Coronaroadtrip

Dropped by The Armory Hotel, a new property in Bozeman that opened this summer, where Joe is a bartender. This might be my first trip to a bar since March? Good stuff.

One last stroll through town. I’ll miss this place.

It’s time for me to head south for the winter. Conveniently, any route home from Livingston — and I have of course decided to take the slightly long way, one last time — passes back through Yellowstone. No hikes today, but with the smoke largely dissipated, I did get to revisit Mammoth Hot Springs, the Grand Prismatic Spring, and get stuck in traffic for hours behind many buffalo.

Just linked up with the Alcan Warmup route, headed south to Salt Lake City. Last time I came this way, I was in a tiny Celica northbound for Boise.

Time to break these out in memoriam. I do recall saying that I wish I could return to Moab in the Xterra, but I did not expect it to happen this way.

The Great Western Tour of Breakfast Sandwiches continues. They didn’t wafflize the fixins but the sundried tomato bagel was choice.

And then a full day in the Moab Office. I think my coworkers have realized I’m on the move — this Best Western’s room decor and maroon accent wall call a little more attention to themselves in video calls than I wish they did.

After a long slog of meetings, I took a break and headed up to Arches National Park, since last time I was in the area, I went to Canyonlands, which is more or less across the street.

Two short hikes today, as recommended by a dear friend who was here recently. First up, the iconic Delicate Arch. The hike was pretty packed and the final viewpoint looked like an outdoor concert with people waiting for sunset. Everyone has seen a million pictures of this formation but I was not prepared for how large it is.

Between the cloud cover to the west and that this is my only night here, I went back out for the Devil’s Garden area to check out the Landscape and Double O Arches.

Past Landscape Arch, the trail turned into a rock scramble that was only lightly marked with cairns and branches. It was awesome. Or would have been had it not gotten dark on me.

I busted out my climbing headlamp for the way back, but if I was still in Montana right now, I definitely would have been eaten by bears.

My next call is both internal and informal so I thought I’d enjoy the cool shade and outside air. But with all the trucks and off-roaders, this is actually a very noisy intersection. Gonna try it anyway!

Update: Also there is a near-constant smell of burning brakes and burnt rubber rolling by. These people need help.

After an intense account rescoping call, something prompted us to see if we could balance beverages on our heads, and I don’t know why. I think that about wraps my workday.

As I sat through an impossibly long slew of meetings today, I thought about what to do this evening. Since reaching Wyoming, I’ve hiked 55 miles, so I decided to take a night off and make the Xterra do the work. I am in Moab after all. There are a lot of trails, but traveling solo with minimal recovery gear, I searched for something easy yet gorgeous. Then I remembered something.

On the Alcan Warmup, I took the Celica to Canyonlands National Park for a hot minute to watch the sunset at the Grand Viewpoint beyond Islands of the Sky Visitor Center. Beneath this photo, I wrote, “I made a silent promise to Xterra the Younger that one day, we will return together and drive whatever the hell that is, because yes!“

So obviously I did that.

The first half of the route was Shafer Trail, a very approachable unpaved road that descends the canyon along a wide shelf road and some tight switchbacks. Though not difficult, it was entirely stunning. In truth, given what the Celica demonstrated both at Salmon Glacier and the Denali Highway, I think my arthritic convertible would have actually be able to descend Shafer without too much trouble.

The switchbacks reminded me a lot of Burr Trail that we took down into Capitol Reef in 2017. From there, Potash Road ran from the end of Shafer along the Colorado River to the Potash Evaporation Ponds where the paved scenic byway of the same name finished the run back to US 191 just outside downtown Moab. That was a rougher with washboard and rocky sections, but not too bad. I am sad I didn’t load the ice chest for a longer picnic along the river. Sunset over the canyon walls was magical.

Good times. This was definitely enough to make me want to do more substantial trails out here when I can get the guys to join me. And it was fun to come back to a landmark stop from the last trip. I’ve busted out the Celica Soundtrack again, though it’s on USB now.

I’m sad to leave Moab tomorrow, but I’m glad I got the chance to sample more of what’s here. I think I’ll split off from the Alcan Warmup route tomorrow evening and squeeze one last National Park in before I head home.

45 minute meeting, 1 hour break, 6 hours and 45 minutes straight of calls. Legitimately I started getting hoarse and I feel like my brain is completely empty. Can I drink while I drive?

Left work a little late and also did not realize that the Needles District (southeast entrance of the park near Monticello, Utah) is an hour from the highway. So that turned into more of a detour than a hike on the drive. On the way in, a birthday:

As I started up the trail, the sun was already behind a canyon wall. Two hikers coming down looked at me, puzzled, and asked, “You’re starting your hike now?” Followed soon after by two hikers who had gotten into more than they’d intended begging to know that the trailhead was close. Both good omens…

So when I came around the wall and saw the sun low over a big valley, I swapped my 7 mile hike for a short scramble up a giant sandstone slab for a sunset beer instead.

Made it Alamosa, Colorado far later than I meant to. Also sad that I did the entire Wolf Creek Pass in the dark because it seems gorgeous. I hadn’t realized the elevation until I felt the air thin while I was driving out around 10,000 feet. But I also found more in Needles that I want to do, so I guess I’ll just have to come back.