At the recent 2011 Overland Expo, Gary reunited with many of the Camel Trophy team members from years past. From left to right, Fred Monsees, (US Team Siberia), Gary Wescott, (US Team Journalist), Lea Magee, (US Team Siberia), and Andy Dacey, (UK Team Siberia). Old memories gave us all a smile, remembering winching through the […]
On the map, the blind crossing of the Freemont River looked interesting. During higher water, this entrance into the Cathedral Valley Loop trail would not be advisable. Standing on the cliffs overlooking Cathedral Valley, we could only imagine what Indian Chief might have posed for a million years as wind, rain and snow carved this […]
The Waterpocket Fold is part of the greater Capitol Reef National Park. Between 50 and 70 million years ago an ancient buried fault moved upward and the overlying rock layers were draped above the fault forming a monocline, a nearly 100-mile long warp in the Earth’s crust. The Nortom-Bullfrog road took us along its very […]
The steep trail to the base one of the largest natural bridges in the world, called Sipapu, followed narrow ledges, steps carved into the sandstone, all linked by some well placed chicken ladders. Climbing back up was literally breath taking. The magnificent natural spans in the Natural Bridges National Monument were all accessible by foot […]
While taking sunset pictures in Valley of the Gods, Utah I noticed this strange spirit following me. Was it a God? Every time I moved, it moved. Finally I gave up and took a picture of it. No tip required. Ha….
Wandering across the tortuous 21-mile dirt track through Utah’s Valley of the Gods, we remembered that we had made a waypoint on our Lowrance GPS several years back. Turning off on a well-established ranch trail, we found our exact favorite camp beneath the imposing Castle Peak. This must be one of our most memorable camps […]
The Hovenweep ruins in southeastern Utah are interesting for their extraordinary stone masonry. These ancestral Puebloans lived here in the 13th century. They grew corn, beans, squash and other crops in nearby small fields and terraces, often using check dams for irrigation. Hovenweep is the Ute/Paiute name for “Deserted Valley” but the local Hopis who […]
Four Corners, Arizona—No excuse us, it was Utah—No wait, was it New Mexico?—No, it was Colorado—or maybe Arizona. Strange place to be. Perhaps the Ancient People who first populated this land had the right idea with no geographical boundaries nor borders.
Canyon de Chelly in Arizona’s Navajo Tribal Lands is a spectacular National Monument. The best way to see it is from the back of a WWII 6X6 truck driving up the river beneath the towering red cliffs. Many ruins were built by the ancestral Puebloans (previously called Anasazi) hundreds of years ago. Protected by overhanging […]
On a short visit to Puerto Peñasco, (Rocky Point), just south of Ajo, Arizona, we feasted on fresh fish, scallops, oysters, and of course, jumbo shrimp. The four-day trip reminded us again how safe it is to travel South of the Border. Monika holds one of a dozen reasons we’ll be back again!
