2011

This year I believe all posts are about the USA. This is no wonder since we have lived this year in Phoenix. Last year we were not living together and spent a lot of time travelling just to see each other. This year we have been together and in a completly different environment than we are used to, the desert. 

It has been interesting. We have experienced higher temperatures than ever before and for the first time I have chosen to have dinner indoors because it is too hot outside. I have realized that too hot weather is just as limiting as too cold weather. Lucky for us we got to escape during August to find some cooler air in the Colorado Rockies and now during the winter it is much more comfortable.

Although we live in Phoenix I have actually not written anything about the city. It is time that changed. We will stay here until end of March so I still have some time to make up for lost Phoenix posts.

First though we will enjoy Christmas. The afternoon of Christmas Eve was spent by the pool with freshly baked "mjuk pepparkaka" and lots of glögg (Swedish mulled wine). The sun was warm in the afternoon but when it goes down the temperature here is not much higher than in Stockholm. 

In the evening we had reservations at the Melting Pot which is a Fondue restaurant. Fondue is a Christmas tradition for both our families which made it the perfect choice. The American Fondue is somewhat different from what we are used to. There were no sides like potatoes, rice or chips (weird Swiss side... :-) ), the mix of meats was larger and there were more vegetables to dip. Although I missed the sides a bit it was a good call because we would never had made it through the meats if we had sides to eat while waiting for the meat to be cooked. We still got way too full since the Christmas dinner special was four courses featuring cheese fondue, salad, meat fondue and chocolate fondue... It is now noon the day after and I still don't feel like eating anything. But that how it is supposed to be on Christmas, or?

Favourite spots

Usually my favourite spot anywhere is an elevated point where I can get a good view. In Stockholm it is the top of Västerbron, a bridge where you have a great view of the city center and the surrounding waters. This is unfortunately a very busy place with lots of traffic so I don't linger there for very long but I do make sure that passing this bridge is part of walks and runs in the area. As it happens, in Phoenix, one of my favourite spots is similar.

Phoenix is a very big and flat city. Usually you do not see anything further than the next block. As I drive to work I have to drive over the I-10 along Chandler Blwd where the bridge is just a few meters higher than the surrounding area. But because the city is so flat you can see all the way to Superstition Mountains at the other end of town at this place. The sunrise and sunset are usually very nice from here and you can easily see sandstorms rolling in from the south. 

Luckily there are two traffic lights on the bridge itself and in this case I do not mind that these particular ones are always red when I come along.

Visiting parents

In September my parents came over from Sweden to visit us in Arizona. The first few days we showed them around the area, looked at the views from Dobbins Lookout on South Mountain, did some shopping at the Chandler Mall, had drinks at the Hyatt in downtown Phoenix and drove the Apache Trail.

Apache Trail

Goldfield Ghost town along the Apache Trail 

As usual the weather was sunny and a bit warmer than we had expected at this time of year. It has been around 40 degrees Celsius in Phoenix during this time. My parents had not ever experienced that kind of heat which required some getting used to.

After the sight seeing in the Phoenix area we did a 5 day tour featuring Prescott / Sedona, Grand Canyon, Zion National Park, Las Vegas, Hoover Dam and Lake Havasu. It was a fair way to go and we had to spend quite a lot of time in the car. But it was a nice trip with a good mix of things to do. We did some hiking, shopping and sight seeing.

Grand Canyon

At the Narrows in Zion National park

My parents at Luxor 

The Elvis fan

When we got back to Phoenix we had a rest day where we slept in and just went shopping in Scottsdale. In the evening we had a barbecue at the pool.

Tombstone down town

The last outing was a day trip down to Tombstone where we walked around the historic little down town, ate at one of the old saloons and watched the Shoot out show at OK Corral, featuring Wyatt Earp and Doc Holiday.

At Crystal Palace where we had lunch

Thanks for visiting. We had a great time!

Worn out

This poor pair of shoes have been with me since 2008. I bought them before a hiking holiday in Austria in August 2008. They have been hiking the Austrian Alps, Swiss Alps, Australian Alps, Red Center, Grampians, Kangaroo Island and other places in Australia, Sörmlandsleden in Sweden, Bukhansan in South Korea, desert hikes in Arizona and Utah, a number of 14ers in Colorado and probably a few more places I can not remember. They have even climbed a grade 5 at a couple of occasions.


They have been great and I am very sad to have worn them out. But I think it is now time to go look for a new pair.

More images from Colorado and Utah

Of course we took loads of images during our latest trip. In case you would like to see more from our latest adventures in Colorado and Utah click here.

The Narrows

The last day before heading back to Phoenix and reality again we hiked The Narrows in Zion National Park. This is a narrow canyon through which the Virgin River runs. It is so narrow that you have to hike in the river most of the time. Since this was going to be our last hiking day we did not care about getting our boots wet and the heat made it feel very tempting to hike in the cool river.

To be on the safe side we rented poles at an outdoor store that would help us keep the balance in the stream. Many hiked without but I was happy to have one so I didn't have to swim unless it was necessary. In fact we did not have to swim at all, at the deepest place the water reached up to my chest. Unfortunately this was after about 10 min so you had to get wet from the very beginning but then it was mostly knee deep.


It was a different and fun hike in the water but after a couple of hours we decided to turn back because we were getting a bit cold. Luckily at this time the sun was high enough to shine down into the canyon which helped us keep warm. I am not sure I would attempt this hike any other time of the year. In that case you have to rent a dry suite to keep warm.

Zion National Park

View over Zion National Park from Angel's Landing

As we drove into Zion National Park we realized that we were getting back to desert temperatures. It was suddenly very hot again and it was hard to sleep at night. You can't really have the engine running all night for air condition... Bryce had been warm during the day but fairly nice due to the elevation.

The heat was a factor when we chose the hikes to do here. We decided on Angel's Landing as early in the morning as possible and Lost Canyon which was a short hike in the shade most of the day. It turned out to be a good decision and we had time to get out in the afternoon and have coffee in an air conditioned café, a swim in the cold river and a beer before cooking dinner.

You have to hike this narrow ridge to reach Angel's Landing

Fun stuff!

Overnight hike in Bryce Canyon

Bryce Canyon

In Bryce Canyon we decided to do an overnight hike. We caught a lift with the tour bus to the south end of the park and hiked back to the more popular area closer to the entrance of the park. As we came to our final stop the bus driver told the other passengers, mostly overweight older americans, that he wanted to say goodbye to the two hikers and wish us a nice hike back. As we were leaving the bus the other passengers expressed their admiration and best wishes, it was obvious it is not very common to do a longer hike in this park.

At the starting point.

Before heading out you need to get a backcountry permit and reserve a spot at one of the few campgrounds along the way. We chose a camp about half ways after we added a loop of about 14 km in the south part of the park. Afterwards we realized that the loop had not been necessary to do since it was mainly in the forest without any view. It mainly just added time and effort. What we did see though were a lot of cute horned lizards, actually 19 of them. We had seen one in Arizona earlier this year and got the feeling they are rare to see but here they were everywhere.

Horned lizard

As we got our permit they also gave us a bear vault. This is a box with a lid that is bear proof in case one happened to find us and decide to try and steal our food. In the box we had to keep all food and scented items, like tooth paste. We also got very clear instructions on how and were to cook, sleep and go to the bathroom. We believe we followed the directions which should ensure that the park is kept clean and bears away from the tourists. They have had to put down two bears because they were stalking tourists looking for food. This is what happens when people leave food at campsites. Luckily we were not stalked, we only saw the foot prints of a mountain lion in the morning. We were ok with that.

Cooking dinner. Bear vault to the right.

Most of the hike was down in the valley underneath the rim which Bryce Canyon is so famous for. The very first part going down from Rainbow Point and the very last part coming up to Bryce Point were the nicest ones. On the way the trail went up and down a number of hills which turned out to be quite strenuous. The hike was in total about 50 km so we did about 25 km per day which is probably about what I can take with a heavy backpack and elevation change. We made it though and looked forward to shorter day hikes for the rest of the holiday.

Coming down from Rainbow point

Needles - an unexpected adventure

After some breakfast in our favourite café in Moab we drove south towards Needles. The Needles is a part of Canyonlands National Park and since we already had a backcountry permit for this park we thought we should drive in and have a look.

This is what we did NOT read before driving happily along and now we also understand why the park rangers wished us good luck...


So, we did not know that we were about to drive one of the hardest trail in the state although it was written on our map, on the flyer we got at the ranger station and on the big board as you start the drive. We simply did not read it... Maybe sometimes it is good not to know everything.

We just wanted to drive in, hike a bit and camp somewhere in the park and then leave the next morning. It turned out being quite a drive with one of us most of the time in front of the car spotting the best way to go. We knew that the car was capable of a lot but we did not really want to try it out because we did not want to break it. Now we know more.



We made it through without any damages to the car, but next time we will probably hike into the area and leave the poor car safe on the paved parking lot. Once we reached our camp we went for a hike and it was all worth it because this is what we saw.





The fact that the hike was longer than we expected (our mistake again), that we had to hike the last hour or so in the dark (luckily we were clever enough to bring head lamps), that we lost the trail for a short while and were hungry and tired is something we don't really remember anymore. Somehow it is almost always worth it.

Arches National Park

After a well deserved shower and over night stay at a camp ground we were ready to take on Arches National Park. We started with some coffee at a café in Moab before heading out to the park which is very close to town.

The first target was Delicate Arch which the park is probably most known for. It is a maybe 20-30 min hike to get to the arch, which is not too much but the heat makes it fairly tiring. We had checked the weather which said possible rain and thunderstorms in the afternoon so we did this hike first although the light for photos is better in the afternoon. With some tricks we still got a cool picture.

Next stop was Devils Garden which was a bit longer hike but featured some very nice views, arches and some rock hopping. The trail was a lot more fun here but we ended up in the middle of a sand storm so we had to rush back after half the trail. We met many tourists on their way into the area as we were coming out. Many with their SLR cameras in their hands trying to take pictures in the sand storm. The wind was very strong and you could feel the sand between your teeth. I expect some of them having to bring them in for cleaning afterwards. We had packed ours safely in the camera bag.

White Rim Road - Utah

Almost ten years ago I stood at Grand View overlook in Canyonlands National Park, looking down over Colorado River as it meanders through the canyons. Halfways down I saw a trail following the white rim and I thought that some day I want to drive that road. A few days ago we drove down the Shafer Trail that took us to White Rim Road and exactly where I wanted to go.

The Shafer Trail is a steep trail with a series of switchbacks that takes you down to the white rim level. The trail then takes you along the rim in a very desolate area. There are a few camps along the trail but the number of visitors are limited and it is a quite long and bumpy ride so very few day trippers go that far. We spent two nights on the trail and saw very few people, only as we were entering the area and leaving again. Unfortunately the end part of the trail was blocked due to heavy rain so we could not drive the entire loop but had to go back the same way we came in.

The cool thing about the White Rim Road is the fact that it is isolated and you feel like you are the only people in this moon like landscape. At one spot you can look up to the Island in the Sky and see the tourists at the look out point looking down at you. Otherwise there is no sign of civilization at all. Luckily we brought some extra gas because we would not have made it back on only one tank of gas. And of course the beers we brought were also important. What else is there to do in the afternoon when you have reached your camp and it is still almost 40 degrees... :-)

Green River at sunset from our second camp site.

The white rim is white sand stone that runs along the canyon. At some spots you can walk out on the rocks and look down towards the river.

After two and a half days of driving mostly 20 mph due to road conditions it was nice to get out on the paved road again. It is fun to drive on this kind of trails but it is usually enough for a few hours. The picture shows an example of what it can look like and although it looks quite smooth it is fairly bumpy.

In this park we saw a few long horn sheep along the way. This one looks particularly cute.

Denver

We did not have a lot of expectations as we drove into Denver after almost two weeks in the mountains. At first it did not look very impressive but as we drove through the city center we were convinced. Denver actually has what we miss in Phoenix, a city center where people spend time, where there are restaurants, bars and cafe's. On a Friday night people are walking the 16th Street Mall watching other people, street performers and shop windows. We immediately liked the city and nominated it to a favourite US city. We could live here. The problem now is that we don't really want to go back to Phoenix...



Very close to the center we found this little park.

Only in America...

We did it!

Ten 14ers and one 13er in 10 days. Out of those ten days two were resting days which means three of eight hiking days we did two peaks. Right now I feel extremely good but I don't think I could have done many more without some more rest at this point. My body wants to do something else.

The last five 14ers were Mt Harvard and Mt Columbia (one day), Mt Yale, La Plata and Mt Elbert. Mt Elbert is the highest of the 14ers and the highest peak in Colorado and the Rocky Mountains. It was ironically the easiest one and had the biggest crowd on top. There were hikers on all peaks we visited but usually 5-10 others while on Mt Elbert there were probably about 20 and we met many still on their way up as we hiked down.

At Mt Harvard early in the morning we saw two mountains goats. This one was a bit scruffy looking but very cute.

Driving through an aspen forest to reach Mt Elbert trailhead.

We were surprised as to how few foreigners we met in the mountains. On ten peaks we only met three foreigners, two from the Czech Republic and one from Canada. All of these though live in the States at the moment as do we. I guess that we can now say that the international tourists does not make it to these wonderful areas. They are missing out on something! Apparently the tourists go to Rocky Mountain National Park and Mt Evans where you can drive all the way to the top of the mountain. It seems a lot of people from the cities in Colorado do weekend trips up to the mountains to go hiking, biking, rafting and 4 wheel driving. There was a very impressive traffic jam coming back to Denver on Sunday afternoon as we were leaving to go to Utah. Luckily we were going in the right direction.

Leaving the mountains for other adventures.

Five 14ers done, five to go

Uncompaghre, 14321 ft or 4365 m

Now we have done five 14ers and one 13er. We threw in the 13er just because it was named Matterhorn. This Matterhorn is much easier to climb than the Matterhorn in Switzerland. The peaks we have climbed so far are Handies, Redcloud, Sunshine, Wetterhorn, Matterhorn and Uncompaghre. Redcloud and Sunshine we did in one day as well as Wetterhorn and Matterhorn. The two last mentioned peaks were a bit different than the others because you had to do a bit of climbing to reach the top. It was quite fun, easy climbing more scrambling really.

On the top of Matterhorn.

Enjoying the view on Uncompagre.

We had one days rest after 3 peaks and now another lazy day before we are aiming to do five peaks in four days. We do not know if we will make it but we will try. The reason is that in four days the weather forecast says there might be thunderstorms and we would like to avoid them if possible.

There are lots of marmots around these mountains, we see them everywhere. This one we found quite close to the top of Uncompaghre. Apart from marmots we see chipmunks, deer and elk. They claim bears are around but we have not seen one so far and honestly I do not have to...