paradise revisited 11 comments
Yesterday, Sabrina, Sage and I arrived back in Canada after spending our fourth winter in Bisbee. We took a meandering route homeward this year, on the road and camping here and there for most of the past three weeks. Before leaving Arizona, we visited the Grand Canyon, and Boyce-Thompson Arboretum.
In Utah, we stopped to rest at one of the places I most enjoy camping and hiking – the back country around Kanab – before moving on to see Bryce Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches National Park, and hike to the ruins on the trails around Hovenweep National Monument. See photos above and below of some of these places (click on all images for larger views).
We camped in all sorts of places from forest service camps atop snowy mountains, to sites along Waterpocket Fold in Capitol Reef, and on BLM lands in the high desert beyond Kodachrome Basin.
We followed many a winding road through mind-blowing landscapes.
It is always such a wonder to see and photograph these impossible landscapes and fascinating ruins.
11 Responses to 'paradise revisited'
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Rain – Such special places. I feel so privileged to have spent time in these wondrous places.
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Irene – The scale of the slot canyon made it difficult to photograph, but what a place! -
Such beautiful pictures, Bev. Glad you, Larry and the puppies had a great, safe trip back North.
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wow – these images are absolutely splendid, bev! travel agencies and departments of tourism would be so lucky to have such photographs for their brochures! they are all so impressive. it sounds like you had a very satisfying winter exploring old places of special beauty. 🙂 i am happy you and the pups are home again and that your summer work will soon begin. it is always exciting to see all you accomplish. have you finalized your summer plans yet?
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What a spectacularly beautiful journey. These photos give true meaning to the word awesome. Those canyons and towering rocks are breathtaking. I’m so glad you took this route home. And, also glad to know you arrived safely. Must feel good to be back.
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Judy – It’s good to be home. Such a long drive! Hope you have a good trip home too!
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Sky – Thanks so much for the kind comments about the photos. Still, I’m glad to be back in the north and ready for another summer of working on the old place.
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robin – Photos just don’t do these places justice as the scale is often almost incomprehensible. However, I’m glad to have been able to convey at least a little of that sense of spectacular beauty.
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Bill – That photo was actually taken east of Mather, somewhere along the east rim part of Desert View Drive, probably around the general area of Shoshone Point. -
The GC picture looks quite far west of the lodge area – is it from Hermit’s Rest or did you go further west? IIRC, going west of Hermit’s Rest requires a 4WD vehicle pretty quickly.
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were the girls with you on your day hikes, or did they stay in the van? Always researching, I am. Maybe I will eventually reach the magic amount of fore-knowledge and hit the road with bo.
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Megan – Sage was almost always along on the hikes unless we were in an area where dogs aren’t allowed on the trails. Unfortunately, in the U.S, just about all national parks and monuments do not allow dogs on the trails or often in the back country off trails. Hovenweep National Monument is one pleasant and notable exception. There are a few others. Many state parks do allow leashed dogs on the trails. Sabrina is just too infirm to walk beyond our campsite, so she usually stayed with the van. She is quiet and gentle, so if we were going on a hike of up to about an hour, I would tie her on a leash to the side of the van and park it in such a way as to provide shade for a few hours. I’d leave a large bowl of water and she would usually just sleep while we did a hike down to see a ruin. It worked out very well. In the southwest, at this time of the year, you have to be very conscious of the extreme heat and lack of shade opportunities. Other than that, it should be workable to travel with Bo.
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I should add that, if I were planning a trip with a dog, I would check parks along my route to find out which ones were not dog friendly and probably leave them out of your plans, especially if you will be traveling alone. Solitary travel with dogs does require some extra planning – such as stopping for groceries early in the morning or in the evening when the temperature drops. Stuff like that. You might also want to join something like couchsurfing.org and the forum “traveling with dogs”. There are members who welcome couchsurfers with dogs – most have large yards or live on larger tracts of land. There are quite a few in the U.S. I just joined another group called, Boondockers Welcome. It’s for people who trip around, usually in vans or RVs, boondocking in places that are generally free. The group has just been started by a woman who wrote some books on boondocking. You join and, if you are in a position to host boondockers on your property, you can do so — but you don’t have to. Basically, it is like couchsurfing.org but for people who are tripping around the country in vehicles. The idea is partly to be able to find places to stay for free, but also for those who want to network a bit, socialize, or whatever. It will probably be very useful to people like me. I noticed that a lot of the members allow pets. The group just started up, so people are coming on board pretty quickly. Hope it turns into something big like couchsurfing. Here is the URL: http://www.boondockerswelcome.com/home
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Beautiful, it doesn’t get any better than this!
Awesome photos of a land I totally love and where I have enjoyed many beautiful experiences. It’s great to get to share yours