Grand Canyon Area,  1994
Numerous trips to the Desert Southwest were never as good as
the one in 1994.  The body was strong after two months of climbing
and backpacking in the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest....


 Mountain Biking the petrified sand dunes around Moab, Utah.
 The body took a beating that first day!

Rock Climbing; Spider Wall just outside Moab, Utah
 Legs got trashed from biking the steep slickrock,,,  up/down/up/down,  (plus a few wipeouts) so...
...went climbing for a couple days.  Could belay right from the car, and had great tunes (Mormon mostly) for inspiration. Did many self-belays on a solo-device, anchored right to the bumper....    But by end of second day,  fingertips were burnt and blistered.   Time to find the river and go paddling....

Monument Valley
 Monument Valley, near Grand Canyon.  Lookin' for the river.
It's down there somewhere!!!

Getting ready to head down the Green River towards the Grand Canyon!
 Ya!   Found it!  Nervous as hell,  getting ready to solo the Green River,
hoping to bail *before* it hooks up with the Colorado and dumps me into
the mighty Grand Canyon!!!

On the river,  just before a big drop!
No problem!  Beautiful river!  Half-mellow,  half-wild!
Alternate stretches,,, whitewater,,,,, pool,,,, whitewater,,,, pool...
Could not ask for a better day!

A mellow spot on the river
  Kickin' back during the mellow stretches,,,  listening for the roar of Whitewater!!!
 

Beer break!  (but hanging on to the paddle!)
  Long flat stretch; time for a brew!
 

Remote Anasazi cliff-dwellings;  these get almost no visitors, and are everywhere if you don't mind a hike!
  Remote Anasazi ruins in the cliffs along the river.  I wanted to camp near these
and meditate with candles at night,  but the energy was way too strong!

A half mile from the road in a slot-canyon
 Hiking the slot canyons,  snaking down to Lake Powell!

If a thunderstorm happens twenty miles away,  this may flash flood quicker than you-know-what!
 Getting tighter!  This place was a hundred times more
beautiful than these pics can ever show!

Sure hope that ain't thunder I hear off in the distance!  (getting kinda nervous!)
Yikes!   A hundred feet deep,  and four miles into the slot canyon!
Getting kinda' narrow.  Where is the Lake???
Hope them t-storms don't happen!

The ol' Toymotor did over 17,000 miles on this roadtrip!
One of the wildest places in the good 'ol US of A is the four corners area in the desert southwest.  Climbing,  road- and mountain-biking, whitewater, hiking, and incredible backpacking are everywhere.  This area is my all-time favorite spot in the lower 48.

Those three weeks I stayed mostly at the Lazy Lizard Hostel in Moab;  $6 a night in a bunkroom,   or $3 to camp.  They had a Hottub, Barbecue, several picnic tables outside,,,,   Awesome Hostel!!.
The big dilemma was,,, there is excellent free backcountry on the river everywhere around Moab!!!  It is all BLM land.  Very few restrictions.  What a place!  Great weather from fall through spring.  Paradise!

page created by Tim D in March '98 (updated 11/11/00)

 

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