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Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado!
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thatbaldwinlife
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2021 5:37 pm    Post subject: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

Colorado was supposed to be our summer trip for 2020. We had maps, ideas, and big plans. Covid put a hitch in our giddy-up and we stayed pretty local for the two weeks, just venturing to Idaho. Now that the country is opening back up, Colorado was back in rotation.
This may also be our twins last summer trip with us. They are almost 17 now and by next summer, they will have their driver’s licenses and jobs and may not be able to take two weeks off to come with us. We kept that in mind everyday and did our best to enjoy every moment with them.

As usual here is the video with the trip report below:

Link


We wanted to make big miles the first two days to get to Moab as quickly as possible, so we left home around 6:00am with plans to camp near Twin Falls Idaho that night. On the day we left it was supposed to be record breaking temps in Portland with a high around 115 degrees, so we knew it was going to be a hot one in the van.
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We stopped in Baker City for lunch and to relax in the shade a bit before heading off to Idaho. There we met a fellow Westy owner on his own epic adventure with his daughter. They were on their way back to Tacoma and we gave them some potential camp spots along his route.
Back in the van, the temps continued to climb and with it nearly 100 degrees inside the van, the spray bottles and fans were a welcome relief.
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We pulled on to a dirt road near Twin Falls and hoped our camp spot would work out tonight.
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These two. I don't have enough amazing words for their ability to adapt when traveling. 100 degrees in the van? No problem. Driving all day? Never ask when are we going to be there. Not knowing where we are going to sleep? Never gets worried. These two have been traveling in the van for 6 years and are some of the most hardened travelers I know.
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As the sun set, the temps became a bit more tolerable and we sat out enjoying the breeze.

The next morning we headed south to Moab!
We watched as the scenery changed and the red cliffs of Moab started to appear.
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After a quick stop in town for gas we headed east along the Colorado river looking for a place to camp. We quickly realized that even though it was Sunday night, the place is a zoo. We spent the better part of an hour driving along the road to find every established site was full and signs everywhere that say “Camping in designated areas only”. Bummer.
We finally found an empty campground a few miles down a gravel road named Upper Onion Creek. It was incredibly beautiful but also insanely windy. We spend most of that night in the van.
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The next morning the wind died down and Nancy and I took the opportunity to bathe in the river and fill up our water tank with our filter system.
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Solar showers for the twins
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I’m a lucky man!
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One more stop in Moab for some gifts and we were off to Canyonlands National Park.
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Man what a place! It is hard to put in to words the dramatic cliffs and valleys that are abundant in this area. It is even hard to show on video as it is a place that must be experienced. It is also a large park and unlike Arches down the road, this place seemed almost empty.
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After a long, hot day exploring the park, we headed south to find camp. Along the way we stopped by Newspaper Rock to enjoy the petroglyphs (and abundant lizards)
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After a failed attempt at our first camp (bugs were crazy there) camp was found a few miles away on an amazing bluff overlooking the mountain range. We settled in and made some dinner and enjoyed some drinks while watching a spectacular sunset followed by a lightning storm over the mountains. It is a night we will not soon forget.
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We packed up in the morning with Colorado in our sites! We visit Mesa Verde, drive the Million Dollar highway, and enjoy the 4th of July in our favorite town of Crested Butte. But that is part two…
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Steve M.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2021 6:29 pm    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

goldtooth wrote:
C
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it's amazing what you can do with an old garbage truck! Laughing

You get lucky enough to see these rigs out in that area.

Sounds like you had a great trip!
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2021 7:36 pm    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

Another great trip report. Thanks.

Do you scout camp spots with google earth or satellite photos? You seem to know where you want to go.
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2021 8:36 pm    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

freecampsites.net is also very useful.

https://freecampsites.net/
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PostPosted: Mon Jul 19, 2021 9:38 pm    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

Great trip report - thx for your efforts in documenting it. We were fortunate to spend three nights in Moab in summer 2019 (pre-COVID) taking in both Arches and Canyonlands (along with Dead Horse Point SP) and share your awe of the place. Looking greatly to returning at some point soon once the borders open up. Again, thanks.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:29 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

jimf909 wrote:
Another great trip report. Thanks.

Do you scout camp spots with google earth or satellite photos? You seem to know where you want to go.


Sometimes we use iOverlander to point us in directions where people have stayed before but a lot of the time we just look at a map and pick a road/ area we think might work out. Sometimes it is a lot of driving and checking areas that don't work out.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:30 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

coqcitywesty wrote:
Great trip report - thx for your efforts in documenting it. We were fortunate to spend three nights in Moab in summer 2019 (pre-COVID) taking in both Arches and Canyonlands (along with Dead Horse Point SP) and share your awe of the place. Looking greatly to returning at some point soon once the borders open up. Again, thanks.


Thanks! We were going to go into Dead Horse but it was getting late in the day and knew we were not going to be camping there so we passed it.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 6:36 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

Great trip!
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 9:38 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

Great trip report, all those Moab pics brought back so many wonderful memories!

One of our go-to spots to get away from the Moab-area zoo is the Hatch Point Campground (HPC) in the Anticline & Needles Overlook area. HPC is nice because it has lots of empty slickrock next to the campground to bike on, a few campsites enjoy all-day shade, huge views, and wonderful wind-sifted sugar sand to sleep on. There are caves going towards the canyon rim that have great acoustics for didgeridoos and, if you look close, there are artifacts like arrowheads to be found (but please leave them in place). Finally, there are fixed facilities if you have new campers who prefer those. The mysterious Canyonlands monolith from last year was located just a few miles west (and about 1000 vertical feet down) from HPC. If HPC is full, there is plenty of dispersed camping out there along the canyon rim as well.

To get there, you drive a 60-mile U south to 211 and west to 132 and north to HPC. You end up ~10 miles SW of Moab, but on the unpopulated side of the deep Kane Springs Canyon.

goldtooth wrote:
... we headed east along the Colorado river looking for a place to camp. We quickly realized that even though it was Sunday night, the place is a zoo. We spent the better part of an hour driving along the road to find every established site was full and signs everywhere that say “Camping in designated areas only”. Bummer.

This reminds me of one of our spring trips to Moab where I wanted the kids to experience the Slick Rock Trail (SRT) on mountain bikes, knowing it would be a bit of a zoo, but not realizing how much of zoo it becomes.

Having been warned that the main SRT campground fills up very early in the morning, we camped our first night just upstream of Moab on the Colorado River. We decamped at 7am so we could get to the SRT campground early and we secured a great view site from someone pulling out at 8am. We then spent the day playing on the SRT and the practice-SRT on the bikes. However, the big SRT campground was so noisy and overfull of happy campers that we decided to pull out and head to Hatch Point the next morning.

All day there is a steady parade of folks driving through hoping to find a non-existent available camping site. As dusk falls, it becomes depressing for anybody with any empathy because one knows that it's going to be a very long night for each of them finding another spot to camp. At 9pm, one car from the parade of disappointed late-arrivers circling the campground (which had filled up 11hrs earlier) stopped at our site and asked if we knew any alternative campgrounds nearby. She seemed kind, civilized, extremely tired and was totally stunned when we told her to just pull in and set up in the far corner of our site. It was a good call, she camped quiet as a mouse, was good conversation at the fire and we felt positive about helping someone out.

When we bailed from that circus the next morning, she followed us out to the much quieter HPC and it was reassuring to know there was a nurse nearby as the kids cycled around on the deserted slickrock out there.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 20, 2021 3:13 pm    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

We heard from some friends that Moab is a zoo now but we happen to be going through and wanted to check out Canyonlands. Would have love to explored more of Utah but out goal was Colorado on this trip. Nancy and I will got back soon when the weather is cooler and explore southern Utah a bit more.
Working on the next video now and hope to have it out by this weekend then will do a write up for here on that as well.
thanks for the feedback so far, it is appreciated.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 7:48 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

Awesome trip and great pics!

Steve M. wrote:
it's amazing what you can do with an old garbage truck! Laughing

You get lucky enough to see these rigs out in that area.


I wonder how much each of the tires weigh. I don't want to do that tire change.
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 9:40 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

4Gears4Tires wrote:
Awesome trip and great pics!

Steve M. wrote:
it's amazing what you can do with an old garbage truck! Laughing

You get lucky enough to see these rigs out in that area.


I wonder how much each of the tires weigh. I don't want to do that tire change.


Not to derail the thread, but we were fortunate to see a couple of Man conversions while in the Moab area including a beast named 'Man O Mann' (Youtube video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqegz2RhcVM ) - it dwarfed my Westy in size - everything on it is big and heavy and likely expensive, especially fuel......
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 21, 2021 10:22 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

goldtooth wrote:

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Great photos! Thanks for sharing.
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 22, 2021 6:30 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

Vanuber wrote:
goldtooth wrote:

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Great photos! Thanks for sharing.


thanks! hard to take a bad picture when the sky is like that.
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PostPosted: Tue Jul 27, 2021 1:01 pm    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

Super busy right now so I am not sure when I can process pictures and write up the story so here is the YouTube video. I will come back and edit this and add the write up later.


Link



Part Two:

After packing up we headed towards Colorado! I had been looking forward to this for a long time and all of us were excited to explore a new state.

We saw on Google Maps a Monument for Canyons of the Ancients and with no where to be, we headed out that way.

We followed this gravel road for some time, really doubting it would put us in the right place and after 20 minutes of driving, we ended up at a dead end road at a natural gas pipeline plant. Something went pretty wrong in our directions but that’s ok, we just headed off to Cortez.
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We decided to get a hotel in Cortez as we planned on camping for the next 7 days or more and we were all pretty dusty and sweaty from the drive down and Utah dirt. Plus we needed to do some laundry.

The next morning, we headed off to Mesa Verde National Park where we had two nights reserved at Morefield campground. After picking out site, we headed off to explore the park.
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There were some SERIOUS steep roads in the park and we struggled in second gear at times but the views were worth it.
The main attraction in the park, Cliff Palace, was closed due to road construction and we were not lucky enough to secure a tour ticket for other locations, so we drove around the park taking in the sites we could.
This place is pretty special and we spent the entire day roaming around, hiking, and taking in the history of this amazing area.

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We went back to camp, made dinner and enjoyed the cooler weather before heading off to bed.
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We decided to leave a day early since we had explored what we wanted and were excited to see more of Colorado. We had to take a quick detour into New Mexico to visit a Best Buy to pick up some additional hard drive space but then back up to Durango.
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After a quick stop to stock up on ciders (had a hard time finding good ones since leaving Portland) we sat by the river for a bit deciding on where to camp. With what seemed like limited options before highway 550 started climbing, we settled on an iOverlander site off of Lime Creek road. When we got there we were a bit surprised by how many people were there but we decided to give it a shot.

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We had a good time walking around talking to different groups of people before heading off to bed thinking of the steep climbs up to Silverton.
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What can you say about the Million Dollar Highway? It has Million Dollar views? It does. It is a must drive section of road? It is. That there are endless places to explore (given the right vehicle)? There are.
We did not take a lot of pics on the drive from Durango to Silverton (or Ouray for that matter) but we did try and take some video to show the beauty of this area. It doesn’t work. You need to experience it for yourself. Anyway, here are a few.
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Silverton was a cool little town with dirt roads and old buildings. We explored a bit and ate lunch before heading out towards Animas Forks.
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On the way out, we were reminded that it was 4th of July weekend and the area was crawling with 5th wheels, side by sides, ATV’s, Jeeps, and anything that can hold an American flag.

We decided against heading out to Animas cause the road was a zoo and we found the only semi-secluded spot we could in the area. It was only 1:00 in the afternoon but we claimed our spot and spent the day reading, napping, playing games and drinking (well us, not the twins)
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The next morning we headed out to Ouray with plans of hiking Box Canyon and relaxing in the town. Boy were we wrong.
The drive from Silverton to Ouray was amazing as we hugged the cliff and the other side of the road was a sheer drop down with no guardrail. Nancy was relieved that we did not have to drive on that side.
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As we descended down the highway, we awestruck by how many people were here. The road out to Box Canyon was lined with people and we were very fortunate to even find a spot to park. Not very relaxing. To be fair it was Saturday, July 3rd. Not great planning on our part. We stayed a short time but decided to move on. We can come back to Ouray some time in the future.
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Highway 50 east of Montrose was closed during the week for construction so we used this time to head out that way while the highway was open. A quick stop so Nancy could bath in the Gunnison River and we headed out to find camp.
We gassed up in Gunnison and headed north on the 135 looking for some National Forest land. We saw some areas to camp near Spring Creek reservoir and hoped to find some seclusion out there. After a few miles down a gravel road, we were rewarded with a nice site right on Spring Creek. It was not totally secluded as we had people on both sides of us but there was enough distance that we could not see (or hear) them.
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The road was a bit busy and the dust that was kicked up was kind of annoying but down by the creek, we forgot all about that as we enjoyed our ciders and cool water.

The next morning we pack up and head off to find an epic party in Crested Butte. But that is in part three!!
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PostPosted: Wed Jul 28, 2021 7:20 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

Great first leg of the trip! I feel very fortunate to know all of those spots in and around Moab you described. It's an incredible place.

Onion Creek:

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Kids are quite resilient, aren't they? My girls have never once complained about heat or cold on our road trips, while their parents in the front seat have had a tendency to piss and moan from time to time. Smile
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:38 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

I enjoyed the second video. That section of 550 dropping into Ouray is incredible.

I had the same issues, as outlined in my little trip report, with throngs of people. I can't imagine how many more you dealt with on 4th of July weekend. With international travel still iffy, it seems like everybody in the continental US came to Colorado this summer.

From my experience, Colorado is best explored in early May and late September/early October AFTER the aspens turn. There are less tourists and while the established campgrounds are closed, the dispersed camping is more easily found. The specter of bad weather is there as well, though. I almost got trapped in a blizzard on Loveland Pass on May 15th once in my last van.

Also if you're willing to beat up your van a bit, you can get deeper into the mountains and find spots where fifth wheels and RV's fear to tread. Smile

Even with too many folks everywhere, I hope you enjoyed the trip! The footage is fantastic.
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thatbaldwinlife
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:43 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

joetiger wrote:
Great first leg of the trip! I feel very fortunate to know all of those spots in and around Moab you described. It's an incredible place.

Onion Creek:

Image may have been reduced in size. Click image to view fullscreen.


Kids are quite resilient, aren't they? My girls have never once complained about heat or cold on our road trips, while their parents in the front seat have had a tendency to piss and moan from time to time. Smile


Onion Creek was a welcome relief from the crowds in Moab. Even with the wind, we really enjoyed our stay.
I am so glad we had the chance (and still do) to allow our kids to travel the way we do. It builds character and gives them stories to tell when they are older. They make fun of the people(in a nice way) traveling in fancy SUV's with the window up and AC on. They say that they are experiencing anything driving so fast and being comfortable all the time.
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Silverghost500
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:45 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

Great stories and photography! Thank you for sharing. That's a great place to explore. You're right about realizing the magnitude and beauty of it. It truly has to be experienced first hand to appreciate it.
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joetiger Premium Member
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PostPosted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 6:46 am    Post subject: Re: Summer Road Trip Report! We visit Utah and Colorado! Reply with quote

goldtooth wrote:
They make fun of the people(in a nice way) traveling in fancy SUV's with the window up and AC on. They say that they are experiencing anything driving so fast and being comfortable all the time.
nate


My girls and I have been rather cynically watching "Going RV" on cable occasionally over the past couple of years and laughing at people who complain that the RV they're looking at doesn't have a granite backsplash or reclining chairs in front of the flat screen. Smile
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'86 NAHT Vanagon GL Syncro/ supercharged ABA 2.0 "Pigpen"
'04 GTI 1.8T
'04 Golf R32

"get metaphysical with it. if it's simply a means to get to and from places, it will let you down. if it becomes your zen, it can't fail you." -dabaron

"Still, it's good to be afield."--VWagabond

Available Now! Vanagon to Louisiana--A Two-Lane Reckoning Through Past and Present

www.josephtrussell.com
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