon arranged for us to be treated like royalty from the moment we picked up our tickets.

The 43-mile train ride traveled through the backcountry wilderness of the San Juan Mountains mostly paralleling the Amais River. The train was powered by a historic, coal-fired, steam-powered engine and traveled along tracks completed in July of 1882, only nine months after construction began. The original line was constructed to haul gold ore from the mountains, but passengers soon realized it was the view that was breathtaking.

We left from the Durango train station for an exciting day riding the rails.

One of the three operating coal-fired engines.

We rode in the Cinco Animas car which was restored in Victorian splendor of a bygone era. The train car decor made it seem like we were riding in a museum. Irene was our hostess, whose roles included historic narrator and bartender. We enjoyed a mimosa (Ann) and bloody mary (Paul) while viewing the awesome scenery along this historic route. Irene was a wealth of knowledge, since she has lived in the area nearly 20 years and was once a prospector living in Silverton.

 

Irene told us how some of the right-of-way had to be hand blasted through the mountain. A man was lowered down a rope, he chiseled a hole to insert the black powder, lit the fuse and was quickly hauled up before the charge exploded. Parts of the right-of-way followed the old toll road that was used by stagecoaches in the 1800's before the railroad was completed.

The view down to the Animas River. You can see just how high up the train track is.

In the next photo, notice the edge of the rail bed support in the lower right.

The whitewater below is rated class V rapids for rafting and kayaking.

The next photo shows some of the rapids along the river with snow covered mountains in the background.

When we arrived in Silverton it was snowing; Ann's first Mother's Day with snow! Silverton is nearly 3,000 feet higher in elevation than Durango. Since this was only the second weekend the train has been running to Silverton, many of the businesses there were still not open for the summer.

We heeded Jon's advice and went to the Handlebar, as in mustache, Restaurant & Saloon for lunch. This restaurant was like a museum with all of the artifacts lining the walls. 

Don't you just love the beaver holding the American flag!

After an enjoyable lunch, we headed to some of the shops along Silverton's main street before returning to Durango via motor coach. The bus ride was along 52 miles of the San Juan Scenic Byway giving us a different perspective of these majestic mountains. When we boarded the bus, it was snowing heavily. About halfway to Durango the snow changed to rain and, by the time we got to Durango, the sun was shining. You gotta just love mountain weather. 

When we arrived back in Durango we went into the Railroad Museum which is actually part of the active roundhouse where they turn the engines around as well as make repairs. We also strolled through some more shops in historic Durango before enjoying a nice leisurely dinner at Lady Falconburgh's, another one of Jon's great recommendations.

This day was truly a relaxing and amazing day, one we will always remember! Thank you Jon for making this happen for us.