It was a year ago this week that my friend Jim and I set out on what would turn out to be a pretty epic two week road trip. We were headed to Colorado to make music with friends, and along the way we played six rounds of golf, visited three National Parks and came away with an enriched appreciation for the great American West.
Our first stop was Las Vegas. I'd never been there before. What a strange place. Fun, mind you, but I'm not so sure I see this as a destination that in and of itself will ever draw me back. Now, I'm sure I'll go back to Las Vegas because I think it will serve as a nice launching pad for further adventures and I definitely had a lot of fun, but I don't know that I've ever been anywhere that sums up so much of what I don't like about this country with such acute detail. The rest of trip was mostly the opposite in that regard. Still fun, mind you, but less manufactured and cynical.
Our next stop was the Grand Canyon. I'd never been there before.
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| Comanche Point, Grand Canyon National Park, NV |
We lucked out and found a camp site in the park at the Desert View Campground. It was less crowded there than at the Mather Campground, though I think it filled up soon after we arrived. It was a beautiful night. We watched the sunset near the Desert View Watchtower, which is one of the goofier things I've seen in a National Park. It was built in 1932 to look like an old Indian lookout tower, but it's really just a tacky, Disneylandish gift shop.
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| Black Mesa Golf Club, Española, NM |
The next day we set out for New Mexico. I'd never been there before. Our destination was Española, which is just North of Santa Fe and Los Alamos. New Mexico is known as the Land of Enchantment, or at least that's what it says on their license plates. Having only spent a night and a day there I can't speak for the entire state, but what little I saw did nothing to dissuade me from believing that statement to be true. I wouldn't mind settling down out there some day.
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| Black Mesa Golf Club, Española, NM |
We played a round at Black Mesa Golf Club. Jim and I agree that this was the nicest course on the trip. It's a beautiful layout that had us pausing to reflect on just about every tee box. I've played a lot of nice courses and Black Mesa rates pretty high on my list. After the round we checked out the nearby Puye Cliff Dwellings. The people there were very nice and we took a guided tour of the ruins.
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| Puye Cliff Dwellings, Española, NM |
After the cliff dwellings, we were on our way to La Veta, Colorado, where we would be staying at Bruce's house for a couple of days. I'd never been there before. Along the way, we took an unplanned scenic detour that added an hour or so to the drive time but we happened upon a steam locomotive on the way through the mountains. We saw some amazing scenery on that drive. It was one of my better mistakes.
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| The Cumbres & Toltec Somewhere North of Chama, NM |
Bruce's house isn't actually in La Veta. La Veta is a good fifteen or twenty minutes away. His house is someplace else. I wouldn't say it's in the middle of nowhere because I don't think nowhere would be as cool as this place. He's got a nice view of the Spanish Peaks from his deck. There are some massive boulders on his property. It's easy to see why Bruce picked this as his home.
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| The View of West Spanish Peak and Jim's Big Head from Bruce's Backyard |
We spent a couple of days at Bruce's house just hanging out and making music. Bruce has a nice little studio set up. We didn't do any recording, though, we just spent a lot of time bullshitting our way through each day and jamming in the evenings.
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| The Band (minus our photographer Jim) |
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| Daring the Gods |
Bruce took us up to an abandoned ski resort. I suspect this is a place were teenagers probably hang out on warm summer evenings. It had a bit of a
Shining vibe to it, especially the outside bar. I know, there wasn't an outside bar in
The Shining, but it was still easy to imagine saddling up to the thing and being served cocktails by a long-dead bartender who looks like a skinny Elvis in a cowboy hat.
Jim and I were joined by Bruce and Marko for a round of golf at Grandote Peaks in La Veta. Malcolm and Dave requisitioned a golf cart and joined us for the back half. A thunderstorm broke out toward the end. We all survived.
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| Grand Tetons National Park, WY |
After hanging out at Bruce's for a few days, we quit the band and headed North to Grand Tetons National Park. I'd never been there before. We found a campsite near Signal Mountain Lodge, then hiked around Jenny Lake and Finger Lake to Leigh Lake. Next time I'm bringing a kayak.
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| Firehole River, Yellowstone National Park, WY |
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| Old Faithful |
Grand Tetons National Park is a great place. We stayed there because I though it would be easier to find a campsite there than at Yellowstone, which was our ultimate destination. It was definitely a lot less crowded than Yellowstone and we were able to find a campsite. We only encountered a few people around the lakes and on the other little excursions we made. I would definitely recommend the strategy of using the Grand Tetons as home base for anyone visiting the Southern end of Yellowstone.
We spent a day in Yellowstone. I'd never been there before. We drove the Southern Loop and made a number of stops and short hikes. Our first encounter with the thermal features of Yellowstone was with Old Faithful. I don't know if there's anything all that impressive with Old Faithful in and of itself other than the fact that it's so regular. Don't go to Yellowstone just to see Old Faithful, just go to Yellowstone and don't go without seeing Old Faithful.
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| Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone National Park, WY |
The real draw for me to Yellowstone was the Grand Prismatic Spring. I'd seen it in pictures and movies, but this was something I absolutely wanted to experience in real life, it's the real reason we headed up North on this trip. It did not disappoint. The colors were incredible. While nothing replaces being there, the spring is very photogenic. It's not one of those places where you say pictures don't do it justice.
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| Lower Yellowstone Falls, Yellowstone National Park, WY |
The power and beauty of Yellowstone Falls and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone were the big surprise for me on this trip. Again, I'd seen a lot of pictures and film, but I did not expect to be as overwhelmed as I was by these sights. The hike to the top of the falls from the parking lot is only about three quarters of a mile. However, it descends six hundred feet and has thirteen switchbacks (yes, I counted). What an experience, though. While not nearly as large as the Grand Canyon, with the waterfall roaring beneath your feet I doubt there's a view as dramatic as this anywhere in that big chasm to the South.
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| Rocky Mountain Elk, Yellowstone National Park, WY |
It wasn't until late in the day that we saw much wildlife. We'd seen a buffalo near Old Faithful in the morning, but that was about it until late in the afternoon. We ended up seeing a lot of buffalo and a few elk. Our biggest excitement was seeing a wolf on the side of the road. I wanted to get out to take pictures but Jim insisted on saving my life. We figured out later that it was only a coyote. Duh. I mean, I like coyotes, mind you. Some people think of them as trash animals because they tend to beg along the roadsides for food, but they're alright in my book. To have seen a wolf would have been something.
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| Jackson Hole Golf Club, Jackson Hole, WY |
After a long day of touring Yellowstone, we spent the next day chilling out in Jackson Hole. To be honest, I kind of regret not going back to Yellowstone for a second day. That's hindsight. At the time, Jim and I were both a bit worn out. A mellow round of golf on a nice course with great views was just what the doctor ordered, and that's just what we got. A moose had been seen on the course the day before, but we didn't see one. We saw an osprey, though. It was a good day.
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| Jim Revives the Ancient Native American Sport of Log Surfing on the Santiam River |
The next day was the longest haul of the trip, from the Grand Tetons to Bend, OR. That was probably the only not-too-great part of the trip. I hear Idaho is beautiful, but not from what I saw. I've often thought that if all anyone ever saw of California was what they see on I-5, aside from Mount Shasta they'd probably come away thinking California is one ugly place. I imagine this part of Idaho might be similar.
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| Elkhorn Valley Golf Course, Lyons, OR |
The long haul set us up for an easy couple of days, though. We were able to sleep in and take a leisurely drive to Elkhorn Valley Golf course, where we met my dad and his high school buddy Marv for a round of golf. I hadn't seen Marv since I was a kid, so that was a lot of fun. Elkhorn Valley is a real asskicker. It's the only course I've ever been to where they have a spot on the scorecard for tracking lost balls. Of all the courses I've played in Oregon, though, this is the one that I think sums up what this area of the country is like the best. It was extremely hot that day, as I recall.
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| Mallard Creek Golf Course, Lebanon, OR |
Our final round of golf on the trip was with my dad at Mallard Creek. Originally, we'd hoped to start the trip with a round of golf with Jim's dad in Reno, but that didn't work out. It would have been a cool way to bookend the trip. Elkhorn Valley and Mallard Creek are my two favorite course near Salem, so it was cool to play them back to back.
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| Mallard Creek Golf Course, Lebanon, OR |
Our trip ended with a straight shot from Salem back to the Bay Area. I've probably made that drive fifty times in my life, so there's not a lot that I find interesting about the drive. Mount Shasta is pretty cool, I guess. Since this trip, I've made it a point to get out of the house a lot more. I've been to seven other National Parks since this trip and a handful of National Monuments. I've hiked a lot more--up to nine miles in a single day--and have seen scores of different types of birds and animals, including a couple of black bear. I'm going to highlight a few things from those adventures from the last year in my next few posts. It all started here with this trip with my friend Jim.
We saw a lot of horses on this trip. The strangest sighting occurred somewhere along this drive when Jim spotted a couple of horses loitering on a side street next to some houses. We swung back around and took a few pictures. They were beautiful horses. Being city folk, we didn't know if this was something normal or not. 
One of the highlights of this trip was meeting the Geogypsy, also known as Park Ranger Gaelyn Olmstead. I've been following her blog for a couple of years now and was excited to meet her in person. I'm convinced park rangers are the happiest people on Earth and she did nothing to dispel that notion.
