Traveling Tamara: August 2006

The St Louis Arch.

The beautiful alpine lakes of Rocky Mountain National Park.

Yes we made it to the top.

On top of Mt Yale.

Ice Lake in Colorado.

Balcony House at Mesa Verde National Park.

Cliff Palace at Mesa Verde National Park.

Double O Arch at Arches National Park.

Adam at Landscape Arch in Arches National Park.

Double Arch in Arches National Park.

Adam in the Narrows.

The Narrows at Zion...hike up the river in a gorgeous canyon. I highly recommend this hike.

Adam and I on the top of Angel's Landing in Zion.

Walter's Wiggle (yes it's really called this) on the Angel's Landing trail in Zion National Park

Adam and I at the rim of the Grand Canyon.

Pennsylvania

Well Adam and I made it to the East Coast. Colorado was awesome. We did 2 short (6 mile) hikes in Rocky Mountain National Park and camped in the campground one night. All the lakes were beautiful. We also drove to the high elevation part of the park to see the tundra.

After leaving the park we headed to I-70 via dinner at Wynkoop's brewery in Denver. It was a long drive to Pennsylvania but I did see 3 new states...Kansas, Missouri and Illinois. There isn't a whole lot to say about them, but we did see a lot of sunflowers in Kansas and the Arch in St. Louis.

We arrived in Palmyra, Pennsylvania at Adam's parents' house on Friday night. Saturday we drove to Rehobeth Beach, Delaware to hang out by the ocean. It was relaxing. Sunday we visited Adam's relatives nearby. Today is cleaning and organizing day. The tent was a little dirty and we had a few loads of laundry to do. We'll be hanging out here for 2 more days prior to our trip to Austin, Texas for Ali and Max's wedding.

Colorado

I figured out how to post some of my pictures. (Thanks to my blogger consultant, Jodi.) They don't really match up to the paragraphs, but eventually I might figure out how to do that too. All the recent photos are on Adam's camera so you'll have to wait a few days for those.

Here's the latest.

August 20:
Left Durango to drive through Colorado. It is beautiful in the summer. We drove to Silverton and hiked to Ice Lake. It was a warm up, high elevation hike to prepare for our first 14er. The lake was pretty and I didn't do too bad with less oxygen. Then we drove to Gunnison via dinner in Montrose. Now I know why my cousin Trevor doesn't really like living there. It is a pretty small town. Gunnison is small too, but it's closer to the ski resorts and has a bit more character.
There is a great coffee shop there. www.thebean.com/store_gunnison

August 21:
Left Gunnison to drive to the 14er, Mt Yale. It was a tough hike but we made it up and down without getting sick or rained on. It was 11.5 miles round trip and 4300 feet elevation change. We stopped in Leadville, the highest city in the US, for a buffalo meat meal and then headed on to Boulder. Apparently when the freshman move in at University of Colorado all the hotel rooms are full. We grabbed a few beers at the Walnut Brewery, until the power went out and then headed on to Estes Park in search of a place to stay.
www.14ers.com/routemain.php?route=yale1&peak=Mt.%20Yale

August 22:
Hanging out in Estes Park. We're getting ready to go into Rocky Mountain National Park for 2 more days of hiking and camping.
www.nps.gov/romo/