It had been many years since we visited Puerto Peñasco, Mexico, just south of the Arizona border. It has certainly grown, with hotels and condos sprouting up everywhere. We stayed with friends in the nearby community of Cholla Bay. There was a good view from Competition Hill sand dune just outside of town.
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 bottomless mud of the Siberian Taiga and roasting a leg of lamb on an old bedspring over a campfire on the shore of Lake Baikal.
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 wonderful face in the rock.
Aptly named. These amazing sandstone buttresses in the Cathedral Valley can truly appear to be “cathedrals” in the afternoon light. Unscaleable from any side, we could best admire their beauty from a distance.
May 16, 2011: It’s an Exciting Day in Nevada City
For the second time in a row, and this time quite by accident due to inclement weather at Lake Tahoe, Nevada City was the impromptu starting point for the annual Amgen Tour of California bicycle race. Of course, we had to walk downtown and witness the start at 12:15PM. This stage of the race will end at the steps California’s Capitol in Sacramento. www.amgentourofcalifornia.com
More photos are posted on The Turtle Expedition facebook page. http://www.facebook.com/turtleexpedition
According to Wikipedia, The Tour of California (advertised as Amgen Tour of California) is an annual professional cycling stage race on the UCI America Tour and USA Cycling Professional Tour. It began on February 19, 2006. The eight-day race covers 650-700 miles through California. Amgen Inc. is the world’s largest independent biotech firm headquartered in Thousand Oaks, CA.
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 edge. Monika stands beneath what may have been the ocean floor.
Finally, after days of cold wind, we settled into a cozy camp along the Waterpocket Fold and were able to enjoy an evening campfire. In the morning, the temperature would drop into the 30s and our Espar Airtronic heater made us glad we were not sleeping in a tent.
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 trails leading into the canyons. Certainly, they seemed more imposing when we were looking up.
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 in North America, and surely one of the most beautiful in the world. Drop us an email if you’d like the GPS coordinates. There are several established camps along this spectacular BLM land. Please use them with care and respect, or they will be taken away from us.
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 still come for ceremonies call it “Waakiki” (place of refuge). We wonder why.
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.
