Salt Lake City to Fairbanks, AK 6/29/08

Well Renae and I started on our trip to Alaska by getting up early Sunday morning and finishing laundry, packing and cleaning the house. Taysha then picked us up at 1145 to take us to Applebees to meet with RJ, Cheryl, Roby, Katie and Kaleb for lunch. We got to the airport in Grand Junction around 130pm and got through check in. Of course I got asked whether I had bear spray, camp stove, or camp fuel. I told them I had a camp stove and it was last used about 3 weeks ago, apparently that satisfied their curiosity, that or they rummaged through the packs after we left. Anywho we sat around the airport in Grand Junction and Renae found some guy to change the TV channel to the Eurocup to watch Spain beat Germany. The flight to SLC was uneventful and only took about 45 min. We were happy to get off the plane because it was a little warm. The plane got in around 405pm and our flight for Fairbanks wasn't to take off until 9:05pm so we thought we'd sleep since we had gotten up so early.
Well when we checked the Departure board it said our flight wouldn't depart until 1000pm, unfortunate. We found out that it was because Newark was receiving lots of rain and a plane with 60 transferring passengers wouldn't be in until 941pm. So we walked around a bit and then found a place and Renae laid down on the floor and I read a book that I got in the airport. Well after about 45 min Renae shot up because a toddler had walked over and stepped on her head, lol. It wasn't really funny because she was really disoriented and didn't know where she was. After that we got up and walked around a bit and had supper. We found another little place to lay down and I laid down on the floor and napped off and on. It was like camping in an airport.
Finally we were able to board our plane. Renae had been able to sleep approx 3 hours while we were at the airport, she was really tired. The plane showed the movie Fool's Gold which I was able to fall asleep too. Luckily we snuck into the exit isle and had plenty of leg room. While every other retired person in the USA lower 48 seemed to be headed to Alaska for a cruise or bus tour.
Luckily Renae had been able to call her aunt Ethel Faye while we were at the airport, as she was to pick us up at midnight at the airport, but didn't want her too since we would be an hour late. She called the hotel near the airport (Alpine Lodge, 1-800-455-8851, 4920 Dale Road, Fairbanks, AK 99709) and booked us a room. When we got in it looked like the sun was setting, brilliant pinks, purples and blues with a big orange globe for the sun. There were rivers and waterways intertwined all along the outer edges of the airport. I didn't see any moose or bear yet, but I have an eye out. Renae called the shuttle from the hotel while I finished getting our luggage. Then off to the hotel we got there around 130am. Off to sleep with no problems then up at well the sun was up and so I was up, even though the sun is up nearly 24 hours a day now here. Renae and I went and had our continental breakfast with people taking the tour of Alaska on Kiss Alaska tours (don't ask). Renae's aunt will be picking us up this morning after a meeting and then we are off to the North Pole, AK. Can't wait to see what adventures await.

RJ and Cheryl back in town

RJ and Cheryl got back into Grand Junction on Friday June 27th. We decided to go hiking with Roby and the kids, RJ, Cheryl, and myself on Saturday morning prior to Renae and I going to work the Vet Center booth at Country Jam. Rj and Cheryl got over to the house, with bandit, around 0815 and we got a chance to talk about their trip to Europe. Roby and kids showed up around 0900 and we loaded the dogs in the back of Roby's pickup and headed out to Fruita. All the dogs were happy to get back out on the trail and RJ mentioned the heat. Here are a couple of photos from our trip. We were only out 1.5 hours but had lots of fun.

Kannah Creek Trail 706 Grand Mesa Part II

Well Renae and I decided that once I got back from my horse training in Denver on Saturday night we would head out for a backpacking trip on Sunday afternoon. It turns out I was a little more exhausted than expected. SOOOOO I suggested that we just head out for a day trip on Monday leaving early. Renae said it would be fun to hike Kannah Creek to see how far we make it without packs. So Sunday evening I got our day packs together and we headed off early Monday morning and got to the trail head around 0840 in the morning. The first part of the trail is not much different than the previous post describes. Only differences were I had a new camera to play with, there were biting nats the size of Chicago, and the trail was more overgrown with weeds, flowers, and grasses. It only took us about two hours to get to the spot were we camped last time. This was a huge difference considering it took us 3 1/2 hours last time, although in our defense we were carrying 30 lbs packs and had just worked all morning laying tile. We stopped at the camp site and had a bite to eat then headed on. Well just past the creek crossing started the long sludge uphill to the first plateau on the Mesa. It seemed it took us forever and I do mean forever to just go 1.3 miles and literally it took 2 hours or so. Around noon we were starting to get worried because we hadn't seen any water since the camp area and the dogs were getting thirsty. So Renae and the dogs stopped in a shady area and after catching my breath I trudged up a hill to see if there was water on the other side. Sure enough it sounded like Niagara Falls roaring through the hills. So I called to Renae to come up the hill. It was a sweet little spot, so we took some time, I layed down on the grass, Renae chose the water to relax in. The dogs were very grateful and spent 10 minutes laying in the water and drinking. Renae decided she wanted to fill her hydration pack so we took out the new filter (just like the old one) however they had made some changes to it so we spent 15-20 min trying to figure out what went were without directions. Luckily we got it figured out. Man that water was cold but it felt real good on tired and aching muscles. After our break we decided to head back to the car. We took some more pictures on the way down and Renae decided her old camera had officially quit. We stopped again at the camp site and Renae put a t-shirt on at this point she had been wearing a tank top and was starting to get lobster red and switched into her sandals because her heels were hurting. I stretched out my legs and hips because my hip was bothering me and we headed on. Well shortly after this Renae decided she couldn't hold her pee any longer and said right here. She yelled at me to tell her if any one was coming. She is so crazy. The last 9/10 of a mile I was leading because my feet were hurting and I could feel the blisters forming on my arches where my orthotics were rubbing. I had tunnel vision and was dragging my hiking poles behind me for a ways. We made it back to the car and luckily it started (another story) after 6.5 hours of hiking, 7.5 miles, with 1550 feet of elevation gain. We broke our old record of hiking 7 miles out of Missouri Basin in Buena Vista. There was only one other person on the trail and she was on a horse. We saw little lizards, Zeus cornered a baby bird (which I made him leave), huge ants (this long ---------), birds and we heard crickets, locus, and more birds. Funny we didn't see any ground squirels or prairie dogs. We did have to drive through a herd of cattle being moved from one grazing area to another (which ended up being the road?????imagine that). Renae wanted me to make note that throughout the hike there were large sections that had a noticable odor, she said it was my butt but I'm sure it was natural gas seeping through the earth's crust.

Kannah Creek Trail 706 Grand Mesa

Renae and I decided to go backpacking this weekend and decided to head to the Grand Mesa because we knew there would be water in Kannah Creek. We left the house around 3pm on Saturday after having laid some kitchen tile and doing chores around the house. We got to the trail head around 4pm (7 miles after you turn onto Kannah Creek Road). We then put the dog packs on the dogs and put our packs on. Now the first 1/2 mile or so sucks because it is exposed desert and seems like it is climbing a 14'er but you really only gain 6oo feet of elevation in the first mile. Well about 1 mile in the trail splits a second time and this is where we temporarily lost Bandit, cuz him and Kyrie were out running around and he didn't follow Kryie back. Well Renae yelled and yelled for him and finally he came running. We then came to our first creek crossing and accessible water, luckily there was a bridge to get over the creek because the water was moving pretty fast. This is were we took our first break and watched Bandit play rock in the creek (see picture). He typically finds the biggest rock to chase in the water. We headed off again and soon found ourselves hiking along side a drainage ditch that was running full of water. Then we came to our second creek crossing again with a bridge. Then we came to a creek crossing with no bridge so we all just trudged right across. The cold water feet good on weary feet. At this point we were at 1.6 miles or so. I had told Renae earlier in the day that I wanted to make 3 miles with packs, well at this point 3 miles would be pushing it and even though right past this creek crossing there were some pretty awesome camp sites we decided to push on. Shortly after starting back on the trail we met 4 horse riders and horses. The first two riders were leading the horses because one of the horses had hurt his leg which was bleeding. They told us there was a small stream not to far off and we decided to head to this spot to camp. Luckily this stream was only about 1/4 of a mile because my feet were ready to fall off. We found the most awesomest camp area that appeared that horse riders used to camp at. This area was 2.64 miles in on the trail at this point we gained nearly 1200 feet in elevation. We pitched the tent and cooked supper. We headed to bed around 9pm listening to the birds chirp and the stream flowing. Well I dreamt not of sugar plums dancing in my head but axe murders and killer Kodak bears for the first hour and a half. After convincing myself that there was no axe murderer outside the tent waiting to chop us into bits I fell back asleep and slept until about 0430 when the dogs started barking and Renae had to go pee. Bandit then came into the tent because he was outside shivering and we all went back to sleep. We finally all got up around 7am and I started water boiling for breakfast and coffee. We just relaxed for a while listening to the sounds of nature, then we washed our dishes and started packing up. Well sometime during the night bandit hurt his paw and Renae bandaged it up however it didn't take long before he had it off his paw. We put our packs back on which seemed to have gained some weight over night and hit the trail back to the car. It always seems faster that the hike out doesn't take nearly as long as the hike in, maybe that is because there is Starv'n Arvin's waiting after we get out, not sure. Well the hike back out was pretty uneventful other than meeting 6 more horses and riders. So needless to say we had to side step a lot of horse poop.

Memorial Day Weekend Celebrations

Over this past weekend Renae and I, as members of the Grand Valley Combined Honor Guard, participated in a Flag Retreat and Retirement Ceremony on May 25th and Memorial Day Service on May 26th. During the Flag Retreat and Retirement Ceremony Renae and I, were in charge of the Retirement Flag and commanding the Rifle/Flag Detail, respectively. The honor guard brought down the Garrison size American Flag as it was rendered unservicable. During this ceremony the honor guard commander, Bob Henderson, cut the smaller flag that Renae had and it was properly disposed of by flame and with dignity. On May 26th we participated in the Memorial Day Service presentations were made by Sen. Penry, Sen. King, and Sen Buscher, as well as, a class from Holy Family Catholic School. The honor guard then completed a memorial service for all veterans who have passed away this past year. We were proud to participate in the ceremonies have each of us served our country in order to gain the freedom to have this day to remember others.

Devil's Canyon, Fruita, CO

Renae's youngest son Roby called and said he could go hiking, so after work Roby, Katie, and Kaleb (Renae's grandchildren) came over to the house. We 3 adults, 2 children (in car seats) and three dogs piled into Renae's Outback and stopped by KFC then headed out to Fruita. I must say it was an adventure from the start with a car full. When we got to the trailhead we ate our KFC first, Bandit and Zeus got into a brawl in the back of the car (ending with Bandit falling out of the car and a minor cut to his lip), and off we went. But not to far because Katie indicated she had to pee and then saw the outhouse and then had to poop (apparently the outhouse, porta potty is somehow seen as a fun place to be by a three year old). We all laughed and headed down the road again. The main trail in Devil's Canyon appears to be just that a graveled road. Being the adventurous sort that we are when we got to a trail divider we took the D4 trail. This was a pretty cool trail because it took you right up to the rock formations which the kids loved climbing into the "holes" in the rock and wanted nana Renae to take pictures of them. After looking at the map we picked up at the trail head we decided that to complete the entire loop (which looked to be about 5 miles) would be a bit to much for the kids so we blazed our own trail, careful not to step on fragile soil. This cut the loop in half and probably a little more. The kids enjoyed the rock formations, playing in the holes and jumping/hiking with Roby and Renae. It didn't rain on us although this girl from Kansas was looking at the clouds and thunderheads (Renae makes fun of this). It was a really fun hike, we spent maybe an hour actually hiking. There is only water at the beginning of the trailhead that I could tell. We will definitely head back and check out this area more. From this trailhead you can follow a trail over to the F1 trail at Pollock Bench. We only had a disposable camera so once the pictures are developed I will post pictures.

Castleton Tower and Onion Creek

After hiking Negro Bill's canyon, we were going to hang and then hike Delicate Arch and get there to watch the sun set, which as I understand is an amazing view. Well apparently the national park doesn't allow dogs on any of the hiking trails (and seeing as we had three) and it being overcast that evening we didn't go hiking in the Arches National Park. We instead found a place to car camp at the second Big Bend "recreation area" headed out of Moab. When we got up the next morning we hit the Pancake Haus in Moab for breakfast and then headed to Castle Valley. Which from the roadside information made it sound like there would be a ghost town and many neato hikes. Well I've come to find that no matter how many maps one buys (by the way if anyone needs a map for the MOAB, Blanding, and Monticello area check with me as I have a bizillion) unless they mark the trailheads the map does no good. Renae and I drove past Castle Valley which is apparently a small community of live people not ghosts and saw a road where several guys with trucks (imagine that) were parked. We flipped a U and parked there too. Come to find out it is the trailhead to Castleton Tower and the guy that runs the property (private land) from Utah Open Lands was there. He told us sure take the dogs but I would like you to stay on trail as many people go around the 5 foot scramble because the dogs can't make it up. Again guy said "A" 5 foot scramble. No problem we said so we put on our day packs and headed up the trail. Well we hit the first 5 foot scramble within a matter of minutes, not to much problem with that. All the dogs made it up with little to no difficulty. At this point we learned Bandit is a rock hound, he very quickly makes it up these rocks. The second 5 foot rock scramble proved only slightly more difficult than the first. After some negotiating all three dogs made it up the rock. However the third 5 foot rock scramble proved more difficult even for humans. See picture of dog claw marks (technical note, just because I wanted to put a picture right here in the text doesn't mean it goes there, see bottom picture above for claw marks). Anywho Bandit was the only one that made it up this with no real difficulty. The forth and less technical 5.9 route (just kidding) all made it up with little difficulty (it would be coming back down that would prove interesting). After finishing with our rock scramble we saw the Castleton Tower which was a monolith of a rock jutting up from bookcliff like formations (see picture of monolith and Bandit ((it is still several miles off in the distant but it looks like bandit is near it)). There are more flowers here than I have ever seen in a desert of course this desert is at 5,000 feet above sea level. The blue bells are very pretty as are all the flowers in bloom here. Renae and I deciding we didn't want to continue hiking upwards decided to follow a jeep trail along the canyon bottom for a while. There was no water here so we only hiked along for about 30-45 minutes. The next picture is of me on a boulder I climbed with bandit. So we headed back to the 5 foot scramble to get back to the car. Second thing learned is that if you throw Zeus down the rock (ok maybe a gentle push) he gets down a lot faster than if he trys to manly find his way down. This is what happened on the second down scramble because the first took 15 min for him to decide the way we came down was indeed the best way. This also continued on the third down scramble because in trying to COAX Zeus down I pulled his collar off his head so he paced back and forth looking for the best way down for 15 more minutes, to much disgust from Renae and yes she does speak good French. We reached the car after about 2 miles of hiking and decided to stop at the Red Cliffs Lodge to see how much their horseback riding cost. After that (no, no horseback riding) he stopped at Onion Creek. For those of you that hate off road vehicles, motorcycles, ATV's, and little golf cart looking things with big tires you will not like this trail or area. Renae and I decided to drive up the road a bit "just to see" says Renae. Well she splashed 2 motorcycle riders and a ATV rider in the creek crossing. Which by the way we did 24 times in the round trip "just to see". Apparently the creek crosses the trail/road 27 times to it's terminal point. This road was littered with campers and tents, which really suprised me given the traffic on the road and the creek crossings. It had really cool rock formations and the dogs were happy to stop and play in the water. After heading out of this area we stopped one more time and then back to Fruita for Munchies and lunch (for those of you who don't know Munchies is a hamburger joint in Fruita).