Off We Go, Finally! (07/17/26)

 July 4th done, we were ready to hit the road for the rest of the summer. That doesn’t mean we move fast, it just means obligations are done and we are free to meander. We always try to stop by and see friends when we can, and this summer is no exception, so we didn’t get too far after leaving Green Valley- we only made it 2 hours down the road where we stopped overnight to see friends.

It’s always great to see them and this time we were able to be part of their support system. Our friend Dianne is going through Chemotherapy, and we, along with friends Jeff and Tina, very ceremoniously gave her a buzz cut to make her inevitable hair loss “easier”.  Its a difficult journey she is on but she is doing awesome and has a great positive attitude!

As antsy as we were to get to the San Juan mountains of Colorado(Telluride, Ouray area) to drive some 4x4 trails, it looks like half of the state is dealing with wildfires this summer so we had to tweak our plans.

We changed our first destination to Pagosa Springs, and found a route  there that brought us past El Malpais National Monument, outside Grants NM. We have driven past it many times but never stopped. Until now.

El Malpais means badlands in Spanish. In this area it refers specifically to the lava flows. There isn’t just one volcano that erupted in this area, there were at least 5, and they erupted at different times, so there is old lava and new lava.

We hiked along the Lava Falls Trail, which is on the youngest lava flow, the McCarty Flow, a mere 3900 years old.

These Colorado signs crack me up. Could they have picked a more boring color for the “Colorful Colorado” sign?

Arriving in Pagosa, I was hoping we could repeat the tubing trip we took down the San Juan River, but one look at the water level dashed that hope immediately.

Instead we found some trails to hike and drive. Not every day trip is a perfect 10, and our first venture out was an example of that fact. 

We drove the forest roads up to Eight Mile Mesa, where eventually we had some scenic views.

The most fun we had that day was chatting with the firefighters. We ended up running into them several times during our stay. These particular guys were brought in from Wyoming to help with fire spotting.

The following day was a little better, but still nothing exciting.  We drove around the Williams Creek reservoir, had some nice scenery, and hiked 3.5 miles down Poison Park Trail.

As happens frequently in Colorado, the skies turn ominous in the afternoons so we cut our hike a bit short.

The following day we hiked my favorite trail in a while- the Piedra River Trail.  The trail was awesome, walking along and above the Piedra River…

and through some really pretty meadows….the smell of the pine trees never gets old for me.

Speaking of ominous afternoon skies, that day was no exception. We were trying to make it to a foot bridge that everyone says is picturesque, but we turned around at the 2.5 mile mark and headed back.

Unfortunately we didn’t make it before the heavens opened- we were drenched and dripping wet. Even our hiking boots had water dripping into them. You can see how much it bothered me!

The Summer of the Bronco (07-01-26)

 The spring of 2026 was filled with  our usual events and a lot of working on the new house. And, of course, making plans for the summer. Paul and I both have doctor appointments in early July in Phoenix, which affects our summer plans, since we can’t go as far as we usually do. Taking the camper and Bronco instead of the 5th wheel makes travel more flexible, and Paul really wanted to revisit some 4x4 trails in Colorado that we did with the Jeep.

The summer was divided in two sections essentially. Pre July 4 and post July 4. 

When we bought our Bronco, we did a full day “off-roadeo” training session, learning about the capabilities of the vehicle. That was done in Nevada but Paul wanted to take the class that they teach in Moab as well. It’s a different class, a half day class called Extreme Offroading. 

 

We left Havasu in early June, with a goal to get out of the heat. We headed to nearby Prescott, which is only a 3 hour drive, but sits at a higher elevation, so is cooler. We have been here before but didn’t have much chance to hike, so we rectified that this time.

Our first adventure was a trail that goes part way around Willow Lake. Everyone raves about this trail and I can see why.

The sky was incredibly blue that day…

Our second hike was also around a lake- this one was the Flume Trail at Watson lake, and it was just as pretty.

While plotting our course to Moab, we realized that Dolores, Colorado is not too far out of our way- so that was one of our stops on the way to Moab. Why? Because our friends Liz and Randy are there.

In addition to just hanging out, we went to an evening of music in town, and took some scenic drives.

Arriving in Moab a few days before our class, we had time to do some exploring. We wanted to do some trails with the Bronco so that we (he) would have the vehicle’s capabilities fresh in his mind.

The first trail we drove is called Chicken Corners. It’s only 48 miles long but took us 6 hours.

Like a lot of these drives, the roads are what they call shelf roads, which usually means there is quite a drop off on one side.

I am kind of a fair weather Trail passenger and there was one spot where Paul just kept saying “breathe”.  We made it through ok but I was not a fan. To me it looked like the tires were going off the edge. This is and out and back trail,  so we had to come this way again. Since I figured we would live through it, I video taped it the second time through.

The following day was the Bronco ride, which started after lunch, about 1:15. Once we were all gathered, we drove into the desert to the trail we were going to do.

Being an Extreme Off-roading class, it was more technical than the original class we took. It was all about how to handle obstacles, and where to place your tires.

I didn’t get much footage of our Bronco because I was either in it or directing Paul as to how to get over an obstacle.

Unfortunately the Bronco in front of us got extremely stuck trying to make it up over some boulders. It took 45 minutes, lots of rock moving, and a winch, to get him out of there. By then it was time to go back. So although we learned a few things, it wasn’t as good as it could have been. What it did do is give both Paul and I a little more confidence, because we had no issues figuring out how we wanted to tackle the obstacles.

The other trail we did in Moab is Onion Creek trail. This trail had all the beauty of Chicken Corners Trail, but none of the hair raising drop offs.

Unfortunately  this picture, in addition to showing the gorgeous countryside, also shows one of the things we have had to dodge this summer. Wildfires. This is the beginning of the Snyder Fire, which ultimately burned 28,000 acres. We have changed plans several times this summer due to the Colorado wildfires.

Our final day in Utah was really hot. We had planned on repeating a hike we have enjoyed before, but realized a) it’s too hot and b) we have never been to nearby (ish) Goblin Valley State Park.

We drove out there, not having a specific plan, other than to check it out.

As hot as it was, we still managed to hike the 3 mile trail to Goblin’s Lair. Luckily, there was a little bit (not much though) of shade along the way.

We stayed off the trail that was completely in the sun…

On the way back we elected to take the scenic route (ie gravel road).

Although the views were great…

…The rocks were apparently sharp, because the Bronco got a flat tire. Luckily Paul carries no less than 3 options for taking care of that type of problem. 

S '23, Episode 7, Manitou Springs, CO (08-11-23)

 For the past few weeks we have been staying for a week at each destination we had. That part of our summer is over. At this point we are headed towards El Paso to spend time with Paul’s mom for her 93rd birthday. We have time to stop a few places along the way, but not for a week, and we have no reservations.

We discovered that with the heatwave that has hit most of the country, RV spots in cooler areas are hard to come by. We finally found an RV spot in Manitou Springs- it was recommended by a park that had no availability (“they are so expensive, they might have a spot open still”) –and so they did.

It seems like whenever we look at a map of Colorado, our eyes skim over Florrisant Fossil Beds National Monument, and we say some day we need to go there. Well, today was that day. We realized our rig would fit in the parking lot and it was on our way to Manitou Springs. Perfect.

This is one of the largest fossil beds in the world. They were created when nearby volcanoes erupted, covering the entire area with massive mudflows.

Our original intent was to just walk one of the short trails and check out the most impressive fossils, but we arrived just as a tour was starting, so we joined it.

The fossils in this area are all permineralized- created when an animal or tree is buried quickly. Over time, water seeps into the dead organism, and leaves minerals behind- essentially making a stone replica of whatever was there.

After an hour or so, we were on our way again.

The Manitou Springs/Colorado Springs area has an incredible amount of hiking available, and that's what we were focused on.

We first headed to Red Rock Canyon Open Space area- a place where we have never hiked.

We chose the Red Rock Canyon trail (very original) and ended up hiking almost 4 miles.

Since our hike was reasonably short, we felt fine looking for another hike the following day. This time we headed back to Garden of the Gods Park. We have hiked here before, but we took a different trail this time.

Along the way we passed by, among other things,  the Siamese Twins Rock formation. 

 

The bright green foliage against the red rock is a really spectacular sight.

This park is very popular so you are never really alone. We ended up hiking about 3 miles.

Our final day in the area we went a slightly different way. We drove to Seven Falls, which is a privately owned park, and therefore, has a cost associated with it.

There are two ways to get to the top- the stairs….

…and the elevator. Yes, elevator. We originally took the elevator up, but realized it didn’t go where we wanted,  which was the top of the waterfall.  Turns out there are TWO sets of stairs.

So we came back down and headed up the other stairs- 224 stairs up to the top.

Once there, there are a couple of hiking trails that lead to other waterfalls and some viewpoints. 

 

We hiked both of them. They aren’t very long trails.

Once we were done, we felt like we deserved some ice cream, so that’s what we had for lunch.

We could easily spend a month in this area, but 3 days is all we had, and then it was time to move on, closer to El Paso. At the pace we are moving at, it took us a few days more to get there.

After the success we had visiting Florrisant while towing the rig, we looked at doing the same thing at Pecos Pueblo National Historic Park, which was along our route to El Paso. It worked out very well.

The site of Pecos Pueblo was settled in the 1400s, and was inhabited until the mid 1800s when the last of the Pecos people relocated to nearby Jemez. 

In the 1600s the Spanish arrived, looking to convert the natives to their religion. In the process, their treatment of the Pecos people got worse and worse (oh, the irony) and in 1680 the people in several of the surrounding pueblos banded together to take their lives back. They planned a successful revolt, pushing the Spaniards out of the area. This is what is left of the church that was built.

We took a one hour tour of the ruins, and one of the things the ranger talked about was different ways of viewing “trash”. We, as modern people, view trash as things that have no value, that aren’t needed anymore. The Pecos people say that the piles of “discarded” items are halfway along their journey back to dust, and so, didn’t necessarily bury their loved ones separately from anything else.

A few days later we were hiking a trail somewhere else, and came across a rotting tree that really reminded me of that idea. You can clearly see that the top part of the tree trunk is essentially dissolving.

Soon enough, we were in El Paso.