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SilverEagle6 · 08-17-2016, 09:50 AM

Day 84.....after a fantastic visit to Mesa Verde NP,mew drove north along rt 145 to Cayton USFS campground, about 6 miles north of Rico. Took a FS road, 535 or 545 up over the mountain to Dunton, then down to Dolores and back to Cayton. Also went to Telluride, met some old airstream friends, and enjoyed the cool weather.

Decided to go to Moab, stayed at Goose Island BLM. We hiked most of the trails at Arches NP except the long backcountry trails. Spent another day in Canyonlands and hiked several of those trails. Must admit, I enjoyed Canyonlands better than Arches, which was extremely crowded. We were able to set up a great kayak shuttle deal and did an 11 mile trip on the Colorado through Portal and just into Canyonlands. Someone told us that if you dipped a bucket into the river, it would have more sand than water...pretty accurate. The high temps moved us out of Goose Island and we ended up at a FHU park. We were there seven days and plan to go back in the spring....fun place.
We are now in Grand Junction CO, had to get the Ford serviced and getting our rig ready for what we hope is about a month of boondocking/dry camping.

First stop is Flamng Gorge, hope to get into a campground near Dutch John in Ashley NF. We have a kayak Trip planned on the Green River. We then head over to Capitol Reef area. And on to Escalante.

Note: my attempt to create a blog drove me nuts. So I have created an Instagram account where I can post a lot pictures and then will all be upright! Once I get some stuff added. I will post a link....so my pictures will be there. No more picture posting here.

Hittenstiehl · 08-17-2016, 10:31 AM

Consider this your blog and it's a nice read. Continue to enjoy.

SilverEagle6 · 08-18-2016, 01:54 PM

Decided to stay an extra couple days in Grand Junction. Spent the day in Colorado National Monument. What a very pleasant surprise. About a 23 mile drive along Rim Rick Drive with lots of overlooks and trails. We did most all the overlooks and maybe 4 of the short .5 - 2 mil trails. There is a campground up top says up to 40'. Maybe in one or two of the pull off sites. Most all looked to be a challenge to level. The park is a great place to spend the day, morning, whatever.
Tomorrow, depending on weather, we may drive up to Grand Mesa. Rumor has it there is a great pizza place in Fruita, about 5 min from where we are parked....may try it tonight.

SilverEagle6 · 08-18-2016, 08:14 PM

Ok, new to me...Instagram. If I can make this work I will be posting all my pictures here. There are a few on there now.

Instagram@silvereagle3100

SilverEagle6 · 08-18-2016, 08:30 PM

Ok, that link did not work....will try again later....

Gneiss Guy · 08-19-2016, 05:07 AM

You are right about Colorado National Monument. It's a beautiful place, but not too well known. The rim road is a good place to ride bikes, since it is pretty flat and affords many great views. If you are into dinosaurs, there is a good museum in Grand Junction. I have camped at CNM in tents, a small motor home and a 25' AS. Getting the trailer even close to level was difficult. It is still worth a try, especially for folks who have a smaller trailer.

SilverEagle6 · 08-19-2016, 08:14 AM

We'll try this link

https://instagram.com/silvereagle3100/

**GCinSC2** · 08-19-2016, 11:03 AM

Now I know why the smiles, on the bourbon trail but not lost.

judyjudy · 08-19-2016, 11:26 AM

Enjoying following your trip. Happy trails!

SilverEagle6 · 08-19-2016, 06:25 PM

Just came back from a very long day on top of Grand Mesa. I just posted some photos on Instagram of Kayaking on one of the 300 lakes up there. We were at 10,361'. Very deep, clear high mountain lake. We also did a long hike and will post photos later this evening.

Gary.....never lost, maybe disoriented, never lost!!!

SilverEagle6 · 08-19-2016, 09:02 PM

Probably won't get to,post about the Crab Crest Trail hike up on Grand Mesa until later...late and we are pulling out tomorrow morning for The Flaming Gorge area. Hope to get a good float on the Green River. More to follow about Grand Mesa and Grand Junction....great visit.

SilverEagle6 · 08-20-2016, 06:15 PM

Day 87..... Just posted some pictures of our hike on top of Grand Mesa. It's called Crag Crest trail, around an 11 mile loop. We did the ridge/crest portion which was about 5.5 miles, 1,100' climb....at 11,300'.....a real lung buster.

Grand Mesa is an incredible place, lots of trails, campgrounds, over 300 lakes/ponds and everywhere you look, incredible views. It is our on list of places to return.

Note: Grand Junction is a good size town with nearly everything. We had an outstanding time. We stayed in an rv park due to maintenance on our truck. Junction West RV Park was great. Best wifi we've had, very clean everywhere, super folks. Would return.

SilverEagle6 · 08-21-2016, 06:43 PM

Day 88.... Arrived at Flaming Gorge UT, just south of Dutch John. We are in a USFS campground just off rt 191, Firefighters Memorial Campground. We have great At&t cell service. Campground is almost empty. Last night we went to a free concert at Flaming Gorge Resort. Jeanne got some fly fishing supplies. Campground is around 9,600' woke up to 52 degrees and clear. We went down to Little Hole on the Green River to check out the kayak takeout. Jeanne found a nice spot to fish and we stayed for almost three hours. A beautiful spot. Tomorrow we take our kayaks down river for a short 7 miles trip.
I have posted a few photos on Instagram....click the link below if you want to see them or follow.

Note: we took CO Rte 139 from Grand Junction north to Rangley. What a surprise when we hit Douglas Pass. At only 8,400' or so, it was a short steep climb of over 4,000'. Several switchbacks of about 180 degrees and for almost a mile the passenger is right on the edge. There were a couple of rv's struggling to get up the pass. On top of that, the road is patch on top of patch....lousy. No damage to trailer. Message to driver.....8'400' passes can be tougher than 11,500'!!!

Utah Man · 08-21-2016, 07:35 PM

Enjoy your stay there. FYI, possible points of interest not far from Dutch John - see: http://m.deseretnews.com/article/705...er.html?pg=all

Regards - Ron

SilverEagle6 · 08-21-2016, 09:27 PM

Ron, that's a great read, thanks for sharing. Will check it out, looks like a great day trip.

Gneiss Guy · 08-22-2016, 05:49 AM

As I recall, Flaming Gorge is not all that far from Dinosaur National Monument. If you have any interest in natural science, that is a very interesting place. Don't forget to go to the museum downtown there. It pretty neat, too. I'm enjoying your travelogue; keep up the good work.

Richard

**Rocinante** · 08-22-2016, 08:15 AM

Following your Instragram feed, thanks. Seems a great adventure, glad you guys are having fun!

SilverEagle6 · 08-22-2016, 06:43 PM

Went kayaking on the Green River today, from the Flaming Gorge Dam to Little hole. Unfortunately my iPhone got drenched....and I had great action shots of Jeanne in the Rapids. Phone is currently packed in rice in a zip lock bag. Hopefully we can recover the photos. It was a fantastic float on a beautiful river!

**GCinSC2** · 08-23-2016, 11:00 AM

You didn't do the waterproofing software update on the phone?

Oh boy.

Jeannie, don't let him make any serious decisions for a while ok?

SilverEagle6 · 08-25-2016, 03:49 PM

We took a day trip to the John Jarvie Historic Site in Browns Park. UtahMan offered the suggestion.....see post 154. So glad we went. I love history, Cowboys, Indians, Outlaws, and the beautiful great outdoors. If the roads were better and we had more time we would have explored more of Browns Park.....an absolutely beautiful area. I won't repeat what is in the link offered by Utah Man. What made our visit special,is the time we spent talking with the interpretive ranger at the site, he actually lives next door. After a great time exploring the site we had a great picnic lunch and Jeanne went fishing.

I have posted some pictures, see Instagram link below.