Finishing up the Canyonlands Trip

 Done!

After finishing up our trip we headed into Moab and got burgers (which had been the main topoc of conversation for the second half of the trip) at the Moab Brewery.  Instead of heading home we decided we might as well camp in Moab another night. 

 It turns out finding a campsite at 6:30 on a Saturday night is pretty hard, but we eventually found an open site at Hittle Bottom with great views of Castle Valley and the La Sal mountains.

 Utah beer.

 Im tired.

 Sunset over Castle Valley.

Sunrise over Castle Valley.

Backpacking in Canyonlands NP - Day 1

 Kelly and Jen took Friday off work and we headed out of stormy Grand Junction down to Moab, Utah.  Our initial plan had been to hike Rattlesnake Arch here in town but that was scrubbed due to the weather.  We were going to hike around Upheaval Dome in Canyonlands, but that was scratched because there were no more backcountry passes available there.  So, we ended up hiking the Lathrop (Lay-throp) Trail down to the Colorado River.  Now, when we initaially planned to do the trip to Rattlesnake Arch, we decided that would be a good trip since its just 14 miles roundtrip and this was Jen and Eddies first backpacking trip.  Lathrop, on the other hand, is 22+ miles with 2700ish feet of elevation.  Surprise!!

 Heading out under cloudy skies.  It really wasn't too bad, the clouds kept it cool and we only got a drizzle of rain.  The first 2-3 miles of the trip was pretty flat and easy and everyone was feeling good.  Then...



We were headed down to the bend in the river down there, waaaay down there.

The big elevation change was a drop of over 1200 feet over 2 miles.  The trail was cut into a talus/scree/debris pile on the side of the mesa.

Still smiling!  We started up at the top of the mesa behind them, and still had 4 more miles to go.

After close to five hours we finally made it down to the river, set up camp, and had a great dinner of pita pizzas (thanks camp cook Kelly!).



Camping Highline Lake State Park

Kelly and I did this in January, then we camped with some friends Friday night (same campsite!) lets compare...

January...

 8 inches of snow on the groung (and the lake)

 Walking on the lake

 It was about 18 degrees or so...

Last weekend...

 Just a little more food

 We rode the 18 hours of Fruita course Friday night and Saturday morning.

Lunch Hiking

Desk jobs=Blah. Especially when you dont even have a view of the outside world. So since I have an hour to kill at lunch, and always pack my lunch and have nothing to do, Ive started exploring the world, around my job anyway. And what did I come across...



Cheap aluminum tent stake! (Note: It was not found on my desk, thats just where I took a picture of it after liberating it) Which came in handy this weekend when camping, in the backyard. We didnt feel like driving 50 minutes and paying 20 bucks to camp in one park, and were not nearly prepared enough to walk 10ish miles across town to camp at a state park there. Solution; Have a cookout with friends in the backyard and then sleep in a tent, 15 feet from the house. Nothing like a campfire, food, friends, and march madness on tv. Free and close, maybe the best camping trip there is. And the cat finally got to camp with us, but that only lasted till 5am when another cat walked through the yard and they got in a meowing match. Combined with getting the closed cell pad this time and not the therm-a-rest, it made for a convienent, if not restful trip.