emilarty17

[emilarty17]

Day 13- 8/15/17

Got a slow start getting back to Zion this morning as the greater part of the morning was spent writing the last week’s blogs and organizing pictures for our most loyal followers (our Moms, Bridget B, and the Factset team). Made it to the Angel’s Landing trailhead just before noon. Made a couple friends from western New York before beginning the final half mile trek up the most technical part of the climb with one of them. The last portion of the hike traveled over narrows straits and steep climbs with cliff dropoffs of over 1,000’ feet on both side. We held on for dear life at points to a chain that was connected to heavy metal poles cemented into the rock. This portion, although slow-moving due to crowds, was absolutely worth it for the views with 360° panorama at the top. After eating lunch at top, we headed back down to canyon valley and took the shuttle back to the car. Hot, dried out, and slightly delirious we decided to jump in the Virgin River to cool down before leaving to Las Vegas.

All in all, Zion was our favorite portion of the trip so far because of the magnitude in the size of the mountains, their distinct features, and the seemingly endless number of them towering over a lush, green valley floor with the Virgin River flowing through it.

VEGAS! We fell asleep by 11:30. We arrived at 7 p.m. and checked into Caeser’s Palace.  After having been in national parks for the last 5 days it was quite the difference.  C & B were overwhelmed to say the least, to deal with this feeling we quickly took a tequila shot to feel more at ease from one of the 2 lobby bars.  We made it to our room and changed out of our hiking clothes and backpacks into fancy dinner attire.  We decided on TOA, an asian fusion restaurant in the Venetian hotel.  Walking along the strip to dinner we were able to see fountains, showgirls, and many Elvis impersonators.  After dinner we decided to do some hard core gambling because why not! It’s Vegas!  So we both put 5 dollars into the slot machines and ended up leaving with $0.29.  Probably won’t be gambling anytime soon.  After the exhausting gambling experience we decided to cut our losses and go to sleep.

[emilarty17]

[emilarty17]

Day 12- 8/14/18

Bryce Canyon NP to Zion NP

WHAT A DAY!

Woke up for sunrise over the hoodoos in Bryce Canyon and then went for a hike just below them in the valley floor before driving about an hour to Zion NP. Blown away by the beauty and magnitude of Zion. Shortly after getting through the park entrance and before making it to the maintained portion, C & B decided to pull off on the side of the road for views of the tightly packed mountains and mesas. Not even a quarter mile uphill we happened upon a herd of bighorn sheep. We kept our distance as we took pictures, but the biggest one was eyeing us suspiciously so we decided to head back downhill before he showed off his protective skills. While lowering ourselves down a steeper part of the trail, a bighorn with HUGE horns jumped across the trial in front of us and ran around the corner before we even knew what happened. He was about 7 feet in front of us, a little too close for comfort with such a powerful animal. Taking this experience with us, we quickly and safely walked down the rest of the way to the car.

Zion is an amazing place, and we would both fully recommend this place to our devoted readers as it has massive mountains with impressive peaks, waterfalls, and rivers. We parked at the visitor's center and took the shuttle to the Narrows--the most popular trail in the park. The first mile is an easy walk along the Virgin River up a canyon until the canyon suddenly narrows and the trail continues as you “hike” up river through the water. Indescribable beauty but I will try, 3000’ sheer cliffs on either side as you hike up a “slate-grey bluish colored river” (as described by Emily.)

Next was Weeping Rock, just off the main road which was a cliff face with water constantly dripping out of a crack in it, making the immediate surrounding area very green and lush. Last hike of the day was Watchman trail with views of the entire valley and surrounding mountains.

[emilarty17]

[emilarty17]

Day 11- 8/13/17

Moab to Bryce Canyon NP

3.5 hour drive from Moab to Bryce Canyon NP in southwestern Utah. We were able to find a campsite within the park at Sunset Campground. We got very lucky with the weather with big rain clouds directly south and north of the park and were able to drive the length of the park and explore out along the lower rim trail looking back towards the canyon.

Bryce Canyon NP has the most hoodoos in the world, which are basically eroded plateaus that have formed impressive rock spires with unique features. Although Emily was prepared for this, Marty was caught off guard by the beauty of the park and wouldn’t stop saying annoying things like: “wow!”, “look at that!”, “do you see that one?”, and “hoodoo you love?”. Slept without the fly on the tent that night with great views of the stars.

Also, apparently the entire nation of France is on vacation currently and half of them decided to go to Bryce Canyon. Marty wanted to try out of some of his high school level French but then quickly realized he really spoke more of Quebec-style dialect, so he held off.

[emilarty17]

[emilarty17]

Day 10- 8/12/17

Moab all day

Woke up in our tent in a BEAUTIFUL grove of Aspen trees in cold weather (45°) and packed up quickly to get down to Arches NP. Temps quickly rose to close to 80° as we descended the mountain. Upon entering Arches, we realized we were really in the desert now.  Hot and sunny as we had been hoping, so we could get a genuine John Wayne-esque experience.  Started off by checking out Delicate Arch, which is the arch on the Utah state license plate, followed by Sand Dunes Arch, Broken Arch, and then back to wall street which was a viewpoint with huge cliff walls on either side with layers of hardened sedimentary rock. Unfortunately, we were not able to see The Windows, or Double Arch as that section of the park was closed off while we were there.

Side note on national parks and the very interesting outfits that are seen: including button dress shirts in the desert, wedges, farming denim overalls, bedazzled clothing, and heavy amounts of cologne--clearly we were underdressed.

“Best Couples Activity in Moab”

Whitewater tandem kayaking on the Colorado River through Castle Valley. Such a cool experience to be out on the famous Colardo River through an amazing section with mesas, plateaus and towering rock spires on either side of us. A number of old western movies were shot in this area as well as Indian Jones: The Last Crusade. We went through about 6 rapids and were (self) proclaimed to be the best tandem kayaking couple in this group of 5.

Afterwards, C & B were hungry and thirsty so we made a pitstop at the Moab Brewery on our way back to camp. Utah alcohol rules are somewhat strange and there is a 3.2% ABV cap on beer (might as well be drinking Michelob 64), but after talking to some people on our rafting trip we found that if we ordered cans we could get beer at a much more respectable 7% (not that we were drinking to get drunk). The beers were rated as “okay” and “not bad” by BSM (beer snob Marty), and “pretty good” by BSE (you get the idea).

Upon returning to the camp Marty made an instant classic camping dinner which is now and forever shall be called “Tunarama.” Three basic ingredients that come together in such a delicate way on your palate that you may think you were at an upscale restaurant in Manhattan--ramen, canned tuna, and hot sauce. YUM!

[emilarty17]

Day 9- 8/11/17

Glenwood → Aspen → Moab

Morning drive through town with great views of Mount Sopris on our way out to Aspen.  Hiked with John, Megan and co. to the Maroon Bells a beautiful set of peaks with a small lake in their basin right outside of downtown Aspen.  Lunch in Aspen where we felt like billionaires (not really, just looked at a bunch of billionaires who had just arrived on their private jets). Thought about buying snakeskin Stetson cowboy hats, but decided to hold off and reconsider after receiving a paycheck.  

Back to Glenwood, then straight to Canyonlands outside Moab to catch the last bit of sunlight.  We arrived at 6pm with only 2 hours of light left and thunderstorms basically surrounding us.  Literally running from lookout to lookout through sand and rocks to see everything and avoid the rain.  Luckily we did not get rained on, however some of the views were filled with rain. The sun came out just in time for Mesa Arch, and we were able to see a beautiful sunset over the vast canyons.

In the dark we drove up to our campsite outside of the town of Moab in the La Sal mountains in Warner Lake. It was a dark and cloudy night so we couldn’t really see our surroundings but we were excited to see where we were the next morning as we drove from ~4000’ to our campsite just under 10,000.

[emilarty17]

Day 8- 8/10/17

Vail → Glenwood Springs

Breakfast in Minturn followed by a morning hike in Vail on Booth Falls trail to a beautiful waterfall in the woods.  

Back on the road for a short but beautiful drive on I-70 to Glenwood Springs, CO. We were both shocked we had never heard of this town or area as the drive through Glenwood Canyon was incredible to see as we snaked along the Colorado River. We were graciously received with beer and a home cooked meal by John, Megan and their three kids. John is a friend of Marty’s from his sugaring days in the woods of ruff and tuff Fairfield, VT. Many memories of the sugarbush and Vermont accents were re-lived that night.

[emilarty17]

[emilarty17]

Day 7- 8/9/17

Denver → Vail

Fulfilled our promise and drove back to Mt. Evans. Words and pictures cannot do it justice, but below are many pictures in an attempt to capture the incredible views, landscape and wild animals (Marmots). These furry little creatures are natural models and seemly wanted us to take pictures of them while posing on top of rocks.

Leaving from Mt. Evans we went directly west to Vail and drove on I-70 past most of the ski resorts in Colorado in the front range. Upon arriving in Vail and Marty’s friend’s house on the Eagle River in Minturn, Marty went mountain biking on Meadow Mountain and Emily rested her eyes. Took a late lunch on the river for a necessarily large plate of nachos and beer. Hiked on the North Trail with views of Vail and then went into the village to get pizza and meet up with some local friends.

[emilarty17]

Day 6- 8/8/17

Denver → Boulder → Fort Collins → Denver

Slight divergence in the itinerary was made, so instead of driving to Vail the C & B crew decided to stay in the area one more day to take advantage of the weather and go up to Boulder to hike the Flatirons.  A short hike allowed for impressive vertical gains and breathtaking views over Boulder and towards the Rockies.  

Drove to Fort Collins to meet up with PT friend and classmate Ethan in his home town.  Went to Odell brewery (best beer in CO in our opinion) and Big City Burrito (a CSU favorite).  We continued following the local out to Horsetooth Reservoir, a beautiful 6 mile long reservoir with mountains on either side.  

Somehow the C & B crew found the energy to keep going (5 shots of espresso between each of them) and met up with the aforementioned Evan in Denver.  We really got a feel for the local breweries and became very familiar with their street art and decor (abundant shipping containers in an “industrial-chic” layout).

[emilarty17]

Day 5- 8/7/17

RAIN ALL DAY

What the heck Denver?… I thought it was supposed to be “Sunny Colorado”

In a valiant effort by Cousin Mandy to get above the clouds on this rainy day we went on North America’s highest auto road to the summit of Mt. Evans - 14,265’.  This turned out to be unsuccessful as we were packed in by heavy fog and could not see more than 30 feet in any direction.  Mandy promised the view was amazing so Emily and Marty made a vow to come back when the weather was better. Despite the fog we were still able to view many haggard looking mountain goats and sheep although we were unable to take any good pictures.

Dinner with Cousin Mandy and Marty’s college friend Evan in the lower highland area of Denver at Avanti with wannabe Vermont beer to be had. 

[emilarty17]

Day 4- 8/6/17

Kansas City → Denver

Stopped at the local farmers market in downtown KC before getting back on the road on our way to Denver.  Made it through Kansas and the boring parts of eastern Colorado without falling asleep at the wheel.  

Taking advantage of the blue skies we went directly to Red Rocks Amphitheater and hiked around where we definitely felt the higher elevation.  Quick trip into Denver to experience one of the seemingly endless amount of breweries.  The feng shui at 10 Barrel Brewers was on point to make up for their decent at best beer which was rated as mediocre by Martin and Emily (aspiring beer snobs). Headed to our home for the night at Cousin Mandy’s beautiful abode.   

[emilarty17]

Day 3- 8/5/17

Chicago → Kansas City

Drove through the plains of southern Illinois and stopped in St. Louis to visit the Gateway Arch.  The gateway to the west very meaningful for our move to the west coast.  

Back on the road across the state of Missouri (very green and hilly landscape) to Kansas City where we stayed for the night at a bed and breakfast.  Pleasantly surprised by the architecture, food, and culture of Kansas City.  We went to Fiorella's Jack Stack BBQ for dinner in an old freight station (very hip,very cool, very delicious).   

We enjoyed a lovely stroll back to the bed and breakfast in torrential downpour that is, apparently, very typical for KC this time of year.  

[emilarty17]

🤓