0 PHOTOGRAPH PARTICULARS 0 Whoa there. This just can't last much longer can it? Won't find me seeking shade underneath it. 0 ACTIVITIES DAY FIVE OF TWELVE 0 After a good night’s rest at Farmington, New Mexico we left at dawn, as was our custom on this trip, with three major destinations in mind: Bisti (pronounced: Biss Tie) badlands; Chaco Canyon; and Bandelier national monument. We had motel rooms reserved at Santa Fe. The hike into the rock and clay formations at Bisti turned out to be my favorite stop on the entire road trip. I had never been there before. We were the only ones there, the weather was bright and clear, and the formations were absolutely amazing. I used my small Garmin etrex to make certain that we would hike to one of the two “good spots” and back out, in the most time efficient manner. There is another good section of Bisti that I know, one day, I will return to visit. Same with the De-Na-Zin area. Always something for another road trip. After Bisti we made our way to Chaco Canyon and visited Chetro Ketl and Pueblo Bonito. I had been to Chaco three times before but never in a situation where I wasn’t rushed for time. Ed and I enjoyed our walks to both ruins and took our time. After Chaco Canyon it was clear (using the ETA on the NUVI navigator), that we weren’t going to make Bandelier with enough light to really enjoy it, so for the first and only time on this road trip, we altered our route solely as a result of “running out of time”. There were several times we altered plans due to weather and dirt (mud) road conditions. So instead of traveling the highways that would lead us to Bandelier from Chaco, we checked the map and took a scenic but more direct highway into Santa Fe (highway 96 instead of highway 4 that would have taken us to Santa Fe via Bandelier). We got into Santa Fe right at dark, in time to check out the historic town square, the cathedral, and get a good meal. The next morning would follow a now established and predictable routine: On each and every day of this road trip, Ed and I would load our gear back in the Jeep right at or just before dawn, always looking forward to the new day’s destinations. The way a road trip should be. 0 3,875 MILE/12 DAY ~ 4 CORNERS ROAD TRIP OVERVIEW 0 At the start of year 2011, I made tentative plans to take a two week solo “road trip” through the Four Corners area (The Colorado Plateau), during the last half of March. Then, if my wife could get the time needed off from her part time job, I also planned a “road trip” vacation to the Southwest, in April with her. When I put the plan together for the March trip, I decided to see if an old friend of mine, Ed (Flickr’s: OldWrangler), might be interested in joining me. I volunteered to take my old four wheel drive pickup truck and split the gasoline expense with him. We would each get an inexpensive motel room on the road to serve as “base camps” to hike, photograph, and explore back roads in the Four Corners area. Not only did Ed accept but he also proposed that we take his brand new 4-door Jeep Wrangler instead of my old pickup truck. That didn’t take any thinking on my part. I LOVE Jeeps and Ed and I have always got along well (decades ago, I worked for him and we had taken a fun road trip together back in 2008, along with my friend John and my youngest son). The deal was sealed. We left my house in Central Washington early Monday morning on the 14th of March. We returned 12 days and 3,875 miles later on Friday evening March 25th. We spent a lot of time drinking Diet Pepsi from the ice chest and keeping the hits of the 60s (and occasionally the 70s), cranked up high on the Jeep’s Sirius satellite radio sound system. Sing along music! “Road trip” tunes. Weather often dictated changes to our proposed route and activities. We stayed flexible, and in the end we visited the large majority of places we had hoped to see, when the road trip began. We had sun and clear skies, snow, dust storms, and high winds at times. Ed’s Jeep had an outside temperature display. We drove in everything from18 degree weather to temperatures in the 70s in New Mexico. Here in outline form are the places we saw, hiked, photographed, and visited during the 12 day road trip: Mon 3.14.11 * Interstate travel from my house in Central Washington to Lehi, Utah Tue 3.15.11 * Scenic back roads ( Hwys: 6, 89, & 31) from Spanish Fork to Huntington, Utah * Dirt road travel to “The Wedge” and down Buckhorn Wash to I-70. * Side trip to the Head of Sinbad petroglyph and then on to Moab. Wed 3.16.11 * Island in the Sky district of Canyonlands NP (Mesa Arch & Upheaval Dome) * The Shafer “Jeep” Trail down to the White Rim road and back to Moab. * Hike to Delicate Arch & visit Windows section in Arches NP. Thu 3.17.11 * Newspaper Rock in the Needles district of Canyonlands NP * Attempt back road travel thru the Abajo Mountains to Monticello * Edge of the Cedars museum in Blanding, Utah * Hovenweep - Square

A once active volcano stands sentinel over frozen over Dog Lake. Dog Lake was formed when Spiral Butte erupted and dammed Clear Creek. A couple of high waterfalls are located just downstream from the Dog Lake outlet. Dog Lake: N46 38 23 W121 11 38 elevation - 4,209' Spiral Butte - 5,900'. Wednesday January 27th, 2010, I decided, late morning, that despite the drizzle, gray and cool winter temperatures that I would “head for the mountains”. So I loaded our old four wheel drive pickup truck with my daypack with the usual “take with you in winter” items; my snow shoes; poles, gaiters, winter clothes; camera; and ice chest full of diet Pepsi - - and headed west. Rain turned to snow and dark clouds anchored low in the sky. I stopped along the way up White Pass to photograph a herd of hard pressed bighorn sheep, which were quite thin from their tough search for winter food. I got a surprise when I reached the summit of White Pass. I could see some blue sky and sun to the west. This is usually the opposite, where the clearer winter weather is east of the Cascades and the clouds fill most days on the western, green side of the mountains. I drove all the way to the tiny town of Packwood, Washington where I got another pleasant surprise. The Skate Creek Road (FR #52) was OPEN. I couldn’t believe my good fortune. I looked at my watch and calculated that I could easily reach the Longmire entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park in time to do some snow shoeing in the dry powder snow at Paradise. I would have great scenery, sun, and light dry snow to explore with camera, on snow shoes. This extemporaneous trip to Paradise worked out great. The park service does not allow any vehicle to drive past Longmire up to Paradise after 5 pm and they close the gate at Longmire at 6 pm. I had no problem getting up to Paradise and enjoying lots of time in the cold fresh air, with sunlight sparkling off the dry powder snow. So these are the photographs from that road trip. It was late when I got back to my home in Eastern Washington but well worth the time. It was just what I needed to break winter’s cabin fever feeling that I seem to develop, each and every year at about this time. I hope you enjoy some of the photographs. OMT