Back out of CFS

 I have stabilized a few weeks ago and now I can do 4 x 1 block jogging without triggering PEM. I can walk 3 miles at 100 steps per min, nonstop, too. Then, 2 weeks ago, I hiked Hunter Creek Trail for about 6 miles, almost nonstop in less than 3 hours. 

The exercise limit still exists though. I struggle all day with shitty fatigue and ache if I do 2x8 pushup the night before. Or walk 6 blocks at 104 steps per min. But the PEM is shorter and fewer in between while I can walk further and faster. So, I'm now classifying myself as "substantially recovered".

I moved to Reno and that may have created a Novelty Effect. Or, my dopamine system could've been exhausted after the trip and now recovered. I have  no idea, but time will tell. If I slip back in a few weeks, the bounce-back must be a temporary Novelty Effect from the move. If I continue to stay substantially recovered, the temporary relapse must've been from the dopamine exhaustion.

Back in CFS

 Now it appears I'm giving back all gains from the trip. 4 block jogging is now reliably putting me back in PEM struggle for 2 days.  Fast walking appears to be putting the pressure too. I may have to give up and go back back to the old way -- walk at 90 steps per minute, no jogging -- if the PEM struggle continues.  Bummer. Skiing will get me out of the hole, except that there is no snow on the mountains. November has been dry since the storm at the beginning of the month. I'll have to figure something out to get me out of this CFS hole if snow doesn't come soon. Maybe explore Nevada, now that I moved to Reno. Something, anything, to bridge me  over till the snow accumulates.

Aftermath

 For a few days, I stayed energetic. Then my condition descended with fatigue and sluggishness increasing as days go by. That lasted for about a week. Now it seems to have stabilized and I can jog 4 blocks or bike fast for 3 miles without triggering PEM. I'll increase the distance in upcoming days and see how much I can get away with. 

It's a substantial improvement even if not a full recovery. I no longer have to limit my pace: I can walk, jog and bike at a normal speed. I'm fully recovered on the road already. If I can sprint 4x400 meter or bike 20 miles without getting sick, I'll declare full recovery at home also.

Grand Canyon, Day 4

The sun is up and the tent is warming. I'm done with my morning coffee and serial. I'll enjoy the morning in this final day in Grand Canyon, and the final day of my 4 months long expedition, before packing up. 

Who knew Grand Canyon was so beautiful in the morning? Probably everybody except me. It's a shame that all my cameras; I'm down to my cellphone camera. I've been saying that Grand Canyon is not as visceral as Yosemite or Alabama Hill. That is because it is so big, it becomes hazy and flat everywhere you look. It doesn't give you the sense of depth. Go up to Glacier Point in Yosemite, on the other hand, you can feel the height and depth on your skin, it makes you feel like a Mountain Bashee that soars above the cliff and then swoop  down to the valley. In the orange glow of morning light, however, the Grand Canyon turns into 3D in its full glory.

I was going to skip Bright Angel Trail after the struggle on Kaibab Trail with cold and all. But I didn't want my Grand Canyon end in a defeat. So I got up at 5:45 AM and got ready. The elks and deer were out on the road for breakfast and stopping for them, and the view of Grand Canyon in the morning light, impeded the travel. But I was finally on the trail at 7:50.

There is a reason why this trail is top rated in Grand Canyon. On the way down, the red rock cliffs will remind you of Zion, all the way to Indian Garden at 4.5 mile mark. Then you come to the Indian Garden,  an oasis in rocky desert, fed by spring water. It is a very good place for a rest and I took a nap there on the way back. At Plateau Point, the inner canyon looks just like the Black Canyon of Gunnison. Colorado river meanders at the bottom and the black canyons stands 3000 feet tall on either side. If you were to hike all they way to the river, that would be equivalent to hiking to Scout's Lookout in Zion and then tack on Gunnison Route at end, for the total of 16 miles of round trip. I'll come back for it someday.

By the time I went past Indian Garden, the cold took over the control. I was feeling drained and dehydrated despite eating and drinking along the way. I almost turned back, thinking that the rest of the way is a boring walk through desert to get to the rim of the inner canyon. And the view from there wouldn't be much different from the outer rim. I'm glad I didn't. The view from the Plateau Point was nothing like that from the outer rim. Up close, it was more like the Black Canyon of Gunnison instead. I had my lunch there, took 15 minute break and turned back. It was past 12 by then and I didn't have enough daylight to make it back to the outer rim which would take much longer than it took to coming down, no doubt. I did make it back surprisingly fast, however, at 4:10PM with plenty of daylight left. The final mile felt as if it would going on forever though. In all, it took me 8 hours and 20 minutes for 12 miles. That is a substantial improvement over 9.5 hours it took in Chesler Park Loop which was 9.5 miles long. And that is despite suffering from cold. 

Today, the drive back to Sacramento begins. I don't need to stop at Death Valley and do 4.5 mile loop through Zabriskie Point; Bright Angels Trail is more than satisfactory finale. I'll drive straight back, stopping at Crest Ridge for the night.

Grand Canyon

The day is getting shorter, the weather is getting colder and my cold is lingering. Yeah, it's a good time to go home. I go back to Sacramento and start looking for a place in Reno for December.

The monsoon season is supposed to be over long ago here in the Southwest. But the storm last night was worse than the monsoon storm. The wind was, at least. My tent almost collapsed by the gale from the west. It didn't help that I collapsed the rain fly on the west side and put the space blanket over it to block out the cold wind. Little did I know the storm was coming with much stronger wind. The forecast called for a few hours of rain over night, so I didn't think much of it. The collapsed rain fly, and the tarp  over it, effectively served as a sail that almost launched the tent. Luckily the tent stood but the west wall got soaking wet -- collapsed rain fly means no roof to keep the rain water off the wall. I sleep on that side and my sleeping bag also got soaked. I slept well though, at least after I gave up and resigned to that there is nothing I could do till the morning when the rain and wind stops. The sleeping bag was wet, but the electric blanket kept me warm enough. Without it, It could've been a wet, cold and super miserable night.

I'll still have to wait till the sun come up and things dry up before packing out. Looks like that won't happen till tomorrow. Which means I'll have to endure 18F weather tonight. The wind will die down this evening, so I'll be fine if I stay inside my electric blanket till the sun comes and and the air warms up. Then I'll be off the the long march to Sacramento. Not sure yet if I'll stop at Death Valley or go directly to Sacramento. I still prefer to go back via Sierra, but I may get snowed in there like Donner Party. So I may forego Death Valley and Sierra and take SoCal route.  We'll see.

Grand Canyon

Jesus, it was a struggle. I was cramping all over last night and this morning, but I went on to hiking Kaibab Trail to Skeleton Point anyway. I still was cramping on the trail and even going down was a struggle. Coming back up, I had to take multiple breaks. The cold is still lingering and I'm definitely weaker. To be fair, 2400 ft over 6 miles is a strenuous hike. But it's not quite 3000 ft over 10 miles and I've done them without that much struggle. To make matters worse, I don't have appetite. I didn't finish my lunch pack of rice/chicken salad. Yet I still wasn't hungry when I got back. All I could manage was ramen soup. I poured the left-over lunch in the soup and made a meal out of it. And it just hit the spot and I'm feeling whole lot better now. Chicken soup to feed the cold. Whoever thought of it deserves pat on the back.

It's getting pretty cold and windy tonight. The forecast calls for rainy 29F tonight, and 19F tomorrow night. I didn't turn on the electric blanket last night; I think I will tonight.  

Not sure if I'll do Bright Angels Trail on Wed. If my cold doesn't improve by tomorrow, I'll have to skip and head home. The temperature is dropping everywhere and days are now too short to do much anyway. I guess there is a reason why people don't travel in the winter. Luckily I am camped next to a cell tower. I'm getting good signal to do the Internet in long dark nights.

Grand Canyon, Here I Come

I was going to stop at Santa Fe and soak in the Western scenery. Alex Baldwin must've known my plan and decided to fire a rifle at his crew while filming "Rust" at Bonanza Creek Ranch. It's now active crime investigation scene that is all taped up. I'll still drive by and check it out. The stay at Tucumcari has been mighty pleasant meanwhile. Maybe that is why my cold is getting better. I'm coughing as I expected but the box of Bronkaid that I bought in Tulsa is keeping it in check.

My plan after Santa Fe has changed. Both Antelope Canyon and Havasupai are managed by native tribes and require reservation and gazillion dollars. Havasupai in particular requires 3 night stay which can run the bill to the tune of over $1000. I'll have to better prepare for them and then come back later to get my money's worth. For now I'm going straight to Grand Canyon where my NP pass will get me in for free. I'll hike a few trails there and make it a grand finale.

The full length of Bright Angels trail is woefully tempting. It's 16 miles round trip to Colorado River at the bottom, which will require substantial refueling. I'll buy a box of energy bars. Water is available at Indian Springs, so I'll just carry 2L bottle. It's likely though, that I'll turn around at Plateau Point and make it a 12 mile hike. We'll see.

The big unknown is whether I'll recover from the cold by then. I'm in the upswing today, so I might be able to in the next 2 days. I'll do the shorter Kaibab trail first and see if I can hack it. Then give it a day of rest and tackle Bright Angels. We'll see. 12 mile 3000 ft hike will be the crown jewel of this recovery-from-CFS trip. Move over, Angel's Landing. And Chesler Park. And Mt. Ida..

Current River Kayaking

People here are southern. Not only their dourness gives them away, but you can also here a tinge of southern drawl. Not quite a twang, but it's definitely there. Not a surprise. It borders Arkansas after all. Bill Clinton with his terrible twang hails from there.

I had it all perfectly planned out. I'd follow the National Scenic Riverway from Round Spring to Van Buren where visitor's center and Big Spring is located. Then I'd back out and go to St. Michaels Nursery, plug in the car and sleep for the night. Next day I'd be off to Ozarks AR via the scenic water falls drive. I even managed to book a kayaking trip down Current River with Carr's Canoe at Round Spring. They'd take us to Platiff Spring and unleash us to float down back to Round Spring.

And It's true, everybody has a plan till their kayak flip over. In one section of the river, two thirds for the width was a shallow. So I took the rapids to avoid getting grounded. I figured I could steer toward the center. But the water dropped quickly and swirled making it next to impossible to couldn't steer. It took me right into a tree stump and I got bounced out of the boat. Luckily things got caught in the eddy and I didn't lose anything other than 89 cents pair of sandals from Walmart, which were broken anyway. But the camera and the Tesla key fob got soaked and stopped working. That would've been the loss of $500 each for the total of $1000. Luckily the key fob is working again this morning. It must've dried up over night and that must've fixed the problem. If it didn't, I would've had to make a beeline to Tesla Service Center in Kansas City and get a new one.

Tesla has no mechanical key. The only backup is the cellphone and you are dead in the water if you don't have cell signal. And that is exactly what happened. I had to tow the car to where the cell service is available. I pressed SOV button on SPOT Satellite messenger and the tow truck showed up 4.5 hours later. It's in the middle of nowhere and apparently it wasn't easy to get towed around here. Danny, the tow truck driverk managed the car on the flat bed by spraying the grease on the tire -- the car was in park position with brake on -- and took us to Summersville where we got a bit of signal. It was pitch dark then and I slept in Summersville in my car.

This was the worst incident in the entire trip. Till now I managed to avoid problems -- all went according to plan, and when it didn't, I had a good backups. This one not only spoiled entire 2 day plan, it took a lot out of me. I'm now ditching the rest of the plan for the Midwest and will go straight to Antelope Canyon 1300 miles away. 

As if that isn't enough, I'm now sick. I started to feel it in my nose when I checked in to Super 8 in Rolla. Then yesterday it got all stuffed up. Today the cold is slowly moving down to my throat. It'll probably make it down to my lung and I'll be coughing.  It doesn't appear to be Covid though. I'm sneezing and sneezing is not supposed to be a part of Covid symptom.

I'll have to stay in motels for a few days in Oklahoma. Till I shake it off, there won't be any more hiking.

Spring Cave, Ozark

It's getting nippy here in southern Missouri. Not as bad as the Rockies which is now below freezing, but the morning is at 40F. It's now 4PM and the breeze is chilly enough for long sleeves and pants. The day is obviously getting short too. It's the middle of October and the sun sets at 6PM and it doesn't rise again till after 7 AM here in southern Missouri. It's still warm enough in the noon time though. 

Finding the campsite here in Indian Trail Preservation Area was a pain. These free campsites don't have a map and GPS coordinates are very approximate, on a good day. Sometimes the info on freecampsites.net is outdated and the sites don't exist. That's what happened in White River Terrace and I had to drive another 40 miles to Indian Trails. At least I had a back up plan.

Here in Indian Trails, the sites are dispersed over huge area and you have to do lots of poking to find a decent spot. I took the second one by the road about 2 miles past the GPS point. It's actually on the middle triangle at a fork. It is a very large triange, about an acre, but I managed to set up the tent near the road and cars coming coming and going shine headlights directly on my tent. Luckily not too many cars come and go at night. There was a much better and secluded site about 2 miles further up behind the gun range. I stumbled on it when the dumb Tesla navigation took me through there to get to Devil's Well, the trailhead for Spring Cave Trail, this morning. The road soon became impassible and I had to turn around, come back to the came and then take the paved highway to Salem. I burned precious 5 miles in the process on top of the 60 miles that I burned needlessly scrambling to find the campground yesterday. Now I only have 70 miles left for tonight and then make it back to Rolla for recharging. The life in EV off the beaten path sucks. 

So I gave up on Round Spring and Allis Spring which are further south and therefore required more EV range. But I still managed to make it to Spring Cave. The path to/from it is a standard issue trail through the woods. The end point, however, was well worth the uneventful 4.6 mile hike. The emerald blue water springs from the cave and adds volume to Current river. Kayaking on Current river into these caves apparently is a popular activity in the Scenic Riverways. Not sure if I'll have time for it though. I'll be driving over 200 miles on 10/19 through the riverways and that's not going to leave much room for anything other than driving and sightseeing.

I'm changing my plan. I was going to come back to the camp after Onondaga State Park and Meramec Springs Park tomorrow. But hotels in Rolla seems to be cheap enough and there is no sense making another 80 mile trip to recharge the car on 10/19. And my day off on 10/18 needs Internet connection that doesn't exist here in Indian Spring campsite. So, I'll pack up tomorrow morning and check into a hotel in Rolla after Onondaga Cave. I'll take day off after that, and then I'll be off to the Scenic Riverways drive to Van Buren and then to Miner for recharing. From there, I'll head to Big Bend NP in TX.

Return West

 It's only 60F. But the dewy mornings here in Erie PA feels like crisp fall and quite refreshing. Maybe it feels that way after mostly staying indoors for a day. Maybe Sacramento morning in the fall and winter are the same. I rarely ventured out in the mornings so I wouldn't know. I'll have to start morning walks when I get back in the West.

I'm already one state over to the West after Catskills and Greek cities of upstate New York. The rest of the return path will look something like this:

It looks like a figure eight if you superimpose it with the Eastward path, with Ohio as the nexus. I didn't planned it that way; I vaguely thought I'd take the southern path toward Florida. But that will take longer and I'm more in the mood for the mountains than oceans. You'd think oceans would be a refreshing change after 3 months of hiking in the mountains. But lounging around on the beach doesn't inspire me this time around for some reason. I'd love to go back to Colorado or go to Glacier NP, but it's already winter there with temperature dipping down to the teens in the morning. 

So, I'll have had enough serving of the middle USA for one life time after this trip. I don't know yet how long it will take to complete the route. But I'm guessing another month. I'll fly through the cities and then spend several days in Ozark, Big Bend and Havasu.

NYC

 Chambersburg, Mechanicsburg, Shippensburg, Gettysburg, Harrisburg. It's a burg city. McConnel has another town named after him here: McConnelsburg in addition to McConnelsville in Ohio. I went through the Pennsylvania's dozen burgs, slept in Chambersburg Walmart parking lot, and finally arrived in NJ 3 days ago.

Yesterday I took a train from Princeton Junction to Penn Station. For some reason, I wasn't not as elated to be in NYC as I was before. Maybe it's "been there, done that" syndrome. But I think it's also got to do with the fact that I'm no longer CFSed. Before, all I could do was walk slow. So walking the city streets was just about the only joy I had. Now that I can hike 10 miles over mountains, walking the city is more of a business than pleasure. 

I walked all over. First Astoria to check out the chicken coup. It was no place for humans, so I walked on. Next was the studio for sale for $675,000.  It certainly was a nice, new unit. But not worth over $1000/sf. All the rest was a bust. NYC open houses apparently requires appointments and I wasn't able to view them. So I walked on exploring Jackson Heights and Sunnyside north of Queens Blvd. And I walked fast too. Probably at 104 steps/min most of time, and 120 on the way to Penn Station to catch the train back to NJ.

I think I'll put off buying a pied-de-terre in NYC. The price bounced from the pandemic low and it doesn't make sense to compete with low interest rate borrowers when I'm paying cash. I'll come back to it when the rates get normalized and demand subsides. For now, I need to find a temporary housing for a month. It's not easy; the sublease is not as plentiful as in the summer. I may have to cobble together a couple of short terms, and hotels, into a month. If it doesn't work out, I'll move on; it's not end of the world if I skip NYC this time. In 2017, NYC was the goal. This time it wasn't. Curing my CFS was. I've done what I set out for and I can return Westward satisfied, with or without NYC.

Octoberfest ZinZinnati in September

Walmart and I are fast becoming BFF. I again slept in Walmart parking lot in Lexington, used their bathroom and grabbed a couple of peach for breakfast. Then I was all set to hit the road again.

Lexington is a historic city and horse town. Other than that, there wasn't much else. And I'm not much of a horse person, though the Henry Clay's Ashland Estate was kind of interesting. It's an English style aristocratic manor for a senator. Democracy only with propertied white men was really an aristocracy I suppose.  I stopped at Kentucky Horse Park, but drove right back out after finding that it requires $15 fee, on top of $5 parking fee. Such a highway robbery. I moved on to Cincinnati, the home of WKRP.

The riverfront was a big mess. A sea of Reds fans (and a lone Dodgers fan) descended on it in cars and on foot across the Roebler Bridge. As if that wasn't enough, the 2nd and 3rd Street were closed for the whole width of downtown for Octoberfest.  I sure picked the right date to come to Cincinnati.

I managed to park in a garage near Bengals stadium on the river front and then walked over the Roebler Bridge against the oncoming Reds fans. All Reds fans must be living in Kentucky across the bridge, it seems. Then I took Bell Connector street car to Findlay Market. I didn't even know about that market. I hopped on the streetcar to look around the city and then it came upon an open market that looked like Vancouver's Granville Market. I hopped off at the next stop to check it out. I walked around it and then ended up having lunch there even though I wasn't hungry. Then I walked all the way back to the waterfront for about 2 miles.

The size of this city is comparable to SF. And it sports 2 pro sports teams. Yet has only 300,000 inhabitants despite the terrible bustle today. That would explain the median house price of less than $200,000, or about the same as St. Louis or Kansas City. These midwestern cities aren't exactly thriving, at least compared to Sacramento, despite the appearances. Cincinnati downtown wasn't at least as deserted as St. Louis. At least not today.

Tomorrow I'll be in Pittsburgh, the last stop before NJ/NY. I'll leave my car at my sisters and then take bus to NYC, stay there for a few weeks and then head back home.

St. Louis

German footprint seems to be everywhere throughout the Midwest in general, and Missouri in particular. The wineries along Missouri river is their  handy work, and they even called it Rhineland. It reality, it's nothing like Rhine valley in Germany. For one thing, it's not a valley; it's mostly prairie and the wineries are located in rolling hills away from the river. For another, the rivers are different. Missouri is slow flowing and murky unlike fast flowing Rhine that inspired Loreli legend.

I left Kansas City in the afternoon and headed to Saline Valley State Wildlife Area to camp out for a couple of days. I could use some rest after the bedbug fiasco. But it was in the upper 80s with humidity there. It wasn't going to be restful if it is hot and humid. I can't camp past Missouri River because of the heat and humidity, and I can't sleep in motels because of bedbugs. The only option left from now on is to sleep in the car at Walmart parking lots.

Jefferson City, the jump off point for the Rhineland drive was near by. I got there after noon and it took all afternoon to get through the drive. Did I say that it was nothing like Rhine Valley already? The wineries along the route was nothing much to write home about, at least if you've been to Napa Valley. I was running out of electrons after Daniel Boon grave anyway, so I drove straight to St. Louis after paying the respect for the dead. Reader's Digest 150 Most Scenic Drives has been but a disappointment in this trip. I suppose everything would be after spending 2 months in Utah and Colorado.

The Walmart happened to be just across the road from Tesla supercharger in St. Charles. After the dinner at Sushi Ai, a phony Japanese restaurant, I went over and bedded down there.

Kansas City

What am I doing here? There is nothing to look in this flyover states. Yet I'm spending time driving through it and wasting money on these roach motels. It's depressing. And then another bedbug fiasco at La Quinta in Kansas City. I checked out at 4AM, again, and slept on their parking lot.  When I got up, I was surprisingly fresh despite the ordeal. Sleeping in the car seemed to have cure the depressing thoughts. 

Kansas City was as flat as, well, Kansas in my imagination. It's another boring midwestern city, in other words. In reality, however, it is quite hilly. And surprisingly impressive. It is more alike to SF than Kansas. The downtown, with a park around the convention center, looks somewhat like Union Square too. 

The Union Station in Kansas City looks somewhat like the Union Station in NYC. (The street in front of it is named Pershing as well). Just across it up on the hill happened to be the WW2 Memorial Museum. I climbed it, and it felt like Legionaire Museum in SF. And the Union Station like Palace of Fine Art. The view of hilly downtown felt like SF too. Who'da thought?

But I can't place the Country Club Plaza in SF. It is away from the city center and looks more like Rodeo Drive than anything in SF. Perhaps that's what they modeled it after. The Italianate buildings look a little chinzy, with a fake Plevi Fountain and all, but it was rather pleasant shopping district. To the north of it was Westport with chalkfull of new condos and to the south the river and older hotels and condos.

The Westport square is a cleaner version of Polk Gulch of SF, ith Broadway Blvd running alongside of it just like Van Ness. The vibe, however, was more like Piedment district of Seattle or Nob Hill of Portland. It's definitely more Western hip than Eastern.

The climate of Missouri, however, feel more East than West: it's hot and humid. Not quite like Lousiana or North Carolina, but you can feel the humidity. It's heavily forested like East too. The Bryantwood neighborhood along Shawnee Mission Parkway was lined with majestic trees with thick canopy. 

Overall, I'm rather impressed with Kansas City. It's nice blend of western vibe and eastern feel. 

I guess I rather be in Colorado

The eastern Colorado past Denver is as flat as Kansas. Cornfield appears as you approach Nebraska. You couldn't be able to tell where Colorado ends and Nebraska begins if it weren't for the marker. It gets a little greener as you move further into Nebraska though. Clouds get squeezed of their moisture as they climb the Rocky mountains and the eastern Colorado gets very little precipitation. It looks like Central Valley as result.

It seemed to all make sense. The sediments from the Wyoming side of Rockies spilled over to Nebraska for eons, creating bluffs in western Nebraska and sand hills in the middle. The bluffs are sedimentary rocks that crumbles into sands and it's only logical to extrapolate from that sandhills were created from the same process that created the bluffs. The truth, however, is that the sand hills were created by winds that blew sands to Central Nebraska from ancient sea. You can see ripples on the Google satellite map. Maybe the Western Nebraska was also a part of the sandhills and then the sediments from the Rockies were deposited on the top of it to create the bluffs.

The cornfield disappears as you enter Sandhills. The sandy soil must be too poor for crops. But the grass grows well on sandhills making it a good grazing land. Most of Sandhills are privately owned ranches. The corn and soy field appears again as you move south toward Platte River. This field will run all the way to Minnesota in the North and Indiana to the East.

I've been in Nebraska for only 2 days, if you don't count the rest break I took in Sidney for a moment. Yet I'm about done with Nebraska. You see the bluff and the Sand hills, and now only the cities remain. And I'll be done with them in a day or two. I'm now just being a regular tourist here, moving from hotel to strange hotel in strange cities.  The driving has been become a drag after Sandhills and I'm not looking forward to more of it.

I miss coming home to my camp after a hard day of hiking. I miss Bryce Canyon, I miss Abajo Mountain, and I miss Black Canyon. I miss the desolate drive through Utah desert, I miss the San Juan Mountains loop, I miss CO-135, and I miss the drive to Buena Vista. Maybe I should head back to the West. I would have a lot more fun hiking over Ruby Mountain to Arkanas river than meandering through these flyover states. RMNP is now getting cold, but it's still warm enough in Buena Vista and Browns Canyon. I could even go to Arizona where it is still hot and do Havasupai. Then I can always fly to the East coast later. But for now I first need to get to Lincoln and have the gimpy tire changed. I'll think about it and then decide after Lincoln.

Sidney NE

 What was that sense of gladness of returning home? It's the camp that I stayed only for 3 days. And it was loud and noxious site with ATVs running up and down all day long. 

I finally got out of that bedbug hell that is Alamosa and returned to Colorado Springs on the way to Sidney NE by finishing the second half of Colorado Springs Loop through Salida, Canon City and Cripple Creek. When I finally got to Divide and the familiar looking buildings came into site, I suddenly felt that sense of relief. It's the road that I on only a few times commuting to/from Colorado Springs and yet somehow it felt like home. I don't get similar feel for motels; there must be something living in tent that makes the habitat home. There is something about putting the stake on the ground making it *your* place. Or it could also be the neighbors. When you are camping, you talk to people. In motels, you don't. Or it could be both.

The Colorado Springs Loop was a spectacular success. The majestic view of Sawatch mountains soaring in front of you above the valley floor at Buena Vista; Drive along Arkansas River along US 50 from Salidas; The harrowing Shelf Drive. It is one of the best driving routes anywhere. I'll put it on the top along San Juan Mountains Loop. OK, maybe the second best after San Juan Loop. It is differently spectacular.

Too bad I can't say same thing about the Great Sand Dunes. It was an unqualified flop. I went mostly to roll in the Medino Creek, but the creek was dry. They said it is seasonal. It runs in the Spring when the snow melts and then dry up by late summer. The sand dunes looked kinda interesting, but hiking on one was not; it was downright boring with each step being the sameness of your foot sliding down the sand. It's was a lot of effort for low dopamine and I found myself wishing I was instead hiking on the Sangre de Cristo mountains that the dunes were nestled in. I walked up High Dune for about 30 minutes and came back down. I spent the total of less than one hour in the park before coming back out. 2 days and $300 spent just for that. It was a nice photo locale though. Beige to white light gradation and lines sure made beautiful pictures. 

Then the bedbug disaster again. This cesspool named Rodeway Inn was a breeding ground for bedugs. I moved to a different room the night before because of the bedbug bite. Then it was biting again and I actually caught on crawling on the pillowcase. I actually showed it to the scumbags running the joint and they again denied having bedbug problem to Priceline and refuse to refund. I got the hell out of there and checked into another motel, only to have the same problem there. I caught the biggest one I've ever seen, call the owner to let him know of the problem,  put the bug in a water cup for him, and left at 5AM. I hardly slept at all that night.

With that forced early start, I figured I'd be in Colorado Springs charging station by noon. But the Shelf Road took quite a bit longer than I expected and I left Colorado Springs at 2PM after lunch at Bird Tree Cafe.  Then a long drive to Sidney through Denver. I kept dozing off. If it weren't for the Autopilot, I might have crashed. When I finally got here, it was 6PM.

Sidney is not a tourist destination on anybody's list. But it has Tesla supercharger, so it is convenient. The original plan called for going to Scott's Bluff, but there is no charging station. Likewise for the Sand Hills Scenic Byway. I'll just have to drive up there then come back down to I-80 corridor to get the Lincoln on the 13th. I got the tire shipping from Tirerack.com and I'm scheduling to change the tire there on the 14th.

Mt. Ida

 I'll call it a 10 mile/3000 feet hike and another mission accomplished. It was meant to be 9.5 mile/2500 feet, but I added at least another mile and several hundred feet of elevation gain by getting off the course. I lost the trail on the way coming down and went down the valley instead of staying on the ridge, turning what was an easy downhill portion into a scramble through the rocky field.

I was on schedule for a change and got to the trailhead at 7:10AM, and was on trail by 7:30. (OK, a little late, but I have an excuse note from the moose on the meadow and that big heard of mule deer that blocked the traffic.) Then I made to the top with almost no stop driven by the exhilaration and cold wind. Soon after the tree line where I briefly stopped to put sunscreen and sunshades on, the wind started to blew and temperature dropped. My finger was getting numb from the cold and I soon started shivering. I should've put on my goretex jacket over the fleece. The weather at the trailhead looked fine, so I didn't. I marched on with the full view of the mountain range to the right. Near the top, I ran out of gas and had to take another brief stop.

At the top, the view of alpine lakes opened up to the left. At a distance on the right was Granby and Grand lakes. It was another 270 degree view of the mountains and valley, well worth the effort getting there. 

The jagged mountains of Sierra are as high as the Rockies. The mountains in RMNP, however, are more portly. That makes them look more massive. Driving the Trail Ridge Road, you have to marble at these massive mountains seemingly spread out in all directions. This road cuts through the Rocky Mountains, thus affording the view of the mountains on both sides of the road. It's a rather long road and pulling out at various vista points and doing short walks will take all day. But it's something everybody should do at least once, like the Rim Drive of Grand Canyon. I'll have to do it again; I was dead tired after Mr. Ida, and I hardly stopped at any of the vista points.

Camping here at Glacier Basin is not that convenient. Not only is it big and crowded -- you can't take a bath here -- it is also in the bear country. Which means you have to shuffle your food and cooking implements between your car and tent every time you cook. On top of it, I have to move to different campsite, twice. In retrospect, a motel room in Estes Park at $60 would've been a more convenient and cost effective option than $30 campsite. If it weren't for the park entry permit, I would've. Turned out, I only needed the permit for Glacier Gorge trail. All others I could enter without the permit before 9AM. Oh well. The view of the mountains from the campsite is nice though, and that makes all the inconveniences worthwhile.

Now that I'm done with Mr. Ida, Sky Pond Via Glacier Gorge lost some of its luster. I may even skip it if I don't recover from Mt. Ida by tomorrow. 

Kremmling

 Now I understand why some homeless people prefer streets over shelter. As hard as it is, you are alive out there. Inside shelter, you are just a homeless person in a cell.

How strange it is that I rather go home when I'm in a motel instead of looking forward for the day like I do when I'm in my tent. Maybe it's got to do with natural light. In a tent, you get tons of it even with the rain fly on. Wake up in wee hours, I'm happy. Waking up in a motel room in the other hand, is just waking up in a strange place. I'll have to admit though. Not knowing where you are going to sleep when you are tired and it's getting dark is not a good feeling.  And that's the true essence of homelessness.

So, the plan got shuffled again to my regret, so far. I skipped Breckenridge after Vail. Two resort towns in a row wasn't an exciting prospect, so I decided to do the Rockies loop instead and sleep in Silverthone hotel for 2 nights. That would also give me a chance to clean up, do the laundry and catch up with photos and blogs before I hit RMNP. What I didn't realize was that Priceline was up to its old resorts trick of listing rooms at a cheap and then charging huge hotel fees. The result was that rooms in Silverthone area was $150, not $60. By the time I found that out it was too late; I was all packed up and I wasn't going to go back and unpack, even if getting back to the campsite through that rough Roaring Creek Road was a synch. Not having the Internet connection has its consequences.

The loop wasn't particularly scenic or exiting either. Nothing compared to the Route 133 to Aspen or San Juan Mountains loop through 145 and US-550. It's rather plain series of towns from Georgetown to Granby. Even Bathoud Pass was rather plain with not much view, unless you are doing the Continental Divide Trail: there were nice long trails on the either side of the trail leading to 13000 feet peaks. The village of Grand Lake was charming enough though, somewhat like  Silverton. But the lake itself was not much to write home about: water was not crystal clear and the lake bottom was mossy.  I guess I expected pristine alpine lake, being near the RMNP and all. I'd prefer nearby Lake Granby with its sandy beaches and bottom.

On the way back I found a relatively cheap hostel style room in Kremmling. At $80 it's still ridiculously expensive for a basement dump with a single shared bathroom. Hospitality businesses are obviously having their day in the sun after enduring the year of COVID. It has a nice communal living room and the backyard though. Too bad I couldn't take advantage of the backyard because my laptop battery broke and I was tethered to a wall socket.

In all, the new plan added one more day in RMNP for Mt. Ida.  It is supposed to have the best view of the park. At 9.3 miles and 2400 feet, it's close to my goal of 10 miles and 3000 feet as well. About the same length as the Glacier Gorge to Sky Pond trail, but little more challenging. Add another short trail, perhaps to Emerald Lake, I'll be doing 3 hikes in RMNP. 

Let's how the grand finale unfolds. If it's a bust, I still have the Great Sand Dunes left to make up for it.

Vail

 Last night was even colder than the night before. My whole tent, not just the laundry on it, was all frosted crisp this morning. I had to finally plug in my electric blanket in the middle of the night. Then the chill come in from the bottom. I'll have to unfurl my Thermarest pad this evening and insulate the cot as well.

All this chill in the morning brought back the memory of early winter days in Korea. There was no indoor plumbing or flush toilet back then and life was much like camping. We'd get up, brush teeth and wash face in cold water. Then our hands would get frozen and we'd come back in the room and put our hands on ondol floor to warm them up. 

I don't have ondol, but I do have an electric blanket. It was a single best decision to carry it in this trip. I would've been plain miserable without it. Oh, and the space blanket. Heat and cold are the biggest enemies of the hobos and I'm defending well against them.

Yesterday's hike on Booth Creek was a struggle. It was only 4.2 miles, so I figured I'd make it in the morning and then comeback to town for lunch. I wasn't on the trail till 12:10. I found that there is no parking at the trailhead when I got there: I was supposed to park in town and take the shuttle. By the time everything were settled, it was past 11, and I figured I'd have lunch first. I hung out in town for 30 minutes after that, and ended up in the 12 Noon bus. When I was done with the trail, it was after 4PM.

Not sure yet if it was the trail or me. But I had to take 3 breaks going up. Compare that to zero stops at Bear Creek in Telluride. Booth Creek was a tougher hike to be fair; it was rockier and there were several steep scrambling. But I struggled so much more, I had to look up the record to see if anything sticks out to account for the discrepancy. I did take a full day rest before Bear Creek. But then, I also took a full day rest before Ouray Perimeter and I struggled there too. Maybe it's the combination of the preemptive rest and the novelty. These trails are not that dopaminergic and therefore more struggle in general. Enough preemptive rest may reduce the struggle. Doesn't that sound familiar? I must be still in the shadow of CFS.

In any case, I'm getting tired of these local trails. They are dime a dozen in California and there is no need to come all the way out here for them. I'm doing it because I'm visiting these resort towns and hiking and then hanging out in town is the thing to do. I'll be all done after Breckenridge and then I'll get my real fix in RMNP. For now, I'm taking a full day rest today.

Aspen

Take the Route 133. Your navigation will send you through I-70 which is faster to Aspen and you may be tempted to follow the quicker route. Resist. Just take 133 and you can thank me later. You will first have to take 92 from the town of Delta though. It's the same town I descended to coming from Grand Mesa. Then switch to 133 in the town of Hotchkiss.

The route 92/133 splits between Grand Mesa and Gunnison Gorge. It follows Gunnison River and then veers to the north to Aspen. The snow-capped mountains running toward Aspen will soon follow you all all the way to Route 82, the final leg to Aspen. Do make a stop at small towns along the way and click away. They are picturesque enough if not quaint. Before you go over the McClure pass, you will see a dirt road that veers to the right up the ridge. It is Ragged Mountain Road. Follow it as far as you can as I did in my low slung Tesla. Then a 180 degree view of snow capped mountains will open up right in front of your eyes. To the left is the Baxter Peak north of Glenwood Springs. On the right are Capitol Peak, Maroon Peak and Mt. Baldy. Behind those peaks is the town of Aspen.

The canyon that I-70 runs through from Glenwood Springs to Hanging Lake is stunning though. So do make side trip to Glenwood Springs and drive along the river for a while. Steve, the young fellow from Raleigh made a trip there and said that there are several hot springs, and hot girls. He was camping across me at Silver Bell campground. He's taking his buddies there. They just finished East-West Maroon loop backpacking for 4 days while Steve was enjoying the hot girls and soaking in hot springs after a hard work will be a treat for them. The river that runs through the canyon seems to be a good place for white water rafting if you don't mind the water being a  little muddy. Make sure to avoid rainy days though; The canyon walls are steep and loose, and therefore prone to landslides that frequently closes I-70.

I got to Aspen in the Evening. It's only 130 miles, but I apparently made too many stops along the way. Late start at 11AM may something has to do with it as well.  I tried to make it to the dispersed camping site at Lincoln Creek, 15 miles from the town of Aspen. I made about a mile up the road before turning around; the dirt road was getting too rough for my Tesla.  There were a half dozen sites at the beginning, but they were all taken. arriving late on Saturday apparently is not good way to secure a camping site.  I have an option of sleeping in the car; I turned around and came back to town. 

This is rather a pretentious town. All Asian foods were fusion catering to the moneyed that are not so discerning for authenticity. Then I found one that servers noodle soup that was 6 miles away. You have to go up the mountain behind Aspen Inn where Tesla superchargers were located and then come to a condo village that is seemingly in the middle of nowhere. The village had a mall and Thai Grub was inside of it. After a plate of noodle and soup I was whole again. I came back to Aspen Inn, made bed, crawled in and had a good sleep.

In the morning I came back to Maroon Bells. The ranger told me the evening before that I could simply self-pay and drive up if I came before 7AM. No reservation necessary. I did the Maroon Lake Scenic Loop and then came back down to the entrance for the campsite before 10AM. Two sites were available just as the ranger told me the evening before, and I took one. The campsite is between the Maroon Creek Road and Maroon Creek and the road certainly is much nicer than the one to Lincoln Creek. The tent site was too far away from the car though. I had to build my kitchen on the camping table. Not as convenient, but it'll do for 2 more days.

I'm cutting Aspen down to 3 days from 5. Other than Maroon Bells hiking, there isn't much to do in Aspen. I could hang out in town, but one afternoon of that will be enough. Which means I'll have 2 spare days before hitting RMNP on the 29th. I can have one more day of rest in Vail/Breckenridge, and still have another day left to do Rocky Mountain Ramble, RD Best Scenic Drive #39. I'll drive from Georgetown to Grand Lake on 28th, sleep in Grand Lake and then go to Glacier Basin campsite. 

So far so good; everything is still working out. Let's cross the fingers for RMNP, the grand finale.

Great Shuffle

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday, I felt defeated for the first time in this trip. First the Great Sand Dunes plan didn't work out. I only had 25 miles of range eft when I got to Durango instead of 140 miles that I planned. I forgot to take account the usage in Mesa Verde which is 20 miles long just from the entrance to Chapin Mesa. Then I left my hiking polls by the bathroom of Point Lookout. I had to make two trips back to there to retrieve it the next day. The ranger took it and left it at the campground store. 

Which meant that either I spend 6 hours in Durango charging the car or spend one hour and then go to Farmington superchager and add extra 100 miles to the trip. Even then, I still had to contend with charging problem at Great Sand Dunes. Only thing that was available was 6kw J1772 in Alamosa 30 miles from the Dunes. Then it occurred to me that I could do the Million Dollar Highway instead and then go back to Montrose for charging. From there I could take US50 to Salida and then drop down to Great Sand Dunes. Salida/Poncha Springs supercharger was 80 miles away from the Dunes and that would allow me do the Dunes without recharging.

I was going to skip Million Dollar Highway. Million Dollar was named after the amount money spent to build the road, not the scenic value, after all. Now I'm glad I didn't skip it. It is not just scenic; it is comparable to Going to the Sun Road. Maybe not quite as dramatic, but plenty dramatic enough. Everybody should do it. And stop and Silverton for lunch too. 

The road rises to 11,000 feet before coming down to Silverton. On the way, you will see the peaks poking the low cloud and aspen trees tickling the peaks at the base in a wet day, with tiny cars sliding over glistening road underneath all that. I kept stopping and clicking the shutter, and soon I ran out of the battery. 

It was cold in Silverton, probably in the 40s. I told the women at High Noon Hamburger, she shook head and said that was nothing. Being at 10,000 feet must have some effect.

By the time I got back to Montrose, it was well past 4PM. I figured I should sleep in Montrose and then move on in the morning. I'd sleep in a motel if I can find a cheap one. There wasn't one. So I figured I'll just have a Chinese dinner and sleep in the car. The Panda Palace was open for takeout only. I had enough food and takeout doesn't add more if I have to eat in the car. I came back to the charging station, plugged in and ate what I had. It was raining by then and made it a real hassle to make the bed and sleep in the car. I was dead tired and felt homeless by then. I gave up and paid $90 for a dump named Briar Inn run by the only Korean in town. 

8 hours sleep and I'm all refreshed. And my plan is now all reshuffled and nailed. RMNP has been a hard problem to solve which required entry permit which I'll have to scramble to get at 5PM the day before the entry. And there is no guarantee I'll get it. It occurred to me this morning that reserving a campsite, even just for a day, will solve the problem. That'll take care of both lodging and entry permit to enable me do Glacier Gorge to Sky Pond at the minimum. I went to the reservation site, and found a few single day reservation open. I reserved two, one for 29th and the other 31st. That essentially gives me the entry permit for 4 days from 29th to 1st. I'm patting myself on the back for that brilliant maneuver. I'll just have to figure out where to sleep on the gap day. It'll work out, I'm sure. If no campsite opens up, I'll just check in to a motel in Estes Park or Denver.

So that is the impetus of the great shuffle of the plan. The original plan is now all scrambled up to the point that it is no longer recognizable. You go with the flow, what can I say. The Great Sand Dunes is now pushed to the end of the Colorado plan. Salida is the only viable jump-off point for GSD, so I'll have to come back down after Colorado Springs and finish it off.

All in all, it has worked out. Job well done.  I have to check out now, and go to Aspen.

Ouray Perimeter Loop

 

Ouray is a tourist town nestled in San Juan Mountains. It likes to call itself the Switzerland of America. The surrounding mountains, maybe. But the town itself is decidedly American: with its main thoroughfare, the Main Street, lined with restaurants and shops, and the side streets much subdued, it looks more like Keystone or Cold Spring than Bern.

You follow US 550 southward along Uncompaghre river to get there. The visitor center is right at the edge of the town and the Perimeter Loop starts from there. You can dip into hot springs pool right by the visitor center for $18, or $22 if you want the shower, after you are done with the trail. You still have to bring your own towel. It was still too warm when I got there at 3PM, so I skipped it. 

It's a pretty trail. For some reason though, I wasn't as high on it as I was on Black Canyon. And it was a struggle to finish the loop. Sure, it goes up and down for the total elevation gain of 1700 feet over 6 miles. It's not a walk in the park. But the missing wow factor didn't help and perhaps sapped energy. I still did it in 5 hours though; I started out a little after 9 and finished a little after 2.

At any rate, it's another milestone. The last of the 3 milestones in the original plan. It's not much of a milestone anymore though; 6 mile hike is now just another hike, not a milestone. I still would like to get a 10 mile 3000 feet hike under my belt in this trip. There must be one in Colorado somewhere. Maybe the 10 mile Glacier Gorge to Sky Pond in Rocky Mountains will do. But it's still only 1800 feet, not 3000.

Day Off in Montrose

 I could've gone to Ouray. I woke up with some fatigue and ache, but they quickly dissipated after the cup of coffee. Sure, I didn't do much yesterday in terms of distance -- probably about 5 or 6 miles if you add up all vista points to Warner Route. Considering that the top third of Warner Route that I did was about 1000 feet of steep climbing, the recovery is still remarkable. I'm now in a better shape than average healthy people. And that is a remarkable turnaround in a month. In Rush Creek trail, I couldn't do 2 miles. Now, 5-6 miles including a steep climb is "not much".

I'm taking the day off anyway. It's good to pace even for healthy people. The pacing, of course, means different things now. It now means hiking 5+ miles for 2 days in a row and then taking a day off. Before it meant keeping my walking speed to 90 steps/min and taking break every half a mile in a 2 mile walk. 

It's a quite a pleasant morning here. I went into the park for the morning business and then took a short walk around the Rim Trail. It's as if the park is my backyard. Live in a tent, have an NP as your backyard. What's not to like? But it'll be getting to 90F in the afternoon.  I'll finish photos and blogs offline while it's still cool and then perhaps go into the town of Montrose, find an ACed cafe and upload.

Warner Route

 It's the worst trail I've ever been on. It's not even a trail. It is a narrow ravine, a vertical one at that. I pride myself in being sure-footed and I had hiking sticks fully extended to get the best support on such a steep angle. Yet I slid into my butt and almost twisted my knee. That's when I figured I should turn back. An injury would put an end to my trip and whatever was down there wasn't worth risking an injury. I could peak at the river through the tree though, and it was real bummer having to turn back.

The Warner route is good for 3 miles and 3000 feet drop in elevation starting from Warner point. And Warner point is almost a mile from High Point parking lot. I went straight past Warner point to the "saddle", probably another half a mile. Then the trail, I mean the ravine, went straight down the hill at such a steep angle, there were skid marks all over. Apparently I wasn't the only one that slipped and slid. I made it down about a third of way, I reckon. That's when the trail was getting even worse and I started to slide. It was such a struggle, I had to take a few breaks going down. Coming back up, on the other hand, was surprisingly easier than I thought. I kept looking back as I went down and wondering how I was going to make it back up. I made back up with fewer breaks than I took going down. My thighs are now in such a great shape,, I only took 2 breaks coming back to the "saddle". Then I didn't take any break from the "saddle" to all the way to the parking lot. And that was an uphill of 1.5 miles.

I think turning around was the right decision. I'll have to come back some other time and do Gunnison Route instead. Gunnison is not only easier, it also has chains in some sections. It's still rated strenuous and you must attend an orientation to get the permit.

Black Canyon of Gunnison

Here we go again: Gunnison the best national park  that you never heard of. At least I didn't till I was researching for the trip. As soon as you pass the entrance, the Tomochi point will make you go "what the.." The black walls on the other side, the North Rim, vertically drops 2500 feet right in front of your eyes as you pull into the parking lot. Then the spectacle goes all the way to High Point 10 miles into the park past the visitor's center.

There will be at least 2 off days here as I'll be commuting to Ouray and Telluride from here. Evenings are fine though. It's now 7:30PM and the air feels real nice and cool. 

I left Grand Junction this morning. I would've taken US-50 -- yes, the same US-50 that runs by my house in Sacramento -- if I were to come to Montrose directly. But I first had to stop at Grand Mesa which was on the way to Montrose on route 65. I was on my way to Grand Mesa yesterday, and changed my plan when I realized that Grand Mesa was on the way to Montrose. I went to GJ downtown instead and left Grand Mesa for today on the way to Montrose.

I didn't  know what I was going to find there. It wasn't on my plan and I only found out about it the day before while I was looking for things to do in Grand Junction since I was staying there for one extra day. Grand Mesa was on the top of the TripAdvisor's list ahead of Colorado National Monument. And rightfully so. What a view the Land's End afforded. Most of 10 mile long road to Land's End was gravel and I kept saying whatever was out there better be good. Grand Mesa is the world's largest flat mountain with elevation of 11,000 feet. One side of it is an endless praire once you get up there, and the other side a precipitous cliff. You can see the valley below as far as it fades into haze. You are supposed to be able see several fourteeners of San Juan mountains from there. But the haze was so thick, none was visiable. But the grand view of the valley was enough.

It was downhill to Montrose from there. The temperature rose steadily to 95F from the mid 70s as I descended. Then the road climbed back up to Black Canyon where I'll be perched for the next 4 days.

There is something about being outdoors in tent. I was happy in Bryce Canyon, and Monticello, despite some hard hikings. Check into a motel, and then I descend into CFS swamp. The day after I checked in to Econolodge in Grand Junction, my condition went down to 5, barely above the sickness. It's also the second day of the recovery after a hard hike, which tend to be a struggle. But the 2nd day of the recovery doesn't bring me down that low when I'm in the tent. It's as if you let yourself go in the comfort of civilization and then you collapse. Or it could be being in the nature promotes dopamine, the brain inflammation retardent. 

Tomorrow, I'll give Warner Route a shot. It drops 3000 feet over 3 miles; it is a harder route to the river than the popular Gunnison. But the Gunnison permit was sold out by 3PM so I took what's available. It's amazing how fast things sell out when it is free. Apparently everybody wanted the easiest one. Total of 6 miles and 3000 feet is beyond my limit. Rising or dropping that fast takes a lot more toll on you than 3000 feet over 10 miles. I'll give it a try and then turn around if it becomes too much. No "Warner or bust" this time.

Meanwhile, The day seems to be getting shorter: it's getting pitch dark well before 9PM. I didn't realize it was already August 11 well past the summer equinox. But it's still warm here in Montrose. I don't know if I'll survive the temperature in upper 80s in my off days; I may have to find shelter in Montrose somewhere. 

Grand Junction

 Grand Junction worked out well. I'm all restocked and the plan for CO all worked out. I'm well fed, all groomed and well rested too. I'm staying here one more day than I planned though. Yesterday I was struggling, I couldn't get anything done. All I could was lay around and vegetate. It was as if CFS was coming back. But I bounced back today and I'm ready to hit the trails again.

GJ is a good sized city. It seems a lot bigger than the population of 60,000 suggests, with not one, but two Walmart superstores. Downtown looks just like Lodi or Davis. In fact, not only those two cities have similar looking downtown, they have about the same population as well. But GJ seems a lot bigger. Maybe it only seems bigger because GJ is all by itself while Davis or Lodi is close to much bigger Sacramento.

So I spent today finishing up restocking at WIalmart and spent time meandering through Main Street in downtown. I was going to Grand Mesa and then I realized that it is on the way to Montrose; I only need to take Route 65 instead of US50. (Yes, it's same US-50 from Sacramento right next to my house). So I'll do Grand Mesa tomorrow instead, and then Rim Drive of Black Canyon. 

Fresh produce cost more than twice here. A bag of a few tiny discolored romaine costs $3. No whole heads of red/green leaf lettuce. a bulb of garlic $1. But roasted chicken is cheaper at $4. It's not a good place to be a vegetarian.

It's been smogy here. They are blaming it on California fire, but I suspect it's usually smoggy. It's been smoggy in the Canyonlands too and they are usually smoggy no matter what. The valley is surrounded by mountains with winds blowing in from all directions and depositing pollutants there. GJ is not that far from the Canyonlands valley and it is in the arm extending from the valley into the Rockies.

The Colorado Plan

 Blue Mountain has been my home for the past 7 days. It's been so pleasant I could stay here forever. Today has been particularly breezy and pleasant. I've been alternating between sitting under the shade and writing up blogs, and taking naps. When the shade moved over the car, I fixed up my 12V line once and for all, for the last time I hope. I think it is now solid enough not to give me any more trouble. Cross the fingers.

But it's time to move on. I'll have to go to either Grand Junction or Denver to restock and fix up the car. If I can find Korean grocery in GJ, Denver can wait; I can duct-tape the unhinged window and hold up the lift gate with hiking pole. The lift gate no longer holds up when opened. The hydraulic cylinder is caked with the red clay powder of Escalante and the powder must've clogged up the hydraulic mechanism.

I'll pack up tomorrow morning and then sleep in the car by Colorado River tomorrow night after hiking Arches National. It's hot down there. Mary, the gal I met on Park Avenue trail yesterday, said so. But it's only for one night and I can sleep with AC on. The morning after I'll drive to GJ and stay in hotel for 2 nights. There are Walmart and Asian grocery store there, so I could restock and plan out the rest of the trip. If no Korean grocery, I'll drive to Denver, have the car fixed and restock there instead.

I'm getting a bit wistful about leaving here. I hope the cows will remember me.

Island in the Sky, Moab

 There are no cows here. No doe crossing the street with fawns in the tow. After weeks of desolation and solitude, not counting the stops at Blanding for a moment, Moab may as well be the New York City. It's a bustling tourist town lined with motels and restaurants and other conveniences of civilization. 

The first stop was at the Best Western hotel. It's better to use a clean hotel toilet rather than the one at a national park visitor's center. It was an excellent decision; Canyonlands visitor center had rows of compost toilets.  And I can have the car charged while taking care of the morning business. 

Islands in the Sky district of Canyonlands is another 20 miles from Moab, or a mile from Dead Horse Point State Park. I'm skipping Dead Horse; being so close together, it's probably just an outgrowth of Canyonlands rather than something different. There is a nice long hike down to the rim from there, but it's not going to provide a view any different than from White Rim Overlook or Grand View Point. Having to pay $20 for it is not that palatable either. And kkipping it for now will give an execuse to come back for it in the future.

Island in the Sky is a smaller version of Grand Canyon. You drive through the road on the mesa, which is why it is named the "Island in the Sky", stop at various view points, hike short hikes, take photos, and move on to the next view points. The difference is that the drive, being on a mesa, provides views on both sides of the road. One is the canyons of Colorado River and the other of Green River. This two rivers join at Confluence Point in the Needles District and flow down to Arizona to form Grand Canyon. In the "Neck" section, you can view both sides at the same time while driving.

The Grand View Point is at the end of the mesa. It forms promontory akin to Angel's Landing in Zion NP providing 270 degree view of the plateau below and the canyons carved out from it. Toward the West, you can see Maze district beyond Green River. I won't be able to make to Maze district in this trip; you need high clearance four wheel drive to go there. They won't let me go on the White Rim road below Island in the Sky. I told them I did the Hole in the Rock road and the ranger said White Rim road is a lot rougher. I could rent an ATV or Jeep and do the Chicken Corner, White Rim and Maze. But doing that is not too cost efficient. I'll just come back for them, and Dead Horse Point, when I have a high clearance AWD, possibly Ford F150 Lightning EV.

The total hike for the day probably is no more than 5 miles. I could go back to White Rim viewpoint which I missed and add another 2. Or go to Unheaval Dome and add 1.5. I started going back and it occured to me I could do Arches National. It is by Moab on the way back and I could do the rest of it in one day if I take care of the one or two trails near the entrance. I turned back and headed to Arches.

Arches entrance is somewhat unique. The visitor center is located by the highway. All you have to do is make a left turn into it from US 109. Then it climbs from the visitor center immediately winding up in Park Avenue high above the visitor center. 

And, just like that, Arches National stuns you right off the bat. You walk into Park Avenue colossal walls lining the wide gulch will greet you as victorious Roman generals may have been greeted in the monument-lined Capitol. I walked down into the gulch for 2 mile hike to/from the Courthouse Rock. The temperature gauge of my car said it was 105F outside and inside Park Avenue wasn't any cooler. It was 5PM though, and the walls started casting shadow in some sections. The trail seems to go on, but I turned around at the Courthouse Rock and came back.

I went back to Moab where I started this morning, plugged car in, and went for the dinner at a near-by Thai/Pho place; it was getting late and I'll have enough time and energy to take a bath. to cook when I get back at the camp. At $20, it was the most expensive pho noodle I've ever had. But the salty soup hit the spot just right after getting deccicated all day in the sun. Back at camp temperature was at 73F and dropping. I took a quick 1 gal path and the day was over.

Fridge Problem Solved, Finally

It wasn't the fridge. It was the T terminal of the splicer clamp that was loose and was causing all kinds of havoc. I wiggle it, and the voltage fluctuates between 0 and 14. When it is stable, the voltage sometimes drops to 2 as soon as the fridge is turned on, probably because the loose contact created impedance. 

The remaining question is why the fuse blew. It's possible that I blew it while testing it with multimeter. I may have set the dial for amperage while testing the voltage. That would short the circuit and blow the fuse. The fluctuating voltage and the blown fuse made me suspect there was a shortage in the fridge and had ICECO send me a new one. That must cost ICECO about $700. I owe them apology. The only winner in this fiasco is Canyons of Escalante who got a perfectly functioning ICECO fridge for nothing. I left the old one there since ICECO didn't want them back and I didn't have room in my car.

I really have to get a 10 pin connector that hooks right into the Tesla's female. I should've done that at the first place, except that I couldn't find the connector. There is none on Amazon and there was only one online vendor who sells females. And I need a male. I'll check with NAPA automotive store in Monticello if they have one. I doubt it though. If they don't have it, I'll have to rework with the T terminal of splicer somehow, so that it'll be more secure. perhaps I can crimp the receiver to hold the insert more secure. Or bend the tip of the insert so that it'll stay locked in place when plugged in. Then I'll check with Tesla when I get to Denver if they have the 10 pin connector. I have to take the car in to repair the unhinged rear window anyway when I get there.

Monticello

 It's good to be back in civilization, if only for briefly. Blanding is a decent sized town complete with a full size grocery store, auto parts store and a diner that seems like a good place for local teens to hang out on weekends. It's the biggest town since St George 2 weeks ago. 

I got to Blanding around 12:30. Still plenty of time, I figured. I plugged in the car and crossed the street to the diner and the philly cheese stake sandwich for lunch. The crisp fries and generously portioned philly stake sandwich was enough to bring me back to life. I must've drank 3 refills of 32 ounce drink as well. Nice little retro-looking diner. You should try it if you ever have chance to pass by Blanding.

Then it was back to fridge business. I try to fix the 12v line before I left Santhrax campsite to no avail. The voltage was flaky and then went completely to zero and didn't come back. I figure the fuse finally gave up; I had to get to Blanding, access the Internet to research Tesla fuse and buy a replacement. 

It was a struggle, but I finally managed to get to the fuse box under the glove compartment and replace the fuse. I still don't know why 30A fuse blew. The fridge only draws about 4A. Unless there was a short somewhere, it's just not possible for 50W fridge to blow 30A fuse. Just in case the cigarette lighter adaptor is the culprit, I replaced it as well. Let's cross fingers and there will no no more fridge trouble in the remainder of the trip.

So now my fridge all restocked and I'm all freshened up after a bath here in Blue Mountains by Monticello. The temperature is in the 50s this evening; I had to dig up long pants and fleece jacket. A large deer the size of donkey is grazing just outside my tent. This will be my home for the next 10 days or so. I'll tackle Needles district of Canyonlands and Monument Valley from here. Then I'll commute to Moab for Islands in the Sky district, Arches National and Dead Horse State. Tesla superchargers are conveniently located both in Blanding and Moab, so I can fill up on the way back from either directions.

Capitol Reef

 I'm sitting here surrounded by sandstone hills at Santhrax site off UT-95 with coffee and laptop at 7AM typing away, still fresh after hiking Escalante and Capitol Reef. I can peak at Henry Mountains to the West in the direction where UT-95 will take you back to Capitol Reef and Escalante. This is turning into a trip of lifetime.

You think of Utah, you think of desertscape. Or flat salt lake. At best, the bare-looking Wasatch Mountains around Provo is what you think of. But parts of Utah is incredibly lush. Colob Terrace north of Zion on the way to Cedar City was like that. Boulder Mountain is even more so.

But you have to pass through some incredible desertscape to get there. Follow UT-12 from Escalante to Torrey and you will know why UT-12 is famous. Before you get to Hog Back Ridge which everybody should drive on at least once in their life, you can look West past the vast sandstone field toward Boulder Mountain and Henry Mountains.

By the time you reach the town of Boulder, the white and orange sandstones give way to greenery. It's a beautiful ranch town surrounded by red rocks and forested hills. Imagine smaller Sedona with more greens. And it's greener because the lush Boulder Mountain starts from there. 

From there, you climb up following UT-12. By the time you get to the peak, the temperature drops into the 50s. A hailstorm must've passed through when I was there. The ground was covered was thick blanket of hails making the drivng treacherous. 15 mph was all I could muster without risking sliding off the side of the mountain. As I descended, the temperature dropped further into low 50s, perhaps because of the weather: I was following the storm.

Just when I got off the mountain and thought I was out of the hails, a incredible storm hit. My wiper ran at full speed and I still couldn't see through the windshield. This time my speed went down to 10 mph. It went on like that for about 20 minutes till I finally got to the town of Torrey.

Torrey must be bigger than Escalante -- it has Subway Sandwich just as you enter the town at the end of UT-12. I wasn't going to cook for dinner since I was sleeping in the car, so I grabbed a foot long sub and went up UT-24 looking for the camping site. There was no Bea's Lewis Road at the GPS coordinate. But there was a short dirt road leading to a wash. I went into it, parked and spent the night there.

My plan has changed since I spent extra 2 nights in Escalante tending the fridge business. Instead of camping 3 nights in Torrey, I'm sleeping in the car for one night and moving on toward Monticello. I'm doing Capitol Reef on the way. That way, I don't have to come back to Torrey and therefore save the EV juice. It's 180 miles to the next Supercharger in Blanding and I need to conserve every electrons as I can.

It's an ambitious plan. I've done Calf Creek Falls the day before and it was a bit more than I planned. It wasn't strenuous, but it was 5.7 miles long. And I did it almost without stopping other than 1 hour break at the fall itself. Doing Grand Wash meant that I'd be doing two 5+ mile hikes in 2 days in a row. But I'll be mostly driving the next day and I'll have a full day of rest once I get to Blue Mountain in Monticello.

Where should I begin? Let me just say that Grand Wash was spectacular as any canyon I've seen so far. It's a part Yosemite and a part Zion Canyon. Imagine Zion Narrows, make it a little wider in the middle and opening up at the either ends in an hourglass shape. As you enter and exit the narrow, the view of towering cliffs is reminiscent of Yosemite except that they are made of sandstone rather than granite. Inside the narrows, it is Zion except that you are wading in mud and gravel rather than water. 

It's a greatest hike you've never heard of. Why, I've never even heard of Capitol Reef till I started researching for this trip. It is a totally underated and you should do it at least once in your life. It is about as long and strenuous as Calf Creek Falls. The sun was also as hot as you enter and exit the narrows. But it was cool in shade inside the narrows.

I was done before 3PM. I had less than 100 miles to go this day, so I had plenty of time. The first order of business was to stop at Hanksville, have early dinner, plug in the car in their RV site and fix the fridge problem.

Coyote Gulch

 If you relish desolation and get high on solitude, Escalante National Monument is your heaven. I car-camped at the mile 26 of Hole in the Rock road by the dried creek and a tree on Sunday night. Not a sole went by all night long. I viewed the sunset and then walked up on the creek bed in the dark all by myself. The next day I still didn't see a soul while hiking Coyote Gulch, marveled at the vastness that is Escalante all by myself, and struggled to make it back to my car all by myself.

Hole in the Rock could well be the one of the most, if not the most, scenic dirt road in America. All 42 miles of it. Soon after you turn off UT-12, the Grand Staircase plateau spreads out, seemingly endlessly. It is not unlike Eastern Sierra, but only with flat topped, horizontally stripped cliffs -- hence the name staircase -- instead of jagged granite peaks. On the opposite side of the staircase where Coyote Gulch is located is a mix of powdery red sand, igneous rocks, and sandstones, which spread out over thousands square miles.

Soon after I turned to the Hole in the Rock road, the car's front left suspension started making the most horrible creaking noise every time I hit a bump and the car gets twisted. I thought the suspension finally gave up after so many miles on the dirt road. I couldn't do more than 8 mph without triggering the noise. 42 miles at 8mph, you do the math. I called Tesla roadside assistance, and all they could offer was to tow the vehicle. The closest Tesla service station is either in Salt Lake City or in Colorado, hundreds miles away. That would cost me a fortune in towing. If I turn back now, I might gimp my way to Colorado for the service. It seemed hopeless. But then, I came all the way out here for Coyote Gulch and the prospect of giving up, yet again, wasn't palatable. It was going to be Coyote Gulch or bust. I drove 8 mph for a while and then relaxed a bit when noticed Escalante Staircase unfolding to my right. Soon, the creaking sound disappeared and I could do 15 mph! I have no idea what happened. Maybe a pebble got stuck in the suspension and then eventually dropped out from all that shaking. It still took me more than 2 hours to get to the tree at the mile 26 by the dry creek. It would be another hour to get to Moki Stairs where the Coyote Gulch hike is supposed to start.

I was so aroused by the desolate scenery, I had difficulty falling asleep. Next morning I got up well after 6AM. After the coffee and oatmeal, and some more picture taking, it was well after 7PM. I got to Moki Stairs at 9AM. No problem, I'll still have plenty of daylight to complete either 6 or 8 mile hike. I set out for the butte, the first milestone marker toward Hamlin-Jacob Arch. I waded through the powdery sand, then walked over the rocky terrain that looked like cauliflower head sprouting from the ground, and then skirted the butte. The next milestone was supposed to be the black igneous rock and it was nowhere to be found. It may have eroded and disappeared. The YouTube instruction was either wrong or was too  old. No matter, I set out to the general direction of the Hamlin-Jacob and soon found cairns showing the direction. More staircase rocks, and soon I could see the Hamlin-Jacob Arch. You can't miss it, just look for a white bat and black flying fishbone carved on the cliff. 

So the first portion of the hike was completed with relative ease. Now the fun part of roping down to the gulch, and that was done with relative ease too. 

When I got to the bottom, I went left and meandered toward the grand cavity that is Hamlin-Jacob Arch first. My aim was to find the pool that people filmed skinny dipping. After all the work of getting to the gulch, pool dipping would've been a lovely break. I walked up for about 15 minutes, and then returned upon not finding the pool.(The pool was actually at the Natural Bridge, not Hamlin-Jacob Arch). I came back to Hamlin-Jacob arch, had lunch and rested in the cool shade of the cavity for a while. 

I figured, since I've done a mile up the "wrong" direction, maybe I should do half the distance to the Natural Bridge. But I was walking at a pretty fast clip on the flat terrain following the creek. Soon I was at the half way mark and it hardly took any time. I wasn't turning back. I made it to the natural bridge, waded in the water for a while and then turned back. It was 2:45PM then and I was sure I'd get out of the gulch before 4 and make it back to the car before 6. 

My rope was still there when I got back to Jacob-Hamlin. I donned my biking glove again and tried to climb up while hanging on the rope. I was tired by then and pulling on the rope was just impossible. My heart rate went up to 180 after a few try, but I haven't made any progress. I looked up, and thought maybe I better press the SOS button. Then I found another spot that I could walk zigzag while hanging on the rope instead of pulling on it. It worked to my relief and I started make small progresses. I had to stop every 15 feet or so and rest. By the time I got to the end of the rope I was totally exhausted. And I still had another 100 feet to climb on my hands and knees to get out of the gulch.

It took me almost an hour to completely climb out of the hole. And guess what? the climb continued. In the morning I didn't notice that I was descending so much amidst marveling at the desolate scenery and clicking the shutter. Coming back, you have forced to notice. And it climbed all the way back to the butte and then some more. It only flattened out about half mile away from the water tank of Moki Stairs. 

By the time I got to the butte I was totally out of water. I took half a gallon but that apparently wasn't enough. I could've used at least another quart. I had a half left when I got out of the gulch. I figured it'll be another 2 hours and I'd be fine. It was instead another 3.5 hours. I had to stop every a few hundred feet and rest. The sun was beating down and I had no place to hide. I pulled out the space blanket, pulled it over me and naps 5-10 minutes at a time. 2 miles, stop every a few hundred feet, you do the math.

When I got back to the car, it was 7:30PM. It was 10.5 hour hike and at least 8 miles, possibly 9. Next day I was cramping all over, all day long. It took 2 days to recover, but I did not get sick. There is no doubt that I'm no longer sick with CFS. At least not while I'm traveling.