hoyden
Lady Bug
Stalking Light - when I drove through the Valley the next morning, I didn't want to leave it. I could have stayed in that area another while.
October travels
- Thread starter hoyden
- Start date
Stalking Light
Feral Grandpa
This is one of my favorite views from the upper valley:
hoyden
Lady Bug
Lovely!
Hey! There be Goblins in Cathedral Valley! :-D
Hey! There be Goblins in Cathedral Valley! :-D
hoyden
Lady Bug
Oct 18: Goblin Valley
I left the campground down this rocky, twisty road into Cathedral Valley.
Argos wants to know why I keep stopping. He does not fully appreciate the beauty behind him.
I pulled something in my lower left back area yesterday and today am in considerable discomfort. Once I got parked in Group Parking at Goblin Valley Campground, I took some ibuprofens, stretched, and after a short rest, took Argos for a 1.5 mile walk on a canyony path towards Goblin Valley. Some folks passed me, heading back to camp, wondering where the Goblins were. I looked up and saw a bunch!
It’s a really phenomenal spot.
Here’s what Utah State Parks says about this fascinating place:
“Goblin Valley State Park is a showcase of geologic history. Exposed cliffs reveal parallel layers of rock bared by erosion. Because of the uneven hardness of sandstone, some patches resist erosion much better than others. The softer material is removed by wind and water, leaving thousands of unique, geologic goblins. Water erosion and the smoothing action of windblown dust work together to shape the goblins.
Bedrock is exposed because of the thin soil and lack of vegetation. When rain does fall, there are few plant roots and little soil to capture and hold the water, which quickly disappears, in muddy streams without penetrating the bedrock.
Opened to the public as a state park in 1964.”
“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls. Anaïs Nin”
I left the campground down this rocky, twisty road into Cathedral Valley.
Argos wants to know why I keep stopping. He does not fully appreciate the beauty behind him.
I pulled something in my lower left back area yesterday and today am in considerable discomfort. Once I got parked in Group Parking at Goblin Valley Campground, I took some ibuprofens, stretched, and after a short rest, took Argos for a 1.5 mile walk on a canyony path towards Goblin Valley. Some folks passed me, heading back to camp, wondering where the Goblins were. I looked up and saw a bunch!
It’s a really phenomenal spot.
Here’s what Utah State Parks says about this fascinating place:
“Goblin Valley State Park is a showcase of geologic history. Exposed cliffs reveal parallel layers of rock bared by erosion. Because of the uneven hardness of sandstone, some patches resist erosion much better than others. The softer material is removed by wind and water, leaving thousands of unique, geologic goblins. Water erosion and the smoothing action of windblown dust work together to shape the goblins.
Bedrock is exposed because of the thin soil and lack of vegetation. When rain does fall, there are few plant roots and little soil to capture and hold the water, which quickly disappears, in muddy streams without penetrating the bedrock.
Opened to the public as a state park in 1964.”
“We travel, some of us forever, to seek other states, other lives, other souls. Anaïs Nin”
hoyden
Lady Bug
Oct 19 : Valley of the Gods
At the group campsite in Goblin Valley, a couple of tent campers showed up, and three RVs. Everyone was great. We all had similar experiences with a cranky Ranger at the gate, and were happy to be parked.
Goblin Valley is great!
You can drive up to a lookout point, and then clamber down in amongst the goblins! Argos and I took a walk down there, and I carried Pugsly down for a brief photo shoot.
She's a pin-up model!
On my way to Valley of the Gods, I went through Hanksville. You know what is near Hanksville? Mars!
Well, the Mars Research Station, anyway. I didn't travel that far!
The facility is closed to visitors after Sept 1, but four mile drive out was worth the time. It really is other-worldly there.
On the drive, I went through Glen Canyon area. Obviously, I was having fun with the Panorama feature on my camera
Now I’m at Valley of the Gods at our group campsite I picked over the hot summer. It’s lovely here!
This is the view out my camper door.
The doggies know that we've reached a destination, and rest easily.
I just realized that the meetup isn’t scheduled for people to arrive until the 21st, not the 20th as I’d been mis-remembering. I meant to get here a day early to secure the spot, guess I am two days early. That's okay, I kind of want some alone downtime after having been around people the past few days.
“Star light, star bright, first star I’ve seen tonight....”
Usually wished upon Venus, like most kids who wished upon the first bright object in the night sky.
I wonder what I wished for when I was a kid?
Good night.
At the group campsite in Goblin Valley, a couple of tent campers showed up, and three RVs. Everyone was great. We all had similar experiences with a cranky Ranger at the gate, and were happy to be parked.
Goblin Valley is great!
You can drive up to a lookout point, and then clamber down in amongst the goblins! Argos and I took a walk down there, and I carried Pugsly down for a brief photo shoot.
She's a pin-up model!
On my way to Valley of the Gods, I went through Hanksville. You know what is near Hanksville? Mars!
Well, the Mars Research Station, anyway. I didn't travel that far!
The facility is closed to visitors after Sept 1, but four mile drive out was worth the time. It really is other-worldly there.
On the drive, I went through Glen Canyon area. Obviously, I was having fun with the Panorama feature on my camera
Now I’m at Valley of the Gods at our group campsite I picked over the hot summer. It’s lovely here!
This is the view out my camper door.
The doggies know that we've reached a destination, and rest easily.
I just realized that the meetup isn’t scheduled for people to arrive until the 21st, not the 20th as I’d been mis-remembering. I meant to get here a day early to secure the spot, guess I am two days early. That's okay, I kind of want some alone downtime after having been around people the past few days.
“Star light, star bright, first star I’ve seen tonight....”
Usually wished upon Venus, like most kids who wished upon the first bright object in the night sky.
I wonder what I wished for when I was a kid?
Good night.
Wonderful country!
hoyden
Lady Bug
Oct 20 : VotG still
Red dust everywhere.
I moved to the lower circle. I think it’s larger and more off the road too.
I’d like to build a fire pit, but where?
Sunrise in the desert is one of my favorite places
The desert is very prickly and full of defensive weapons.
The desert doesn't care either, and can be as deadly as the ocean if you aren't careful.
With the exception of taking the dogs on a little walk, I mostly spent the day reading "Travels with Charlie". It was nice to do not much of anything. My two goals for this trip were to get some perspective and to re-learn how to relax. My daily life has a routine that includes a fair amount of spacing out, but not much actual relaxing. In my younger days, I could easily lie in bed and read until hunger forced me out of bed. Then I'd eat, or bathroom, and go back to my book. Now, I tend to get antsy. I blame the internet. JK! ha! Anyway, being on the road, without connectivity or many "normal" conveniences or distractions, makes me have to learn how to interact with this ever-changing day-to-day, and some of that includes 'being in the moment', as cliché as that phrase is - it's apt.
It's wonderful.
Good night
Red dust everywhere.
I moved to the lower circle. I think it’s larger and more off the road too.
I’d like to build a fire pit, but where?
Sunrise in the desert is one of my favorite places
The desert is very prickly and full of defensive weapons.
The desert doesn't care either, and can be as deadly as the ocean if you aren't careful.
With the exception of taking the dogs on a little walk, I mostly spent the day reading "Travels with Charlie". It was nice to do not much of anything. My two goals for this trip were to get some perspective and to re-learn how to relax. My daily life has a routine that includes a fair amount of spacing out, but not much actual relaxing. In my younger days, I could easily lie in bed and read until hunger forced me out of bed. Then I'd eat, or bathroom, and go back to my book. Now, I tend to get antsy. I blame the internet. JK! ha! Anyway, being on the road, without connectivity or many "normal" conveniences or distractions, makes me have to learn how to interact with this ever-changing day-to-day, and some of that includes 'being in the moment', as cliché as that phrase is - it's apt.
It's wonderful.
Good night
hoyden
Lady Bug
The first arrival showed up yesterday! 'searching for nowhere' aka Vicky (sp?) pulled up in a pickup truck with a camper trailer. It's weird having another person around.
People keep pulling into our area, so we decided to put a sign up. My new friend was extra happy about making her first paper-plate sign. The quintessential "paper plate sign" is such a group camping thing to do, and yet neither of us had ever had occasion to make one. This was our time, and a damn fine sign it was.
She took her doggies and went out in her truck to explore, and as much as I was enjoying her company, I was glad to have the downtime. I stayed at camp just in case others showed up. Argos and I took a short walk and checked out some pretty desert flora.
On our walk, I saw another pop-up camper parked down the road. Argos and I walked down the road to see if this was one of our group, and to let them know where the group campsite was located. The fellow turned out to not be of our group, but he and his wife had purchased this pop-up camper just the day before, he had driven up to retrieve it, and was on his way back home - with an overnight stop to test it out.
These random meetings of like-minded strangers and learning some about their lives is definitely one of the fun aspects of life on the road. As it turned out, Brad ('OpenSpace 'here on WtW) is co-owner of The Wildland Trekking Company in Flagstaff. They do hiking tours, not just of the SouthWest, but all over the world! What a neat job! He had to get back to Flagstaff, so after chatting, he headed out.
Vicky returned with tales of challenging dirt roads in her 2WD truck and a couple of happy, tired dogs. That night, we played with my little camera's various settings to get some star photos. After figuring out how to set the timer, we fixed the camera to look up at the Milky Way and excitedly waited the minute countdown. When we the timer clicked off, we found just a few stars showed up on the picture! We burst into laughter at how big our anticipation was for such a small payout. It was nice sharing that amusement and hearty night of laughter!
People keep pulling into our area, so we decided to put a sign up. My new friend was extra happy about making her first paper-plate sign. The quintessential "paper plate sign" is such a group camping thing to do, and yet neither of us had ever had occasion to make one. This was our time, and a damn fine sign it was.
She took her doggies and went out in her truck to explore, and as much as I was enjoying her company, I was glad to have the downtime. I stayed at camp just in case others showed up. Argos and I took a short walk and checked out some pretty desert flora.
On our walk, I saw another pop-up camper parked down the road. Argos and I walked down the road to see if this was one of our group, and to let them know where the group campsite was located. The fellow turned out to not be of our group, but he and his wife had purchased this pop-up camper just the day before, he had driven up to retrieve it, and was on his way back home - with an overnight stop to test it out.
These random meetings of like-minded strangers and learning some about their lives is definitely one of the fun aspects of life on the road. As it turned out, Brad ('OpenSpace 'here on WtW) is co-owner of The Wildland Trekking Company in Flagstaff. They do hiking tours, not just of the SouthWest, but all over the world! What a neat job! He had to get back to Flagstaff, so after chatting, he headed out.
Vicky returned with tales of challenging dirt roads in her 2WD truck and a couple of happy, tired dogs. That night, we played with my little camera's various settings to get some star photos. After figuring out how to set the timer, we fixed the camera to look up at the Milky Way and excitedly waited the minute countdown. When we the timer clicked off, we found just a few stars showed up on the picture! We burst into laughter at how big our anticipation was for such a small payout. It was nice sharing that amusement and hearty night of laughter!
hoyden
Lady Bug
GroovyDad - so random sheepherders can just stay there, or do they belong to someone and only they use it?
craig333
Riley's Human
Oh no you did your paper plate sign all wrong! J/K Keep the reports coming.
Keep the reports coming.
Nice rock formation shots.
You gotta love erosion!
Frank
You gotta love erosion!
Frank
hoyden
Lady Bug
Oct 22 : VotG group
Once everyone arrived, the majority of the campers are from Washington State! Escaping the grey and wet. Cayuse had found out from the park service that fires are allowed this time of year, so both nights we had a gathering around the campfire with tall tales and star-gazing.
I didn't write anything in my journal during these next bunch of days.
We walked, and cooked, and conversed and explored.
A man in a sedan drove in and parked. He was friendly and asked if we minded if he set up there for a short while. Of course we said, sure, and then we got curious. He had a drone and gave us a little information session on the flying things.
He makes video for backdrops, then people can buy from him and insert their own images - for example: he takes footage of a mountain, then someone superimposes an image of themselves climbing the cliff-face or paragliding in front of it.
Ah, technology, allowing us to bend reality and truths in a whole new manner.
I find it pretty fascinating.
Argos made a new friend too! Although, I have forgotten her name :-(
They enjoyed romping quite a bit.
I'd been sitting for three days and for some reason my batteries weren't fully charging, even under the desert sun. I got worried and at one point ran my truck for an hour or so. Running the truck just to charge batteries I find wasteful and polluting, but it was either that or break camp and go for a drive. It didn't help a lot. I then decided that as long as nothing actually failed, I would try to not worry much about it. I only moderately succeeded, but nothing did fail.
I tried to get a picture of us all in one photo, and I didn't manage to do that.
I got two photos, and in each one person/camp is missing.
I did finally figure out where to put the campfire, and as a group we moved the pile of rocks I'd collected on Wednesday to a more central location. And we built a fine campfire pit.
We had a pre-planned potluck and it worked out really well. BosqueBill brought his homemade chili, and it was enough for all of us! We had guacamole, and tortillas, and a few other dishes. I was surprised how well we ate out there in the dusty desert. Chairs were pulled up to a couple of portable tables, and we enjoyed a lovely sunset dinner.
It was really enjoyable being next to a campfire with a group of good folks sharing stories and gazing at the wondrous milky way'd universe above.
Once everyone arrived, the majority of the campers are from Washington State! Escaping the grey and wet. Cayuse had found out from the park service that fires are allowed this time of year, so both nights we had a gathering around the campfire with tall tales and star-gazing.
I didn't write anything in my journal during these next bunch of days.
We walked, and cooked, and conversed and explored.
A man in a sedan drove in and parked. He was friendly and asked if we minded if he set up there for a short while. Of course we said, sure, and then we got curious. He had a drone and gave us a little information session on the flying things.
He makes video for backdrops, then people can buy from him and insert their own images - for example: he takes footage of a mountain, then someone superimposes an image of themselves climbing the cliff-face or paragliding in front of it.
Ah, technology, allowing us to bend reality and truths in a whole new manner.
I find it pretty fascinating.
Argos made a new friend too! Although, I have forgotten her name :-(
They enjoyed romping quite a bit.
I'd been sitting for three days and for some reason my batteries weren't fully charging, even under the desert sun. I got worried and at one point ran my truck for an hour or so. Running the truck just to charge batteries I find wasteful and polluting, but it was either that or break camp and go for a drive. It didn't help a lot. I then decided that as long as nothing actually failed, I would try to not worry much about it. I only moderately succeeded, but nothing did fail.
I tried to get a picture of us all in one photo, and I didn't manage to do that.
I got two photos, and in each one person/camp is missing.
I did finally figure out where to put the campfire, and as a group we moved the pile of rocks I'd collected on Wednesday to a more central location. And we built a fine campfire pit.
We had a pre-planned potluck and it worked out really well. BosqueBill brought his homemade chili, and it was enough for all of us! We had guacamole, and tortillas, and a few other dishes. I was surprised how well we ate out there in the dusty desert. Chairs were pulled up to a couple of portable tables, and we enjoyed a lovely sunset dinner.
It was really enjoyable being next to a campfire with a group of good folks sharing stories and gazing at the wondrous milky way'd universe above.
hoyden
Lady Bug
thanks! and I haven't even written about our Moon House Ruin hike yet!Cayuse said:
Stay tuned....
Staying tuned.
Tuned +1...
hoyden
Lady Bug
Oct 23 : Moon House Ruins
I'm not sure if I wrote about hurting my back at Cathedral Valley Campground. I'm not sure how I did it, but what I did know is that driving was painful, moving was painful, and I was a bit scared. I got to the Valley floor and took three ibuprofens and hoped I wouldn't need the Flexeril in my med kit. By the time I got to Goblin Valley Campground, the ibuprofens had done their job, and while I still hurt, at least I could move. Getting the camper popped up was strenuous and a little painful, but once I got set up, I rested briefly, stretched, and took Argos for a mile + walk. That all helped a bunch. I kept stretching, but the ache came and went. At Valley of the Gods, Vicky had an ice pack, so I iced one evening.
The morning we were scheduled to go to Moon House Ruins I was concerned that my backache would make that impossible for me. I went anyway, but brought a book just in case we got there and the pain was too much for hiking.
Not everyone from the group went on this hike. Bob, Bill, and I were in Bob's Tundra, and Tom & Mary-Anne followed in their truck.
We stopped at the Kane Gulch Ranger Station to pick up our permits. This location only allows 20 people per day in order to keep the erosion down.
Bob, Bill, and I arrived at the location we thought was correct, but with no signs, we weren't certain. Since Tom and Mary-Anne hadn't yet arrived on the road, we stopped to double-check our route. Bob looked at his maps.
And Bill checked out the informational postings.
We confirmed this was the correct road to turn down and when Tom and Mary-Anne arrived, they parked in the little 'parking lot' and we all went down this often topsy-turvy road to the trail head.
Bob loaned me a pair of walking sticks, and after I got used to using them, I loved having them handy! I never did stop feeling rather bug-like - so many legs!
The path to the ruins required clambering and butt-sliding, and cairn-following. The beginning looked auspicious. The slickrock isn't difficult to traverse, and my back had given me some twinges, but wasn't bothering me.
to be continued...
I'm not sure if I wrote about hurting my back at Cathedral Valley Campground. I'm not sure how I did it, but what I did know is that driving was painful, moving was painful, and I was a bit scared. I got to the Valley floor and took three ibuprofens and hoped I wouldn't need the Flexeril in my med kit. By the time I got to Goblin Valley Campground, the ibuprofens had done their job, and while I still hurt, at least I could move. Getting the camper popped up was strenuous and a little painful, but once I got set up, I rested briefly, stretched, and took Argos for a mile + walk. That all helped a bunch. I kept stretching, but the ache came and went. At Valley of the Gods, Vicky had an ice pack, so I iced one evening.
The morning we were scheduled to go to Moon House Ruins I was concerned that my backache would make that impossible for me. I went anyway, but brought a book just in case we got there and the pain was too much for hiking.
Not everyone from the group went on this hike. Bob, Bill, and I were in Bob's Tundra, and Tom & Mary-Anne followed in their truck.
We stopped at the Kane Gulch Ranger Station to pick up our permits. This location only allows 20 people per day in order to keep the erosion down.
Bob, Bill, and I arrived at the location we thought was correct, but with no signs, we weren't certain. Since Tom and Mary-Anne hadn't yet arrived on the road, we stopped to double-check our route. Bob looked at his maps.
And Bill checked out the informational postings.
We confirmed this was the correct road to turn down and when Tom and Mary-Anne arrived, they parked in the little 'parking lot' and we all went down this often topsy-turvy road to the trail head.
Bob loaned me a pair of walking sticks, and after I got used to using them, I loved having them handy! I never did stop feeling rather bug-like - so many legs!
The path to the ruins required clambering and butt-sliding, and cairn-following. The beginning looked auspicious. The slickrock isn't difficult to traverse, and my back had given me some twinges, but wasn't bothering me.
to be continued...
hoyden
Lady Bug
Oct 23 : Moon House Ruins continued
Hang on. We're going all the way down into there? Eep.
We started our descent.
I wish I'd gotten a better picture of this spot. Bob alerted us that he'd read about this spot - a tricky little cliff where we had to throw ourselves at the ground and miss. There is a wobbly pile of rocks we lower ourselves down towards, feet gain balance, and step down. The mantis-legs wouldn't help at all in this situation, so I handed them down.
It wasn't as difficult as we all thought, but getting back up proved to require some scrambling and at least one butt-support.
That middle section is where we were headed. First we had to go down, then back up.
Tom made it to the bottom ahead of me, scouting the path amongst the boulders. See that rock sticking up on the left into the sky? That's where we were going.
to be continued...
Hang on. We're going all the way down into there? Eep.
We started our descent.
I wish I'd gotten a better picture of this spot. Bob alerted us that he'd read about this spot - a tricky little cliff where we had to throw ourselves at the ground and miss. There is a wobbly pile of rocks we lower ourselves down towards, feet gain balance, and step down. The mantis-legs wouldn't help at all in this situation, so I handed them down.
It wasn't as difficult as we all thought, but getting back up proved to require some scrambling and at least one butt-support.
That middle section is where we were headed. First we had to go down, then back up.
Tom made it to the bottom ahead of me, scouting the path amongst the boulders. See that rock sticking up on the left into the sky? That's where we were going.
to be continued...
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