my travels in pixels

The only reason we visited this park was because it was on the way and as it was up high we thought it would be cool, not so. While we were cooking dinner, a white tail deer came through our campsite and started eating a few metres away from us, which was pretty special.  The campground was pretty full as a touring/camping group of motorcyclists were on their way for a monthly reunion, they come from all around the country. We did one of the drive loops the next morning, but the scenery wasn't very photogenic. The canyon walls are black/grey of course which makes it very boring. Back down to normal altitudes and it's 40ºC at 7pm. It's too hot for us. We had heard that there was a balloon festival in Panguich, so we headed over there. Unfortunately though, it was too windy and they weren't able to fly. Apparently, the best balloon festival is in Albuquerque, New Mexico in early October where there are hundreds of balloons of all shapes and sizes. We camped i...

We were feeling a bit hot so decided we needed to head to higher altitudes, so we found a drive that headed north: the skyline scenic road in Colorado. From the Mesa Verde, you head east to Durango, a really pretty town with a lovely French bakery. We found a campground in the San Juan National Park at Haviland Lake, which is a very pretty area but the mozzies are ferocious at night! It might have have had something to do with the creek that ran behind our campsite… gee, do you think? The drive from Durango to Silverton is spectacular, if a little scary. The road has no shoulder and the drop is steep and long. Along the way we read about the avalanches valleys they have and how the road can be impassable in winter. They liken it to a mini Switzerland with the mountains and pine trees. you could be in Switzerland! Silverton is an old wild west town that used to be full of saloons and bordellos for the miners. We boondocked at South Mineral a few miles out of town for a coup...

Mesa Verde National Park, CO This park showcases the dwellings of the Ancestral Puebloans who made this place their home for more than 750 years, from A.D. 550 to A.D. 1300. The first afternoon we drove the Wetherill Mesa and took the “tram” which has tyres not metal wheels! around to some outlooks that allow you to photograph some of the cliff dwellings from across the other cliff. Mesa Verde (may-sa ver-dee) means green table. The following day we took the Mesa Top Loop road and toured the Spruce Tree house and the Cliff Palace, the later is a ranger led tour that you pay for in advance. There are two other ranger led tours, but we felt that one was enough and had given us an insight into how these people had lived. Not much is known about them as they didn’t leave any written records, so much of what they know is a guess. These communities were built high above the valley floor for security against attacks, all food and water would have had to have been carried in. They had ...

We got in quite late and the sign at the front gate said “Campground full”. We enquired and were told that there might be a few spots left but we better go straight there. The campground is right at the end of the park, some 17 miles in. Luck was on our side and there was one spot left. Arches for me is all about the photography at the right time of day and the park brochure actually lists what is good in the morning and what is good in the late afternoon. So after marking my map with AM’s and PM’s we headed off to the Devil’s Garden. Lindsay didn’t want to come, in fact he went back to sleep, so I went by myself. It was a fair walk in to Landscape Arch which has the longest span in the park and is quite thin, it will probably break soon. I started to walk to the next one Double O arch, but the trail seemed to disappear up some rocks, so I turned around. I came across a sign that I hadn’t noticed before that said – primitive trail – difficult! Back along the trail are Tunnel and Pine T...

The day we headed up to Yellowstone it was snowing which made it difficult to stop off at some of the places on the way. The roads in Yellowstone form the figure eight and for some reason we always seem to do things anti-clockwise, so we went up the right hand side. After visiting the information centre where we joined a ranger talk on bears which was very informative, if not a bit intimidating. As we hadn’t got around to buying any bear spray we decided that we would not do any hikes. West Thumb geyser basin First point of call was the West Thumb geyser basin, our first look at the thermals in Yellowstone and full of tour buses and tourists. These are mainly just hot mud holes. It was mid afternoon so we just drove around Yellowstone Lake to come to our campground at Bridge Bay. The next morning we visited the Sulfur Caldron, the Mud Volcano, Upper and Lower falls around Artists Point.   Artists Point Artists Point is my favourite, beautiful coloured rocks with a wate...