The warm, pleasant weather continued through the night - a welcome respite for us all - so as morning rolled around and I woke just before sunrise, I was excited to look out the tent window and see the sky starting to light up over Lake Powell. As sometimes happens, I'd planned ahead - hoping really for this situation - and I had my camera in the tent with me. So, having woken at exactly the right time, I spent the next several minutes enjoying the pinkish-orangish-purplish light as it illuminated the surroundings. And then, as quickly as it started,…
Leave a CommentCategory: Trip Reports
All the trips - because every trip is an adventure!
I'm pretty sure it didn't rain all night. It was amazing. You can imagine my surprise when I awoke just before sunrise and could see blue sky along the entire horizon, my open tent window (door really) facing east. But it was chilly, and rather than get up to take photos, I opted instead to stay warm and toasty under my comforter - definitely the right decision! And so I stayed for another hour or so until the sun started peaking over the horizon, warming the air, my tent, and ultimately me - to the point where I figured I…
Leave a Comment
By midnight the wind had picked up significantly. 40-mph gusts buffeting our tents. Rain, blowing sideways. And then, at 2:12am - lightning, and a lot of it. I'd slept well through the rain, earplugs doing their job to mute the noise of the drops on the tent. But they did little to soften that first clap of thunder. It wasn't until the next flash of lightning that I could count the delay - about 8 seconds - not too bad. But then more lightning. And more. It was constant, as the wind continued to whip at the tent. And it…
3 Comments
It was a breezy (but dry!) night on the edge of the canyon, the updrafts from the walls constantly buffeting the fabric of the tent. Little did we know that we were in for much, much worse! But, we're getting ahead of ourselves. The breeze did help to clear out the clouds a bit by early morning, and knowing that we could have a spectacular view, I'd set my alarm for "before sunrise" - to try and catch that orange glow that I love on the horizon. I'd also put the camera in the tent with me, so it was…
1 Comment
It rained on and off throughout the night - not too bad, actually when it comes right down to it. The rain stopped by early morning, though a cloud cover remained, allowing me a second reprieve from an early-morning to capture sunrise. It was 8:00am by the time I pulled myself out of the tent, Mike @Digiratus also up, getting his coffee started. A bowl of Cheerios in my hand, I ventured to the edge of the canyon - it's reds and oranges now deeper from the overnight rain. The dramatic clouds causing a flat-if-not-a-bit-ominous light. We poked around for…
Leave a Comment
The night was a bit windy, parked on the edge of the canyon wall. But warmish temps and a late night, combined with the fact that we were a few hundred feet from the top of the canyon - so there was no reason to get up early for the orange glow of sunrise on the horizon - meant that we slept well and I didn't even think about getting out of bed before 8:30am. Like the evening before, the sky was mostly cloudy - the resulting light being both muted and mysterious at the same time as I re-explored…
Leave a Comment
I'd returned from The Re-Tour a mere three weeks before our departure date, but that didn't mean there were only a few short days to plan for our next epic adventure. In fact, quite the contrary - we'd been planning our trip south to Arizona and Utah for nearly a year - knowing that there was way more ground than we could cover in the two weeks we had allocated for the excursion. Our plan was simple, if long. Start in St. George, Utah, and work our way east - first along the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, then…
Leave a Comment
It was a very early morning, Mike @Digiratus an I each requiring an alarm to rouse ourselves at 6:00am - the sky still dark around us, only the first hint of light on the horizon. I made a quick run up to Goose Lake - alas, the darkness still too deep for any photos. We set to work packing our trucks and tents as quietly as possible, Monte @Blackdawg, Devin @MissBlackdawg, and Zane @Speedytech7 still sleeping nearby. Above us, early morning light illuminating the sky and the tip-tops of the mountains around us. Just after 7:00am we were ready to…
Leave a Comment
Unfortunately, though we went to bed early, I had my most fitful nights sleep at Sawtooth Lake. Whether it was the temperature (it was cold) or anticipation of our upcoming adventure to Goose Lake I don't know, but as the sun rose over Sawtooth Mountain around 8:00am, I was happy for the warmth and to get out and explore. As usual, I had nothing to complain about as I set out around the lake; the water getting glassier over time, our camp reflected perfectly by the morning sun. As I made my way around the lake's edge, every few hundred…
Leave a Comment
Having camping in a deep valley and stayed up late, I once again found myself sleeping in the next morning - no sunrise to coax me out of bed before dawn. When I'd pulled into the site the night before, I'd worried that we'd have absolutely no view - a shame since Sunlight Basin is so pretty in the morning light. As it turns out however, it was the lack of visibility in complete darkness that made me think that - because our site was quite beautiful - sun filtering through the trees, creek rushing by in the background, and…
Leave a Comment
Camped in a bit of a depression and surrounded by trees, there was no reason to get up extra early to catch the sunrise - something I took full advantage of as I slept in until 8:26am - I believe my latest of the trip! Still the first out of bed, I wondered around taking in the sights - the creek behind camp, the glassy lake a quarter mile up the road. As I made my way back to our camp, I thought to myself how glad I was that we hadn't camped at the lake. September 1 is opening…
2 Comments
Unbeknownst to us, the first flash of lightning traced it's way across the sky. But there was no mistaking the thunder that followed. It was 2:30am, and the next flash was followed by a boom 11 seconds later. And then the rain started; sporadic at first, it quickly turned torrential. Then, more lightning, eventually the thunder a mere 4 seconds behind. And then, as quickly as it started, it was over - the storm cell had passed, the thunder pounding away in the distance. As I fell back asleep I wondered - would there be more? If there was, I…
Leave a Comment
Sometimes we just get lucky - and this morning was apparently one of those times for me. I mean sure, I situated my truck for success the night before, and I'd brought the camera into the tent thinking there might be an opportunity to capture a bit of early orange hue, but I never thought I'd get the display that I did, while still warm under my comforter. It started as it so often does - just a hint of brightness along the horizon and deep purple highlights on the clouds in the sky. This is the moment, I thought…
Leave a Comment
As I'd crawled into bed a little after 1:15am, I knew this was going to be a night without much sleep. Not because of rain or snow or cold - quite the opposite actually. Because for the first time this trip we were camped in a location that would allow us to see not only the sunrise, but the glow on the horizon before sunrise. That of course meant being up before 6:00am, a tall order even for me, the early riser. You can imagine my surprise then, when I climbed down my ladder and looked around camp and saw none…
Leave a Comment
Overnight, the rain stopped and the skies cleared - I assume - because we awoke to blue skies and sun in the morning. As was becoming a trend, none of us were up early - with the exception of Devin who I only just noticed was up and out of camp by 6:00am or so, since she had to get to work. Pretty cool to show up for one night of camping if you ask me. I was the next one up around 8:00am and with some extra time and nice weather, I set about making a breakfast sandwich -…
Leave a Comment
The wet and cold continued all night - or rather, the wet continued and the cold got colder! We awoke, just after 8:00am to a dusting of snow spread across camp and our trucks, and several inches on the surrounding mountains. It was extremely beautiful, though the fact that it snowed on our first night with Monte @Blackdawg wasn't lost on any of us. "Welcome to Montana guys!" he said as he climbed out of his tent. As we all set about our morning activities - breakfast, breaking camp, etc., I headed out to capture what I could - the…
4 Comments
We were up early, even for me. Mike @Digiratus apparently rolled out of his tent at 5:30am, and Dan @drr and I followed not long after around 6:00am. We had a long day ahead of us to reach Cooke City by our agreed upon rally time of 6:00pm, and we knew that Zane @Speedytech7 was already there, having arrived the previous evening - now bored out of his mind. Being up early also meant that we got to put our tents away wet from the overnight rain - it wasn't much, but that's of little consequence when the sun's not…
Leave a Comment
It was a peaceful night in the valley along the Nez Perce Trail. A bit chilly maybe, but not too bad and the relatively narrow valley meant there was no pressing need to get up early for sunrise - something I missed, but could also get used to...the extra couple hours of warm sleep a nice change! Eventually of course, I roused myself and exited the tent to check out camp and the morning light. Definitely interesting to see our different truck setups as well. Given the location, camp was pretty underwhelming so I immediately set out to explore the…
2 Comments
August 24, 2018. How does that saying go? "Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, ..." If you've been a reader of previous trip reports, you may recall one of the craziest trips to date - The De-Tour - which occurred almost exactly one year ago. That trip was a great one for many reasons, but it had gone nothing like we'd expected - snowing or raining every day - eventually forcing us to abandon our Tour of Montana and Wyoming for what we hoped were clearer skies, in Utah. ...where it also rained on us. Even so,…
Leave a Comment
"Dan?" I only half heard Pops say, rousing me from my afternoon nap. "Yeah?" There's been an incident in camp, and we're pretty much all packed up.Pops Well, I can tell you that getting awoken to that kind of news really gets your heart pumping. Especially with the type of afternoon we'd had so far. But, as is often the case with my stories, I'm getting ahead of myself... let's back up for a moment. Our day had been relaxing as usual - I forget the specifics of what we did, but it was mostly around camp and likely involved…
2 Comments