Off the Beaten Path

Grand Canyon, AZ to Cochise Stronghold, AZ (near the town of Dragoon, AZ)

Mileage; 2645

We left Grand Canyon relatively early and set out across some beautiful countryside most of which was National Forest land, particularly cool were the Saguaro cactus like toy soldiers spread across the scrub land. Driving into the park was interesting with five stream crossings.

Cochise Stronghold named after "Chief Cochise the greatest of Apache warriors who died on June 8, 1874 in his favorite stronghold. Interred secretly by his followers the exact place of his burial was known only to one white man - his blood brother Thomas J. Jeffords." When you stand among the craggy rock laden terrain you can just imagine why why it would be a great place to hold up and defend yourself against an attacker.

The morning camping routine is setting in, the ritual hiss of the cook stove and the intoxicating smell of coffee wafting over the camp is pure bliss. The sun is rising and sparkling through the Juniper trees, doves are cooing and there is a small stream trickling away near our site. The air is chilly 46 degrees, but not cold (especially after last night). We packed up our camp this morning intending to leave early, but were drawn to stay and explore the rocky trails and towering boulders that rise above us and all around us. The whole place is various shades of green, brown and orange. Even the giant rocks have a green glow from the lichen.

We were enamored with Cochise Stronghold, even the plants and animals have fantastic and exotic names that are unfamiliar to us like: The turpentine bush, beargrass, Alligator Juniper, Shin Dagger, Desert Spoon, Javalinas (wild pigs), Kuatamunde (some sort of bear?) and the Ring tailed Cat. It is a shame that this campground is actually closed. Although there are pit toilets, there is no running water we had to bring our own. We are definitely planning on coming back to this area to climb and explore further, it was simply magical.

Isn't It Grand?!

Vegas-Grand Canyon Village

Mileage; 2240

After saying goodbye to Rae, we had a leisurely 6 hr drive from Vegas to the Grand Canyon. The anticipation of arriving at the Grand Canyon grew as we turned North toward the park and drove for 1.5 hrs, getting closer and closer, but seeing no visible cues of the grandeur and earthly wonder that was ahead. Upon arrival we literally raced to the South rim to catch a glimpse of the famous sunset views. Unfortunately we missed it by just minutes, but glimpsed the canyon drenched in the suns warm afterglow and speckled in white. About 2 feet of snow on the ground and Addy is beside herself crazy with a new found joy of deep snow. Hmmm, does she know something we don't about where we are going?

We headed for our campsite in the Mather Campground (the only campground open year round) and were surprised by how many people were camping because of the time of year, forecast for snow tomorrow and low temperatures. After we set up camp we headed to the Bright Angel Lodge for some food and listened to some live music "Silver Shoes" a duo from TX. We shared travel stories with John and Maureen during their set break.

The next morning, French press coffee and egg burritos at about 30 degrees then off to the South Rim trail to take in the views in the day light. We had already decided we were not trekking into the canyon (no dogs allowed and no crampons) so we walked the rim 6 miles (round trip) from Bright Angel Trail to Hopi Point, windy and cold but what a fantastic day! Addy was quite popular and several tourists from the tour bus actually snapped shots of Addy before they took their canyon shots, we think all the attention she's getting from strangers is going to her head.

The day was fairly cloudy with snow squalls blowing through the canyon that looked like veils draped from the clouds, toward the end of the hike and into the sunset the skies broke and the changing light on the canyon walls was simply breathtaking while we enjoyed a beer at the El Tovar Hotel.

We made it through the coldest night either of us have ever spent in a tent. We discovered two things the next morning, that the low temp last night was 12 degrees F, and that we have a new limit on how cold we can handle with our current gear.

Vegas Baby

Las Vegas, NV

Mileage; 1930

Ahhh we slept in and it felt great! Sun was shining and the air was warm and breezy, we had our first cup of joe and headed out to Red Rocks, 45 minutes West of Vegas with the intent of doing some rock climbing. Imagine Mars and you can imagine the landscape of Red Rocks (now add tourists holding cameras, including us). We drove the 8 mile circular loop through the park in search of the perfect rock wall, but ended up looping around and going back to the very first pull-off. During our drive we saw several big horn sheep leaping from cliff to cliff with amazing agility. We parked the car, grabbed our gear and descended into the canyon locating a great little climb (5.6ish). Ben lead the climb, set up anchor and we climbed different variations of the same line. We met two other very nice climbers from Montreal, on the route next to us, but other than that we were the only climbers on that particular wall. We'd love to return and explore this area more. As we started driving the one way loop to go back to Vegas, we realized that we were nearly out of gas and coasted every downhill and would like to think that is why we made it to a gas station, whew!

Later in the evening Rachel took us out to a fantastic Indian restaurant for Ben's birthday, it was so good we all over ate. Rachel gave us a tour of the glitter and glam on the strip, downtown and some of the lesser seen parts of Vegas. We had a great time, what happens in Vegas...but we can say this, the night ended with a glass of really good Absynthe in a very cool laid back lounge totally old school Vegas.

Under the Sea in Death Valley

Monterey to Las Vegas

Mileage; 1825

We said goodbye to Monterey and Dan & Jan at about 6:30am and headed out toward Death Valley National Park with hopes of seeing the renowned wildflowers and fantastic landscapes. Everyone knows that things don't always go as planned. The wildflowers were a no-show because of cooler than normal temps. However, as we drove from 4000+ feet above sea level to below the sea level floor, descending into Death Valley, Peter Gabriel's "Passion" was our driving soundtrack making the winding journey down to the bottom other worldly. The floor of Death Valley was pooled with water from recent rains that mimicked the horizon and sky. Both the landscapes and dynamic sunset that literally changed with each passing second and was over within five minutes and left us spinning.

Out of Death Valley into the dark desert night, we rolled into Beatty, NV North East of Las Vegas and grabbed a bite to eat in a smoky bar called the Sourdough Canteen, it was written in the pages of a western novel, all the characters imaginable were there, as well as a 200 lb Golden Retriever named Jake who could have eaten Addy for an appetizer, but turned out to be friendly. The stop filled our bellies with beer and pizza which made the last leg of the trip to Vegas difficult at best. Bleary eyed, relieved and excited to see Rachael we were greeted with open arms and a comfortable and excitingly beautiful apartment overlooking a golf course and the outskirts of town. Tomorrow we wake in the city that never sleeps.

Wineries, Clam Chowder and Ben's Birthday eve

Monterey, CA

Our last day in Monterey...we visited the Naval Postgraduate School and toured the facility which was originally the Del Monte Hotel, the hotel which now hosts students in its rooms has beautiful architecture, paintings and antiques overlooking the Monterey Bay area. A relatively quick lunch at El Torito near Cannery Row and we were off to the wine country. Our first stop was Marilyn Remark, a Loma Pacific Vineyard that produces only Rhone-style wines in limited releases of less than 300 cases, then we were off to the Santa Lucia highlands for Passagno, our favorite of the three wineries we visited, for some absolutely perfect Pinot Noirs, great Syrahs, a Port that blew our minds and the best Zinfandel any of us had tasted (even though the winery is known for its Pinot Noirs); the last winery we visited was Manzoni - a vintner who works closely with their neighbors Passagno next door -- again, great wines, but especially good Pinot Noir and a Syrah that my brother Dan thought was the best of the day. We drove back to Monterey through lush green rolling hills and strawberry fields. We took an evening stroll down Fisherman's Wharf and filled up on several different (all delicious) samples of clam chowder from different restaurants down the wharf. Many of the restaurants have clam chowder samples at the ready in little cups outside their door and try to entice you to come in and eat dinner by giving you a tiny yummy taste. At the end of the wharf we watched two sea otters in the harbor munching on mussels from below the docks. At home we celebrated Ben's 42nd Birthday (a day early) and now we prepare for our early morning departure, sad to say goodbye to Dan, Jan and Monterey, but excited for the next stop, Las Vegas to see Ben's sister Rachel.

Mudslides and rainbows

Monterey, Big Sur, Carmel, CA

Mileage; 130

This morning we heard the news about the earthquake in Chile. We explored Big Sur with huge waves pounding the rocky shoreline and cliffs that are at every turn in the road and ravines filled with white calla lilies. It's hard to explain Highway 1 and its temptations, driving this road is a joy in itself but coupled with the nearly overwhelming visual and other sensory overloads it is hard to stay focused on any one thing and yet there is a sense of calm among the chaos. On our way to "Nepenthe" (Island of no cares) restaurant we were stopped by a mud slide that toppled a power pole. We turned around and stopped at the River Inn for some amazing Bloody Marys (the spiciest ones we ever had) and lunch. With the road clear despite ducking under a tree lying on the power lines we continued on to Big Sur Bakery for some dessert; after a quick stop we finally made it to Nepenthe for a beer and breathtaking views. With rainbows flanking the hills we traveled into Carmel for sunset and a stroll past the fortunately/unfortunately closed shops. Addy had a blast at what was practically a beach side dog park, while we watched the sun disappear through a thin string of puffy clouds on the horizon while the full moon rose at our backs. We finished the night with a game of long board, a few drinks, and a stroll down Cannery Row in Monterey.

And We're Off

Everett, WA to Monterey, CA

Mileage - 950

Slight change of plans that we couldn't write about because we were "under cover" we picked up our first passenger, Jan, (Dan's wife) Dan didn't know she was coming with us, fantastic surprise. We all drove from Everett to Monterey, CA a 15 hr drive. Rain, rain, rain all the way, one section of slushy, snowy roads on Mt. Shasta, CA. There were slight sun breaks in the weather, but mostly rain, one beautiful rainbow, we arrived at 11:30 pm in Monterey with no rain and immediately went to the beach 2 blocks away, took pictures of the moonlit shoreline with the surf lapping at the feet of the tripod. We didn't realize, but this was at the peak of the potential tsunami, which actually ended up being only .76 ft here. It was an almost a full moon, what an amazing arrival. We returned to Dan's house exhausted and fell into a mad, deep sleep.