While I was between jobs, I did some side consulting work, and also took the time to do some traveling to find out if I would like living and working out West. I loaded up the truck, did some web research to find some recruiters and companies, and then hit the open road. During this trip, I was able to see and do many things. The trip started out going to Nebraska to visit the family of my new Dad (at that time, still my Mom's Fiancée.) It was his mothers' birthday, so I took him out to see her. They have an incredibly nice family, very country-ish with all kinds of hospitality. I love towns and people like that.
My next destination was the Badlands in South Dakota. I spent several days here hiking and biking. The scenery is pretty wild, mountains made of sand colored dirt, rising from the plains. I ended up seeing quite a bit of wildlife, mostly birds, but also a mountain goat. It was really neat to see the erosion patterns in the mountains, as well as the different coloration's of the soil from different ages. There is soil exposed from many different timeframes, including the prehistoric era.
The next stop was Devil's Tower, Wyoming. This place is really cool. I spent a couple of days here hiking and climbing. The hiking has fantastic scenery, and the tower has always been shrouded with mystery and many Indians regard this place as sacred land. Most people remember it from the movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind." While I was here, I started bouldering around, and ended up climbing about half of the way up the tower. Took some great pictures, and then down-climbed back to the floor. I am looking forward to coming back one weekend with all of my gear and another climber and making it to the summit. They have routes with varying degrees of difficulty. There is even a 5.6 route up to the summit. The trails around the tower provide some great scenery. For hiking, I would recommend the red beds trail. There are also some prairie dog towns around the area which are always fun to watch.
I then continued on to Colorado. I visited one of my relatives just north of Denver, and then went across I-70 to the Winter Park area. Here, I took some time to do some backcountry hiking, snowshoeing, snowboarding, and camping. What an incredible time, loved every minute of it. (Even the minutes I was freezing my tush off when the temperature hit -40F at elevation.) Here is a pic from one of my summit climbs on a 14'er.
My next destination took me to another place I had been wanting to visit for a long time; Moab, Utah. There are many activities to do, both in, and around Moab. The town itself is a little tourist town that gets its income from the summer season. I spent about a week around this area, visiting the parks and doing all sorts of activities. This is a picture taken in the nearby Arches National Park. It is called the Double O arch. The park is fantastic, there are plenty of hiking opportunities. I ended up meeting a fellow Jeeper from the Salt Lake City, Utah area and we planned on going off-roading later that day. The trails in the National Parks are only for hiking, but there are plenty of off-roading and biking trails surrounding Moab.
The off-roading was a blast. I learned a couple of things while doing this, like off-roading while laden down with gear is not good for the undercarriage of the vehicle, and also that the trails in Moab are poorly marked and you really need to pay attention. Overall, a couple of wrong turns were made and we ran into some pretty interesting spots, but there was very little vehicle damage and nobody died, so it was still a good day.
Another National Park in the area is Canyonlands. It offers similar scenery as Arches, but has much more room to explore and has some trails you can bike on. I ended up doing a Colorado River overlook trail. I was biking pretty much all day, with one little surprise. When I finally reached the river overlook (which was a game of "it's GOT to be just over the next hill"), I had drained one of my two water bottles. I went to start drinking from my second bottle and found it had frozen! I had to bike the whole 26 mile return with no water. Definitely an interesting bike ride back. Well worth the effort though, the scenery was incredible! And it started to get me in shape for the extreme biking in Moab that would occur in the next couple of days.
I also did some hiking in the Canyonlands National Park. Much like the off-roading trails, the hiking trails aren't very well marked. They use cairns, which are small stacks of rocks, to mark the trails. These cairns have a nasty habit of blending into the scenery, so keep a good eye out for them. If you are not careful, you can loose the trail (and your bearings) pretty quickly out there.
I also tackled some biking trails and off-roading trails around Moab. These are WAY more extreme than anything we have in Michigan (so I loved every minute of it), and was an incredible experience. Here is a pic of my Jeep at the summit of a trail just outside of town.
Top of the world, Ma! The mountain biking was unreal out in Moab. The slickrock sandstone there provides excellent traction for bike tires and you end up doing things that you wouldn't believe. Here is a shot of my bike along part of the legendary "Slickrock Trail."
I loved it near Moab, the people were friendly and there was SO much to do. There is kayaking, off-roading, hiking, biking, and more! I was in adventure geek heaven. Unfortunately, I didn't feel that the town economy was mature enough to support a computer geek like me. I am just going to have to find a place within a day's drive...