Day 14: All Things Rachel

 July 9, 2021

Vanlog, Medicine Bow National Forest boondocking site, near Laramie, WY

I have thought often, of course, about my daughter on this trip, but today I especially missed her. In the last 24 hrs there were so many things that reminded me of her, where I thought wow, she'd really like this or where I wanted to ask her a biology question or where there was some special connection to the past. So this started yesterday actually at the Wheeler Lake with the amphibian creature that Charlie thought was an axolotl. I am certain Rachel would have known what it was and would have been able to help me to identify many of the wildflowers. Today, after saying goodbye to Charlie, I went to Chautauqua Park in Boulder, the gateway to many trails into the surrounding Flatiron Mountains. I did the 3.2-mile loop on Chautauqua trail, Flatiron loop, and Blueberry Mesa trail. There was a rock climbing area there that Rachel would have loved and that had a similar pitch and number of crack to the wall where she first learned how to climb in Yosemite NP. Then I drove to Boulder Falls along Boulder Canyon Drive. Finally, I stopped for lunch at Barker Reservoir in Nederland, CO. While I was here picnicking, I was fortunate enough to see a fish hatchery truck stock 3000 trout into the lake. Since Rachel studied wildlife biology in college, I am sure she would have loved seeing this experience. Then in the small town of Nederland, I toured the free mining museum and the Carousel of Happiness. The latter reminded me of her childhood, when it was "our thing" to go on the carousel. 

Seeing as it was 101 degrees in Boulder and a heat dome has settled over the Southwest setting all sorts of temperature records, I headed north to Cheyenne, WY on Rt 25 and then west on Rt 80 toward Laramie. Here, I got off the freeway at another world famous rock climbing place called Vedauwoo in the Medicine Bow National Forest. Of course this also reminded me of Rachel. The place has a national forest campground with about 50 sites and a forest service road with another 70 dispersed camping sites and all were full by 4:30 PM. So I drove to an even more remote spot on Forest Road 712 and secured a very windy site off a dirt road with very spotty cell service. 

Day 13: From Aspens to Axolotl

 July 8, 2021

Vanlog, Boulder, CO

Despite our beautiful campsite last night in the White River National Forest, neither Charlie nor I got much sleep. Charlie was up all night listening to the howls of the coyotes in the valley below and I was suffering from heat and dehydration in the van. Nonetheless, I marveled at the aspen leaves quaking in the wind as we were eating our strawberry pancakes for breakfast. It still beats sitting at home at the dining room bar. After some morning chores, we drove to Copper Mountain, CO and did the 6.6-mile round-trip Wheeler Lakes hike. A very different hike from yesterday in many respects--yesterday was at higher elevation and more open and had more people, today was more forested and warmer because it was lower elevation and there were hardly any people. We saw a black fox early on during the hike as we initially hiked through a forest of ponderosa pine. Then the trail steepened and we went through a thick section of an aspen grove. Finally it opened up near the top and (although not above treeline today) there were fields and fields of innumerable wildflowers. The end destination were two small lakes that had neither an inlet nor an outlet. Thus, they were all fed by rainwater or snowmelt. Charlie, biology major that he was, recognized a large number of amphibians in each lake known as axolotl. They're kind of cute. Look them up. One thing which wasn't different from yesterday was me sucking wind going up that 17-degree incline. The legs were hurting, it was hot, and even though I wasn't wearing a pack today, I needed frequent breaks to catch my breath. 

Just like yesterday, after returning from our hike, we drove to Dillon Lake and restored our fatigued legs in the cold water of the lake. Then we returned to Boulder and I went and did laundry at a local laundromat. Since the entire Southwest is in a heat dome this weekend with record high temperatures well in excess of 100 degrees, I think I might just stay here at higher elevation another day and then head north to Wyoming. This is another nice thing about vanlife--you can follow the weather and change your plans on a whim. 

Day 12: Rocky Mountain High

 July 7, 2021

Vanlog, White River National Forest near Breckinridge, CO

It is always great when driving cross country--especially on solo trips--to meet up with friends along the way. Last night I moochdocked in my former student Charlie's driveway in Boulder, CO. This morning, we left his house around 7 AM for a hike along part of the Continental Divide Trail (or CDT). Our hike was to the summit of Mt Flora, which has an elevation of 13,095 ft. It was a 6.4-mile round-trip hike with 1800 ft of elevation gain, so a solid hike to say the least. I was definitely sucking wind and taking my good old time on the way up. Beautiful alpine wildflowers, some yellow-bellied marmots, a dead deer carcass, a fox, mountain lakes, snow packs, shiny granite rock, a field that literally looked like a scene from the Sound of Music--this hike had it all. 

After lunch back at the van, we drove over a mountain pass (with brake lights coming on because I hate going downhills in the mountains and pump my brakes too often) and sat by a lake near Frisco, CO called Dillon Lake. Despite the frigid temperatures, it felt good to immerse and bathe in nature. It felt so refreshing after a long day of hiking! Then we went food shopping and drove to Breckinridge CO, a very nice upscale neighborhood and beyond to the White River National Forest, where we found a pulloff in an aspen grove off the main dirt road into the forest to boondock for the night. Some of these boondocking (or dispersed camping) sites that I have had on this trip are unbelievable! I mean, this is what vanlife is all about--having incredible views out your window all for free. Public land. Take advantage of it, folks! Charlie cooked us salmon, potatoes, and asparagus for dinner and we sat and watched the sun fall behind the mountains. A quality end to a quality day! 

Day 11: The Road Less Travelled

 July 6, 2021

Vanlog, Boulder CO

So I slept in a little today, not leaving my campsite until 8 AM. It was a nice campground with showers, WiFi, dump station, water, all for $10 in the shadow of Scott's Bluff NM. I drove the 10 min to the visitor's center, where they had a film, museum, and watercolors of Western paintings that I liked. The park itself is a gem. I stopped by basically for something to do on the drive from the Black Hills to Boulder CO, my next destination. The park has amazing views from the summit of Scott's Bluff in all directions, remnants of the Oregon Trail, and a nearby grave marker on an iron wagon wheel of Rebecca Winters, a pioneer Mormon settler who died of cholera on the Oregon Trail. 

Now let me compare that experience with the one later in the day at the more popular Rocky Mountain NP. Much more urban gateway town of Estes Park, full of touristy crap and people. The park is so popular this summer that reservations are required for entry from 9-3 daily. I didn't have one so I arrived at 3:10 and still had a 15-min wait to get in. Then all the trailheads are full and there is no place to park so all I could do was drive the mountainous and white knuckle drive of Trail Ridge Road to Rainbow Curve, where I could turn around and drive back down in third gear to save my brakes. Hardly any opportunity to stop and get out for photos. Not that it isn't beautiful and I have been here before, just a bit too crowded if you ask me. 

I then drove on to Boulder CO to visit my former student Charlie. 

Day 10: The Black Hills and the Highs and Lows of Vanlife

 July 5, 2021

Vanlog, Riverside Campground, Scottsbluff, NE

You know how I said in yesterday's blog that I was living my best life? I had the dream free campsite at Nomad View with the view below. My sunrise view is at right. I had an absolutely amazing day yesterday from a beautiful sunrise to the prairie dogs, the bighorn sheep posing for me, the splendor of the Badlands, a solid hike etc. Well, not every day of vanlife can be that wonderful. I guess I was due for a little bit of balance. 

I started out early again, leaving my beautiful spot around 5:30 AM. I had a 1.5-hr drive to Custer State Park and I wanted to get there early so I could see the wildlife on the wildlife loop road. I had heard that there were herds of bison in the park so I was expecting somewhat of a Yellowstone experience. But in the 1.5 hrs I was on the wildlife loop drive, all I saw was a pronghorn antelope. Then I headed to the Needles Highway portion of the park. Now I knew that I wasn't going to fit through the one tunnel by the Needle's Eye, but I still wanted to see the geological feature and the cars going through the narrow tunnel, so I drove up to it and then had to maneuver my way into a U-turn in a narrow road to get back out. It was also a long detour out of my way, but one worth seeing. Nearby was the Sylvan Lake campground, which had this beautiful small lake surrounded one one side by the Black Hill mountains. However, even though it wasn't hot or anything, my BP was out of whack and I felt really, really, really dizzy like I was going to pass out and couldn't breathe. I checked my O2 levels and they were fine. BP was 125/70, so not bad. I have felt this way several times on the trip and I don't know why, which is a bit concerning. 

After Custer State Park, I drove all the way around the park (and through another narrow tunnel that was 8'9" wide and 9'(" tall and I am 8'0" wide and 9'3" tall) to Mt Rushmore NM. I arrived around noon and it was packed (Fourth of July weekend) and hot! I checked out the visitor's center for the first time (this is my third trip to Mt Rushmore) and walked the Presidential Trail. 

After Mt Rushmore, I typed into my Google Maps the final destination of Agate Fossil Beds NM in Harrison, NE and I made the mistake of trusting it. I didn't have a paper map of Nebraska with me, so I guess I had it coming. Google Maps took me on 40-50 miles of dirt roads through a thunderstorm and with spotty cell service. It was a bit of a nightmare! I finally arrived at the Agate Fossil Beds at 3:57 PM and I thought they closed at 4:00 PM. Luckily, they were open until 5:00 PM. I watched the introductory film, stamped my brochure, looked at the museum, and then did a mile-long walk to see some fossils on the nearby fossil mounds. This park is known for its collection of early mammal fossils (many are featured in the Carnegie Museum in Pittsburgh that I visited last year). The area was once a plains area like the Serengeti in Africa. Occasionally, it would flood the area and create water holes. All the mammals would come to the water hole to drink. Then they would eat all the plant life in the vicinity until they could no longer find food in the area near the water hole. Then they would lay down in the mud and die and become fossilized. These animals lived around 19-20 million years ago and were largely just larger versions of mammals that exist today. There are rhinoceros like footprints in the area and these very unusual spiral fossils that are called daemonelix and they look like spirally tree roots. It is now believed, however, that these fossils are the burrows of a large gopher or prairie dog type mammal called Paleocastor. They formed large underground colonies in the area. 

Then I had another hour's drive skirting and occasionally in a thunderstorm until I reached Scottsbluff, NE and a nice campground called Riverside campground, where I had a tent site for $10, WiFi, and will get my first shower in the last 7 days (not counting rinses out the side of the van) tomorrow morning! This is the nature of vanlife--the highs and the lows. I'm happy to be settled for the night and safe.