Farewell Fruita

Well this week has been action packed to say the least - the camp ground has been invaded by several families from the CNP and we've been enjoying the company. Mainly, everyone does their own thing but a daily ride is usually coordinated by one of the more organized people and we go from there!

A definite highlite of the week was an epic climbing day for myself, Andrew & Jeff - we climbed the Independence Monument via a classic climb called Otto's Route on Thursday. The climb is a 5 pitch trad route that took us to the top of a desert tower - pretty amazing & such an accomplishment! We completed the climb with  loooong rappels in just the nick of time as a bad weather system was blowing in. So instead of getting to relish in our achievement, we instead tried to outrun a desert sandstorm - but we enjoyed a celebratory beer & pizza at a local restaraunt afterwards. The weather this week has been all over the place - melting hot some days and cool and windy on others.

Another highlight of the week has been taking in the 17th annual Fat Tire Festival here in Fruita - yesterday we enjoyed some live music, beer and a stroll through the demo tents and today the CNP represented in the annual Clunker Race. Andrew and I were one of 3 CNP teams to sign up for this race - basically an Amazing Race style of an event where we rode our bikes to various checkpoints and had to compete in different challenges as a team (no, we did not kill each other). Alas, we didn't podium but we did receive special mention and award for our costumes. The Whittens cleaned up in the Tandem division and the Woodmans (with Ella leading the pack) took home the ever so awesome last place trophies!

We are sad to be leaving Fruita behind but looking forward to a week in Moab - not sure how much energy we have left but we'll keep ya posted!

Altitude, Antiques & Arrival in Fruita

We said farewell to the Grand Canyon on Wednesday without any specific idea of where we were going -  we just knew that we needed to be in Fruita by Friday night. We made our first stop at the Four Corners National Monument - this stop actually took us over the New Mexico border and the monument itself is the only place in America where you are touching the borders of 4 states all at once - Arizona, Utah, Colorado and New Mexico.  So I stood in all four states while Andrew, in Arizona, snapped my photo! Indi and Scout were over off somewhere in either Colorado or New Mexico.


We made it as far as Durango where we spent the afternoon exploring and shopping around. We indulged in a few antique stores which has since resulted in some creative packing and re-packing of the vehicle...

We treated ourselves out to a nice supper, listened to some live acoustic music & then awoke bright and early Thursday and headed to an outdoor gear auction on the college campus. Surprisingly, we came away empty handed (okay, I bought some shoes) and then hit the road. Durango was a really fun stop for us - a really cool community with alot to offer. We will be back! The drive to Fruita was pretty amazing as we passed through some high passes, maxing out with an elevation of 11,099 - being surrounded by 13 and 14 thousand foot peaks was pretty cool - though I did have to remind Andrew to keep his eyes on the road a few times! A highlite was a stop in Silverton, a really neat little mountain town that sits at 9370 feet - we had a great lunch there and chatted to some friendly locals. From there we continued up and through some more high passes, taking our time to enjoy the views and stopping at all of the towns in between to explore and hunt out more antiques.

We arrived in Fruita around supper, set up camp & relaxed for the night. Since arriving Friday night, we've gotten out on the bikes a few times, taken the pups swimming in the river & plan to get out climbing this afternoon. So far the riding has been really fun - and beautiful! Yesterday, I entertained myself on a nice easy loop while Andrew suffered on the hard stuff, and then today we hit the trails again with Indi & Scout. Mildred has been quite the sensation at the campground as well - I am starting to think we should charge for tours...

We are settled into Fruita for just over a week - looking forward to it!

(Note from Andrew- Mojo 1- Andrew- 0, man the bike is beating me up...love it though!)

Mountain Bike Jump over the Grand Canyon

Ok, maybe not but hopefully the title caught your attention.

We last wrote when we were just arriving at the Grand Canyon after departing a snowy night in Sedona. With the elevations being higher in northern Arizona it was no surprise to see temperatures drop at night (just below zero) as

well as patches of snow here and there. With that the day time temperatures are still upwards of high teens to low twenties so getting outside and playing hasn't been an issue!

When we rolled into the Grand Canyon area we decided that we'd set up camp for a few days and take in both what the Grand Canyon and surrounding Forest reserve area had to offer. It's been great relaxing a little bit during the heat of the day and taking advantage of the cooler mornings and early evenings to mountain bike ride and trail run. The dogs sure appreciate not only the more than daily excursions in the woods and trails but the cooler temperatures as well. Mountain biking has been within the Forest Reserve along some single track trails amongst the Ponderosa Pines and low lying cliff bluffs. A highlight trail run was running the western most length of the southern Rim trail right along the edge of the Grand Canyon----certainly exposed in places!

Our evenings have been spent taking in the Interpretive Programs in the Grand Canyon National Park- two nights ago we enjoyed one of the Rangers sharing all of the history and adventure with the caving in the area. It was a great presentation- very good presenter who captivated the audience. I'm pumped for tonight's show as it is about Powell's first expedition down the Colorado River in the name of exploring the Canyon.

Before tonight's show we're hoping to capture some good shots of the setting sun over the Grand Canyon while we enjoy our picnic supper.

till next time-

Change of weather = change of plans

On Saturday morning we awoke to rain - lots of it! We managed to take camp down without getting (too) soaked and then took refuge at Denny's while we came up with a game plan. A kindly waitress named Bunny took good care of us as we tried to plan our day.

The weather was not budging so after breaky we made a bold move and hit the laundromat - exciting, I know! By about mid afternoon, the weather had cleared up and we were able to return to Mt Lemmon for some more climbing & a wiener roast. We stayed up at Molino Basin on Mt Lemmon that night - temps dropped down to close to freezing but we stayed cozy in good ol Mildred. Sunday, we had a picnic with the Murray's and then hit the road - we were sad to leave the area behind (plus the sun had returned!) but excited to check out Sedona as it had come highly recommended from just about everyone we'd asked about it. We pulled in around dusk and were amazed at how beautiful the area was - sadly things went downhill from there! The only camping spot we could find in town was $56 a night ( forget it!) and the girl at tourist info was dismally unhelpful(she shrugged every time we asked her a question). Finally we found a camping spot way up high - about 5500 feet - and surprise, there was snow!

 I think everyone knows how fun it is to set up camp in the dark when you are hungry and tired and frustrated - the snow was just an added bonus. But we sucked it up. After a nice glass of extra chilled wine, my mood had improved! We've decided to skip Sedona (wah)and head to Grand Canyon today - not worth it to stay when it is too chilly to do anything. A bit disappointed, but excited to see what's around the next corner.

Good Morning Sunshine!

Had a great day yesterday, couple of nights ago we managed to pick up a climbing guide for all of the climbs along the Mt. Lemmon HWY. We were very surprised to hear that over 2000 different climbs exist along the 27ish mile stretch of roadway. With that we decided we had better start at the bottom at number 1 and start checking them off....

Temperatures were a little lower yesterday and so we as Canadians took the blame for bringing it with us. To be honest though I'm not going to complain as the mid 20's were more than welcome for getting and and doing activities. The dogs too were pleased with the lower temperatures and loved hanging out at the crag for the afternoon and early evening.

After the day closed we decided to reward ourselves by visiting what is quoted as the "Oldest Mexican Restaurant in America". For being as old as it is the food was very fresh and certainly more than filling!

Today is looking like another hiking day, heading out to Saguaro National Park to see what they have to offer as well as possibly explore the Dessert Museum (mmmm, sounds delicious). OK, Erin has corrected me, it's actually the Desert Museum.

Tomorrow brings plans of heading further up in elevation and camping up on Mt. Lemmon somewhere to take in a full day of climbing and camping at cooler temperatures. Will keep you posted!

Sunburnt already!

I am officially on holiday as I am now sporting my signature sunburn -it didn't take long once we got into Arizona for the red to set in. As we made the drive from Boulder City to Tucson area, the temperatures just kept climbing and climbing.  Passing through Phoenix, it was around 37 - yay for air conditioning! We arrived in Catalina State Park on the northern perimeter of Tucson on Tuesday evening - after we'd spent a nice morning exploring Boulder City as well as checking out the Hoover Dam. The push to Tucson area was a long one, so we were pretty happy to arrive!  All we wanted to do was settle into camp, but as we entered the park, we saw a little dog who appeared to be lost. It was getting dark, so bleeding hearts that we are, we picked her up and drove her to our site. Luckily, she had tags and we were able to get ahold of her owner (who was quite relieved!) and so she only stayed with us long enough to drink some water and annoy Scout before she was reunited with her family.

















Now that we've settled into the area, we plan on staying until the weekend. Catalina State Park has a really great trail system and we are enjoying the area. Yesterday, we hiked one of the trails near the camp ground, caught up with the Murray's (family friends) and then headed up to Mt Lemmon and Summerhaven to scout out the climbing.

Before we left, we'd read a lot about Mt Lemmon area and so knew that there would be some pretty great climbing in the area - did we think to print any of said info off? Nooo. Luckily, we found a guide book so now we're set to get in some good climbing over the next few days. Mt Lemmon itself is a pretty neat area - there's a lot of camping, hiking trails and even a ski resort. A nice treat as we drove up to explore the area was that the temperature dropped a good 10 degrees! So far Indi and Scout have been troopers with the heat - they don't seem to mind the hot days as long as they get in a few swims here and there. And Indi was quite pleased to find some snow up top Mt Lemmon!
















 So far they have been mainly sleeping outside at night, but have had two nights up top with us well - the coyotes are pretty loud around Catalina State Park and there have also been a few Javelina (wild pig) sightings in the area, so I was a bit nervous for them sleeping outside our first night here! This morning I went for a trail run, while Andrew did a mountain bike ride and now we're ready to climb! Neither of us are feeling 100% yet (Andrew got the plague I had before leaving Blairmore) but the sunshine and exercise are doing us good!