Mesa Verde National Park

Spruce house. You can see a kiva with a roof and a ladder in the left side of the picture. More about this later

Towards the end of our stay in Durango we took the opportunity to visit the Mesa Verde National Park which is about an hours drive. We were once again lucky enough to have the use of Jim's car which was much easier than taking the RV. We had a taste of the cliff dwellings of the Ancient Puebloans at Montezuma National Monument in Arizona but this was much more extensive.

In about 750AD the Puebloans were living on top of the Mesa (above ground) farming and hunting. In the late 12th century they started building and living in these cliff houses. Just over 100 years later they all moved on. No one is sure why but the most likely theory is a long drought. There is an amazing amount of ruins still left, there were dwellings built in 600 of the parks rock alcoves and it was fascinating to tour around them with the park rangers who as always were exceedingly knowledgeable.

This is a kiva. Each house we visited had a number of these. Houses ranged from big to small and could accommodate up to 100 people. The Kiva's were central to community, traditions and ceremonial life. They were a clever design with a fire pit in the bottom and a ventilation system including a reflector to stop the air coming in down the ventilation shaft disturbing the fire. There was a wooden and clay roof over them. This allowed for the bottom of the kiva to be used for story telling, keeping warm in the winter with a fire and cool in the summer months. The area over the roof was then used as a communal area for daily tasks (you can see the roof in the top photo of this post). Very efficient use of space.

They used lots of ladders to get up and down the cliffs and also down into the kivas. We visited the balcony house which had a narrow crawl space to enter it. It is thought that this was to make the area very easy to protect even by children or the elderly (frighteningly for Rob and Fiona the women lived to an average age of 30 and the men 35!).

The view from Balcony House

Balcony house was named for its large balcony with a wall providing protection from falling off. Fiona and Symi are standing in front of the wall and behind them is a 600 ft deep canyon. Other houses did not have such steep drop offs. Definitely scored highly in the view department. 

Doorways and shelves. Many  rooms were for storage

Balcony house was our favorite as it was well preserved and we were able to move around in it the most. They seemed to have the best masons as the walls were straight and the corners square. The holes are doors not windows - small for thermal efficiency.

Corn cob above

If you look carefully about 2/3 of the way down in the middle of this picture you can see a corn cob which is 700 to 800 years old. They are evidently found all over this area. No wonder we have to pick them up out of the chicken coop!

All in all an amazing day that stimulated our interest in the early inhabitants of early American which we are keen to investigate further. It was topped off by the weather which changed from cloudy in the morning to a snow storm on the way home. Rob once again drove us home safely over the 8800ft pass back to Durango - quite nice not to be in the RV though as it would have been a very slow trip.

Cliff Place

 

Durango

We arrived in Durango with the offer of staying at Jim and Tami's house, not to mention the allure of more mountain bike riding. They have a spare bedroom with en-suite in their very nice house that was extensively rebuilt last year. Not thinking that a break from the RV was required, it was
very nice to be in a house again. The RV was emptied of essentials and very quickly it felt deserted in there. We took the opportunity to give the RV a good clean, particularly the upholstery and carpets. There has also been a chance to do some shopping for clothes, a BBQ, hiking tent and replacement toilet seat. All not helping our average daily spend.

When you own them, bring the big toys home to play.
Jim cleaning up the garden for landscaping, willing helper.

 

We had met Jim by chance in Sedona. He is a keen mountain biker and has lived in Durango all his life. If you are passing through and need a bobcat he's your man

Raiders Ridge looking north.

(targetrental.com). Durango is considered by many to be one of the birth places of mountain biking and Jim has been there from the beginning. Durango is at the southern end of the Rocky Mountains, go south and quickly arrive in the dessert, go north and very quickly you will be seeing 14 000 ft mountains. The riding here is world renowned but what has quickly become apparent is that the infamous alpine riding season is very short, about 6-8 weeks in summer. Luckily there is a massive network of local trail that would take weeks to explore fully.

Lower section of Raiders, Progressive Trail

You can ride from the house for all the local rides, starting at 6 600ft. Most of the riding was done in the Horse Gulch area east of town. Jim's favourite ride is Raiders Ridge, a huge climb (400m) to the top, followed by a highly rocky, technically challenging ridge before descending into fast rocky trail with a few jumps thrown in (about time, airtime has been limited). Jim rides a Santa Cruz carbon Tallboy and is seriously quick over rocks and can ride rocky climbs I haven't got near conquering, it must be those large 29" wheels! This trail was so enjoyable and there were so many challenges to learn

that Rob rode this trail 5x. The other trails in Horse Gulch tend to follow gradually sloping valleys. Some super-long and fast descents were discovered by linking Sidewinder/Cowboy/Big Canyon and Anasazi/Stacey's loop. These trails have fantastic flow. The payback was big climbs. Other areas all too briefly ridden were the Ned Overend trails and Twin Buttes trails.

Durango takes a little time to grow on you, a bit like good music. There is a great main street with many restaurants, interesting shops (including bikes!) and a great laid back feel. There are bike stands and people riding everywhere.

Fiona and Rob took the opportunity for a night out (while Symi went to the local hot springs), we cruised to town on bikes (of course) riding along the picturesque Animas River, promptly got lost before  finding our way to the main street. The decision was made to eat at Chimayo and we sat at a bench overlooking the kitchen. We started chatting to a man, discussing what would be good food choices, we were keen to explore some of their southwestern specialties. He turned out to be the owner and until two years ago had been a chef for an Australian owned Nascar team. After a great meal we rode home on the river path, startling a herd of deer (Fiona was startled as well but quickly recovered saying oh dear!).

For Easter we had an Easter egg hunt. This was a bit different though – inside as it was cold outside, could snow and the local deer would probably eat the hard boiled eggs

Tami, Symi, Emma, Tanner making Easter eggs

which the kids had dyed and then left out to be hidden. The kids received a basket from the Easter bunny with xmas stocking like toys and very little chocolate compared to Australia. Symi enjoyed participating and embraced the cultural experience but will be glad to get back to Crabbe Place and Australian traditions – especially the chocolate. Also – NO hot cross buns! – what’s that about? It was fantastic to have the opportunity to spend Easter with a very generous American family (with kids) and experience their traditions. One of these was a massive ham that we had for dinner, which was enjoyed by all. Tami cooked us some excellent meals. She and Jim were fantastic hosts.

On Easter Monday (there is no big holiday here like Australia!) Symi went to school with Tanner (one of the kids) for the day. She had already met Aspen (in the same class)

Off to school for the day

who has an Australian mum, she was very enthusiastic to have Symi in the class. She had a good day and was thrilled to be given a notebook by the teacher.

Rob has been getting an Ice hockey education. Jim is a keen player and Rob went to watch his last game of the season. The game is seriously fast and appeared very rough. Jim assured me the game I watched was gentle! Colorado are also playing Minnesota in the play-offs every second night. During a break in the game we switched channel to the movie Footloose, a violent scene was about to come up (some had watched this movie way too many times) and as the kids were watching Jim suggested we switch back to the ice hockey! Hilarious.

It was great to spend time with Jim and Tami's family and experience life with an American family. Their generosity will not be forgotten. 

 



Deer wandering a common sight

RV Sushi Rolls

One of the interesting things we have discovered on our travels is the difficulty in buying brown bread without overwhelming amounts of sugar in it. We may be looking in the wrong places but certainly supermarkets are not overflowing with it and health food stores are expensive. We have found our best bets are sourdough bread and some french bread. Not sure why Fiona has not got into making bread as she does at home - but stay tuned as she might!

Anyway, this post is meant to be about sushi. We found all the bits and pieces to make sushi early on in our trip - except a rolling mat. On previous camping trips I have found that this is not essential if you are not too picky on the final look of your rolls. On mornings when we have been hanging around the RV doing school work we have been making sushi for lunch for a change. We have been having some interesting fillings when we have been out in the national parks and the choices in the fridge have been limited. Symi will eat tuna sushi rolls but they would not make it onto her favourite list. 

Last week I found some crumbed fish which were square shaped to have in burgers (they obviously have some species of square fish here that we don't see in Australia). I decided to try them in sushi. As you can see below, work space in the RV is limited. Also evident is that Symi found a rolling mat on our travels which has improved things. 

Ingredients included mayo, cooked and cooled crumbed fish, lettuce and avocado. 

Symi has loved helping to make these and we can even count it as school work as we practise fractions when cutting them up!







The final product was a success and liked by all. Definitely one to eat soon after making so the lettuce and the fish crumbs do not go soggy. Interestingly we had these before a very long bike ride and they seemed to provide longer lasting fuel than sandwiches. 

Canyonlands and Arches National Park

Sunset at Green River Overlook: if you don't know click on photo to
enlarge!

Grand View Point Overlook: looking south towards the
confluence, notice the needles and white rim.

Canyonlands (Island in the sky area) is a short 30 mile drive from Moab. We left hoping to grab one of the limited camp spots, they are available on a first come first serve basis. We were in luck and set up at the campsite before a short ride then walk to the spectacular Mesa Arch. Symi promptly climbed on top of the arch and had her photo taken. What her parents didn't realise was that there was a 1000ft cliff straight behind it!! That afternoon we also walked up to a Puebloan grainery before heading back to camp. We promptly meet our neighbours who were from Pleasant Grove Utah, two families with 11 children who were off to ride the 100 mile White Rim Trail over the following four days. They are obviously very adventurous, Paul one of the dads shared some great tips for some of the places we are

Walking down the Gooseberry Trail.

planning to visit. Looking after and organising so many kids seemed challenging to us! The next day, Tuesday, we went to the upheaval dome. The origin of the dome is uncertain, the theory is it is either from a meteorite or an uplift of old salt deposits. Wednesday we decided to walk down to the white rim. After a look at the view towards the Green and Colorado River confluence at Grand View Point we set off down the Gooseberry trail. It was 1400 ft down and 2.7 miles to the rim. The trail basically goes off the side of a cliff and was very steep and rough. There were a couple of spots where we kept a close eye on Symi, falling was not a

Relaxing at the White Rim, notice the thick layer of white rock

healthy option. Eventually the trail flattened and followed a wash out to the rim. From above the white part of the rim looks like a thin crust. At the rim we realised it was a 20m layer of sandstone! Symi somehow conned Rob into a back massage at the bottom, we were not sure how this was going to help her energy levels for the strenuous climb back up. We all eventually found some energy to start the climb and it was slow and steady on the way up. Impressively 90 minutes of climbing saw us back at the RV. It was a great walk, amazingly we saw nobody the whole time. After three nights it was time to head back to

View at White Rim, worth the descent.

Moab via the Dead Horse State Park for a ride. We woke early to catch the famous sunrise at Mesa Arch. The sun rises over the LaSal mountains, hits the slope under the arch lighting up the arch. Famous it is and we arrived to find the area just in front of the arch packed with photographers. An interesting interpretation of the notice to stand back from the arch at sunrise. While you can get a great photo don't come   
here for sunrise expecting any great ambiance.

Sunrise Mesa Arch

Symi taking great delight in riding a dragster! She played with our neighbours
from Utah, who had four kids and one on the way. They had a nice 1970s Airstream
which can be seen in the background.

Arrival back in town coincided with the annual Moab jeep festival. 'Jeep man' had come to town on mass. It was like being at the Isle of Mann TT but now it was jeeps. Some of the rigs were massive, check out what parked next to us. It

Jeep scenes at RV park. Check out the length of that trailer
next door! Our RV is 29 feet long.

reminded us of the family in the show Upper Middle Bogan. We discovered that 'jeep man' liked talking cars, fiddling with cars and became distressed at long periods of time without being near a running engine. Overall the atmosphere was fine with noise and behaviour well contained. We wondered if this would be different in Australia.

RV chef at work.

One afternoon we made the trek out to the end of the Arches NP to do the Devil's Garden and primitive trail walk. We had wanted to do the Fiery Furnace walk but you must do this

Rock Fins on the primitive walk

with a ranger by booking. It was booked out until the end of May! The walk started off by looking at Landscape Arch then onto Partition and Navajo Arch. It was then onto the primitive trail that became more challenging with some rock scrambling and exposed walking. The walk goes through many rock fins which are ultimately what arches are formed from. It was a challenging walk in the end and we covered about 13km. Heading back to the car the weather

Storm over the LaSal Mountains

was looking very ominous and we could see it was snowing over the LaSal mountains again. Luckily we arrived back to the car dry completing another amazing walk.

Walking up to Lost Canyon

It was ultimately time to move onwards from Moab, we had an invite to spend Easter with a family in Durango Colorado. On the way we decided to go to the southern 'Needles' part of the Canyonlands NP. Again camping here is on a first come, first served basis so it was an early departure. It was a 30 mile drive from Hwy 191 into the NP. There was some amazing scenery on the way and at one point Fiona suggested let's try and get a classic RV shot. We stopped and a minute later a convoy of about 50 jeeps came past.

Top of Lost Canyon. We walked in from the left and descended
into the Canyon right, awesome.

Experience told us that we would catch them at the NP entry where they would create a long queue

Cactus flowers appearing

while individually paying their entry fee. Our experience was correct! After a wait it was straight to do campground grabbing the last available campsite, we were in luck again. After settling in we decided to walk the Lost Canyon. We set off up the Squaw Canyon then turned into a spectacular  and steep canyon that led up to Lost Canyon. The top of Lost Canyon was surrounded by tall red cliffs, again great scenery and only the occasional walker. We descended into Lost Canyon for the long walk back to the campsite. Near the end we had to go up and over a large rock leading to some amazing views.

The next day we planned to go to the confluence of the Green and Colorado Rivers. The option was either do an 11 mile out and back walk or ride the jeep tracks and do a short walk at the end. The ride was an unknown distance and the jeep tracks were described as some of the most challenging in Utah. The decision was to ride. We casually set off at lunch time, after a few miles we arrived at the Elephant Hill track with its very steep climb and sharp switchbacks. It was mostly a push to the top before a rocky descent, where the

Confluence

jeeps have to reverse between two switchbacks. From the bottom it was great riding through some vertical walled, grass carpeted valleys. We stopped at a trail junction and had some Sushi for lunch. While there a jeep passed going in the direction we were going. Amazingly we caught and overtook the jeep at the end of the Silver Stairs, a rocky

Heading into the one-way track just before the
'great jeep race'.

descent. Fiona and Symi managed to ride the whole of the stairs which was impressive. The jeep eventually caught us helped by two falls in five minutes by Fiona, ouch. Fiona started to worry about our ability to get back to camp feeling the falls were the beginning of fatigue. We pushed on to the end of the track and did the short 1/2 mile walk to the confluence, enjoyed the view and set off for the return journey. Luckily the journey back was shorter as there

Watching jeeps go up Elephant Hill

were two one-way sections to the ride, the second one on the return being shorter. Just after going into the one-way section a group of jeeps came up behind us just before a very rocky descent. Deciding MTBs are much quicker we set off before the jeeps arrived. Then started the great challenge, 'Symi how long do you think we can stay ahead of the jeeps for'? Just the thing to distract from the fatigue after what was now 3.5 hours of riding. We managed all the way (4kms) until the return over Elephant Hill. We found a vantage point and watched the jeeps scramble up the highly technical climb. They all wondered where we had got to and were amazed at how long they had taken to catch us! We caught them again at the trailhead while they were pumping up their tyres from 12psi and had a great chat. It was then the few return miles back to camp to finish a five hour, 20+ mile epic ride. That night Symi and Rob climbed the rocks behind the RV to watch the sunset, all the rocks to the east glowed red creating a great end to an amazing day.

Sunset from Squaw Flats camp ground

Moab: more biking

There is such a monumental amount of riding in Moab that sometimes it’s hard to decide what to ride. The day after the Porcupine Rim ride I thought time to ride the famous Slickrock trail. There has been so much written about this

Looking down from Slickrock onto the end of the
 Porcupine Rim trail & Colorado River

trail and it would be wrong to come to Moab without doing a lap. I had picked the brain of the shuttle driver (Brenda) the previous day, I wondered if a local would ride the trail often. Apparently yes, 1-2 times per week as a training ride, good for strength. Brenda when fit, does the loop from town in 2.5 hours, so there was a benchmark. She also has the 33^rd best Strava time (overall) on LPS/Porcupine too, so she is not slow.  Leaving Fiona and Symi to schoolwork I rode from the RV Park up Sand Flats Rd which involves a huge climb to get to the trailhead. The trail begun with some easy ups and downs before coming to a junction. Somehow I went in the not recommended direction, I kept coming across all these people going the opposite direction until I realised it was me going against the flow. By then I was about ½ way

around. Apparently it’s just harder. I must admit some of the climbs were crazy steep and defeated me mentally before I attempted them. However the further I went around the more I started trying the climbs and realising it was somehow   I screamed down the road descent back to the RV Park for a 3.00 hour round trip. Not bad considering the many photo stops, harder direction and that the RV Park is 2 miles out of town.

Just follow the white lines.

possible. In the second half of the circuit everything was attempted and cleaned (ie no foot down). Eventually the circuit ended. I have ticked the Slickrock box, great to have done another famous ride. Would I do this trail once per week, no. 

That afternoon was a two hour family ride at the Moab Brands trails. We rode North 40 (blue/black), Maverick, Lazy and Sidewinder. Symi was at her most determined ever trying to clean climbs that were technical (rocky) and steep. She got plenty of encouragement from all who saw her, other riders were amazed at her climbing ability. Sidewinder was a highlight, super flowing singletrack with a strong tailwind. After I left Symi and Fiona to ride wind assisted down the bike path to the Arches NP entrance while I slogged back

New Nomad 27.5, hmmm want one.

into the wind to pick up the RV. Lucky it was a ‘rest’ day the next day as we were heading to the Island in the Sky part of Canyonlands NP. Prior to heading to Canyonlands we were filling the RV with fuel when a pick-up pulled up next to us with two bikes in the back. One of the bikes looked suspiciously like the new Santa Cruz Nomad that had only just been announced. Turned out it was a development bike, complete with SC test rider. A few days earlier and this would have been a great ‘spy’ shoot!

After two amazing nights at Canyonlands NP we made a visit to the neighbouring Dead Horse State Park. We were recommended a loop that was green rated trail with some

great scenic views. Big Chief loop starts at the visitors centre and is a nine mile singletrack circuit. It has great flow and is fun at any speed. At the top of the trail we were rewarded with a great view over Big Chief Canyon. There have also been some more trails just added to the area so after a lap I did another blast of the Big Chief loop then onto the more technical new trails.

The next day Friday, Jim who we had met in Sedona came over from Durango for a couple of nights. Friday we rode the Amasa Back area starting up the HyMasa climb and then doing the Captain Ahab again. Much better the second time with softer suspension (I have dropped the rear pressure 13 psi!) and no wind. The first time I rode the trail the wind was nuclear and was knocking me off line at times. We then climbed

Jackson: must ride. You could throw a stone from
here and hit the Colorado River.

HyMasa again and did the Jackson trail that descended back to the car. The trail goes along the side of the cliff that goes into the Colorado River. It came with a long list of warnings at the top: edgy, ledgy, steep, exposed, tight switchbacks etc. It could have read, this trail is massive fun, just make sure you have a high skill level and walk when out of your depth. This is a must do trail. Jim and wife Tammy came over for an RV dinner and invited us to stay at their house in Durango. We will head there over Easter. The next day Jim and I had a quick early morning blast of the Moab Brands trails again before he had to shoot off for some soccer coaching duties. The afternoon was time for another Arches NP outing.

Sunday turned out wet and rained all day. Great chance for a recovery day and lunch at the Moab Brewery. I booked a shuttle to do the Mag 7 trail Monday. Luckily Monday morning turned out fine but with the wind from the north it

Bull Run

was cold. I jumped on the shuttle up the trailhead at 6500 ft where there was fresh snow on the ground. Chatting to the driver, turns out 4 people have died on the last trail, Portal. With this in mind I thought it might be good not to ride on my own and asked a couple of guys from Quebec (Dan, 54 and George 59) if I could join them for the day. They looked fit and both had carbon bikes. The trail starts with an almost 10 mile gradual descent down Bull Run and the Great Escape. Great mix of slickrock and singletrack. It was a great opportunity to get some riding photos and we made the most of the opportunity. The scenery again was out of this world, photos never really doing any justice to what the eye can see. The LaSal

Bull Run

Mountains were a constant backdrop and were stunning with a dump of fresh snow the previous day. The payback for the descent came with a massive climb up to the top of the Moab fault. At the top of the fault that was a trail marked that we decided to follow, it would eventually lead us to the top of the Portal Trail. However it was slow going with some of the most technical riding I have seen 2yet and some route finding difficulty. It seemed like a long time and we arrived at the top of the Portal. It was here that I find out that George is afraid of heights. The trail quickly heads to the side of a cliff. I took off first and stopped at a suitable photo point to wait for the others. It was hard to see where the trail could continue and standing there looking down at Moab below

Moab fault line, Moab town is the green bit. The
cliff is massive.

was not the most relaxing wait. Eventually George came round the corner walking on a part of the trail that I thought was fairly rideable. Hmmm, it’s getting late, cold, I’m hungry and have one energy bar left. Just after a sign, walk here 3 have died appeared. Apparently a friend of George and Dan had decided how hard could this section be and rode on, clipped a rock and feel down the short slop stopping just prior to nearly plunging to his death. It was videoed and he then emailed to video to his girlfriend! Talk about dumb ways to try and kill yourself. I walked this

section, then another before the trail became less exposed. Again long wait for George, I took time to enjoy the view and try and track the trail down the hill while ignoring the fact I was cold. The trail continued down to the Colorado River with constant technical challenges right to the end. Then it was just an 8 mile ride back to town, arriving 6.5 hours after starting. It was time to jump into the hot tub, melting into a fatigued mess. I would do this ride again and again, it would rate highly in the best rides ever list.

Pelvic floor about to get very tense

 

Symi's Grand Canyon Adventure

Hi Everyone, 
This is from my journal writing I did for school about the Grand Canyon. You can make it bigger by pressing the 4 arrows at the bottom right. 
Symi

Grand Canyon Journal from Fionarobwaller

Whats cooking in the RV this week?

Thought it might be time to update you on what we have been eating in the RV. The weather has remained cold – not surprising considering we have been chasing the snow!

One dish we tried was cooking a whole chicken in the slow cooker. The oven in the RV will, just, fit a whole chicken but with the cold weather and the doors shut it gets quiet smoky if you had the oven on for an hour of more. Anyway back to the slow cooker. It is very easy to cook a whole chicken. Chop an onion into three slices – no need to peel it is just for the chicken to sit on. Wash and pat dry the chicken and sit in on top of the onion. Turn slow cooker to high and wait 6 or so hours. That’s it.  You do need to take the skin off the chicken as it is not crisp (if you have an oven you can put it in there to brown it at the end). My other suggestion is get a plate that is not blue to serve it on. I can’t seem to take a photo of any food on the blue plates that looks any good – perhaps it is me. 

We have a lot of zip lock bags of food in the freezer. One of these tends to be chilli con carne. When we get sick of having it with wraps or rice we turn to nachos – much to Symi’s delight. This makes for a very quick meal. Spread the meat mixture and a bit of grated cheese between layers of corn chips. Heat for a few minutes in a hot oven and then top with Symi’s guacamole and some sour cream – yum.

Our other regular meal lately has been oven roasted salmon. Salmon is relatively cheap here – cost about $7-$8 for a piece to feed us. I microwave some potatoes and pumpkin so they are partially cooked and then finish roasting them with the salmon and some asparagus (99c a bunch) in the oven. The result is always a winner for this family.

 Symi and I have also been doing some cooking together. We have been making sushi rolls for our lunches and pancakes with chocolate chips for snacks. While we were up snowboarding Symi made some double chocolate cupcakes. Symi did this herself but Rob and I happily assisted with the eating.